Lesson goal: Students can compare family life now and in the past, describe their upbringing and talk about relationships between generations, using used to and would for past habits.
Add the lesson to get your own copies of the word set and exercises; the lesson opens in the builder, where you can adjust the steps and teach it.
Lesson plan
- 1
Warm-up
Questions to get the student talking and lead into the topic.
- How many people lived in your home when you were a child?
- Who do you take after — your mother or your father?
- How often does your extended family get together?
- 2
New words
Meet the words and practise them in games.
Match the pairsHangmanupbringing · raise · sibling · only child · extended family · single parent · generation gap · get on with · in-laws · take after · household chores · strict · fall out · role model · breadwinner
All words in the set - 3
Exercises
The lesson's words in context. Only you see the answers.
- Fill the gap
My grandparents ___ five children in a two-room flat.
Answer: raised - Fill the gap
I'm lucky with my wife's family — my ___ have always treated me like their own son.
Answer: in-laws - Fill the gap
Since my dad lost his job, my mum has been the main ___ in our family.
Answer: breadwinner - Fill the gap
When I was little, my grandmother ___ (tell) me a story every night.
Answer: would tell / used to tell / 'd tell - Fill the gap
My dad ___ (not / use to) help with the household chores, but now he does all the cooking.
Answer: didn't use to / did not use to - Multiple choice
Which sentence is NOT correct?
We used to live with my grandparents.We would live with my grandparents.My grandfather would take us fishing every summer. - Multiple choice
If two people fall out, they ...
have an argument and stop being friendlyleave the family home togetherstart to look like each otherbecome closer than before - True / false
Read: "Anna grew up in a big extended family: her grandparents, an aunt and two cousins all lived in the same house. 'There was always someone to talk to,' she says, 'but privacy didn't exist.' Today Anna lives alone with her son and admits that being a single parent can be lonely." Anna had a lot of privacy as a child.
Answer: False - True / false
Read the text again. Anna is raising her son without a partner.
Answer: True - Discussion question
How was your upbringing different from your parents' upbringing? Describe two or three things your family used to do.
Sample answer: My parents grew up in villages, and they used to help on the farm after school. My upbringing was much easier. On Sundays we would all have lunch at my grandmother's, and my dad would cook. My parents were quite strict about homework, but they never made me do household chores.
- Fill the gap
- 4
Speaking
The student answers using the new words.
- Is the generation gap bigger today than it was fifty years ago? Why?
- Should grandparents help to raise their grandchildren?
- Were your parents strict? What rules did you have to follow?
- Who was your role model when you were growing up?
- How should household chores be shared in a modern family?
- 5
Review
A quiz on the lesson's words. With a student, it's homework on their link.
Quiz