English lesson plans

for Grade 2
Lessons in this section
2.1 Listening and speaking: others likes and dislikes

48

2.2 Speaking and writing: present continuous for now

52

2.3 Reading and speaking: The cat and the cockroaches

55

2.4 Speaking: polite requests Please can I have some ?

58

Resource sheets for the lessons

61

Using these lesson plans

In contrast to the lesson plans for Grade 1, these lesson plans are drawn from
different parts of the curriculum. They do not represent a weeks teaching,
although lesson 2.4 draws on what has been done in lesson 2.1.
The objectives for the lessons are drawn from the curriculum standards for Grade 2.
The relevant main standards are shown in bold beside the objectives at the top of
each lesson plan.
It is assumed that certain structures, functions, topics and sub-skills have already
been learned by the students. For example, lesson 2.1 focuses on third person
singular simple present s and this is usually dealt with after students have
practised I, we and they with simple present verbs like want, need, have and like.
Similarly, lesson 2.2 revises the use of the present continuous tense, which will
have been introduced in Grade 1, in order to introduce some new action verbs and
to get students to write the -ing endings. The lesson plans also refer to revision
vocabulary which it is assumed has been taught earlier. Teachers will have to
adjust the vocabulary load depending on what really has gone before.
Each lesson plan has sufficient material to support at least 45 minutes of direct
teaching. Teachers may need to supplement the activities provided with additional
simpler or more complex tasks if they have a mixed ability class. If there is too
much material for 45 minutes (this depends on the class), it is up to the teacher to
designate which activities will carry through to the next lesson. However, to
maximise the learning cycle, teachers should be selective about which tasks to cut,
and not just drop the last task because it comes at the end. Extra practice tasks are
included to accommodate students or groups of students who learn faster than the
rest of the class.
The lesson plans are organised as three-stage lessons with a feedback session at the
end to sum up learning for students. In the vocabulary and speaking lessons, the
three stages are presentation, practice and production. In the listening, reading and
writing lessons the three stages are pre-, while, and post- (e.g. pre-reading, while
reading and post-reading). However, at this early learning level, many of the tasks
require integrated skills, so the stages or the lesson type sometimes merge.

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2.1
Objectives
Grade 2 curriculum
standards 1.2, 1.4, 4.2,
5.2, 6.2

Presentation
Resources
Real foodstuffs
Teachers resource 2.1
Vocabulary
apples
bananas
mangos
carrots
tomatoes
dates

Listening and speaking:

others likes and dislikes

Talk about and respond to other peoples likes and dislikes.

Pronounce final s in third person singular simple present tense and plural
nouns: /s/ and /z/.

Realia or picture drill

Pre-teach vocabulary using real fruits and vegetables or the pictures in teachers
resource 2.1.
Hold up each food item/picture and get students to make sentences with There are
some
Teachers cues

Students say

apples

There are some apples.

bananas

There are some bananas.

mangos

There are some mangos.

Revision vocabulary

tomatoes

There are some tomatoes.

bread
fish (fish fingers)
fruit
food
meat
pizza
chips

carrots

There are some carrots.

dates

There are some dates.

Get students to remember the words in a chain.

A: There are some apples.
B: There are some apples and some bananas.
C: There are some apples, some bananas and some mangos.
D: etc.
Kims game

Put all the things on a tray (or stick all the pictures on the board) and give students
time to memorise whats there, and how many of each thing, there are (count out
the dates, bananas, apples etc. with them).
Divide the class into two teams. Cover the tray or remove the pictures. Get teams
to take it in turns to remember one thing at a time from the tray/board until they
have them all. For each correctly remembered thing the team gets one point.
Model sentences

Draw a face of a boy and a girl on the board, name the boy Salim and the girl
Zahra. Tell students Salim and Zahra like different things. Show students the
picture cue card of dates (from teachers resource 2.1) and get them to say the
model sentence.
Model sentence:

Salim likes dates

Show the picture cue card of mangos and get them to say the model sentence.
Model sentence:

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Zahra doesnt like dates. Zahra likes mangos.

