Ideas for a lesson plan: Food

Skills: speaking and listening

The Restaurant.

Materials: cards with images and expressions to talk about food.

Expressions for talking about food in a restaurant.

Do you have any specials?
Could I see the menu, please?
What is this dish?
I’m starving! (I’m very hungry)
Can I have another helping of… (French fries)? ( another helping of: another portion)
I’ll have… (Use this phrase for ordering in a restaurant)
I’m full (I’m satisfied)
I’m stuffed (I ate a lot, maybe too much)
I’m on a diet

Waiters/ waitresses
Welcome to Deliciously Smart!
Let me tell you about our specials today. We have …
Can I get you something to drink?
Do you need a little time to decide?
Are you ready to order?
That comes with…or…. Which would you prefer?
Sure/ certainly

The classroom must be organized like a restaurant, with tables, chairs and menus (from a
previous activity) settled. For this activity, the class should be divided in four groups. Half of
the group will be waitresses or waiters and the other half will the clients / customers.

The activity’s main goal is to practice phrases and vocabulary for talking, ordering and giving
details about food.

A guide to healthy food.

Materials: pictures/ flash cards of foods with color label: red, yellow and green.

RED GREEN YELLOW

Sugar Chicken Cheese
Cakes Fresh fruit Rice
Chocolates Salad Fatty meat
Cokes Fish pasta
Candy Bean sprouts
French fries vegetables
In groups: give the flash cards to the groups and make them discuss about each picture, what
they observe in each one and ask which one do they like the most and why.

Then, they will be given a time to infer the relationship between the colored labels and food:
what does the color label mean? Is it good?/ bad?; how much of those food do you eat? Ss
must discuss and came up with answers.

If it is difficult for them to infer the meaning, the teacher will help Ss giving clues to establish a
relation between those colors and the traffic light.

In this case RED means stop and think. YELLOW: go carefully or be careful and GREEN: go right
ahead.

Ss should write some questions for a quick poll survey among the groups, using How much…;
How many… or How often. They will write the answer for each group.

The aim of the activity is to practice giving advices, warning or recommendations depending on
the polls result.

Grammar: modal verbs: should / shouldn’t, ought to, you/ they had better…

Let’s talk about food fact.

There are always curious facts about food elaboration process…

Materials: worksheets with the information about Food Facts.

In groups: The teacher will start asking if they know any particular fact about food, for
instance… what do you think about McDonald’s meat? Do you think it is true? After a short
discussion, the teacher will give them the worksheet with the information about Food facts.
They will be given 5 min to read it in groups and discuss.

The goal is to make them explain some food elaboration process and to infer and explain the
meaning of unknown words.

Listening.

1. Snack

Before the listening, write on the board the word SNACK and have them elicit ideas about. Ask
open questions, for instance, what is your favorite snack and why? At what time do you have
it. Ask Ss to remember the snacks their partners like and don’t like. Now, tell them to get ready
to listen to a conversation, they should listen carefully and try to remember information they
consider relevant.

Audio: http//www.esl-lab.com/snakc/snakrd1.htm
After the listening they should:

Say what is going on in the conversation.

Say at what time is it taking place.

Who are the speakers?

Who is making a request and, what is it?

What is the option the father gives to his son?

Giving opinions: why do you think the father is offering a “natural” option?

Is there any agreement, what was it?

Goal: listening and comprehension and listening for specific information.

2. Can you describe it?

Talk about traditional food, how is it? (taste) and how are they prepared, ask them what are
their favorite traditional food and why. Ask them to take notes of the relevant information.

Audio: http://www.elllo.org/english/0851/T886-Diego-Tacos.htm

After the listening they should:

Say who are the speakers and where are they from?

What are they talking about or describing?

Work in groups and share their notes with their mates to complete or confirm their ideas.

Make Wh- questions or true / false questions to their mates about the audio.