At the hotel

Objective & content

A two-page pack for one everyday situation: checking in at a hotel and asking about the room, breakfast and the wifi. Pupils learn the words (reception desk, receptionist, key card, lift, wifi password, bell) and the phrases to say who they are (We booked a room for two nights. The name's Brown.), ask questions (Can I leave my bags here? What time is breakfast? What's the wifi password?) and understand the answers (The room is ready. It's on the third floor.). Then they hear the same language in a real conversation, the Listen Up! episode "At the hotel", and use it themselves in a role-play. By the end, they can check in at a hotel, ask about breakfast and the wifi, and understand the receptionist's answers.

Pedagogical guide

Page 1 is the language of the situation. Pupils talk about a picture of a grandfather and his grandson checking in at a hotel reception desk, write six words under new drawings (the first is done), read a box of useful phrases (what you say or ask, and what you hear), and match five questions to their answers. Page 2 puts the language to work. Pupils complete a short dialogue with words from a box (Leo and his dad, who are checking in at a hotel), then listen to the episode: Anya and her mum arrive early, so their room isn't ready, and they leave their bags and go to the beach. A QR code on the sheet plays the recording on a phone or a tablet, with no app and no login. Pupils tick true or false, listen again for four short answers, then do a role-play with A and B cards: a guest checks in and asks the receptionist about the hotel. Card B holds the information card A needs, so pupils have to ask. Every task opens with an example. Page 1 and the dialogue use other names, places and prices, so they never give away a listening answer. Page 3 is the answer key with the teacher notes.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Pupils look at the picture on page 1 and say where the people are and what they are doing.
2. (5 min) Pupils write the words under the pictures; check together.
3. (5 min) Pupils read the useful phrases aloud in pairs, one asking and one answering.
4. (5 min) Pupils match the questions to the answers.
5. (5 min) Page 2: pupils complete the dialogue with the words in the box.
6. (10 min) Play the episode once for true or false, then again for the short answers.
7. (10 min) Role-play in pairs with card A and card B, then pupils swap cards.
8. (5 min) Check the answers with page 3.

Adaptations

[S] Pupils read the useful phrases aloud in pairs before the role-play, and keep page 1 in front of them while they play it. [A] Pupils invent their own problem in the same place and act it out without the cards.

Materials & prerequisites

One copy of pages 1 and 2 per pupil; cut out the role cards on page 2. Page 3 is the answer key: keep it. To play the episode, pupils scan the QR code with a phone or a tablet, or you play it to the class from the app (Listen Up!, "At the hotel"). Pupils need telling the time, numbers, spelling a name, and the past simple of book.