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Unread Sep 15th, 2008, 04:51 pm
HUE HUE is offline
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Default Re: uncountable nouns

I would look at teaching un/countable items based around food from a vocabulary point of view. Not only may you be teaching new words for objects, but students will have to connect the counter (which may also be new) to the word, too. So even familiar words linked with the counters will need to be stored in the students' short-term memories like new vocab.

I've observed some lessons which, in the teacher's attempt to be thorough, overwhelmed the class with too many new words. It's better to select three to five high-frequency counters, and then a few words for each one. For example:

cup/glass - coffee, juice, milk, coke
slice - cheese, ham, bread
bottle - coke, beer, milk

Pictures will greatly help, no matter the age group. Drill the new words and counters, and then set up a dialogue or free(r) activity that lets students use the words naturally.

I hope these ideas help!
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