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Concept check

Under Salim on the board, stick the picture cue card of dates. Under Zahra stick the
picture cue card of mangos. Make sure students can hear the difference between the
initial /s/ in Salim and the final /s/ in dates, the initial /z/ in Zahra and the final /z/
in mangos.

Practice
Resources
Tape script 2.1
Worksheet 2.1a

People pairs

Hold up the picture cue card of carrots. Say the word aloud and get students to
determine if it sounds like /s/ or /z/ at the end.

Who likes carrots? Salim or Zahra?

Elicit Salim and stick the cue card under Salims picture on the board.
Hold up picture cue card of apples (/z/).

Who like apples? Salim or Zahra?

Elicit Zahra and stick the cue card under Zahras picture on the board. Once
students get the hang of how to match the ending sounds to the people, get them to
do the rest and then to say the words aloud.
Answer key
Salim

Zahra

dates

mangos

carrots

apples
bananas
tomatoes

Board drills

Check all the vocabulary again by asking yes/no questions and getting students to
reply with short answers.

Does Salim like tomatoes? No, he doesnt.

Does Zahra like tomatoes? Yes she does.

Etc.

Get students to make sentences from the lists on the board linked with but.
Salim likes dates but he doesnt like mangos.
Salim likes carrots but he doesnt like apples.
Zahra likes bananas but she doesnt like dates.
Zahra likes tomatoes but she doesnt like carrots.
Listen and match

Give students worksheet 2.1a and explain they are going to listen to three children
Penny, Jack and Bob talking about what they like and dont like. Check all the
pictures with them to make sure they can read each picture and remember the
appropriate food word. Do the first one together: play the tape or read tape script
2.1 for Penny and show them how to tick the boxes for the things Penny likes and
cross the boxes for the things she doesnt like. Then play the rest of the tape (or
read aloud the rest of the tape script) and get them to tick or cross the boxes for
Jack and Bob. Check students answers, and if there are any wrong answers, get
them to listen a second time, so that they work out the right answers for
themselves. In pairs, get students to talk about Penny, Jack and Bob.
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Bob likes ice cream. Bob likes fish. Bob doesnt like fruit. Bob doesnt like
carrots.

Production
Resources
Worksheet 2.1b
Dice (one for each group)
Counters or buttons in
three colours

Board game

Put students in groups of three and give each group the board game on worksheet
2.1b and three different coloured counters. Choose one group to demonstrate the
game and get the rest of the class to come and stand around so that they can see
what to do. Show students how to put their counters on Start. Check Whos
blue? Whos red? Whos green? so that every child knows which colour they are.
Get them to read aloud the words in the middle of the board: Bob likes and
explain this is a game to talk about what Bob likes and doesnt like. Check that
they understand the pictures in each square.

What are these? Theyre cats.

Whats this? Its ice cream.

Tell them who will go first, second and third. Throw the dice, and get the students
to say aloud the number it lands on. Show the first student how to move their
counter along the board the same number of squares. Get them to then say whats
in the square. Show them that if theres a smiley face it means Bob likes it and if
theres a frowning face it means Bob doesnt like it. Give an example of what they
then have to say.

ice cream

Bob likes ice cream.

cats

Bob doesnt like cats.

Get the demonstration group to play a few turns so that the rest of the class
understand what to do, then have the rest of the class go and sit down and play
their own game. Tell students the first one to get to the end is the winner. Monitor,
help students make sentences about Bob and correct what they say, paying
particular attention to the /s/ and /z/ sounds at the end of plural nouns, the /s/ at the
end of likes and the /z/ in doesnt.

Feedback
Resources
S card: pocket-size card
with a big red letter S

Summary for students

In Arabic
Write the letter S on the board and get students to tell you what it means at the end
of words like carrots, tomatoes, dates. Establish that its for plurals: for when there
is more than one thing. Ask how many ways they have learned so far for
pronouncing s at the end of a word and establish two ways, so far: /s/ and /z/.
(There is also the /iz/ as in washes and oranges which they will learn next.)
Tell students when we talk about what other people like we also need an s at the
end of like so I like and we like, but he likes, she likes, Bob likes, Salim likes,
Zahra likes, Penny likes Emphasise the pronunciation of the final s in all your
examples.
Show students your S card. Tell them that every time they forget to put the s on
the end of a word you are going to show them the S card and make them say it
again correctly.
Elicit the negative of like is doesnt like and get them to pronounce it clearly.

