Instructor’s Page

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Count and Noncount Nouns Shopping Activity type: Share Information

Level: High-Beginning / Low-Intermediate

Purpose: Students practice asking and answering questions using count and noncount nouns. Students must use measurement words and questions with How much / How many to complete the activity. Set-up: Pairs

Time: 5 minutes to prepare / 15 minutes to do the activity Materials Preparation: 1. Make one copy of the Student’s Page for each pair. 2. Be sure each pair of students has scissors. Alternatively, you may cut each Student’s Page in half in advance. 3. Make sure each student has a pen or pencil.

Procedure 1. Divide the students into pairs. Designate, or have them decide, who will be Student A and who will be Student B. 2. Tell students that Stefan is cooking dinner for friends, and he has made a shopping list. Let them know that Student B will receive a complete list, but that Student A’s list will have missing information. 3. Tell everyone that Student A will ask Student B questions in order to fill in the gaps on Student A’s list. 4. Make sure each student has the appropriate list (A or B). Advise the partners not to show each other their lists.

5. Student A asks Student B about the missing information and fills in the blanks. (See example questions below.) Student B may offer prompts or hints to help Student A if needed. 6. When Student A has completed the shopping list, have partners share their lists and compare. It is important to note that Student A’s list does not have to match Student B’s list exactly. For example, Student B’s list might list “a bag of ice,” while Student A might write “one bag of ice.” Example questions: 1. Does Stefan want to buy an apple pie and a cherry pie? 2. How much meat does he need for the pasta sauce? 3. How many bags of ice does Stefan need to buy? 4. Did he get two loaves of bread? 5. How much spinach is he going to buy? 6. Does he need just one tomato? 7. How many apples and strawberries does Stefan need? 8. How many crackers does he want to buy? 9. Did he get one bottle of water? 10. Did he get a lot of cans of soda? 11. Can you tell me about the flowers he got for the table? Answers: Count nouns are pies, vegetables, cookies, drinks, flowers. Noncount nouns are ice cream, pasta, meat, ice, bread, fruit, cheese, water.

Follow-up Have students change partners. Ask them to sort Stefan’s list into count nouns and noncount nouns. Go over the answers as a class.

Student’s Page

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Count and Noncount Nouns | Share information Shopping Work in pairs. One student is Student A, the other is Student B. Student A: Cut the page in half. Give Student B the bottom half. Ask Student B questions about Stefan’s shopping list. Write the answers in the blanks.

Example: Student A: How much pasta did Stefan buy? Student B: He bought a pound of pasta.

Stefan’s Shopping List for Student A

ice cream a  carton  of  vanilla  ice  cream  pasta a pound of pasta pies ______  apple  pie  and  ______  cherry  pie  meat a  ______  meat  for  the  pasta  sauce  ice three  ______  of  ice  bread two  ______  of  bread  vegetables six  carrots,  ______  spinach,  ______  tomato  cookies two  boxes  of  cookies  fruit a  ______  apples,  ______  lot  ______  strawberries  cheese several  kinds  of  cheese,  ______  crackers  for  eight  people  water a  ______  of  water  other drinks a  ______  cans  of  soda,  some  juice  flowers two  ______  of  flowers  for  the  table  

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Student B: Look at the shopping list. Answer Student A’s questions.

Stefan’s Shopping List for Student B ice cream a  carton  of  vanilla  ice  cream  pasta a  pound  of  pasta  pies an  apple  pie  and  a  cherry  pie  meat a  little  meat  for  the  pasta  sauce  ice three  bags  of  ice  bread two  loaves  of  bread  vegetables six  carrots,  some  spinach,  one  tomato  cookies two  boxes  of  cookies  fruit a  few  apples,  a  lot  of  strawberries  cheese several  kinds  of  cheese,  enough  crackers  for  eight  people  water a  gallon  of  water  other drinks a  few  cans  of  soda,  some  fruit  juice  flowers two  bunches  of  flowers  for  the  table