Lesson Plan: The Birthday Party

Lesson Level: Grade 7,8 Duration 45 Minutes

Lesson Title: The Birthday Party

Grammar and Vocabulary

birthday, party, surprise party, birthday present, birthday cake, birthday boy/girl, birthday card

Lesson Objectives

To develop vocabulary for birthdays. group activity to develop language for collaborative activity (planning a party)

Materials Required

Dialogue¹

Preparation

Prepare dialogue.

Procedure

1

Explain that this lesson is all about birthday parties.

Ask class what they know about birthday parties and if Chinese traditions are the same as in the west.

Elicit the vocabulary items (see above) and put on board and explain.

2

Choose one boy and one girl to read the dialogue. Tell rest of class to listen carefully.²

Toss ball around class and ask questions about the dialogue.

Why do Jack and Laura want a party?

Whose birthday is it?

Where is the party?

What will they eat?

What will they drink?

Why can't the party be in the morning?

Why can't the party be in the evening?

How many people can they invite?

3

Ask class for ideas about what they need to do to plan a party.

Elicit and write on board.

Plan the food

Plan the drink

Plan the venue (explain venue or use “place” instead)

Plan the music

Plan the games

Plan who to invite

Choose a time

Write the invitations.

4

Put class in groups of four to six.

Each group must plan a party.

They need to say whose birthday party it is and then make a plan according to the list on the board.

5

Elicit feedback

Use ball toss and ask each group some questions about their party.

6.

Extension task.

In groups tell every student to look at the other people in the group. They must think of a birthday present for each person and write it down.

When they have written it down they must tell the others what they bought.

They should ask if they are happy with their present, and find out why (or why not.)

Notes

1.

This is a sample dialogue that I use.

Jack	It's John's birthday next Sunday.
Laura	I know. Let's have a surprise party for him.
Jack	That's a great idea. Where shall we have it?
Laura	I'll ask my mother if we can use our apartment. I live very near to the birthday boy.
Jack	OK what kind of food do we need?
Laura	Birthday cake, biscuits, chocolate. And to drink we need juice and Coca Cola.
Jack	Don't forget ice-cream. John loves ice-cream.
Laura	We can get blueberry ice-cream. It's his favourite.
Jack	When shall we have it?
Laura	The afternoon is best. He plays football in the morning and we can't do it too late because we have school on Monday.
Jack	OK. We can invite about ten people. They can each bring a small birthday present and a birthday card. Who shall we ask?
Laura	Well, there's Susie and Julie, Mike and Ted...

2. 

It is helpful to print enough copies of the dialogue to hand out so that they can follow it. This may not be possible with large classes.