Present Simple and Continuous- Create a Town
A LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS
Describing places with present tenses activities
Lesson Plan Content:
Present Simple and Continuous: Create a tourist town task
Worksheet 1 – Guess the tourist site
Try to find things in common between the area where you live and the area where your partner lives, e.g. shops, transport connections, types of buildings, and distance from the centre of town.
Are there any famous, historic or beautiful places near where you live? What would you say about them if you were showing them to a tourist?
Are there any tourist sites that you could give tourists a guided tour of? Which places would you choose? What would you say about them?
What do you know about these places?
- The Great Wall of China
- Big Ben – the clock tower of the UK Houses of Parliament in London and its famous bell
- The Taj Mahal – a tomb built for an Indian queen that looks like a huge white mosque
- The Eiffel Tower – the famous communications tower in Paris
- The Blue Mosque – the most famous mosque in Istanbul, near Aya Sofia and with a similar huge dome
- The World Cup Stadium in Seoul – where some 2002 World Cup matches were played
Match these descriptions to the places above.
A: “It is used for sports events once or twice a week”
B: “Hundreds of people are shopping, eating and watching movies in there now”
C: “The call to prayer comes from the four towers called minarets five times a day”
D: “Hundreds of people are climbing the stairs, and maybe 100 more are taking the lifts”
E: “The top viewing platform moves more than one metre when there is a strong wind”
F: “We can’t go in now, because people are praying”
G: “The clock rings four times an hour”
H: “It is striking twelve”
Which tenses are used above? What are the differences between the two tenses?
Make sure you have one of each tense for each thing above, then make similar sentences about the other places.
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Worksheet 2 – Design a town and tour
Design your own imaginary historic town and a tour of it, drawing the places on a map. Put six sights like those below into your town. As you decide on each sight, write one Present Simple sentence and one Present Continuous sentence that a tour guide could say as they show it to some tourists.
Suggested local sightseeing spots
Castle Moat River
Palace Mansion (Thatched) cottage
Clock tower Town hall Hotel
Railway station Natural history museum Local history museum
Department store Park Garden
Hot springs Church Cathedral
Monastery Abbey Mosque
Temple Shrine Holy site
Well City walls Aqueduct
Theatre Opera house Parliament/ Senate
Statue (Town) square Shopping street
Graveyard/ cemetery (Tree-lined) avenue A cobbled street
Bridge Botanical gardens Skyscraper
Pier Station Tower
Tram (= streetcar) Cable car Harbour
(Art) gallery Zoo Fountain
Casino Theme park Beach
(Open air/ antiques/ street/ flea) market
Ferris wheel (= big wheel, e.g. the London Eye)
Add some historical places that are no longer there and write sentences about them with “There was/ were… but now…”
Write about some changes to the historical places you decided on with the same language.
Change groups. Show your new partner your map and pretend you are taking them on a tour, including answering their questions.
Suggested Present Simple and Continuous questions for the tourists
- What __________________________________________ (those people do)?
- What time _______________________________________________ (open)?
- _______________________________________________ (open every day)?
- ____________________________________________ (people still live there)?
- How many people __________________________________ (visit every day)?
- How much ________________________________________________ (cost)?
- How many paintings _____________________________________ (in there)?
- Where __________________________________________________ (go to)?
- What ___________________________________________ (we look at) now?
Check how to complete the questions above with the answers or as a class.
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Suggested answers
- The Great Wall of China
No sentences included
- Big Ben – the clock tower of the UK Houses of Parliament in London and its famous bell
G “The clock rings four times an hour”
H “It is striking twelve”
- The Taj Mahal – a tomb built for an Indian queen that looks like a huge white mosque
No sentences included
- The Eiffel Tower – the famous communications tower in Paris
D “Hundreds of people are climbing the stairs, and maybe 100 more are taking the lifts”
E “The top viewing platform moves more than 1 metre when there is a strong wind”
- The Blue Mosque – the most famous mosque in Istanbul, near Aya Sofia and with a similar huge dome
C “The call to prayer comes from the four towers called minarets 5 times a day”
F “We can’t go in now, because people are praying”
- The World Cup Stadium in Seoul – where some 2002 World Cup matches were played
A “It is used for sports events once or twice a week”
B “Hundreds or thousands of people are shopping, eating and watching movies in there now”
What are those people doing?
What time does it open?
Does it/ is it open every day?
Do people still live there?
How many people visit every day?
How much does it cost?
How many paintings are there in there?
Where does it go to?
What are we looking at now?
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