Making Excuses:  Lesson Plan plus handout

Lesson Type: Conversation
Level: Upper Beginner

Language Focus: Excuses due to obligations
Aim: To teach students to make justifiable excuses stemming from obligations. To reinforce "can" and "have to" from previous lessons while creating a new application for their use as a team.

Materials: Attached hand-out.

Warm-up: Directed conversation. Find out what your students are doing for the weekend. If one is going to a movie, ask another if they are to. You're looking for someone to say that they aren't so that you can ask, "Why not?"

Intro.: There are different reasons people can't do something. Sometimes it's a lack of ability: "I don't have any money." Try to elicit an obligation: "I work on the weekend."

Lesson: Teach from the attached handout. Review abilities and obligations in the "can" and "have to" forms. Choral and chain drills work well with this handout. So does pair work. Let them ask one another questions about abilities and obligations and have them report back. The handout is designed for just that with a (Q)uestion, (A)nswer and (R)eport layout. Reporting is of course a great way to ensure students receive practice in the third person.
As always, be prepared to demonstrate the meaning of both "can" and "have to" even through those to segments of the lesson are likely review. "Have to" is likely best demonstrated in the context of "no choice."

Application: Do something controlled first. Try creating two teams and then placing two hats at the front of the room. Students come up in pairs and pull pieces of paper from the hats. The "A" hat contains suggestions, the "B" hat contains excuses. For example, student "A" pulls "Berlin, tomorrow" and creates a question: "Can you go to Berlin with me tomorrow?" Student "B" pulls "homework" and replies, "No, I can't. I have to do my homework." Make sure to jump in every once in a while and ask a third student to report on what he/she heard: "She can't. She has to do her homework."

Conclusion: Wrap it up with a few quick questions to confirm understanding by requiring excuses: "Can you cook me dinner after class?"

Comments: This isn't a very difficult lesson and it need not take very long. It can actually be used at the beginning of an unrelated class to simply review "have to" from a previous class. If that is the case, this handout and lesson can be completed in ten or so minutes. If you decide to use this for an entire class, be aware that they may get it quickly. Be prepared to expand the scope of the lesson if necessary. For example, you can introduce them to the difference between good excuses and bad ones.