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Tape script
2.1

For Penny:

Penny likes bread. She has bread for breakfast every morning.
Breads great! But she doesnt like milk. She never drinks milk.
Yuk! Pennys favourite food is pizza. She really likes pizza. When
she goes to the shopping mall she always has pizza. Penny also
likes apples she likes green apples, red apples, yellow apples in
fact she likes all kinds of apples.

For Jack:

Jack loves chips. Chips for breakfast, chip for lunch, chips for
dinner. Jack likes his chips! Jack likes bananas too. His mother
says, Take a banana to school and Jack says Yes! I like
bananas. But Jack doesnt like mangos. His mother says Take a
mango to school but Jack says No! I dont like mangos. Jack
doesnt like tomatoes either. Yuk! Tomatoes are really bad, thinks
Jack.

For Bob:

Bob doesnt like carrots and he doesnt like fruit. No carrots for
Bob, no way. No bananas, no apples, no dates, no mangos for Bob.
No fruit at all. But he really likes ice cream, yummy yummy ice
cream, yes please! And he like fish too. He likes fish for dinner.
Especially fish fingers.

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2.2

Speaking and writing:

present continuous for now

Objectives

Grade 2 curriculum
standards 1.2, 4.2, 4.3,
6.1, 3.1, 3.3, 10.2

Use action verbs in the present continuous, third person singular and plural, to
talk about what people are doing now.

Complete a postcard by filling in the gaps with labels and tracing letters.

Presentation
Resources
Teachers resources 2.2a
and 2.2b
Vocabulary
(to) watch TV
(to) cook lunch
(to) fix a bike
Revision Vocabulary
(to) eat
(to) write
(to) play
(to) swim
(to) fly
(to) ride
(to) run
(to) sleep

Wordsnake

Pre-teach the new verbs. Revise the old verbs. Call out the verb in Arabic and get
the students say the verb in English. Call out the word in English and get the
students to mime it. Copy the wordsnake (teachers resource 2.2a) onto the board
or present it as a poster. Tell students to find as many words as possible in the
wordsnake. Give them coloured board pens and ask them to take it in turns to come
to the front and circle any word they can see in the snake. Each time a new word is
circled, write it out on the side of the wordsnake in a list for the students to see.
When theyve circled a word, have them pass the pen on to another student to find
and circle another word. For further participation, you can nominate students to
find a particular word in the wordsnake.
Maysa, show me where swimming is.
Hadeel, show me where riding is.
Answer key
eat, eating, writing, swim, swimming, fly, flying, cook, cooking, play, playing, run, running, fix,
fixing, watch, watching, riding

Picture presentation

Show students an enlarged version of the picture on teachers resource 2.2b.

Elicit everything that is going on in the picture, by pointing and asking questions.

Whats he doing?

Whats she doing?

Whats this boy doing?

Whats the old woman doing?

Whats the cat doing?

What are they doing?

What are the old people doing?

Etc.

After each elicited answer, get the students to repeat the sentence in English.
Hes cooking.
Shes riding a bike.
Theyre watching TV.
Hes flying a kite.
The cats sleeping.
Etc.

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Practice
Resources
Teachers resource 2.2b

True/false repetition drill

Using teachers resource 2.2b, make statements about the picture. If the statement
is true, tell the students they must repeat it. If the statement is not true, tell the
students they must stay silent.
Teacher says

Students do

The cat is sleeping.

repeat

The boy is flying a kite.

repeat

The mouse is sleeping.

stay silent

The mouse is eating.

repeat

The old people are watching TV.

repeat

The womans fixing a bike.

stay silent

The womans writing a letter.

repeat

Some girls are running.

repeat

Two boys are playing football.

repeat

A boy is riding a bike.

stay silent

A girl is riding a bike.

repeat

An old woman is cooking.

stay silent

An old man is cooking

repeat

Picture drill

Point to a person or persons in the same enlarged picture (teachers resource 2.2b)
and get the students to tell you what theyre doing, with no oral prompts from you.
Then have students practise the question form.
Model question:

Whats he doing?

