1
A1 Movers Speaking Part 1 – Describing Differences
Description
This lesson plan has been designed to help students prepare for A1 Movers Speaking Part 1 where
they describe differences. This lesson plan can be delivered face to face or online. The ‘online
options’ column gives teachers ideas about how the stages could be adapted for teaching online.
In this lesson students develop confidence responding to spoken descriptions of pictures before
describing them themselves and then finally, creating their own ‘spot the difference’ activities for
classmates. Further practice is provided with an additional A1 Movers Speaking – Describing
Differences task.
Time required:
40 – 60 minutes
Materials
required:
Pictures
Handout 1
Handout 2 (sample test)
Aims:
To review A1 Movers vocabulary.
To help students identify places, people and objects from a written description.
Procedure:
Lesson Stages
Online options
Welcome
Greet students and ask them how they are.
Ask your students to do this by
turning their microphones on.
Vocabulary challenge
Put students into groups.
Cover Pictures 1-8
with a sheet of paper, then when holding
them up (so all students can see them) slowly move the
covering sheet of paper to reveal a small part of a flashcard
image. Ask students to guess what the picture is.
Award points to the first group to guess correctly, repeat with
the other flashcard pictures.
Use your platform’s whiteboard
to display the picture – and a
drawing object to cover it.
Otherwise, print Flashcards
and
use another sheet of paper to do
this stage over your webcam
Listening actions
Display Pictures 9 and 10, side-by-side on the board.
Read the following descriptions to students. Ask them to:
• touch their left ear with their left hand if the sentence
Display the flashcard images on
a collaborative whiteboard (for
example,
https://jamboard.google.com/).
Demonstrate the actions with
2
describes Picture 9.
• touch their nose with their right hand if the sentence
describes
Picture 10.
• touch their head with both hands if the sentence
describes both pictures.
Descriptions:
1. There are fish in front of a rock. (Both)
2. There are 5 fish in front of a rock. (Picture 9)
3. There are 4 fish in front of a rock. (Picture 10)
4. A girl is in the sea. (Both)
5. The girl has a yellow watch. (Picture 9)
6. There are 2 bottles. (Both)
7. A girl is playing with a boat. (Picture 10)
8. The bottles are behind a rock. (Picture 10)
9. There is a whale. (Both)
10. There are two clouds. (Picture 10)
Choose a student to point to the objects described. Highlight
language used to describe the position of objects (in front of /
behind / next to).
your webcam. If your platform
enables students to safely use
their webcams, then ask them to
do so for this stage.
Otherwise, allow students to
follow along at home. Pause
and give thinking time before
showing the correct actions and
highlighting the relevant area on
your whiteboard.
Board slaps (listening race)
Draw a square under Pictures 9 and 10. Write “both” inside it.
Put students into teams. Ask them to choose team names.
Write these on the board. Choose one student from each team
to come to the board (try to choose students with a similar level
of English).
Demonstrate, then begin the activity:
Describe something in the pictures (reuse the descriptions from
the previous stage). Students try to win a point for their team
by being the first to slap the correct picture or “both”.
Award points to the first student who correctly slaps the right
picture. Change the students representing their team regularly.
Continue to display the
flashcard images on a
collaborative whiteboard (for
example,
https://jamboard.google.com/).
Put students into teams, giving
each a different colour.
Students race to circle the
picture you describe, winning a
point for their team. Repeat with
other pictures.
Now you do it!
Put students into small groups (3-5 students), giving each a
copy of Handout 1
.
Show students how to repeat the previous activity within their
groups:
Using Handout 1,
a student gives a description, while the
others race to slap the correct picture.
The first group member to win 3 points becomes the
‘describer’, and play continues.
Choose a strong student to turn
on their microphone and
describe something from one or
both of the pictures.
Other students race to say (in
the chat) which picture is being
described.
Make your own ‘Spot the difference’ activity (Optional
extension activity)
Arrange things from a pencil case (or other objects in the
Using your webcam, show
students some objects you have
3
room). If possible, take a photo of the scene.
Tell students to close their eyes as you (re)move a few
objects.
If possible, take a photo of the new scene,
Ask students to open their eyes and describe what has
changed. When they have identified all the differences, record
yourself describing them (with your phone’s voice recorder).
Ask students to describe what you just did (took ‘before’ and
‘after’ photos of a scene, before recording a description of the
differences).
Tell students they can make their own for (optional ‘fun’)
homework. Ask parents to send you their two photos to be
incorporated within the next class.
arranged. Give them 10
seconds to memorise the scene.
Turn off your webcam, change
the arrangement, and then turn
it back on again, asking for
suggestions about how it
changed.
Ask students to create their own
‘Spot the difference’ activity, by
taking two photos of a scene.
Ask parents to share the
pictures with you so they can be
added to a shared space, for
example a Padlet
(
www.padlet.com).
When complete, share the link
with students and ask them to
complete each other’s ‘Spot the
difference’ activities.
Exam practice
Provide additional exam practice with Handout 2. Put students
in pairs and ask them to take turns describing the differences
between the pictures.
Ask students to do this
individually, recording their
efforts (which can be shared
with the teacher and feedback
provided).
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Pictures
1
2
3
4
5
5
6
7
8
6
10
9
7
Handout 1 | Which picture?
both
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Handout 2 | Sample test
