 Communicative Approach – Lesson Plan
1. Lesson Title

Topic: Ordering Food at a Restaurant
Target Learners:
A2 (Elementary) ESL students, ages 16–18, in a high school EFL setting
Lesson Duration: 45 minutes
2. Communicative Objective

By the end of the lesson, students will be able to order food and drinks in a restaurant using appropriate vocabulary, expressions, and sentence structures in a role-play scenario.
3. Materials Needed

    Real or printed restaurant menus

    Role-play prompt cards

    Dialogue models

    Whiteboard and markers

    Exit tickets (short self-assessment slips)

4. Lesson Procedure
A. Warm-up / Lead-in (5 minutes)

Objective: Activate background knowledge and engage interest.
Activity:

    Ask students: “Have you ever ordered food in English?”

    Show a menu and ask: “What do you see?”

    Students name food items they recognize.

B. Presentation / Input (10 minutes)

Objective: Provide contextual input and target expressions.
Activity:

    Present a short dialogue between a waiter and a customer.

    Example:

        Waiter: Hello! Are you ready to order?

        Customer: Yes, I’d like a cheeseburger and a soda, please.

    Highlight useful expressions:

        “I’d like…”

        “Can I have…?”

        “Anything else?”

C. Practice Activities (20 minutes)
1. Guided Practice – Matching & Sentence Building (7 min)

    Match food items to their categories (drinks, meals, desserts).

    Build short sentences using a scaffold:

        “I’d like a ___ and a ___, please.”

2. Communicative Practice – Role-Play (13 min)

Objective: Use language in real-life context.
Activity:

    Students work in pairs: one is the waiter, the other the customer.

    Use menus and role cards (e.g., “You are allergic to peanuts,” “You are in a hurry”).

    Rotate roles after 5–7 minutes.

    Teacher circulates, offering support and noting good language use and common errors.

5. Wrap-up / Reflection (5 minutes)

    Ask a few students to perform their dialogues for the class.

    Discuss:

        “What was easy?”

        “What was difficult?”

    Distribute exit tickets:

        “What expression did you use today?”

        “How confident do you feel ordering in English?”

6. Assessment Strategies

    Formative assessment:

        Teacher observes pair work for use of target structures.

        Checklist to note use of polite phrases and appropriate vocabulary.

    Self-assessment:

        Exit ticket reflection on performance and confidence.

    Peer feedback:

        In groups, students give one compliment and one suggestion after observing a peer dialogue.

7. Alignment with CLT Principles
Component	CLT Alignment
Objective	Focused on real-life communicative ability
Activities	Interactive, meaningful, pair work, task-based
Role of Teacher	Facilitator and monitor, not lecturer
Student Role	Active participants, negotiators of meaning
Assessment	Authentic and communicative, not grammar-focused only


