TEACHER’S GUIDE

LESSON 9: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

Video summary: Anna goes to the beach.
Functional purpose: Talk about actions
Grammar: Present progressive (continuous) tense
Letters and sounds: E; / “short e”/
Numbers: 25, 26, 27
Questions: What are you doing?
Answers: I am ______-ing.
Key words: (nouns) beach, block, sand, sea, tower, water, wave; (progressive tense verbs) building,
ending, singing, sitting, standing, talking, texting, walking, waving, yelling

PREPARE TO WATCH
Get students’ attention

• Start to walk, write, or do some other common action. Then say:

“I am ___-ing”, using one of those action verbs. Write the sentence on the board, for
example: I am writing.

• Then start another action, such as sitting. Say and write a sentence to show the action:

I am sitting.

• Use a puppet, stuffed animal or pictures to show more actions. Say and write a sentence to
show the action, such as: The cat is sleeping.
• Draw a circle around the -ing ending on the verbs you have written.
• Introduce the lesson’s question and help students answer:

Teacher: What are you doing?

Students: I am sitting in class. / I am learning English.

Connect to students’ experiences

• If possible, show students a picture of a beach. Say, “Today we go to the beach with Anna. A
beach is a place by the water. What can you do there?”

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• Take some student answers and write them on the board.

• Say, “In this lesson, we learn to talk about things we can do at the beach or any place.”

Guess: What will happen?

• Say, “In today’s lesson, Anna is angry at Max. Can you guess why?
• Say, “We also see Anna at the beach. What do you think she does at the beach?”
• Take some student ideas and write them on the board to refer to later.

WATCH AND REVIEW THE VIDEO

Check understanding with specific questions (add your own as necessary)

• What does Anna try to build?

• What letter does elephant start with?
• What are the children doing?
• Point to the guesses you wrote on the board earlier. Play the beginning of the video again. Stop
when Anna says, “I am building my tower.”
• Let students say in their own words what happens when Max interrupts Anna’s tower-building.
• Say, “Let’s check on our other guesses now. What does Anna do at the beach?” Point to any
guesses you wrote on the board.

Talk more about the video

• Ask students what they liked, what made them laugh, and what parts they want to see again.
• Teach one or two new words from the video.
• Say, “It’s okay if your guess is not the same as the correct answer. It helps you to think about
what you see and try to understand it. When you see your guess is wrong, just find out what is
right. We can learn many things from making mistakes.”

See How-to Guide for more questions on the video.

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ACTIVITIES
1. Present Progressive Tense

Set up/materials

• Write two sentences from the video of Anna at the beach, underlining or highlighting the -ing
endings.

I am walking on the beach!

I am sitting on the sand!

How to

• The simple present tense (I walk) is used for habitual actions. The present progressive is used to
express actions in the moment—what someone is doing “right now,” such as I am walking.
• Demonstrate by writing and saying these sentences:

Every day I write in my notebook. I am writing on the board now.

• Demonstrate by saying and doing (stand still for simple present, walk for progressive):

Every day I walk to school. (stand) I am walking into the classroom now. (walk)

• Tell students to stand. Ask, “What are you doing?” Help students answer: “I am standing.”
• Tell students to sit. Ask, “What are you doing?” Help students answer: “I am sitting.”
• Play the section of the video where Anna is at the beach. Ask, “What is she doing?” Help
students answer: She is ________-ing. Write the answers and say and repeat with students.
Point out the use of is for he/she/it.
• Ask a student to write his or her name on the board. Ask the class, “What is he/she doing?”
The class answers “He/she is writing his name/her name.” Then ask the student directly, “What
are you doing?” Student answers: “I am writing my name.”
• The form of the present progressive tense is the simple form of the verb with the -ing ending
plus a form of the verb BE. See the Present Progressive page in this lesson plan. You can copy
the pronouns and forms of BE on the board:

I am + _____-ing
he/she/it is + _____-ing
you/we/they are + ______-ing

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Variations

• Repeat and chant with students the three simple present forms of BE: am, is, are; am, is, are;
am, is, are . . .
• Then add: I am writing, I am walking, I am reading
• Next, add: You are writing, you are walking, you are reading
• Continue with subjects he/she/it; we; they
• Ask students to make other sentences about actions they can express in English using the
present progressive tense, that is, with the -ing ending.

See more ways to practice the present progressive with the Listen and Speak activity sheet
in this lesson and activities under the Learn More section of this lesson.

