Idea #96: What’s for lunch?
11May 9, 2012 by Kara
Today was a day that I saw great progress with the students so I will share this lesson plan.
The goal was I can describe school lunches. I gave them copies of the monthly school cafeteria menu which has breakfast and lunch, but we only focused on lunch for today. I was glad to see they were interested in talking about lunch.
Next I described a menu for a day in the target language focusing on reusing “on Tuesday”,” “For lunch,” “there is” and “and/or/with/of.” They guessed which date I was describing. You can use dry erase boards if you want.
Next they were in small groups with a bucket of Jenga blocks with numbers 1-31. You could use any set of numbers. Each student took a turn. They drew a number, looked at the menu for that date, and described as much as they could in the target language. If they drew a non-school day, they just drew again. I gave them key phrases like “For lunch” to help them make beautiful sentences. I was happy to have them ask me how to say what they needed but didn’t know. We talked about simplifying (say “chicken sandwich” instead of “breaded chicken patty”).
Afterwards, I gave them a practice assessment where they could use notes. They were very confident and eager to add more details like “there is always pizza on Tuesdays” and “there is salad and rolls every day.” Finally they were expressing what they really wanted to say. That’s what we want them to do!
Megan
rachel573
Kara
Very practical. Shows them real life on how they can use their skills. I may have to do this lesson next year!
Thank you and good point! I should include a little discussion about a real life event and when/why they are even doing this at the beginning. Previously we talked about working in a restaurant, but I’m sure there are some other connections. Any ideas?
There’s so much to love in this lesson! The “What’s for Lunch?” activity is great, and I love those Jenga blocks. You have them numbered up to what number? (I know you used 1-31 here but I thought you might have more than that for other activities.)
There are 54 blocks total. I’m finding they are useful for so many more activities beyond the basic Jenga game! I’m hoping to find another one at a yard sale this summer.
Could I ask what phrasing you use for What’s for lunch? Do you use sirven?
Good question! I used the statement ‘describe el almuerzo,’ but I’d love to know! Can you say ‘que hay para almuerzo’?
This is great! How long are your class periods? Would you say that you try to complete one stamp per class on your stamp sheet?
My classes are 50 minutes. Generally I set one goal per class. When I taught longer classes, I just made the goal ‘bigger’ like ‘I can describe what’s for lunch and breakfast.’
Good progression of skills in this lesson. Liked how you gave them lots of strong, correct input by describing the lunch and their figuring out which day it was.
Thanks! I find that this makes a big difference, yet I ‘forget’ to do it so often.
Great lesson! Thank you Kara:-)