Lesson: Giving Directions

Level Beginner, Elementary

Lesson Focus Speaking, Listening
Objectives Students will be able to ask where somewhere is.
Students will be able follow basic directions.
Students will be able to give basic directions.
Assumed Knowledge Common locations in a town.
Vocabulary Where is the (place name)?
Go straight.
Turn left/right.
On Board Lesson title.
Key expressions for the lesson.
Draw basic map if you dont have a projector (use the one provided
or draw your own).
Materials Map, directions flash cards (go straight, turn left/right), large
places flash cards, information gap worksheets (A and B), small
places cards (one set of places per team), blindfolds/scarves (one
per team)
Classroom Set-up Desks in rows or in groups of 4 will both work well for this lesson.
Warm up exercise Show the map on a projector or alternatively draw it on the board.
(Time: 3 minutes) Ask students Where is the(bank, school, etc)?. Ask for a
volunteer to come to the board and point to it. Do this a few times
to check students understanding of place names.

If a student is confident enough, they can ask the rest of the class
the question and choose one of their classmates to come and point
to the correct place.
Presentation 1. Check students know which is left and right. Ask them to raise
(Time: 5 minutes) their left/right hand a few times. (Tip: to help students remember
which word is which, they can hold their arms straight out in front of
them and bend their wrists so the back of their hands are facing them.
Then with the fingers together they should move their thumbs out. The
left hand will make a capital L shape)
2. Make sure students understand Where is the ..?
3. Create a starting point on the map on the board. Hold up a flash
card of a place. Students ask Where is the ? and they say the
place on the card you are holding up. Give the answer, for
example Go straight and turn left. As you give the answer show
the corresponding flash cards. Have the students repeat a few
times while you use the map to show the directions.
4. Repeat the activity above, but students must say if your answer
 is true or false. Do this a few times until you are sure the
students understand the three key expressions: go straight, turn
left and turn right.
Practice 1. All of the students stand up behind their desks. Tell them to
(Time: 15 minutes) turn left or right. You should mix this up so you arent just
alternating being left and right to make sure the students
actually understand the directions you are giving them. (2
minutes)
2. Find the game: You can keep the desks the way they are for
this game. One student should go outside of the room. Decide
which of the students still in the class will be the place (bank,
school, etc). Make sure all of the students know who it is. Then
the student comes back into the classroom. Show them the
correct flash card (bank, school, etc). They must ask the class
Where is the ..? Then the students should direct them by
shouting out go straight, turn left. When the student thinks
they are at the correct place they tap the shoulder of the
student they think it is. (3 minutes explanation, 10 minutes to
play)
If you have a co-teacher in the class, it would be great to model
this game with them. The students can then fully understand how
it is played.
After explaining the game, ask students comprehension questions
to make sure they understand. Examples: How many students go
outside?, What does the student ask when they come back in
the classroom?, What do the rest of the class say to the
student at the front of the class?
Production 1. Information gap: This is a pair game. Student A and Student B
(Time: 35 minutes) have a piece of paper with the same map on it, but they have
different places on each. Without showing each other their
paper (they could sit back to back), student A must fill in their
map with the missing places, by asking student B where things
are. Student B must do the same. When theyve finished they
should compare their maps to check they are the same. (10 mins)
2. Train game: Preparation Desks should be in a grid form (if the
students sit in pairs or fours the desk might already be in this
shape). Scatter the large places flash cards face up on the desks
randomly. Next to each large flash card put a stack of small
places cards, face down, all the same as each other, but
different to the large flash card (E.g. One large school card and
6 small bank cards). There should be enough small cards so each
team gets one. Students are in groups of 4.
 Game Each team makes a train. The front student looks at the
small place card given to them by the teacher, before putting
the blindfold on. No one else in their team must see the place
card. They ask their team Where is the ? The second person
gives directions. When they arrive at the correct place the first
student takes off their blindfold, gives it to the second student
and joins the back of the their train (keeping their small card).
The second student is now the first. They pick up a small card,
put on the blindfold and ask Where is the? Teams keep going
until the teacher stops the game. The team with the most cards
collected wins. (5 minutes explanation, 20 minutes to play)
Students must try to avoid crashing with other teams. If you
dont use many places, make the time limit short (5 minutes). You
can play a few rounds of this game, changing the place locations
each time.
An alternative to this, if you have too many students, is one team
playing at one time. You can give each team one or two minutes
each to see which team collects the most cards.
Consolidation Using the map on the board, one student describes how to get to a
(Time: 2 minutes) place and the other students should guess what the place is. The
student who guesses correctly can give directions to a new place.

Additional materials: Coin flick game Cryptogram

Unscramble game Word Search
Board game Crossword