Dream house

Learners find out about different types of houses and describe their dream house in this scaffolded lesson

Clare Lavery and Suzanne Mordue

13 - 17

Adults

Introduction

This lesson helps students describe their dream homes, improving vocabulary and speaking skills. They visualize their dream house, noting key features like rooms and location. Then, they share their ideas in groups, practicing descriptive language. This interactive approach empowers students to express their preferences, enhancing language skills through structured visualization, note-taking, and collaborative discussion.

Learning outcomes

Use vocabulary for describing houses
Use visualisation and note-taking as preparation techniques
Practise speaking through describing their dream house

Materials

Lesson plan
Worksheet
You need images of five houses (see useful links)

My dream house

Stage

Lead-in

Write the word ‘house and draw three lines coming from it to make three categories. Name category one Parts of a house
Category two is rooms and areas
Category three is verbs that collocate with house. Give an example if needed: Move (house). Check if an article is needed in each collocation
Elicit words associated each category to make a mind map. Feed in any useful vocabulary. See suggestions below:

1. Parts of a house:

Window
Door
Room
Wall
Floor
Roof

2. Rooms and areas:

living room
bedroom
kitchen
bathroom
toilet
hall
entrance
attic
basement

3. Verbs that collocate with house

build
renovate
decorate
move
rent
own

Vocabulary

Give learners the worksheet.
Ask them to do Task 1 and check answers in pairs
Elicit answers as a whole group
Check if they think any type of house is missing.

Answers

a) a small house in the country: Cottage

b) a house with no stairs: Bungalow

c) a house which is not joined to another house: Detached house

d) a house which is joined to another house on one side: Semi-detached house

e) a house which is joined to other houses on two sides: Terraced house

f) a house which was built to keep the inhabitants safe: Castle

g) a house which was built for rich or grand people: Palace

Features of houses

Ask learners to do Task 2 on the worksheet. Support with vocabulary as needed
Let them check answers in pairs before moving on to whole class feedback. Answers can be personal/ cultural for this activity.

Describe houses

Show learners the five images of houses you’ve prepared individually an elicit descriptions and information

What kind of house is this?
How would you describe this house?
Is it in a city of the country?
n which country might you find this house?

Preparation for speaking

Ask learners to close their ideas and imagine their dream house. Use the following prompts to create an image in their head:

Is it a large or small?
Is it old or modern?
What colour is it?
Where is it?
How many rooms are there?
Is there a garden?
Is there a view?

Are there any special features such as a swimming pool or other sports areas?
Ask learners to open their eyes and draw three large circles in their notebooks. They should have space to write ideas in each circle.
In circle 1 they make notes about the location of the house; in circle 2 they make notes about the rooms; In circle 3 they note any special features

Speaking task

Put learners into small groups
Ask them to use their notes to take turns to describe their dream house
Monitor and support with language
Ask a few learners to describe their house to the whole group.

Homework/ Follow up

Ask learners to write a paragraph about their dream home using their notes
In the following lesson allocate learners to new groups to share their paragraphs. Or ask learners to make presentations to the whole group.

Useful links and references