CELTA Lesson Plan
Week: 6
Day: Tuesday
Name: Michael Raikhlin
Time: 1pm
TP No.: 6
Date: 26.02.2013
Level: Upper Intermediate
Lesson type: Grammar – uncountable nouns. Speaking practice
Lesson aims:
 Main: To review and consolidate concepts of uncountable nouns
To give students controlled/further practice in this area.

Subsidiary :
To present and practise items of new vocabulary relevant to the lesson.
To model and drill correct pronunciation of this vocabulary
To provide speaking practice on the subject of transport and travel
Personal aims: (refer to previous feedback on your lesson)
To assess the level of the group
To think about how to stage a lesson in detail
Clear instructions
Use ICQs, CCQs
Reduce TTT, increase STT
Ensure even class coverage
Anticipated Learner Difficulties: (Think about difficulties with main lesson aims)
1. Grammar of uncountable nouns is subject to L1 interference
Length of lesson: 30 min
No. of hours taught (inc. this lesson): 3,5
Board Plan: Please use this space to show how you are going to use your board.
Please also attach all smart board slides.
Tuesday, 26.02.2013
1. Task 1. Choose the correct form
2. Vocabulary
C_ _ _ _ (‘a little bit of sanity and a lot of chaos’ – our life)
S_ _ _ _ _ _
S_ _ _ _
S_ _ _ _ _
3. Task 2. Write in groups a few uncountable nouns (have no plural) and a
few quantifiers. Collocate them together.
4. Task 3. Complete the sentences with one word in each space
5. Task 4. Discuss these questions in pairs.
6. Error correction. Feedback
Solutions: (Match a solution to each difficulty)
Pre-teach potential problem, revise concepts of abstract nouns, CCQs, clear
examples, (briefly compare countable and uncountable nouns or mention
‘partitive nouns’ , if necessary)
2. Different levels within the group
3. Within freer practice (speaking activity) students may use incorrect
quantifiers or even the indefinite article ‘a/an’ with uncountable nouns.
Students may also use incorrect form of the verb after uncountable nouns.
(Money are good for us.)
Assumed Learner Knowledge:
Students are expected to be familiar with the grammar of the subject.
They should be able to choose correct quantifiers for uncountable nouns in controlled
practice tasks.
Expand initial assessment, if necessary. Monitoring throughout the lesson.
Student-centred lesson with a lot of peer-support. (Pair weaker students with
stronger ones.)
Monitoring for following-up corrections, make sure sufficient time is available for
feedback and error corrections at the end of the lesson
Materials/Aids to be used (credit your source fully here and on any hand-outs)
Outcomes, Upper Intermediate, 2012, Cengage Learning EMEA, Hugh Dellar &
Andrew Walkley
Form of Target Language Meaning/function (in the context
Vocabulary or Structure (part of that you are teaching it)
speech, name of tense, analysis
of form of an example
sentence)
Chaos, noun uncountable
Scenery, noun uncountable
a situation where there is no order at all
and everyone is confused
The general appearance of a place. The
collection of features that make a
landscape look beautiful.
A spell (of weather), noun
countable
a period of time (often is used with
‘weather’ to refer to a specific period of
the local weather)
A stroke (of luck), noun
countable
The partitive noun for luck, a single
fortuitous event
To quantify , verb regular,
transitive
To measure or state the amount of
something.
Concept Check Questions
with answers
Pronunciation – phonemic script
transcription, word or sentence
stress, weak forms, intonation.
(Highlight any potential problems)
If trains are not running because of
maintenance work and the bus
replacement service is not
arranged, can you say that the
public transport services are in
chaos? (Yes) If your homework
tasks take you longer to complete
than you originally thought, can you
say that it is chaos? (No)
If someone asks you about the
countryside in your country, can
you say the scenery is beautiful?
(Yes) Is scenery one beautiful tree
or all the things you can see? (All
the things you can see)
If we had rain in the morning, than
the sun for the rest of the day, can
we say that we had two different
spells of weather? (Yes) Can you
use ‘a spell’ to mean ‘a piece of
weather’, e.g. a spell of rain? (Yes)
If I found ten pounds on the floor
when I needed to pay a ten pound
fee at my school would it be a
stroke of luck? (Yes) If I find ten
pounds in the street every day for a
month, is it a stroke of luck? (No)
If you have a house, can you
quantify its value? (Yes) If you
have a wife, can you quantify your
love for her? (No)
/ˈkeɪɒs/
/ˈsiːnəri/
/spel/
/strəʊk/
/ˈkwɒntɪfaɪ/
Stage/
Purpose
Procedure
Interaction
To ensure students
have the ability to use
correct quantifiers with
uncountable nouns and
understand that ‘U’nouns have no plural.
