Free ESL lesson plan – Countable vs Uncountable Nouns
Topic: Countable vs Uncountable Nouns
Age: 15 -17 years
Length: 45 minutes
Language Skills: listening, speaking, writing, reading
Lesson Objectives: Students will be able to recognise and explain the difference between countable and uncountable nouns and use them correctly in a sentence. Refer to definitions of countable and uncountable nouns here.
TESOL Methodology: Eclectic Approach, pair work, noun card activity, pair work – macrologue, game, worksheet
Resources: Question cards, noun cards, handout, worksheet, crossword puzzle
Warm-up: Pair interview. Students are arranged into pairs. Teacher hands out two question cards to each pair. Each individual asks their partner both questions and the partner answers.
Handouts with descriptions of countable and uncountable nouns are distributed
The board is divided into two sides with the headings: countable and uncountable nouns. Noun cards are stacked next to the board.
Teaching 1: Explain that two students will be selected to read the definition from their handout of a countable and non-countable noun and then every other student will be asked to come to the board, pick a card from the noun card deck and place it under either the countable or uncountable noun heading.
Task 1: Selected student reads aloud the description of a countable noun. The next student reads the description of an uncountable noun. Another student goes to the noun cards and picks up the first card from the stack and sticks it under the noun heading of which they think it belongs.
Teaching 2: Macrologue – Ask the class to arrange themselves into pairs and to draw two big circles on a piece of paper. In one circle, write ‘countable noun’, in the other write ‘uncountable nouns’ and then ask the students to write as many countable and uncountable nouns they can think of using the nouns previously mentioned in the first task as a reference only.
Task 2: Students get into pairs and complete their macrologues.
Teaching 3: Let’s have a picnic game. Arrange students in a circle and explain that the class is going on a picnic and each person has to bring one or some items from each of the two noun categories using grammatical articles or quantifiers. Demonstrate the game eg. “Today I am going on a picnic. I will bring ____one apple and some money__’
Task 3: Students repeat the phrase filling in the rest of the sentence with a different countable and uncountable noun with their appropriate articles and quantifiers.
Follow-up: Ask students if they recognised a pattern in the plural forms or articles of each noun type. Worksheet with fill-in the blank, true or false questions and multiple choice questions
eg. Which statement is true of countable nouns?
a) A countable noun cannot be made into a plural
b) milk, bread, garbage are all countable nouns
c) an apple, two dogs, house are all countable nouns.
Homework: Crossword puzzle focused on uncountable nouns with clues (this is subject to cultural differences)
eg. White, liquid substance that can be used in tea or coffee. A carton of…
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