Model question:

What are they doing?

Model question:

Whats the boy doing?

Model question:

Whats the woman doing?

Model question:

What are the old people doing?

Etc.
Put the students into two teams and get them to take it in turns to ask and answer
questions about what is going on in the picture. The first team asks, the second
team answers. In the next turn, the second team asks and the first team answers,
and so on. For each correct question they get a point, for each correct answer they
get a point.
Put students in pairs and get them to ask and answer questions about the picture in
the same way as they did in teams, but with no scoring. Monitor, help and correct.

Production
Resources
Teachers resources
2.2c(i) and 2.2c(ii)
Word cards
Worksheet 2.2

Gap-fill writing

Stick an enlarged version of teachers resource 2.2c(i) on the board. Before

reading the gap-fill text with them, get students to tell you what they can see in the
surrounding pictures.
Tom is writing the letter.
His mum and dad are cooking.
His brother is playing football.

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His granddad is fixing a bike.

His sister and her friends are swimming.
Read the letter aloud with the students and pause at the gaps. Elicit what verb
should go in the gap by pointing to the relevant picture and get students to choose
from a set of word cards made from teachers resource 2.2c(ii) the correct one.
Have them come to the front and stick the word card in the gap.
Read the completed text together and get pairs to read the text aloud to each other.
Give students worksheet 2.2 and get them to trace and write the -ing on the end
of all the verbs marked. Monitor to help students with their writing. Check
comfortable posture, pen grip, direction of letters, letter formation.

Feedback

Summary for students

In Arabic
Today we talked about what people are doing. Can you remember what some of
the people are doing in the first picture? Tell me in English. And in the letter? Tell
me in English. We practised asking and answering questions about them.
We also practised writing three letters. Which three?

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2.3

Reading and speaking: The

cat and the cockroaches

Objectives

Grade 2 curriculum
standards 1.2, 3.1, 3.3,
4.3, 8.2, 8.3

Read a short picture story and answer questions about the main ideas and
details.

Re-tell the story in the simple present tense.

Pre-reading
Resources
Teachers resource 2.3,
cut into cards; one set
per group.
Vocabulary

Rub out and remember (Arabic and English)

Pre-teach the new vocabulary and elicit the revision vocabulary from the Arabic.
Write the words on the board. Get the students to remember/read the words aloud
with you as you point to them. Continue to point and get the students to
remember/read the words aloud to you, but start to erase the words or parts of the
words, eventually leaving only the initial phonemes.

window
cockroaches
(to) throw out

w_____

o___

c__________

sh _ _

Revision vocabulary

th _ _ _ o _ _

t___ t_

open
shut
(to) talk to
(to) help

h___

When all the words have been reduced in this way, point to each one in turn and
get students to remember and tell you what they are. Fill them in again once the
students have named them correctly and check students remember the meanings.
Picture description

Tell students they are going to read a story but first they are just going to look at
the pictures from the story. Show them the pictures, enlarged from teachers
resource 2.3, in random order. While you are doing this, elicit what is going on in
each picture. Use Arabic or English, depending on the level of the class.

Can the cockroaches get in? Do they like the fish? Are they clean? Do they
make the fish clean? [Picture 3]

Does the woman eat the fish? Why not? What does she do with it?
[Picture 5]

Does the cat eat the cockroaches? Do the cockroaches like the cat?
[Picture 2]

Is the woman happy? Does she like the cockroaches? Does she want the
fish? [Picture 4]

Is the cat happy? Why? [Picture 6]

Is the cat happy? Can he see the fish? Can he get the fish? Why not?
[Picture 1]

Ordering

Put students into groups of four. Give each group a set of cut-out pictures made
from teachers resource 2.3. Tell students to put the pictures into the right order to
make a story. Let students order their pictures and then, from the order they have
decided on, ask them to predict (in Arabic) how the story goes. Dont correct any
wrongly ordered stories and encourage different groups to come up with different
possible sequences.

