Elementary Level

At elementary level your students should already be able to grasp the absolute basics but don’t get carried
away thinking you can present a lesson to them in the same way you would to an English native speaker!

Your students should hopefully be familiar with the subject pronouns and the verb ‘be’ in positive sentences
(I am, you are, he/she/it is…) but it’s always useful to do a quick recap. At this stage you can also introduce
whatever vocabulary theme you are linking the lesson to e.g. nationalities (I am English, you are Italian…) or
feelings perhaps (she is happy, they are tired…).

 Write "+" on the board and a variety of sentences with the verb 'be' using all the subject pronouns.
 Next to this list write " - " symbol and try to elicit from the class the negative equivalent of each
sentence, e.g:
+
I am English -
You are Italian I am not English
He is Scottish You are not Italian
She is French
 At this stage you can show the negative contractions, highlighting the fact that with every subject
pronoun except ‘I’ there are two possibilities (I’m not… compared to you’re not/you aren’t… etc.).
Get the class to practice writing a variety of sentences about themselves and other students to then
read aloud. Drill pronunciation.
 You can then introduce the question statements using a listening task where the students must
complete the gaps with the correct form of the verb be for example:

Teacher gives this instruction: "Listen and complete the dialogue"

Man: ____ you Scottish?

Woman: No, I’m Irish! Where ___ you from?
Man: I’m from the USA.
Woman: ___ he from the USA too?
Man: Yes, we ___ both from California.

 Elicit correct answers on the board then write:

 + You are Scottish
 ?Are you Scottish?
 Ask, ‘What’s the difference?’ Highlight the inversion of subject and verb using arrow symbols
 Again once the grammar point has been presented there are any number of different task-based
activities you can give to the class to ensure they have understood and to practice.