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2. Letter E

Set up/materials

• Give students the activity sheet for the letter Ee or have them copy it in their notebooks.

How to

• Teach how to write the letter for this lesson, E, by writing it in the air and having students
follow along with their hands.

Say, “Big E” and write the uppercase E. Say, “Small e” and write the lowercase e.

• Have students practice writing the letter E with the activity sheet.

Variation

• Help students say and learn other words in English that begin with E. Some examples are eggs,
exit, enter, eat, every, ear, Earth

3. Sound of “short e”

Set up/materials

• Play the part of the video when Anna is in her treehouse explaining the “short e” sound.

How to

• Point to the letter E on the board. Explain that it can sometimes make the “short e” sound and
have students repeat the words Anna says.
• Read the following list of words and have students raise their hand when they hear the “short e”
sound:

each, egg, elephant, have, eat, every, pet, end

Variation

• You can show/explain how three-letter words with e in the middle make the “short e” sound:
met, let, set, net, get
• You can show/explain that when e combines with other vowels, the vowel sound can become a
“long e”: feet, week, eat, piece, niece, beat, seat, need

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5. Numbers 25, 26, 27

Set up/materials

• Review the numbers from 1 to 24 if necessary. Write the numbers twenty-five (25), twenty-six
(26) and twenty-seven (27) on the screen or on the board as you say the words.

How to

• Choose 3 students and ask them to each hold up nine classroom objects, such as pencils, pens,
or books.
• Ask each student to hold up one item at a time and have the class count along with the student:
one pencil, two pencils, ... nine pencils.
• Continue with the other students until you have counted to 27 with the class.

Variations

• See if the students can tell you other ways to add or multiply the number of objects to get the
answer twenty-seven.
• Have students show ways to add or multiply numbers to get 25 or 26. They can form groups
and/or use groups of small objects.
• Write the numerals 1 to 27 in random order on the board and have a student come to the board
and point to numbers in any order. The class says the number the student is pointing to.
• Practice counting backwards: 27, 26, 25 . . .
• Practice counting small groups of numbers fast: 4-5-6, 19-20-21, 14-15-16 . . .

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6. Read and Write

Set up/materials

• Give students a copy of the Read and Write activity sheet.

How to

• Say, “In the box, trace over the dotted lines to write the word texting.”
• Continue with the rest of the activity sheet.
• Ask students their answer to the last question, What are you doing?, and write responses on the
board.

Variation

• List the verbs from the activity sheet in simple form on the board: text, help, build, read, do.
• Ask students how to make sentences with the present continuous (-ing) form of those verbs.
They can first read examples from the activity sheet (Felix is helping) and then try to make
their own original sentences, such as Today I am doing my classwork.
• Practice how to write questions for each sentence on the activity sheet. For example:

What is Sarah doing? What is Felix doing? What is Anna doing? What are you doing?

• Have students practice reading the sentences aloud for a partner. Choose two or three pairs to
demonstrate their reading for the rest of the group.

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7. Listen and Speak

Set up/materials

Give students the Listen and Speak activity sheet. Practice saying the actions shown in the images:
playing, singing, sitting, swimming, walking, throwing, jumping, hitting, running.

How to

• Explain, “Now we are going to guess what our partner is doing by looking at their actions.”
• Have students form pairs. One student chooses a photo showing an action, then does the action
silently. The other student then guesses what the action is. Have two students demonstrate:

Student A: (Makes gestures as if swimming.)

Student B: You are swimming!
Student A: Right! I am swimming!

• Have students look at the other photos and for each one, write a sentence using the action words
from the list at the bottom of the sheet. If you prefer to have students practice the question
form, students can ask, “Are you swimming?”
• After giving some time for this practice, choose two or three pairs to demonstrate their listening
and speaking for the rest of the group.

Variations

• Have students write some of the sentences they used for this activity in their notebooks.
• Write down some more everyday actions familiar to children. For example: brushing your
teeth, eating, drinking, cooking, cleaning, sleeping

Call a student to the front of the room and have them perform an action written on the board
without speaking.
The other students raise their hands and guess the action. They can say either “You are
________ -ing” or “(Name of student) is ________ -ing”.

You can also do this game in small groups. Write the action verbs on small pieces of paper
and have students select a piece of paper. Students then perform the action on their paper
for members of their group.

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LEARN MORE
1. Tell a Story

Set up/materials

• Prepare a short story using the simple present tense and the present progressive tense. Give the
characters in the story names of the students in your class. Some students will act it out as you
dictate this example and others will write sentences as the action proceeds. Here is an example.
The students will be Ayana, her mother, and Ayana’s friend.

