There is, there are

Objective & content

This grammar sheet teaches there is and there are, with the negatives there isn't and there aren't, the questions Is there...? and Are there...? with short answers, a or an, and plural nouns, including children, men, women, mice, sheep, teeth and feet. Pupils read Nadia's text about the bedroom she shares with her little sister, find the forms in it and read the rule, given in a box. By the end, they can say what there is in a room or a place, ask about it and answer.

Pedagogical guide

Page 1 is Nadia's text: she lives in a flat in Leeds, and in her bedroom there are two beds, a desk, two posters and two white mice in a cage. Pupils copy from the text the things after There is and There are, the negatives and the questions, then read the rule, given in a box in short lines with the key words in bold. Page 2 practises the forms one at a time: is or are in nine sentences, where the number after the gap decides; a or an in five sentences, each with a picture; and eight plurals to write after There are. Page 3 has five questions about Nadia's bedroom with three short answers to choose from, then six questions to start with Is there or Are there. The last task is Theo's text about his dream bedroom: pupils read it and draw the room, with everything in the right place. Every exercise opens with a worked example. The sheet uses only the present simple.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Point to things in the classroom and say "There is a door. There are two windows." Pupils say one sentence each.
2. (8 min) Read Nadia's text aloud; pupils find the forms in the text and write them.
3. (5 min) Read the rule in the box with the class; pupils find examples of it in the text.
4. (10 min) Page 2: is or are, a or an, then the plurals.
5. (8 min) Page 3: pupils answer the questions about Nadia's bedroom, then write Is there or Are there.
6. (10 min) Pupils read about Theo's dream bedroom and draw it, then compare their drawing with the text in pairs.
7. (5 min) Check with the answer key on page 4; check the drawings against Theo's text.

Adaptations

[S] Before the is or are task, draw two columns on the board, "one" and "more than one", and sort the things from Nadia's text together.

[A] In pairs, pupils ask each other three questions about their bedroom ("Is there a desk in your bedroom?") and answer with short answers.

Materials & prerequisites

One copy of pages 1 to 3 per pupil. Page 4 is the answer key and teacher notes: keep it. Pupils need is and are, in, on and under, and the words for the home and the classroom. To take it further, pupils write four sentences about their own bedroom, and a partner draws it.