Class Level: 1
Topic: Relationships
Estimated Class Length: 3 hrs Date:
Lesson Objectives:
 Describe one’s own family
 Ask coworkers about family members
Language Skill Proficiency:
Materials and Equipment:
 Speaking
 Ventures Basic books
 Listening
 Basic Oxford Picture Dictionary (red)
 Reading
 Teacher’s personal pictures of family
 Writing
(printed out or displayed on projector)
 Cut-up family member cards worksheet
 Family Chart worksheet
Activity Plan
Warm Up: Welcome Ss to class (“Good morning” or “Good evening”, “How are you?”). Ask “How
many Ss are in class today?” and count as a class. Review Ss’ names, emphasizing “his” and “her.”
Review today’s date. Write date in both long (September 1, 2015) and short (9/1/15) form and review
meaning and pronunciation. Review alphabet and consonant sounds of M, F, S, B, G, D, H, W, and vowel
sounds /short a/ and /short u/ with flashcards or alphabet on the board.
Introduction: T holds up pictures of family or displays digitally. Say, “This is my family. Today we are
going to look at family members.” Show self in picture. “This is me.” Show other members of family:
“This is my husband/wife/father/mother”, etc. Ask yes/no questions when pointing to pictures: “This is
my daughter.” (Yes/No.) Repeat with all family members. Then ask Ss to orally identify family members.
Ask, “Who is he?” (“Father”) with all members.
Presentation: On Ventures book p. 32 look at picture of birthday party. Ask Ss, “Tell me about this
picture.” Elicit known vocabulary words. Introduce “party,” “cake,” “balloons,” and “presents.” Ask Ss to
identify/point to each family member as T calls out. Then have Ss practice identifying family members in
pairs, one S pointing and the other saying the word.
Point to the mother. Ask Ss, “Who is she?” Elicit “mother.” Say, “Mother. Mmm mother. What letter
does ‘mother’ start with?” Elicit “M.” Write “mother” on the board, emphasizing the /m/ (this will help
literacy Ss connect /m/ with “mother” even if they can’t read the entire word yet). Continue with
daughter, father, grandfather, grandmother, and son. After writing the words on the board and drawing
attention to the spelling of them, ask Ss to write the words in their notebooks. (Literacy Ss can just write
the first letter of each word.)
Presentation: Show another family picture of more extended family, uncle and aunt. Introduce: “My
sister has a son. I am the aunt” or “My father has a brother. He is my uncle.” Show pictures. Then draw a
family tree on the board. Individually, while drawing, explain the connecting lines used in family trees.
“This is my mother. This is my father. They have three children . . .” Introduce husband, wife, uncle, aunt,
brother, sister. Show how the lines connect. Ask “yes/no” questions about family tree. Ask Ss to identify
family members when T points to them.
Open Red OPD to Family. Explain the colored houses mean different people live in different houses.
Point to the little boy at the bottom of the page. Say, “This is Dan. This is Dan’s family.” Show how Dan
is related to each member of the family. Call out a name and have Ss say the number (i.e. “Sister” 
“#5”). Then say the number and have Ss say the family member.
Practice: In pairs or small groups, have Ss describe family in OPD. One S points and asks, “Who is
he/she?” The other Ss answer, “The son/daughter/sister,” etc.
Presentation: On Ventures book p. 34 look at posed family picture. Read names first. Ask, “Is he male or
female/a man or a woman?” Then explain relationships: “Point to Peter. Who is Peter? The grandfather.
Peter is married. He has a wife. What is his wife’s name? Olga. She is the grandmother... ” Continue with
all family members in picture. Ask yes/no questions about members of the family. Ask Ss, “Who is
Peter?” “The grandfather.” “Who is the grandfather?” “Peter.” Etc.
Point again to extended family members. Ask again for vocabulary words (husband, wife…). Say,
“Uncle. UNcle. UN-cle. What do you hear in ‘UN-cle’?” Elicit “/u/.” Show how /short u/ sounds in
English. Write “uncle” on the board. Continue with husband, wife, aunt, brother, and sister. Ss write these
words in their notebook. (Literacy Ss can write the first letter or complete a worksheet with missing
letters that they fill in.)
Activity: Pass out cut up cards of family members. One card will have “un” written on it. Its match will
have “cle.” Printed on card stock and cut in zigzags (like puzzle pieces) will increase durability and life of
cards as well as help Ss connect the words faster. Have Ss look at their card and try to think which family
member they have. Then stand up and find the match to the card. When the match is found, Ss write the
word on the board. Review words as a class.
Presentation: Ask a S, “How are you?” Elicit, “Fine, thank you.” Ask that S to ask another S in the class,
“How are you?” and have that s respond. Repeat (Ss asking Ss) several times. Return to first S. Ask,
“How is your family?” Elicit, “Fine, thank you.” (If needed, ask, “How is your family? How is your
mother? How is your father? How is your son?”) Practice. Repeat with other Ss. (If needed, review
conjugating “to be”: “How ARE you” vs. “How IS your family”.)
Show a picture of someone sick in bed. Say, “This is my son. How is he? Is he fine? Is he OK?” Elicit
“no.” Say, “This is my son. He is sick. He is NOT fine. He is NOT OK.” Repeat the word “sick.”
Pantomime coughing, shivering, or fever. “Sick. Not OK. Not good.” Write “sick” on the board.
Show a picture of someone smiling. Ask, “How is she?” Elicit, “Fine.”
Show a picture of someone sick. Ask, “How is he?” Elicit, “Sick.”
Show a picture of a child. Ask, “How old is he?” Answer, “6. He is 6.” Repeat with other family
members. Emphasize “How OLD is he?” Only answering “6” at this stage is fine, but higher Ss may want
to know, “He is 6/He is 6 yrs old” (but NOT “He is 6 years”!). Have Ss practice asking the question.
Note: Some Ss are not with their families. Some Ss have lost family members in wars; other Ss’ family
members can’t come to the U.S. for various reasons. T should be sensitive when asking about family
members, especially for Ss who come from war-torn regions of the world. If Ss get emotional during this
lesson, allow them to do whatever they need to-take a quick break or not participate until they are ready.
Practice: In pairs, Ss ask each other, “How is your husband?” and “How old is your husband?” Answer,
“Fine,” “OK,” or “sick” (higher Ss may want to know entire sentence: “He/She is sick”) and give ages.
Presentation: Show one picture of a married couple and another picture of a single person. Hold up
picture of married couple. Say, “They are married. Married.” Pantomime walking down the aisle, putting
on a wedding ring, humming the wedding march. “Married.” Point to the man. “He is married.” Point to
the woman. “She is married.” Hold up the picture of the single person. “Is he married? No. He is single.
Single.” Write “single” and “married” on the board. Practice pronunciation.
Evaluation: Pass out Family Chart worksheet. Practice asking questions. Then have Ss interview three
other Ss.
Extension Activities:
 Line-ups: Ask, “Do you have a sister? Do you have a brother? Are you married?”
 Class presentations. Draw a picture of your family or your family tree and introduce to the class.
 Complete the sentences, “(Anthony) is my father. (Kathy) is my mother” etc. and present to class
or small groups.
 Practice, “What is your father’s name?” “What is your sister’s name?”
 Practice, “My father is in the hospital. My brother is in school” in order to explain work absences.