"Too many," "too much," and "enough" can be a bit boring to teach. As teachers, we often try to find ways to make a lesson "less boring." But it's not always easy!
I am sharing a kind of funny and easy way to introduce the target language. Note: this is NOT an entire lesson plan.
First of all, we need a theme. And the theme here is "problems."
For the warm up activity, I ask my students to rank the list of problems based on their own opinions.
For the warm up activity, I ask my students to rank the list of problems based on their own opinions.
Once they've completed the task, they need to share their answers with a partner. Here, I've given them an example of how they can explain.
I ranked friendship number one because...
I ranked friendship number one because...
After that, I normally ask 3 to 4 students to share their number one problem with the rest of the class.
Next, I would show them a picture and ask them: "What do you think is her problem?" Students would usually shout words such as: homework, assignment, study...etc. After answers have been elicited from the students, I ask them which of the following is the correct way to say it.
Is it "too many homeworks"? "enough homework"? "too much homework"? or "not enough homeworks"?
In most cases, I would hear two answers: too many homeworks and too much homework.
Next, I would show them a picture and ask them: "What do you think is her problem?" Students would usually shout words such as: homework, assignment, study...etc. After answers have been elicited from the students, I ask them which of the following is the correct way to say it.
Is it "too many homeworks"? "enough homework"? "too much homework"? or "not enough homeworks"?
In most cases, I would hear two answers: too many homeworks and too much homework.
Then, I move on to tell them 2 short stories.
Story 1: These 3 guys are hungry. I'm going to give them some hamburgers. I'm going to give the first guy a small burger. As for the second guy, I'm going to give him a nice hamburger. I'm going to give the boy 3 hamburgers. Let's go back to the first guy. Do you think he's still going to be hungry after eating that tiny burger?
Students would say "Yes."
That's right. What's the problem here? It is "not enough."
Let's go to the second guy. Do you think he's still going to be hungry after eating the nice hamburger?
Students: "No."
That's right. Is he going to be VERY full?
Students: "No."
Correct! That's because it is "enough."
Let's move on to the little boy. Is he still going to be hungry after eating all three hamburgers?
Students: "No."
Is he going to be VERY full?
Students: "Yes."
What's the problem here? He's got "too many" hamburgers.
Story 1: These 3 guys are hungry. I'm going to give them some hamburgers. I'm going to give the first guy a small burger. As for the second guy, I'm going to give him a nice hamburger. I'm going to give the boy 3 hamburgers. Let's go back to the first guy. Do you think he's still going to be hungry after eating that tiny burger?
Students would say "Yes."
That's right. What's the problem here? It is "not enough."
Let's go to the second guy. Do you think he's still going to be hungry after eating the nice hamburger?
Students: "No."
That's right. Is he going to be VERY full?
Students: "No."
Correct! That's because it is "enough."
Let's move on to the little boy. Is he still going to be hungry after eating all three hamburgers?
Students: "No."
Is he going to be VERY full?
Students: "Yes."
What's the problem here? He's got "too many" hamburgers.
Story 2: Now, let's look at these 3 guys. Take a look at the first guy. Does he look happy?
Students: "No."
Do you know why? That's because he has only had a tiny glass of margarita.
Does the second guy look happy?
Students: "Yes."
Right. That's because he has had four glasses of beer.
Look at the third guy. What is he doing?
Students usually start giggling and say: "He's sleeping." "He's lying on the ground."
Do you know how much he has drunk? Six bottles of soju!
The first guy looks sad because the margarita is "not enough." The second guy is happy because he's had "enough." The third guy has drunk "too much."
Students: "No."
Do you know why? That's because he has only had a tiny glass of margarita.
Does the second guy look happy?
Students: "Yes."
Right. That's because he has had four glasses of beer.
Look at the third guy. What is he doing?
Students usually start giggling and say: "He's sleeping." "He's lying on the ground."
Do you know how much he has drunk? Six bottles of soju!
The first guy looks sad because the margarita is "not enough." The second guy is happy because he's had "enough." The third guy has drunk "too much."
After that, I introduce the usage of too many, too much, enough, and not enough.
Then, I ask my students to talk about the problems in their hometown. They are required to use the new language that was just learned.
You can download the PPT file from here. Have fun!
Then, I ask my students to talk about the problems in their hometown. They are required to use the new language that was just learned.
You can download the PPT file from here. Have fun!