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While reading
Resources
Worksheet 2.3

Shared reading

Hand out worksheet 2.3. Read the story aloud all the way through and get students
to correct the order of their pictures. Ask students to come up and stick the
enlarged pictures in order on the board. Make sure everyone agrees on the order
and understands why.
To check understanding, ask the following questions in Arabic.

Is the cat clever? How do you know?

Why does the woman throw the fish away?

Read the story aloud again, and ask students to follow the text with their finger as
you read. Stop at key words and phrases, pre-taught words and CVC words. Get
students to read these words and phrases aloud for you.
fish, cat, wants, shut, cant get in, get the fish, can get in, run, sees, Oh no!, she
doesnt want the fish, the cat gets the fish
As you move on to each new picture, ask students to point to where you are in the
text. Ask them what is happening in the picture and try to elicit their answers in
English. Also point to the speech bubbles and ask
What does the cat say?
What does the woman say?
Get students to reread the story in their groups, taking it in turns to read aloud.
Monitor and help with individual reading.

Post-reading
Resources
Teachers resource 2.3

Picture drill

Use the enlarged pictures from teachers resource 2.3 as picture cue cards. Elicit a
simplified version of the story with each card.
Help me
get the
fish

The cat wants the

fish.

He talks to the
cockroaches.

The cockroaches run

all over the fish.

She throws the fish

out.

The cat gets the fish.

The cat is happy.

Oh no!

The woman doesnt

want the fish.

Elicit and drill these simplified sentences, building them up one at a time into the
story. Get students to re-tell the story in their groups without reading it. Each

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student tells one or two pictures and then the next person in the group continues.
Monitor, help, elicit, correct. Assess individual students progress.

Feedback

Summary for students

In Arabic
You can use the pictures to help you understand the story and you can put the
pictures in the right order.
You can read and understand the story of the Cat and the cockroaches.
You can tell the story again without reading.

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2.4
Objectives
Grade 2 curriculum
standards 1.2, 4.2, 5.2,
6.6, 6.8

Presentation
Resources
Teachers resources 2.4a
and 2.1
Vocabulary
chocolate
sugar
cakes
sweets
Revision vocabulary
ice-cream
dates
apples
bananas
mangos

Speaking: Polite requests

Please can I have some ?

Make and respond to polite requests with Please can I in a shopping context.

Begin to distinguish between countable and uncountable nouns.

Build and revise food vocabulary.

Slap the board

Pre-teach the vocabulary in the context of a sweet shop. Use pictures from
teachers resource 2.4a. Stick the pictures at random on the board some low,
some high. Select two teams of five to stand behind a starting line on the floor
about two metres from the board. Get the first member of each team to approach
the starting line. Call out one of the new words (e.g. chocolate). The first student to
slap the correct picture on the board wins a point for their team. The winner goes to
the back of the line and the loser goes back to his or her seat and is replaced by
someone new from the class. The next couple step up to the starting line and the
teacher calls out another word (e.g. sweets). Once the class sees how to play the
game, get students who are not in either team to call out the sweet shop words.
Continue playing until everyone has had a go or the vocabulary is thoroughly
practised. The team with the most points wins.
You may want to add more picture cues from, teachers resource 2.1 for a more
challenging game.
Set the scene

Tell students theyre in a sweet shop. Elicit which things they like and want. Tell
them they must ask the shopkeeper nicely for the things they want.
Teach them they must start their request with Please can I have some
Presentation rhyme

Teach students the rhyme.

You can use only one verse if you need to shorten the input.
Verse 1
Please can I have some candy?
Please can I have some sweets?
Please can I have some chocolate?
Please can I have some treats?
How much is the candy?
How much are the sweets?
How much is the chocolate?
How much are the treats?
Verse 2
Please can I have some sugar?
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Please can I have some cakes?

