AROUND TOWN

A. STUDENTS and SETTING

Students age: 18 24 years old.
Level: A2 (Common European Framework)
Previous experience: In Ecuador all elementary and high school students are required to take
English as a required subject. This means that most of the students have taken approximately
400 hundred hours of EFL formal instruction before entering the university but one of them who
is Colombian student who was also required to take EFL formal training. According to the
information given by this student, she has taken about 300 hours of EFL formal training in her
country. At UTN, all the students are required to take five levels of EFL. Each level has 160
hours of classroom instruction. The target group have already approved the first of the five
levels above mentioned.
The course book used at Universidad Tcnica del Norte is Touchstone series(Mc. Carthy
2005). The first level, they studied Book 1. Currently, they are studying book two. They have
already studied units 1 9. The lesson plan I include here is the one I used for the opening
page of unit 6 (Around Town)
Setting:
Universidad Tcnica del Norte is a public university settled in Ibarra, a small city of the northern
Ecuadorean Andes. The number of students who regularly attend to this class is 30. The
group meets Monday through Friday from three to five PM.
B. LESSON BACKGROUND
Before this lesson the students have already covered the first five units of Touchstone II
students book, its workbook and online resources. The topics they have previously studied are
included below in the scope and sequence of Touchstone II(attachment 1). The lesson
corresponds to the introductory session for unit 6. Therefore, it presents the unit objectives as
well as a broad scope of the unit. Most of the vocabulary and grammar used in this lesson
was already learnt by the students. Unit 6 of Touchstone II deals with locations in town,
expressions for asking and giving directions vocabulary. The grammar includes: there is, there
are, pronouns one and some and offers and requests with can and could. Touchstone series
also include Conversation strategies a part of the main core of the content. At the end of each
unit the students are exposed to reading material and are required to write a composition. After
this lesson, the students will review some locations in town vocabulary and will study the use of
There is and there are in yes / no questions.

C. LEARNING OBJECTIVES / EXPECTED RESULTS

At the end of the lesson students should be able to
USE: Locations in town vocabulary, quantifiers a lot of, some, a couple of and one as well as
adjectives
TO: talk about their neighborhoods
IN: a pair discussion.

D. MATERIALS and SOURCES

Materials and sources
For this lesson the students will use their book as well as the handout created by the teacher.
(see attachment 2). To design the handout, the teacher made use of material available on the
internet that are allowed to use. Additionally, the teacher will use pictures of locations in a
typical Ecuadorian neighborhood. The URL for extra activities are included in the handout so
that students can access and have further practice.

E. PROCEDURES / TIMING

Teacher does/says...

Students do/say...

Teacher presents students pictures of

locations in town and elicit vocabulary.
Teacher gives handout to students
Teacher asks: What places do you like to
go in your neighborhood?
Invites to check locations in map (handout
activity 1 A)

Students recycle locations in

town vocabulary to answer the
teachers questions.
Get handout, listen to the
instruction and check in the
map locations they like to go in
their neighborhood.

Teacher aks students to stand up and ask

two of their classmates what locations they
Students stand up and work
like to go in their neighborhood (note
interview two of their
taking).
classmates.
Teacher asks student to find out locations
in common.
Teacher asks students to present their
findings to the class.
Teacher asks students to look through the
unit and find the following items:

Students check their notes to

find out locations in common.

Approximate
time needed
5 minutes

4 minutes

3 minutes

Students present findings to the

3 minutes
class.
Students look through the unit 4 minutes
and find items.

1.
A place they go every week.
2.
A place theyd like to go on the
weekend.
3.
A place for families to go.
4.
A place for sports.
5.
A good place for teenagers after
school.
(Handout activity B)
Teacher ask students to compare
information with another student.
Teacher asks the students to work solos
and fill in the table (handout activity C)
Teacher divides class in trios and ask to
get new locations in town for places they
have to go:

Students compare findings in

3 minutes
pairs.
Students work solos and fill in
3 minutes
the table.
Students interview in trios and
4 minutes
take notes

Teacher shows students opening page of

Unit 6 and invites them to match each
Students do the task.
2 minutes
picture with a category (transportation,
cafes,stores, historical places)
Teacher asks students to share their
Students share answers with
1 minute
answers with the class.
the class.
Teacher presents prompt location
description: Theres a lot of nightlife in my
neighborhood. There are a lot of
restaurants. Its exciting. Its crowded. Students do the task.
6 minutes
( handout activity D) and invites students
to fill in the graphic organizer with
information about their neigborhoods.
Teacher divides the class in pairs and asks
students to interview each other to find out
6 minutes
Students do the task
what is there in each others
neighborhoods.
Teacher asks some students to share their Students share findings with 3 minutes
findings to the class.
the class.
Teacher makes some comments and invites
students to reflect on the activities they
Students take a minute to reflec
woeked on during the class and how they and see how the lesson is
4 minutes.
are connected to what they will study in
connected to next classes.
unit 6.

F. REFLECTION
This lesson uses real pictures of locations in town in a typical Ecuadorian neighborhood to
better contextualize the topic. Pair work and group work has been designed to provide students
with opportunities to communicate in target language as well as to collaborate in doing tasks
designed by the teacher. The lesson attempts to recycle and use content vocabulary and
structures previously learnt by this students. Therefore, it does not represent a major problem
for them. However, the teacher includes some activities that require students to use high order
thinking skills to help themselves internalize target language.
.

Attachment 1
Touchstone II units 1 to 5 scope and sequence.

Attachement 2: Handout

A. WHAT PLACES DO YO LIKE TO GO IN YOUR CITY?

CHECK THEM IN THE MAP.

B. LOOK TRHOUGH THE UNIT ON YOUR OWN AND FIND A

PLACE FOR THE FOLLOWING CATGORIES BELOW.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

A
A
A
A
A

place you go every week. _________________________

place youd like to go on the weekend. ________________
place for families to go. ________________
place for sports. ___________________
good place for teenagers after school. __________________

C. WHAT ARE SOME OTHER PLACES YOU HAVE TO

GO TO FOR THINGS YOU NEED FOR YOUR
EVERYDAY LIFE? MAKE A LIST THEN COMPARE
YOUR INFORMATION WITH TWO CLASSMATES.
I HAVE TO GO ________________ ________________

MY NEIGHBORHOOD

D. MATCH ONE OF THE WORDS AND EXPRESSIONS BELOW

WITH THE PICTURES ON PAGE 53. MAKE SOME COMMENTS
ON EACH PICTURE.
TRANSPORTATION CAFES

STORES
PLACES

HISTORICAL

 _______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Example:
Cafs. Theres a lot of nightlife. There are a lot of restaurants. Its exciting. Its crowded.

______________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Example:
Cafs. Theres a lot of nightlife. There are a lot of restaurants. Its exciting. Its crowded.

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