Small quantities: a little and a few
Overview
This elementary-level ESL lesson plan focuses on teaching students how to use the quantifiers a little and a few with countable and uncountable nouns. By the end of this session, students will better understand the usage of these quantifiers, helping them express quantities more accurately in their conversations.
We include a suggested boardwork example that shows one way to present the lesson's target language, along with several low-resource classroom activities where the students will work on some group writing activities. To wrap up the session, we will play a game to help solidify your students' understanding of the quantifiers in context.
Lesson Outline
Classroom activities
Use of the board
The students look at how to use these quantifiers with countable and uncountable nouns.
Start off by eliciting whether a little and a few are used with countable or uncountable nouns and ask for examples of nouns we use for each. After that, work with the students to build some statements. Give them the beginning of the statement and attempt to elicit the rest.
Sentence building
A writing activity where the students use the newly learned language to create a few statements.
Let's cook!
The students learn some new terms related to cooking and then produce some sentences using the target grammar.
Simple recipe
Now that students have familiarised themselves with the new vocabulary, they will work in pairs to create a simple cooking recipe.
Classroom games
Charades: What am I cooking?
This fun twist on a classic ESL game has the students play the role of a TV chef.
More elementary ESL lesson plans
Our suggested next lesson is on questions with how + adjective. If you've found these materials helpful, be sure to check out our complete list of elementary lesson plans, as well as our entire library of ESL lesson plans.
Additionally, if you use an iOS or Android device, have a look at the TEFL Handbook app. An ESL lesson planner for English teachers. It has a lot more content and gives you faster access to our resources, making it easier to use in class.
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750+ Low-prep classroom activity ideas
1100+ Printable ESL flashcards
160+ ESL lesson plans
8 Distinct language levels
Offline access through the TEFLHandbook app
Reduce your planning time and improve the way you present and teach English grammar.
Access the entire TEFLHandbook library
Significantly reduce your planning time and improve the way you present and teach English grammar.
Access the entire TEFLHandbook library
Significantly reduce your planning time and improve the way you present and teach English grammar.