Checking in at the dentist’s office

Learn the basic vocabulary needed to check in with a dental receptionist

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Understanding grammar: The building blocks of language

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Lesson plan overview

Task	To learn the basic vocabulary needed to check in at a dentist’s office.
CLB level	CLB Stage I (CLB 1-3)
Delivery method	Online
Class size	10-15 students (vary the number of activities according to your class size)
Estimated time	1.5 to 3 hours (depending on whether you complete all parts of the lesson plan)
CLB Skills and Competencies	*Speaking:* Interacting with others Getting things done Sharing information *Listening:* Interacting with others Comprehending instructions Getting things done Comprehending information *Reading:* Comprehending information
Language focus	Learn the vocabulary needed to understand this topic. Complete the optional “Part B: Building Sentences” activities below to help your students move from understanding vocabulary to using that vocabulary to produce simple sentences. Use the appropriate grammar structures and vocabulary to respond personally to the reflection questions. (Encourage students to respond in full sentences.)
Cultural focus	Students understand the questions and answers expected and politeness formulas used in checking in at a dentist’s office in Canada.
Specific task learning objectives	Students will learn and use basic vocabulary needed to check in with a receptionist for a dental appointment. Students will watch, understand, and practice a role play.
ESL Directions original video (🎥) and audio (🔊) activities?	This lesson includes original video (🎥) and audio (🔊) activities.
Resource attribution	ESL Directions original resources are marked below with an asterisk (*). Feel free to use these, but please give credit to ESL Directions.

Part A: Vocabulary acquisition and practice
This is a self-contained, complete lesson plan (about 1.5 hours) focused on vocabulary.

Part B: Building sentences
Part B takes your students further by giving them some tools to build simple sentences (using the vocabulary they learned in Part A).

Use Part B (about 1.5 hours) if you want to focus on:

Sentence production.

Specific lesson-related grammar points. Note: Every lesson also includes similar practice exercises for subjects, verbs, and objects — the basic building blocks of most English sentences.

Part C: Reflection Questions
These topic-related discussion questions work at the end of either part A or B.

Lesson plan

Part A: Vocabulary acquisition and practice

Warm-up: Introducing the topic and defining our terms

Today, we’re going to learn some of the words you need to check in at a dentist’s office.

What is a dental receptionist?
What is an appointment?
What does checking in for a dental appointment mean?
What are some words you might say when you see a dental receptionist?

Skill-building activities

Vocabulary flashcards*
Listen to the vocabulary again* 🔊 (Pay attention to how to say the words and what they mean.)
Talking with the dental receptionist video* 🎥

Skill-using tasks

Assessment/review tasks

Part B: Building sentences

Find a list of all of the grammar-based activities on this website.

Introducing the topic

In this part of the lesson, we’re going to work on creating short sentences from the vocabulary we learned in Part A.

To help us, we’ll focus on:

Using the preposition “at.”
Present simple form of the verb “to have.”
Subject, verb, and object word order.

Skill-building and skill-using activities

Prepositions: Using the preposition “at”

Quick definitions: Prepositions and using the preposition “at”*
Practice using “at”*
Using the preposition “at” explainer* (A more detailed explanation that you can teach in class or send home with your students.)

Verb tenses” Present simple form of the verb “to have”

English uses verbs (action words) to talk about the past, present, and future.

Today, we’re going to talk about the present simple of the verb “to have.” This verb tense describes things that are usually true, happen often, or that are part of your daily life or routine.

Learn the present simple form of the verb “to have”* (Ask students to notice that “to have” is an irregular verb.)
Choose the right version of the verb “to have”*

Using the present simple tense of “to have” explainer* (A more detailed, general explanation that you can teach in class or send home with your students.)

Word order in English sentences

Today, we’ll look at three important parts of English sentences.

What is a subject?
What is a verb?
What is an object?

Let’s practice!

Quick definitions: Subjects, verbs, and objects*
Unjumble the sentences*
Create sentences in subject/verb/object order*
Subject/verb/object explainer* (A more detailed explanation that you can teach in class or send home with your students.)

Assessment/review activities

Checking in at the dentist’s office*🎥 (Watch a story using the lesson vocabulary and grammar points.)

Checking in at the dentist’s office: Reading passage and comprehension questions* 🔊 (Read the story, and identify the lesson’s grammar points.)

Part C: Reflection questions

What are three words or phrases that you learned today?
Who is the person who greets you when you arrive at the dentist’s office?
Do you usually speak with this person when you visit a dental or medical office? Does someone else help you with speaking?
How do you feel about going to the dentist for a check-up?
What is the person who cleans your teeth called?
Do you know what it means to pull up a dental chart?
Do you have dental insurance? How do you get dental insurance in Canada?

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