Please can I have some ice cream?
Please can I have some dates?
How much is the sugar?
How much are the cakes?
How much is the ice-cream?
How much are the dates?
Divide the class into two and get half the class to do the Please can I and half
the class to do the How much Use the picture cues in order from teachers
resources 2.1 and 2.4a to prompt the students.

Practice
Resources
Teachers resources
2.4a, 2.1a, 2.4b

Picture drill

Use a mixture of picture cues from teachers resources 2.4a and 2.1 and drill the
polite request Please can I have Do the first couple of cues with the whole class
repeating chorally and individually. Then move on to a one-cue-card-one student
format, mixing the cue cards and getting weak students to say known sentences,
more able students to say new sentences.
Teachers cues

Students say

chocolate

Please can I have some chocolate?

sugar

Please can I have some sugar?

sweets

Please can I have some sweets?

cakes

Please can I have some cakes?

dates

Please can I have some dates?

apples

Please can I have some apples?

bananas

Please can I have some bananas?

mangos

Please can I have some mangos?

Teach students the polite response Of course. Here you are and get them to practise
request and response, first in open pairs, then in closed pairs. Stick all the picture
cues on the board so that students can work through several exchanges
independently while you monitor and assist weaker students.
Teachers cues

Student pair work exchange

chocolate

A: Please can I have some chocolate?

B: Of course. Here you are

sugar

A: Please can I have some sugar?

B: Of course. Here you are.

sweets

Etc.

cakes
dates
apples
bananas
mangos

Go shop

Keep students in pairs and give each pair a set of Go shop cards, made up by
photocopying the playing-card sized drawings on teachers resource 2.4b onto
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card and cutting them up. Photocopy the resource four times for each complete set
so that in every deck of cards there are four of everything, as in a pack of cards.
Use one pair of students to demonstrate the game, and get the others to stand
around and see how to play it. Tell the students the aim is to get as many pairs as
possible. Shuffle the cards and deal four to each player. Put the rest of the cards
face down in a pack on the table between them. Show them how to put their cards
into pairs, depending on what theyve got in their hand. The one who starts asks the
other, Please can I have some ? The other player must hand over that card if they
have it, saying, Of course. Here you are. If not, they reply, Sorry. Go shop. and the
requester must take the top card from the pack. Each time a player makes a pair,
they place them down on the table. The one with the most pairs at the end is the
winner.

Production

Roleplay

Build the following dialogue with the students, with half the class as the
shopkeeper and half the class as the customer. Get them to swap roles, then
practise in pairs.
Customer:

Please can I have some ice cream?

Shopkeeper: Of course. Here you are.

Customer:

How much is it?

Shopkeeper: Three riyals.

Customer:

Here you are.

Use real food stuffs, or the pictures from the teachers resources to set up a shop.
Put some prices on price tags on the items show students your price tags and
make sure they can read the prices aloud in English. Elicit from the students what
sort of things they want to buy in your shop. Tell them to choose different things
from the dialogue they just practised. Practise How much is it? and How much are
they? with the things they choose. Demonstrate a new dialogue based on the first
dialogue, with one good student. Be the shop keeper and let the student be the
customer. Add some other words like Hello. Can I help you? and Anything else? or
Do you like apples? Theyre very good today etc. to signal to students they can go
beyond the frame if they want or are able.
In pairs, get students to practise their own new dialogue. Get one or two pairs to
come to the front and do their roleplay for the whole class. Correct any mistakes
with positive reinforcement after they have finished their roleplay.

Feedback

Summary for students

In Arabic
Establish that its important to ask for things you want politely. Teach students that
they must always be polite in shops with sales assistants because thats the custom
in English-speaking countries. Elicit the phrase Can I please for polite requests
and Of course. Here you are for the polite answer.
For uncountable things like sugar, chocolate, ice cream where theres too much
to count each little bit of it we say How much is it? but for the things we can
count like five mangos, three bananas, two apples, ten sweets we say How
much are they?.

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