Giving and Receiving Directions (beginner/intermediate level)

Being able to follow directions or even give them, is a great boost of confidence for the new language learner.  This blog post will provide the ideas to practice giving and receiving directions.

Vocabulary

• Locations:
• Grocery store
• Bank
• Police office
• Bakery
• Pharmacy
• Barber/beauty salon
• Park
• Restaurant
• Gas station
• School
• University
• Prepositions:
• In front of
• Behind
• Next to
• in between
• across from
• diagonal from 
• Directions:
• North, south, east, west
• Straight, turn around, go back
• Left, right
• _______ blocks from
• Sentence Structure:
• Excuse me, where is the _______________?
• Could you please tell me where the _________________ is?
• It is ___________________.
• Walk _____________.

 Warm Up Ideas

Give Directions in 1^st language

• Procedure: Have students give directions to a well known spot from the class in their first language to each other.

Mirror

• Procedure: Students are in pairs facing each other.  One student is the mirror (who mimics the other persons movements) and the other is the person looking in the “mirror”. 
• Modification: Students who are not in the pair give commands to the person looking in the “mirror” to do.  (This practices body parts as well as giving basic commands)

Draw a Map

• Procedure: Have students draw a map of the school, town, or other area. (can use for practice or production activities)

Practice Ideas

Giant Map

• Procedure: Students create a map of the town, school, or other area on the classroom floor (if it is a tile floor a whiteboard marker can be used to draw the map OR students can create small-scale 3D models of the town, area, etc.).  The goal is for students to be able to walk on the “road” of the map.  Once map is made, students work in pairs to give directions to go from Point A to Point B on the map.

  

  You can make the map smaller and of a town, school, or room.
  But make it big enough to walk through.

  Source found here

What is Missing? Map

• Procedure: In pairs, students are given a copy of the same map.  However, while the maps are of the same place, each map has different buildings or rooms labeled while others are not labeled.  Using a prompt, students ask each other where are the missing buildings or rooms. 

Obstacle Course

• Procedure: Divide students into pairs and with in the pairs decide who will close their eyes and who will give the directions.  The students that are closing their eyes need to go out of the classroom (and have another assignment to work on) while the partners that will be giving the directions arranges the desks into an obstacle course for the others to walk around with their eyes closed.  Once room is arranged (give students 2 minutes to arrange the room), have them call their partners in one at a time (staggering them though).  The partner giving directions must safely get their partner from the door to Point B without touching them or running them into anything. Then they switch roles. 

Production Ideas

Give Directions

• Procedure: Students must write or tell directions on how to get from Point A to Point B in a well known area (school, town, classroom). 
• Modification: Students can actually have someone follow their written or verbal directions. 

Draw A Map

• Procedure: Students are given written directions of an area (school, town, park, restaurant, etc.) and they must draw a map of the area according to the directions.
• Modification: Students are given a copy of What’s Missing map and must finish according to some written directions.