Families
C o m m u n ic at i v e O b j e c t i v e s USE THE NEW WORDS
Identify family members.
Main Lesson Objective: Explain family
relationships.
Express opinions about family issues.
CASAS competencies: 0.1.2, 2.7.9, 7.2.3, 7.3.2
Warm-up
Draw a woman on the board, including any features
students will be able to name, e.g., long hair, tall, happy,
etc. Draw a man and two children and elicit descriptions
of them. Tell students the people on the board are a
family.
Introduction
Describe the picture. This is the husband. This is the wife.
These are the children. The daughter is 15 years old. The
son is 5 years old. State the objective: Today well learn
words for family members.
Presentation
1. Discuss the people on the board in pairs. Hes
the husband and shes the wife. Hes the father and
shes the mother. Hes the son and shes the mother.
Hes the father and shes the daughter, etc. Check
understanding by pointing at pairs and eliciting
the relationships. Once students are comfortable
with the nuclear family, add a grandmother and
grandfather to your picture. Continue naming and
eliciting relationships.
2. Have students open their books to pgs. 3435 or
project the Classroom Presentation Tool. Point to
the pictures and say the words or play the target
vocabulary on the Dictionary Audio.
3. Check comprehension: Have students cover the
wordlist on pgs. 3435. Ask or questions about
the family trees. Is Lynn the aunt or the uncle? Use
sentences with blanks to elicit the vocabulary. Tito
and Ana are ____ and ____. Clap for each blank.
Guided Practice
Categorization
Write categories on the board (e.g., Male, Female, and
Male or Female) and have students categorize target
vocabulary.
34 Families
1. Direct students to read the conversation at the
bottom of pg. 35.
2. Copy the sample conversation on the board, leaving
blanks for the substitutions.
3. Verify students understanding of the vocabulary:
Call out two names from the family tree (e.g., Rick
and Mary) and have a volunteer say the relationship
(e.g., Rick is Marys father). Continue with other
people from the family tree. *Variation: Have a
student call out names, and then point to another
student in the class to say the relationship. Then
that student calls out two names, and so on.
4. Pair students and have them practice asking and
answering questions using the family trees and
family vocabulary on pgs. 3435. Circulate and
monitor.
5. Have volunteers ask and answer questions aloud for
the class.
Possessive (s)
1. Use family words to introduce the possessive formed
with s. Talk about the people in the pictures: Ana is
Titos wife. His sons name is Felix. Write each sentence
on the board and point out the s.
2. Have students use the possessive to write five
sentences about the pictures on pgs. 3435. Carlos is
Martas husband.
3. Ask volunteers to write a sentence on the board.
Correct the sentences as a class.
For more guided practice
Use Pronunciation Worksheet - Families, Listening
Worksheet - Families, Classic Classroom Activity - People
Flash Cards 2, and Workbook pgs. 3435.
Communicative Practice
Interview
Write questions on the board and have students
interview a partner. Call on volunteers to share
something they learned about their partners.
1. How many brothers and sisters do you have?
2. Do you have children? How many?
3. Whats considered a large family in your country? A
small family?

4. Whats the most common age for men and women in
your culture to marry?
5. Is divorce common in your country? Do people remarry?
6. Who helps single parents take care of their children in
your country?
Discussion
Write questions on the board. Give students a few
minutes to think and make notes on their answers. Call
on volunteers to share their ideas with the class. Possible
questions:
1. In an arranged marriage, the parents choose a husband
for their daughter or a wife for their son. Do arranged
marriages exist in your country? What do you think
about them?
2. Is it common for young married couples to live with
their in-laws in your country? What do you think about
that tradition?
3. How is life in the U.S. good for families? What are some
problems for families in the U.S.?
M u lt i l e v e l D i s c u s s i o n
To help these students meet their objective, use
the feedback time from the Discussion questions as an
opportunity to give a mini-presentation on language
that these students might need to answer the questions
in writing.
For more communicative practice
Use Classic Classroom Activity - People Drawing
Dictation.
Evaluation
Have students cover the wordlist on pgs.3435 and
write five sentences about the family relationships in the
picture. Collect and review their work.
M u lt i l e v e l E v a l u at i o n
For these students, draw a simple family tree
on the board representing target vocabulary. Give the
students a list of terms. Have them match the people in
the family tree with the terms.
Ask these students to choose two questions from
the Discussion activity and write their responses.
To create customized tests
Use the OPD Assessment Program.
Families
Application
Problem Solving
1. Provide students with a situation. Have them
brainstorm solutions and choose the best one.
A woman doesnt like her mother-in-law. The mother-
in-law wants to move into the womans home. Her
husband thinks its a good idea. What should the
woman do?
2. Group students. Have each group write a
conversation between the woman and her husband.
Ask a reporter from each group to read the
conversation to the class.
Expansion
Classroom Families
1. Seat students in groups of five or six. Tell them
they are now a family and they need to decide on
the family relationships of the group (i.e., choose a
father, mother, grandparent, etc.). Tell them that each
student needs to understand his or her relationship
to everyone else in the group.
2. Go over language for introducing people. This is my
____, Carlos. Id like you to meet my ____, Sue.
3. Have each group come to the front of the class. Have
group members take turns introducing their family
members to the class.
Family Descriptions
1. Use the family words to review previously learned
vocabulary for physical descriptions or clothing.
Have students turn to a previously studied page; e.g.,
Describing People (pg. 32), Describing Hair (pg. 33),
or Everyday Clothes (pgs. 8687).
2. Make statements about the pictures using family
words. My son-in-law has a beard. Have students
point to the correct person. Make four or five
statements; then have students say the information
back to you. Your son-in-law has a beard. Your
daughter has red hair. Draw your family on the
board.
3. Group students and have group members take turns
talking about their family members in the picture.
4. Have a group artist draw a family. Have group
reporters tell the class about the family. The sister has
long, straight hair. The brother has short, curly hair.
Families35