Learn strategies for making small talk about the weather
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Lesson plan overview
| Task | To learn how to respond to some expected small talk questions about Canadian weather. |
| 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 how many parts of the lesson you complete). |
| CLB Skills and Competencies | Speaking: Interacting with others Sharing information Listening: Interacting with others Comprehending information Reading: Comprehending information |
| Language focus | Learn the vocabulary needed to understand this topic. Learn common small-talk phrases for four kinds of weather. Complete the optional “Part B: Building Sentences” activities below to help your students move from understanding vocabulary to using that vocabulary to create 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 will discuss cultural differences in small talk about the weather (e.g., the need for small talk at all, topics, etc.) |
| Specific task learning objectives | Students learn basic vocabulary and phrases for making small talk on a common topic (the weather). Students practice small-talk dialogues for four weather scenarios. |
| 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 practice small talk about four different kinds of weather.
- What is weather?
- What are some examples of different kinds of weather?
- What is small talk?
Making small talk about a perfect summer day
- Open the box* 🔊 (Ask students to explain what each phrase means.)
- Audio, role play, and comprehension questions* 🔊
- Unjumble*
Making small talk about a very hot day
- Open the box* 🔊 (Ask students to explain what each phrase means.)
- Audio, role play, and comprehension questions* 🔊
- Unjumble*
Making small talk about a rainy day
- Open the box* 🔊 (Ask students to explain what each phrase means.)
- Audio, role play, and comprehension questions* 🔊
- Unjumble*
Making small talk about a cold and snowy day
- Open the box* 🔊 (Ask students to explain what each phrase means.)
- Audio, role play, and comprehension questions* 🔊
- Unjumble*
Assessment/review tasks
- Making small talk about the weather (Listen to a video using these phrases in all four weather scenarios.) 🎥
- Putting weather phrases into categories*
- Small talk about the weather board game*
- Speaking cards* (Explain each phrase and the kind of weather it applies to.)
Part B: Building sentences
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 “it is” or “it’s” plus an adjective to describe the weather.
- Subject, verb, and object word order.
Skill-building and skill-using activities
Using “it is” or “it’s” plus an adjective to describe the weather
- Quick guide: “It is” or “it’s” plus an adjective to describe the weather*
- Let’s practice*
- “It is” or “it’s” plus an adjective to describe the weather* (A more detailed 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
- Neighbours make small talk about the weather*🎥 (Watch a story using the lesson vocabulary and grammar points.)
- Neighbours make small talk about the weather: Reading passage and comprehension questions* 🔊 (Read the story, and identify the grammar points.)
Part C: Reflection questions
- What are three words or phrases that you learned today?
- Why do Canadians talk so much about the weather?
- Do people in your home country talk as much about the weather?
- Why do people make small talk?
- Have you made small talk about the weather in English? How did that go for you?
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Kathy Garnsworthy, the creator of ESL Directions, is an ESL teacher, movie buff, constant reader, and former editor and communications pro. Now a graduate of the Teaching English as a Second Language program at the University of Manitoba and an ESL teacher in Edmonton, Alberta, she specializes in teaching online classes of beginner ESL students.
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