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ESL Lesson Plan · CEFR A1

Adjectives Before Nouns and After Be ESL Lesson Plan (A1, 60 Minutes)

A complete 60-minute A1 lesson on Adjectives Before Nouns and After Be, built round the theme "My Home and My Things".

  • CEFR A1
  • 60 minutes
  • Teenagers and adults
  • Grammar
  • Adjectives and Adverbs
  • Adjectives Before Nouns and After Be

About this lesson

Who it is for. Beginners who know be, have got / have and basic nouns. They put adjectives after the noun (a house big), add -s to adjectives with plural nouns (bigs houses) and leave out be (My house very small).

Everything the lesson needs is on this page: the language analysis, the timed stages with the teacher's own words and instruction-checking questions, the differentiation, the printable handouts and the answer key.

At a glance

Level
CEFR A1 (Beginner)
Learners
Teenagers and adults
Length
60 minutes. For 45 minutes, run only "My home" of the two tasks in "Freer practice" and cut "Feedback and wrap-up" to board-based error correction.
Skills
Speaking
Language focus
Grammar: Adjectives Before Nouns and After Be, with Very (a big house, The house is very big)
Framework
PPP (presentation, practice, production)
Materials
Picture cards (houses, rooms, objects), Handout 1 (two houses), Handout 2 (practice), Handout 3 (describe and guess cards).
Preparation
About 10 minutes: print Handouts 1 to 3, one per learner, and read the language analysis. The answer key is for you, not the class.

Download this lesson plan

Google Docs · 60 minutes · PPP (presentation, practice, production)

Download the PDFWordMake a copy

The PDF prints as it stands. The Word file and Make a copy are for adapting it: your copy is yours to change, and the original stays as it is.

Aims

Main aim. To present and practise adjectives in two positions: before a noun (a big house) and after be (The house is big), with very, and with no plural -s on the adjective.

Learning outcome. By the end of the lesson, students can describe their home and things, e.g. I live in a small house. It's very old. My bedroom is blue. I have got a new bike.

  • Subsidiary aim. To learn common adjectives and their opposites (big / small, old / new, clean / dirty).
  • Subsidiary aim. To practise a / an before adjectives (an old car).
  • Subsidiary aim. To develop speaking through a "describe and guess" game.

Language analysis

What to know before the lesson: the meaning, form and pronunciation of the target language, and the problems learners usually have with it.

Form

PositionFormExample
before a nouna / an + (very) + adjective + nouna big house · an old car · a very small room
after besubject + be + (very) + adjectiveThe house is big. The rooms are very small.

Form: notes

  • Adjectives have no plural form: two big houses (not bigs houses); The rooms are small (not smalls).
  • an before a vowel sound: an old house, an empty room, an expensive car.
  • very goes before the adjective: very big (not big very).

Adjectives and opposites

big / small · old / new · old / young (people) · clean / dirty · hot / cold · beautiful / ugly · expensive / cheap · long / short · happy / sad · colours: red, blue, green, white

Pronunciation

  • Stress the adjective in descriptions: a BIG HOUSE, It's VERy OLD.
  • Linking: an old /ə nəʊld/.

Concept-checking questions

  • It's a big house. Where is big: before or after house? (Before.) · Can I say a house big? (No.)
  • The rooms are very small. Is there -s on small? (No.) Why not? (Adjectives don't change.)

Anticipated problems and solutions

ProblemSolution
Adjective after the noun (a house big).Board arrows; picture cards: adjective card + noun card in order.
Plural adjectives (bigs houses).Board: two big houses (the noun changes, not the adjective).
Missing be (My house very small).Highlight is / are in a different colour.
a old carDrill an old, an expensive with linking.

Board plan

Left: vocabularyCentre: grammarRight: pronunciation
big / small · old / new · clean / dirty · hot / cold · beautiful / ugly · expensive / cheap · red · blue · green · white
a + adjective + noun: a big house · an old car · a very small room · noun + be + adjective: The house is big. The rooms are very small. · not: a house big ✗ · not: bigs houses ✗ · not: My house very small ✗
a BIG HOUSE · It's VERy OLD · an old /ə nəʊld/

CEFR A1 · 60 minutes · Teenagers and adults

Procedure: Adjectives Before Nouns and After Be, step by step

Warm-up5 minutes · Whole class

Aim: To activate vocabulary.

Show two pictures: a big house and a small house. Ask: "What's different?" Elicit big and small.

Show more pairs (old / new car, clean / dirty room). Elicit or teach the opposites.

Presentation20 minutes · Whole class, individual, pairs

Aim: To present adjectives in two positions and clarify form and pronunciation.

Part A: Vocabulary (6 minutes)

Stick the adjective opposites on the board. Students repeat. Point to classroom objects: "Is the board big or small? Is my bag old or new?"

Part B: Context (6 minutes)

Give out Handout 1. Say: "Read about Thilini's house and Ravi's house. Whose house is old? Three minutes."

ICQs: "How many houses?" (Two.)

Students answer the true / false questions. Pairs compare. Check as a class.

Part C: Clarification (8 minutes)

Board Thilini has got a big house. and Her house is big. Ask: "Where is big in each sentence?" (Before the noun / after is.) Ask the CCQs.

Board two big houses and cross out bigs.

Add very: a very big house · The house is very big.

Board an old house and an expensive car.

Pronunciation. Drill phrases with stress: a BIG HOUSE, an OLD CAR, It's VERy CLEAN.

Controlled practice10 minutes · Individual, then pairs, then whole class

Aim: To practise the form accurately.

