This lesson was written for elementary school first graders as their introduction to numbers, 1 to 11, in English.
It's best to start the lesson with a review of the previous lesson. And since, in general, it's good to start with a greeting, a the teacher should begin with a hello. Assuming this is the lesson follows the ESL Basic Greetings Lesson, it would be a good idea to also review “How are you?” with students responding “I’m fine, thank you."
Teach 1-11
- The students should be instructed to repeat the numbers as the teacher counts from 1 to 11 in English: "One. (One.) Two. (Two.)..."
- Teachers are advised to prepare laminated cards, one for each number.
- It's best to use a chalkboard and have magnets on the back of the cards, attaching each number card to the board as the count continues.
Student Leaders
- The teacher should call on a student volunteer to read a number. If students appear to be entirely unfamiliar with English numbers, going in numerical order is the best method, allowing the student to repeat after the teacher.
- Once the student has said the number correctly, the student receives the corresponding number card and comes to the front of the classroom, facing the class. The process continues until all the numbers have been distributed.
- When 11 students, are standing at the front in numerical order, these students should lead the class, shouting the numbers so that the whole class can repeat.
- Once the students have lead the class, they can give their numbers to other students who want to lead, repeating the process until most or all of the students have lead the class.
Missing Number Game
- Once all the students are seated following the leader activity, the teacher should arrange the numbers on the board randomly.
- The class practices a few times as the teacher points to the numbers, in random order, for the students to read.
- The teacher then says “Good night” and pretends to put his head on his desk. As necessary, the teacher introduces the meaning of "Good night," in the students' native language. The goal is to get all students with their heads on their desks.
- With no students looking, the teacher chooses one number and hides it.
- The teacher should then say “Good morning!” (explaining the as necessary) to get the students to wake up and look at the board .
- Students raise their hands when they realize one number is missing. If they need a hint, the teacher can show part of the hidden card.
- The first student called upon who correctly says the missing number, in English, gets to come to the front, while the teacher and class applauds.
- The teacher replaces the number, and, together with the student, says “Good night.”
- When the students put their heads down, the student at the front chooses a number to hide.
- The student calls upon one of her classmates, continuing the game.
- After a few tries, two students can pick numbers to go missing.
Goodbye
- If time remains, students have learned enough numbers to play a game of 3-by-3 Bingo in English, choosing their own numbers while the teacher reads them.
- When class time expires, the teacher should tell the students "Goodbye," having the students return the goodbye.
The teacher should then be able to leave the classroom with the satisfaction of thoroughly teaching the students 11 very useful words using a simple game (or games) that can be fun for both elementary school students and teachers alike. The number vocabulary is an excellent base to build from, to be used and expanded upon in subsequent lessons.
The copyright of the article ESL Basic Numbers Lesson in ESL Programs/Lessons is owned by Kyle Timmermeyer. Permission to republish ESL Basic Numbers Lesson in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
