This lesson is intended for:

• Any level. We used this activity in an ESOL level 5-6 class.

The main goal of this lesson:

• Students will be able to recognize and describe the neighborhood around their school and the neighborhood they live in.

Materials:

• Teacher-made handouts of vocabulary words with pictures to accompany words.
• Teacher-made list of things to find outside in the neighborhood.

Step-by-step:

1. Teach students a list of vocabulary words. In our case, we focused on nouns, adjectives, and opposites: library, businesses, churches, schools, parks, streets, parking, handicapped, clean, dirty, safe, unsafe, etc.
2. Show pictures to accompany vocabulary words. After vocabulary words are taught, take students out side and lead a tour around the neighborhood. Teacher can ask individual students specific questions about the neighborhood to see if students understand and can recognize their new vocabulary.
3. On the following day, pair off individuals to work outside together.
4. Give students a list of things to find, and tell students they have a three-block radius to look in. Examples: How many churches are in the neighborhood? What street are they located on? Is there handicapped parking? What businesses are in the area? What services do they provide?
5. Have students return to the classroom and have each team write their findings on the board under categories such as buildings, churches, etc Have the whole class compare their findings in a discussion facilitated by the teacher.

Follow-up:
Students can be given a homework assignment to answer questions about their own neighborhood. For example, what kind of buildings are there? Who lives there? Is the neighborhood safe? The following day, ask students to use this information to write a paragraph about their neighborhood. Have them explain if it is a good neighborhood to live in and why. After students complete the writing assignment, they can share their information with their classmates. On the following day, students can type up their paragraphs on the computer.

This lesson was taught by Sr. Nancy Simonds, a teacher at Notre Dame Education Center in Lawrence, MA, where she has taught for six years. She can be reached at specndec@comcast.net