E V E RY DAY L I V I N G LESSON ONE

INTRODUCING OTHERS

Lesson Length: 1.75 hours + Extension Activity

Vocabulary & Expressions: Greeting and Introduction Phrases: “Let me introduce you
to…” “I’d like you to meet…” “I know (him/her/them) from ____” “We used to____”
Language/Culture Point: Etiquette around introducing others
Objective: Students will be able to introduce their friends and family to others
Materials: Pictures of family and friends, realia that students bring to class

STEP 1: ACTIVATE BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

Time Frame Materials Teaching Strategies

15 minutes -  Pictures of family and friends - Authentic Materials

- Using Pictures
- Brainstorming

TEACHING ACTIVITY
1. Write a few questions on the board that you typically answer when you intro-duce
someone to someone else. For example:
What is their name?
How are you connected to that person?
What details do you know about that person?

2. Show students a picture of someone from your life, and introduce them to the class.
Include the answers to the questions on the board in your introduction. For example:

This is Christa. She’s my wife. We have been together for nine years.
OR
I’d like to introduce you to Helen. We work together at English Forward. She helps
to train instructors and make English lessons.
OR
This is Alexia. She’s my neighbor. We go to the park sometimes so that our children
can play together.

3. Have students then write the names of 3 people in their life. It can be any 3 people who
come to mind first. Tell them to think about answers to the questions on the board for
each person they think of.

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4. Once they have their answers, have students find one partner and tell them about
one of the people on the list and why they are important to them, using the example
sentences you used.

5. Bring the class back together for a brainstorming activity. Ask the students about the
people on their list. Imagine they came to class one day. What words or sentences
would they use to tell classmates who they are?

6. Write the various phrases on the board. Some examples are:

— This is my friend….
— I’d like to introduce you to…
— Hi Carla, this is my dad, Jack! Jack, this is my friend Carla.

7. Students may also include the reasons why these people are important. Write these on
the board, as well, as it will be used for introductions.

STEP 2: MINI-PRESENTATION WITH PROMPT

Time Frame Materials Teaching Strategies

10 minutes - Chalk Talk

TEACHING ACTIVITY
1. Tell students that today they will be practicing introducing others.

2. Do a Chalk Talk of 2 friends meeting for dinner. Be sure to include a portion of the
story when a third person comes in and one friend introduces them. You may want to
include some less common greetings that students need to gain famili-arity with.

Example story:
“Two friends, Mayra and Sara are meeting for dinner tonight. A couple that used to
live next door to Mayra comes into the restaurant.
When Mayra sees them, she says, “Well hi there! How are you all doing? Long
time, no see” and she gives them a hug. They say, “We are good! It is great to see
you Mayra! You look great!”
Mayra says, “This is my friend Sara. Sara this Tim and Jenny. They used to be my
neighbors.”
Sara says, “Oh, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Sarah Parker.”
Jenny says, “Nice to meet you too Sarah.”
Then Mayra sees one of her college professors enter the restaurant. He comes
over to say hi.
“Professor Smith, this is my friend Myra, and her friends, Tim and Jenny. Every-one,
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I would like to introduce you to Professor Smith from State University.”

3. Make sure students notice that one example is a friend, so we use the less for-mal
greetings, while the other is a professor, so we use the more formal intro-ductions.

4. Repeat the Chalk Talk and refer to the drawings as you repeat the story.

STEP 3: DISCUSSION AND COMPREHENSION CHECK

Time Frame Materials Teaching Strategies

5 minutes

TEACHING ACTIVITY
1. As a class, go back through the Chalk Talk and ask students about the words and
phrases they heard. Ask students specific questions, such as:

--Who is Sara? (Mayra’s friend)

--How does Mayra introduce Tim and Jenny? (“This is…”)
--How does Mayra know Tim and Jenny? (They were her neighbors)
--How does Mayra introduce her professor? (“I would like to introduce you to…”)
--Does Mayra hug her friends? Does she hug her professor?

STEP 4: HIGHLIGHT LESSON FOCUS AND MODEL TASK

Time Frame Materials Teaching Strategies

10 minutes - Q
 uestion Asking and
Answering

TEACHING ACTIVITY
1. Approach an advanced student and ask them a few questions that were addressed in
step 1, such as “Where are you from?” Where do you work?” etc.

