Grade 1 ESL Flashcards: Food and Drinks — 12 Picture Cards + Word Cards

How to Present

• Print the A5 cards (2 per A4 page) on card and cut on the dotted line. Each card shows FOOD or DRINKS at the top for sorting. Use them to present the words, for fast drills, the Class Café and games. Cut out the word cards for matching and reading games.

Games & Speaking Activities

• Food or Drink? Children stick the cards under FOOD or DRINKS on the board.
• Picture–word match: hand out pictures and words; children find their partner.

Teacher Tips

Listen for four mistakes that are very common in Asian classrooms: "I like eat rice" (say "I like rice."), "I no like fish" (say "I don't like fish."), "Yes, I like" (say "Yes, I do.") and "a rice / a juice" (no "a" before rice, water, milk, juice or tea). Correct by recasting, not by stopping the child: repeat the sentence correctly with a thumbs up, and the child copies you. Also teach "please" from day one — in many Asian languages politeness is in the tone or a particle, so "I want juice" feels polite to the child but sounds rude in English.

Learning Objectives

• Name and write 12 foods and drinks: rice, noodles, bread, egg, chicken, fish, apple, banana, water, milk, juice, tea.
• Sort words into food and drinks.
• Say and write "I like ___." and "I don't like ___."
• Ask and answer "Do you like …?" – "Yes, I do. / No, I don't."
• Say "I'm hungry." / "I'm thirsty." and order politely: "I want ___, please."
• Read a short text (Mia's Lunch) and answer simple questions.

Differentiation

Support: Start with 6 words (rice, noodles, egg, apple, water, milk) and add the rest in Lesson 2. Let children point to a picture and answer with one word before you model the full sentence. Give sentence strips ("I like ___." / "I don't like ___.") with picture cards to place in the gap, and pair a confident child with a quieter one for the Café role play.

Extension: Add "and" and "too": "I like rice and chicken." / "I like fish, too." Ask "What do you want for breakfast?" and have children write 3 sentences about their family's favorite food from the homework survey. Strong readers can read Mia's Lunch aloud to the class and write a new ending.

Assessment

Hold up a card and ask one child "What's this?" and "Do you like it?" — a quick one-to-one check for the speaking rubric.

What's Included

• 12 A5 picture flashcards, 2 per A4 page (DOCX + PDF)
• 12 word cards on one page (DOCX + PDF)

Additional Files

• Grade 1 ESL Flashcards: Food and Drinks — 12 Picture Cards + Word Cards (DOCX)

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