Reading skill

Reading skill

 

Asking for Directions: A Lesson Plan For ESL Students

Reference: http://www.brighthubeducation.com/esl-teaching-tips/86390-approaches-to-teaching-english-as-a-second-language/

written by: Louanne Piccolo • edited by: Linda M. Rhinehart Neas • updated: 8/16/2012

       Students will need to know the necessary vocabulary to be able to give and ask for directions in the information gap activity. There are a number of ways to teach vocabulary in ESL but one of the most common and successful is through brainstorming. Brainstorming is an excellent exercise for revising and learning new vocabulary.

        Teacher can write the word "directions" in the middle of the board and ask for students to give as many words as they can think of related to directions. Vocabulary related to teaching and learning directions is:

·         street or road

·         street corner

·         pedestrian crossing or zebra crossing

·         traffic lights

·         building

·         crossroads or intersection

·         roundabout or traffic circle

·         bridge

·         pavement or sidewalk

·         go straight

·         turn left / turn right

·         continue

·         on your left / on your right

·         in front of / behind

·         until you get to

·         cross the road

·         opposite

·         next to

·         at the end of

       Teaching ESL means putting students in real-life situations that they are likely to encounter outside of the classroom and preparing them to be able to communicate effectively in these situations.

       The lesson can proceed as follows: Students must put into pairs and given photocopies of the same maps. Teacher can leave the maps as they are or different information from each map so that each student has a map with different information.

       Student has a list of destinations for which they must ask directions from their partner. At the top of this list, write sentences such as "Excuse me, can you tell me the way to...?" and "How can I get to...?" to help students form the correct questions.

       While students are asking and giving directions, teacher can walk around students to make sure they are using the correct vocabulary, sentence and question construction.

       An ESL lesson plan for building direction resources as well as the activities can be easy and fun for teachers and students. This activity is related to a practical real-life situation that students will most certainly find themselves for traveling.