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Describe Your Dream Home
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Activity Description
Objectives: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to:
describe a dream home by house-type, location, rooms, and amenities.
use websites to research and locate homes for rent or sale.
collaborate with other students and present information to the class
Preparation
- Check the website to ensure it is not blocked at your site.
- Read through the lesson plan.
- Print and make copies of any handouts.
Program Areas
- ESL: English as a Second Language
Levels
- Intermediate Low
Lesson Plan
Warm-up/ Review (Time: 10 minutes)
[Engagement: Growth Mindset]: Have students work in pairs, describing a home
that they really liked living in, including its location, number of rooms, appliances, etc.
Encourage students to employ a growth mindset by prompting each other to expand
their answers with questions like: “Where was it? How many rooms did it have? What
kind of house was it? What was the neighborhood like?”, etc.
Activity 1a: Write the question, “What does ‘Dream Home’ mean to you?” Below that,
in parentheses, write: Cabin; Amazing View; Island; Mansion; Luxe; Beachfront;
Skiing; Lake. Go over the words in the parentheses with the students, clearing up
pronunciation and vocabulary. Use www.google.com to provide images if necessary
Activity 1b [Engagement: Think, Pair, Share] Have students think about the
question, and then form pairs and use some of these vocabulary words to share their
answer with their partner.
Activity 2: [Enhancement: Visual Representation] Have students use
www.airbnb.com on their phone or a Chromebook to find the best example of what their
partner described, using the vocabulary their partner shared. Have the students share
the results with their partner.
Divide the class into four teams. Have the class watch the YouTube video,
“Parts of the House”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RivVBeC68aU&t=290s
In the first part of each room exercise, have the class repeat the words they hear.
[Engagement: Co-use] In the second part of each room exercise, have each team
attempt to guess the three missing items in the room. The team that guesses each one
correctly gets a maximum score of three points. Use the first room (living room) to
model and scaffold the exercise. Then, have the four teams compete with the following
four room exercises, each team assigned one room
Turn and Talk: Have the students choose one of the rooms from
the exercise and share with a partner three things they’d like to have in that room.
Partners can be supportive by asking questions about the objects to get a deeper
understanding of their partners preferences. Example questions: “Why do you want this
item in the room?; How does this item make the room feel more comfortable?”
Partners can be supportive by asking questions about the objects to get a deeper
understanding of their partners preferences. Example questions: “Why do you want this
item in the room?; How does this item make the room feel more comfortable?”
Practice 1: Guided Practice (15 minutes)
● Pass out the vocabulary list about different types of American homes.
https://amaranth-ashla-23.tiiny.site
● Have the class go over the vocabulary for pronunciation practice.
● Explain that the number next to each word specifies its time in the video.
● Have students watch “American House Types: Explore Classic Styles”
○ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oy5BlRvpDhs&t=0s
As a “walk and talk” exercise, designate nine areas around the room where students will
meet with other students to share why that housing style is a dream home. Model the
exercise by sharing aloud the information from the vocabulary handout, as well as what
you’re planning to say to the students you’re going to meet with. Then, have students do
the exercise using their first, second and third choice for conversation practice.
Have students write a letter about their dream home.
Have them include vocabulary from the two YouTube videos in this lesson. Upon
completion, they will exchange their letters with a partner
Using the Redfin website (www.redfin.com), have
students research a home based on the letter they received. They will then share what
they found with their partner, including photos and/or videos of the property, the type
of home, its location, the number of bedrooms/bathrooms, and other information
including schools, businesses,recreational facilities, etc.
Reflection: (Time: 20 minutes)
Online Writing] Have students write a paragraph or two about the
dream home their partner found for them. Side coach them to include details about the
house. After checking their writing, have students record themselves reading their essay
using their Flip student account (www.flip.com).
Standards
- Speaking and Listening
- CCR Anchor 1 - Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
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