Say, now you are going to choose the correct option for each
sentence. Project sentences onto smart-board. Say, you have 1
minute to do it by yourself.
S
To check the level of
the group
Say, ‘Now you are going to explain to me why you have chosen
these options.’ Be personal and encouraging, use names,
ensure even class coverage.
Students try to explain. Project correct answers. Ask, ‘What do
uncountable nouns have in common? (no plural form) Verify.
‘Can you count information/ equipment in English?’ (No)
Time
Individua
l work/
1-2 min
Feedbac
k 3-4
min
To note errors for follow
up corrections.
Groupwork
To get students to pool
existing knowledge
3-4min
To encourage studentcentred learning.
ICQ: Are you going to work in pairs? (No)
Organise 2 groups. Say, ‘One group will write more examples of
uncountable nouns, e.g. accommodation, advice, behaviour,
chaos, experience, furniture, information, luck, luggage, money,
music, news, progress, scenery, traffic, trouble, weather, work,
peace, wealth, motivation, happiness. The other group will write
quantifiers that go with uncountable nouns, e.g. some, plenty of,
no, not much, not enough, a good/great deal of, hardly any, little,
more, less.
Elicit and board examples of each to check students have got
the idea.
SSS-T
SSS
SSS-T
Monitor discretely, suggest more examples if necessary.
Feedbac
k 2 min
Consolidate students’
knowledge of
countable/ uncountable
nouns & quantifiers,
drill tricky pronunciation
Practical
Gramma
r input
To give students
chances to further
develop the target
topic.
5-7min
Check what students have written. Project two columns (one
with ‘U’-nouns, the other one with corresponding quantifiers)
onto the smart-board. Say, now try to collocate them together.
Say, ‘Now let’s have a look at our sentences. In each sentence
try to replace an uncountable noun with a countable noun with
the same meaning. (Information - facts, equipment - tools,
research-searches (usually singular) – requests, enquiries.)What
quantifiers would you use there in each case? Students provide
examples:
Say, ‘Now let’s look at the word ‘information’ (for example) What
do we say if you want to talk about more than one of this noun?
For example, information from two places. Is it possible?
T-SSS
T-SSS
Introduce ‘partitive’ nouns, e.g. a piece, a bit, a unit, etc. (the
meaning - to split sth. abstract) Elicit more examples of ‘counting
the uncountable’ from students until they understand it. E.g. 2
blades of grass, a stroke of luck/ lightning (a flash), a spell of
weather, 3 loaves of bread, 5 claps of thunder, a beam of light, a
rasher of bacon, a fit of anger.
Preteaching
vocabula
ry / 2-4
min
To clarify the meaning,
to provide a model of
accurate pronunciation
Ask students when we use these nouns, and concept check;
‘can we say a piece of equipment?’ (Yes), ‘can we say a piece of
wine? (No)
T-SSS
Expected mainly to be covered in the previous sections, if not refer to the page 2 of this lesson plan
Pair work To provide controlled
practice in context
7-8 min
using correct
quantifiers.
To obtain evidence of
learning/ to consolidate
learning
Organise pairs. Ask students to work together and write one
word in each space.
SS
Model activity with a strong student if necessary
ICQ: Are you going to read all the sentences individually first or
work together on one sentence at a time? (together on one
sentence)
Project the task onto the smart-board. Write/ display correct
answers.
Pair work To provide freer
Organise different pairs. Say, now you are going to discuss
practice in context
these questions.
4-5
using correct quantifiers
Project questions onto smart-board. Ask, ‘When you discuss
and fluency practice
these questions what words will you practise using? (Quantifiers
To obtain evidence of
and uncountable nouns). Say,’ make sure you are using correct
learning
quantifiers with uncountable nouns’
To note errors for
follow-up correction.
SS
ICQs (if needed)
Are you going to be writing or speaking? (speaking)
Monitor discretely with a pen and paper noting errors in
grammar, word use and pronunciation.
Feedbac
k and
error
correctio
n/ 2-3
min
To bring the activity to a
close.
To elicit and board
corrections to errors
made in form, meaning,
phonology.
Write incorrectly used structures on the board; attempt to elicit
corrections from students. If time allows, invite them to go
forward and correct structures.
Board errors in pronunciation using phonetics, drill correct
pronunciation individually and chorally if necessary
If pressed for time, ask one or two important and feedback
questions and board one error in usage and pronunciation
respectively. If more time is available spend longer on this stage.
T-SSS