Countable-Uncountable Nouns & the use of some/any

Author(s):

Zoe Theodosaki

email: z.theodosaki@hotmail.co.uk

Student age/level:

9-11/ elementary

Lesson Duration:

45 mins

Learning Outcomes (list maximum four learning outcomes)

At the end of this lesson students will be able to:
discern which nouns are called countable and which uncountable, regardless of their mother tongue (i.e. include words like
homework, news, information etc)
use some and any properly in affirmative/interrogative/negative contexts (e.g. is/are there any?/ yes, there is/are
some?/ no there isnt/arent any)
create questions and answers using the verb have got together with some/any and countable/uncountable nouns
write a paragraph in which they will describe the contents of their kitchen using the above-mentioned pieces of grammar

Summary (describe in no more than 200 words the lesson process)

During this lesson the students will be presented the theoretical framework of use of countable & uncountable nouns, how these
are formed, how they operate in the context of various sentences and how they combine with adv some/any in affirmative,
interrogative and negative forms. After being given the theory, students will be able to practice the use of the above orally and in
writing.

Warming up/Introduction to the lesson (how will you create interest and introduce the new topic?) - Duration: 5 mins
The teacher brings a shopping bag (not plastic) and takes out one by one the contents of the bag exclaiming and explaining Look
what I have here! Eggs, nuts, milk, butter and sugar. I will make a cake with these! Teacher writes phrase on the board and asks
students to repeat several times, explaining unknown words if there are any. Also, teacher brings attention to the fact the some
words take s and some not, wondering why to create initial query.

Direct Instruction (how will you present the most important lesson information to your students?) - Duration: 20 mins
1.

Teacher has created a ppt. First slide shows a picture of a fridge shelf with six items: 1 egg, 1 apple, 1 orange, milk, juice,
butter. The items are also labeled on the ppt. The items appear one by one along with their labels.
2. Then, on clicking on each item, the item doubles so then we have: 1 eggs, 2 apples, 2 oranges, milk, juice, butter. So,
teacher asks students why this happens. Students try to formulate a rule to explain this phenomenon.
3. After they have attempted the rule, teacher gives the full rule on next slide.
4. Next slide shows a two-column chart containing the presented items and more items are added esp. the ones that are not
so easily predictable by greek speakers: hair, news, information, luggage.
5. Teacher presents on next slide the following phrases:
There is an egg in the fridge
There are two apples in the fridge.
There arent any bananas in the fridge.
There is some milk in the fridge.
There isnt any water in the fridge.
and asks students again to try and answer the following questions:
Where do I use a/an?
Where do I use some?
Where do I use any?
Students try to guess the rule according to the model phrases they are given. Subsequently, the teacher gives the full rule in the next
slide.

Guided/Independent Practice (what activities will you engage your students with? Describe step by step and be as specific as
possible) - Duration: 10 mins
Next slide presents a photograph from a supermarket shelf. Students are invited to work in pairs asking and answering Is there
any?/ Are there any.?
Alternatively, they can act-out role-plays where they are shop assistant and customer trying to buy sth Have you got any? Yes I
have some/one/two OR No, I havent got any

Assessment (how will you determine whether students met the learning outcomes?) - Duration: 10 mins
Students have access on individual PC and are asked to do the following online quiz http://a4esl.org/q/j/ck/ch-countnouns.html
which will also count their score in the end. Students with high score have fully understood which nouns are count and which are
not. Teacher should be there to explain unknown words.
Students are asked to take a photograph of a supermarket shelf OR their fridge OR a kitchen shelf at home and fully describe its
contents using There is/are.. The photo and the text should be emailed to the teacher/

Additional Resources (list any materials, software, websites, etc. to be used)

Resources and materials have already been presented and are here recapitulated as follows:
- ppt created by teacher
- PC for each students
- Shopping bag with grocery items
- Online quiz at http://a4esl.org/q/j/ck/ch-countnouns.html