Give out Handout 2. Say: "Exercise A: put the words in order. Exercise B: write the opposite. Exercise C: correct the mistakes. Seven minutes."

ICQs: "house / big / a: what's the order?" (a big house.)

Pairs check. Check as a class.

Freer practice18 minutes · Pairs, then groups, then whole class

Aim: To use adjectives to describe homes and things.

My home (6 minutes). Students draw a quick plan of their home and describe it to a partner: "I live in a small house. The kitchen is very small. My bedroom is green."

Describe and guess (8 minutes). Give out Handout 3. In groups, students take a card and describe the object or room without saying its name: "It's very big. It's white. It's cold inside." (A fridge!) Others guess.

ICQs: "Can you say the word on the card?" (No.)

Report (4 minutes). Two students describe their partner's home to the class.

Monitor and note errors.

Feedback and wrap-up7 minutes · Whole class

Aim: To give feedback and consolidate.

Board four sentences from your notes (two with errors). Students correct them.

Quick game: say a noun; students add an adjective: "car" → "a red car!"

Set the homework.

Homework Write about your home (8 sentences). Use 8 different adjectives, 4 before a noun and 4 after is / are.

PPP (presentation, practice, production). Stage times add up to 60 minutes.

Differentiation

Support
Give weaker students the adjective opposites with pictures. Give sentence frames: I live in a ... house. My ... is very ...
Stretch
Stronger students use two adjectives: a big white house, a small old car. They use quite and really: It's quite old. It's really beautiful.

Adapting the lesson

ForWhat to change
A large class (40 or more)Keep the pairwork in "Freer practice" in fixed pairs rather than a mingle, and take feedback from four or five pairs instead of the whole room. Run "My home" once, with two pairs reporting, rather than hearing every pair. Monitor one half of the room during "Controlled practice" and the other half during "Freer practice".
A class with no photocopierPut the exercises from Handout 2: Practice on the board for learners to copy into their notebooks, and read any text aloud twice instead of printing it. Handout 3: Describe and Guess (cut up) works read out from the front: learners note what they need rather than holding a card. The board plan above is this lesson's minimum - with that on the board, it runs on no paper at all.
An online classSend Handouts 1 to 3 in the chat before the lesson and put the board plan on a shared slide. Use breakout rooms for "My home" and visit each room once. Have learners type the controlled answers in the chat, so you see every answer at once instead of nominating.
A different age groupWith young learners, cut the writing at the end and give that time to the speaking task; keep the drilling short, and let them draw or mime where the plan allows it. With adults, keep the writing and ask for a short spoken summary in place of anything drawn or mimed.

Checking learning

12 out of 14 or better on Handout 2. Students put adjectives before nouns and use be before adjectives. Students don't add -s to adjectives.

Teacher's reflection

Did the picture cards help students with word order? Was the guessing game engaging?

Handout 1: Two Houses

Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________

Thilini's house

I live in Colombo. I have got a big new house. It's white and it has got four bedrooms. My bedroom is very beautiful. The kitchen is clean and modern, but the garden is very small.

Ravi's house

I live in a village near Galle. My house is very old and small. It's green. It has got two bedrooms and a big garden with a lot of tall trees. The house is very cool, even on hot days.

True (T) or False (F)?

  • Thilini has got an old house. ______
  • Thilini's garden is very small. ______
  • Ravi's house is green. ______
  • Ravi has got a small garden. ______

Handout 2: Practice

Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________

A. Put the words in order.

B. Write the opposite.

C. Correct the mistakes.

  • house / big / a → ______________________________
  • is / car / my / new → ______________________________
  • old / an / bike → ______________________________
  • very / the / are / rooms / small → ______________________________
  • a / beautiful / garden / very → ______________________________
  • big → ______________
  • old (car) → ______________
  • clean → ______________
  • hot → ______________
  • expensive → ______________
  • I have got a bike red. ______________________________
  • They are bigs houses. ______________________________
  • My room very small. ______________________________
  • It's a old car. ______________________________

Handout 3: Describe and Guess (cut up)

Useful language: It's very ... · It's (red / big / old) ... · It has got ... · Is it a ...?

a fridgean elephanta bus
a classrooma kitchena phone
the suna pineapplea bed

Answer Key

Handout 1

Handout 2, Exercise A

Handout 2, Exercise B

Handout 2, Exercise C

Common errors to watch for

  • F · 2. T · 3. T · 4. F
  • a big house · 2. My car is new. · 3. an old bike · 4. The rooms are very small. · 5. a very beautiful garden
  • small · 2. new · 3. dirty · 4. cold · 5. cheap
  • I have got a red bike. · 2. They are big houses. · 3. My room is very small. · 4. It's an old car.
ErrorCorrection
a house biga big house
bigs housesbig houses
My house very small.My house is very small.
a old caran old car

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Google Docs · 60 minutes

Download the PDFWordMake a copy

The same document as the one at the top of the page.

Elsewhere in Global English

Pages that help with this lesson in particular, rather than everything we have.

How to Make an ESL Lesson Plan

How a plan like this is put together, including the PPP shape it uses.

20 ESL Speaking Activities for Beginners

Twenty speaking activities that work with very little language, for the practice stages.

18 ESL Classroom Games That Teach Something

Eighteen games that each teach something, for the practice stage or the last five minutes.

About this lesson plan

Written by RCF English to the RCF English international standard: levelled by the CEFR, original throughout, and suitable for classrooms in any country. Last reviewed 22 September 2026.

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