2. After you “get to know” your student, approach another advanced student and
introduce the first student. For example, “Hi Carlos (name of student 2), this is my
friend Abraham. Abraham is in my English class. He is from Iran and works at Pizza Hut.
Abraham, this is my friend Carlos.”

3. Prompt student 2 to respond with something like, “Hi Abraham. It’s nice to meet you.”
Then prompt student 1 to respond with, “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

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4. You may want to write some sentence frames on the board before you continue to help
students understand the different pieces that will be included in this dialog.

5. For example: “This is….” “Let me introduce you to…, I’d like to introduce you to…., I know
him/her from _____, We used to _____”

STEP 5: GUIDED PRACTICE

Time Frame Materials Teaching Strategies

10 minutes - Q
 uestion Asking and
Answering

TEACHING ACTIVITY
1. Choose another student volunteer and model the introductions again. Start by asking
the student some questions to get to know them. Prompt them to ask you similar
questions.

2. Next, prompt 2 additional students to ask each other a few questions and get to know
each other.

3. Then, introduce your student to the other pair of students and demonstrate the
conversation and introductions. Have one student in the other pair introduce the other
to you and your student and continue introductions all around.

4. Then have 4 students demonstrate in 2 pairs. The order of introductions is not

important, but each student should practice introducing their partner to the other pair.

5. If students are struggling to come up with language, refer them back to the greetings
and introductions from Step 1 and to the sentence frames from step 4. Allow other
students to help those doing the role play.

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STEP 6: PAIR OR SMALL GROUP WORK

Time Frame Materials Teaching Strategies

30 minutes - Q
 uestion Asking and
Answering
- Games – Relay Race

TEACHING ACTIVITY
1. Put students in pairs and give them a few minutes to get to know each other.

2. Then each pair will find another pair and introduce each other. The order of
introductions is not important, as long as each students has the opportunity to
introduce their partner to the other pair.

3. When each set of pairs is finished introducing each other, have students find a new
partner - someone who was not in their original group of 4 - and practice again,
beginning with getting to know their partner, then finding another pair to practice
introductions.

4. If there is extra time, put students in groups of 3-4 for a relay race. Each group will take
their turn one at a time, while the rest of the class listens. Student 1 will stand up and
introduce student 2, who will introduce student 3, who will introduce student 4. Each
student should say 2 sentences about the other, including what they do, how they know
each other, etc. Give points for fluency and accuracy, perhaps have groups rate each
other to promote full class participation. The group with the most points wins.

STEP 7: HIGHLIGHT HOW ENGLISH WORKS

Time Frame Materials Teaching Strategies

10 minutes - Graphic Organizers

TEACHING ACTIVITY
1. Make 2 columns on the board, one for U.S. culture and one for students’ native cultures.

2. In the US column, write a few things that are common for US introductions, such as
making eye contact, giving a firm handshake, hugging friends. Ask students for other
ideas of things they have noticed.

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3. Then ask students how these are different in their country. Do they do the same things?
What is different?

4. Write the students responses in the columns for “Students’ Cultures” and write the
students country next to their response.

5. Acknowledge the students’ feelings about some of these cultural differences. If there is
time, allow them to practice a scenario again, focusing on the things that are specific to
US culture.

STEP 8: QUICK CHECK AND REVIEW

Time Frame Materials Teaching Strategies

10 minutes

TEACHING ACTIVITY
1. As
 students are leaving, ask them to introduce another student in the class to you. Make
sure they include at least 2 sentences, such as how they know the person, what they do,
etc. Example: “This is Maria. She is a friend from my English class.”

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EXTENSION ACTIVITY: SHOW AND TELL

Time Frame Materials Teaching Strategies

Varies - R
 ealia that students bring: - Authentic Materials
pictures, cd’s, magazines, etc.
with famous people from their
country

TEACHING ACTIVITY
1. Have
 students bring in a picture or other media (CD, picture from a magazine or
newspaper, or even a picture on their phone) about a famous person from their culture.

2.Give students time to write a few sentences from step 1 about that person.

3. Put students into pairs and have them practice introducing the person to a classmate.

4. O
 nce the students have practiced, have them introduce that person to the whole class.
Challenge more proficient students to go into more detail about the person they chose.

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