Learning Objectives
Students will use target vocabulary to describe pictures of purebred dogs and dog accessories.
ELL Level
Emerging and Developing
Focus
Listening, Speaking
Vocabulary
white, black, brown, yellow, big, small, medium
Materials Needed
Flashcards for colors, dogs, size words
Lesson
Introduction
• Review students’ prior knowledge of color words by showing color flashcards and having students name each color.
• Show students pictures of different dogs and have students name the dogs’ colors.
• Introduce the breed name for each dog for students who are at Developing or Expanding Levels.
Explicit Instruction/Teacher Modeling
• Introduce the terms, “big, medium, and small” by showing the different sized dogs and modeling the new vocabulary
• Have students act out the concept of “big, medium and small” by crouching down when they say “small,” stretching to a mid-crouch when saying “medium,” and making their bodies take up as much space as possible when saying “big.”
Independent Working Time
• Students work with partners to describe dogs with two attributes, both size and color, using the flashcards
• Students who are ready may move to the flashcards of dogs that have two or more colors and describe those dogs.
Extension
• Students who are at the Developing to Expanding Levels can practice using complete sentences to describe the various dogs, including breed names.
• Use the following sentences to provide practice for students to describe the dogs by matching a sentence to the appropriate flashcard.
Extension Sentences
1) This dog is brown.
2) That dog is black.
3) The dog is white.
4) She is a yellow dog.
5) He is a brown and black dog.
6) The Westie is white.
7) The German Shepherd is brown and black.
8) The Labrador is yellow.
9) This is a black and brown Rottweiler.
10) The black and white dog is a Dalmatian.
Review and Closing
• Have students explain why they chose to match certain dogs with the words “big, small, or medium.” Students may be going by the size of the dogs relative to each other on the flashcards, or students may have prior knowledge of one or more particular breeds. Encouraging spontaneous conversation in English promotes language acquisition.
While not all English Language Learners are native Spanish speakers, many are. If this describes your ELL population, please visit https://www.akc.org/public-education/resources/informacion-en-espanol/ for AKC resources in Spanish.