Grade 7 ESL Lesson Plan: Places in My Town and Giving Directions

Learning Objectives

• Students will be able to name at least ten places in a town from a map or picture.
• Students will be able to describe the location of a place using prepositions such as next to, across from, between, near, and on the corner of.
• Students will be able to give and follow a sequence of spoken directions using phrases such as go straight, turn left/right, and cross the street.
• Students will be able to write a short set of clear, ordered directions from one place to another.

Lesson Procedure

• Read through all three session sequences before teaching and gather the materials listed — the Vocabulary & Directions PowerPoint, Vocabulary Worksheet, Reading Activity, Map Information Gap Speaking Activity (Map A and Map B), Writing Activity, and Review Quiz all pair directly with this plan and share the same map and vocabulary. The three sessions can be taught on consecutive days or spread across a week; each stands on its own but references what came before.

Assessment

Use the accompanying Places & Directions Grading Rubric to assess vocabulary use, oral direction-giving, reading comprehension, and writing across the three sessions, and use the Review Quiz for a quick, independent knowledge check.

Differentiation

SUPPORT: Provide a printed word bank of places and direction phrases for reference during independent and writing tasks; reduce the number of directions required in the speaking and writing activities; model the first exchange of the information-gap activity individually before pairing the student with a partner.
ON-LEVEL: Complete all activities as designed, using the full vocabulary and direction-phrase set.
CHALLENGE: In the speaking activity, ask students to add estimated distances or walking times to their directions; in the writing activity, ask students to write and justify an alternative route to the same destination.

Classroom Activity Ideas

• Extend Session 2's speaking practice by having pairs who finish early switch partners and repeat the information-gap task starting from a different location than the one they used the first time.

Teacher Tips

The map's street names and layout are deliberately generic rather than tied to a real place, so every class can use it without confusion about local geography — introduce it as "an imaginary town" and let students enjoy the fact that no one in the class has a home-field advantage.

What's Included

• 4-page lesson plan (Lesson Overview, Learning Objectives, Materials, Key Vocabulary, three full session sequences, Differentiation, Assessment, Teacher's Notes)
• Editable DOCX version
• Print-ready PDF version

Additional Files

• Places in My Town Lessons Plan.docx

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