Ayana wakes up early one morning. She opens the window and looks out. She sees her
mother working in the garden. She goes out of her house and walks to the garden. Her
mother picks some fruit and gives it to Ayana. Ayana eats one piece of fruit for her
breakfast. Then she sees her friend walking along the street. She waves at her friend.
Ayana’s friend comes to the garden and Ayana gives her a piece of fruit to eat. Then they
walk to school together.

How to

• Explain, “Watch now. As I read the story your classmates will do the actions. Write the action
verbs from story you hear in your notebook. For example, if you hear eat, write eat. You will
do the same in your group later.”
• Read the story aloud and guide students to act it out for the class. Practice more than one time.
Let students take turns acting out the roles.

Variations

• Have listening students try to write the story in their notebooks as they hear it. Read slowly and
repeat so students have enough time to think and write. Next, show your version of the story so
students can check what they wrote.
• Have students form small groups and instruct them to make a short story they can act out.
Provide paper or have one group member write it in their notebook. Number the groups and list
the order in which they will perform their story on the board. Depending on the timing, this
activity may take more than one class period.
• Ask students to come to the front as a group and silently act out the story. Ask the remaining
students to take turns making statements about the actions and/or write them as a story. Have
one student read their story aloud and check the accuracy with the acting group. Continue with
the remaining groups.

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2. Beach Holiday

Set up/materials

• Anna visited a beach in this lesson. In this activity, students make an advertisement to tell about
a beach in their country (this can be a lake or riverside location if no ocean is nearby) or a
beach they know of elsewhere. Show the examples on the next page.

How to

• Tell students: “In your group, pick a beach. Make an advertisement like one you may see on
television or hear on the radio.”
• Divide students into groups of three or four. Each group should choose one beach. Say, “In
your group, write some sentences about the beach. Tell others why they should visit the beach.
What can you do there? What can you see there?”
• Help students use action verbs with -ing endings, such as swimming, playing, walking in their
advertisements
• Give students art materials or allow them to cut images from magazines or print images from
the Internet to illustrate the advertisement.

Variation

• Have groups come to the front of the classroom and present their advertisement to their
classmates. Post them on the wall or in a school hallway to share with other classes.

3. Silent videos

Set up/materials

• Short video clips with the sound turned off. You can use parts of Let’s Learn English with
Anna, animated (cartoon) videos for children, or other video segments.

How to

• Before showing the video to students, watch it and write a list of the action verbs Anna or other
characters are doing. Choose segments that you think match your students’ level and interests.
• Write the list of action verbs on the board.
• Show the segment of the video with the sound turned off. While the video plays, ask students to
say what the character is doing. For example: “Anna is talking to Max. Anna is going for a
walk. Anna is jumping over a stump.” You can point to the verbs on the board to help students.

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Variations

• Have one or more students silently act out the same actions as the characters. The other
students say “You are talking to Max. You are eating a banana.” Or they can use the name of
the student who is acting plus is: “Ahmed is talking to Max. Ahmed is eating a banana.”
• Students can also write the sentences they say.
• Humorous videos such as the Mr. Bean series (where the main character Mr. Bean almost never
speaks) can work well for students.

4. Student actions

Set up/materials

• Pick a small number of students (four maximum) to perform actions.

How to

• The teacher assigns actions to certain students.

Student A walks around the room.

Student B sits at a desk.
Student C plays with a ball or cards.

• The teacher writes the sentences and vocabulary on the board.

• Ask: “Who is sitting at her desk?” Teacher picks a student to answer.
• Answer: “Rafika is sitting at her desk.”
• Do this for all the actions. Then change the students so everyone has a turn acting and
answering the questions.

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CHECK UNDERSTANDING
1. Quiz

Give students the printed quiz at the end of this lesson guide, have them use the online quiz, or
simply write the questions on the board. If you want to test only their listening skills, say the
questions but don’t write them.

Questions:

1. Anna is _______ a tower

2. Sarah texts her friend every day. She is _______ her friend right now.
3. Felix is _______ his dad.
4. Anna is sitting _______ the sand.
5. Anna is standing _______ the water.
6. What does Anna do at the beach?

Answer key:

1. building
2. texting
3. helping
4. on
5. in
6. Students may write a sentence of their choice, such as Anna sits on the sand; Anna digs in the
sand; Anna walks in the sea. Check for the simple present tense form of the verbs.

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