Everyday Food Chat

Overview

In this 18th lesson of the unit, students practise everyday Japanese conversations about food in familiar contexts (ordering, liking, and asking about meals). They build on earlier vocabulary about foods and simple sentence patterns by using them in short paired dialogues.

Learning intentions

WALT: Engage in everyday dialogues about food using culturally appropriate Japanese.

Success criteria

• I can take part in a short paired role-play about food using memorised and/or scaffolded Japanese phrases.
• I can exchange simple opinions (e.g. liking) and respond to a partner’s question.
• I can use appropriate gesture/action support and respectful conversational tone.
• I can adjust my dialogue when I don’t understand by asking for clarification (with support).

Curriculum links

• MLLS-INT-01 — Students communicate with others in familiar contexts using gesture, actions, and/or culturally appropriate language.
• ML4-INT-01 — Students exchange information and opinions in a range of familiar contexts by using culturally appropriate language.
• MLLS-UND-01 — Students respond to information and ideas in spoken, written and multimodal texts to demonstrate understanding.
• ML4-CRT-01 — Students create texts for familiar communicative purposes by using culturally appropriate language (dialogue as a spoken text).

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Warm-up (retrieval). Teacher displays 6–8 food images and quick prompts (no writing needed). Students do choral responses using previously learnt phrases (e.g. “suki desu / arimasu / tabemasu” type patterns) and point to the food.

2. 5–15 min · Model dialogue (scaffolded input). Teacher acts out a short Japanese conversation twice: one slower, one normal. Students listen and follow a “dialogue track” strip with missing key words (e.g. noun/food name, “suki”, “kudasai”, question word). Teacher highlights how answers match questions. Student task: in pairs, students underline the key reply that matches each question (gesture allowed for meaning).

3. 15–25 min · Conversational prompt drill (meaning + turn-taking). Teacher gives each group a set of prompt cards:

• “Kore wa nan desu ka?” (What is this?)
• “Oishii desu ka?” (Is it tasty?)
• “Suki desu ka?” (Do you like it?)
• “Tabemasu ka?” (Do you eat it?) Students rotate roles: one asks, one answers using a choice of 2–3 prepared responses on the board. Teacher checks for “question → answer” matching and encourages gesture/action support.

4. 25–45 min · Role-play (paired dialogues). Teacher assigns scenarios students can relate to:

• Buying food for lunch at a school tuckshop/market
• Asking a friend what they have for dinner
• Sharing what you like and recommending a snack Each pair must perform a 30–45 second dialogue using a minimum set: greeting + 1 question + 1 opinion + 1 response. Student task: practise first with sentence starters on the desk cards, then perform once for the teacher or another pair. Encourage “repair” language with support (e.g. “mou ichido onegaishimasu” or an agreed gesture to request repetition).

5. 45–55 min · Formative check (listen and respond). Teacher plays/reads one student pair’s dialogue (or performs a new version) while the class completes a quick “understanding grid”: students circle which food was mentioned and which opinion (like/dislike) was expressed. Student task: submit the grid; teacher notes which prompts/answers need re-teach.

6. 55–60 min · Exit ticket (one-on-one success). Students answer one prompt verbally to the teacher (or via a quick teacher check at their desk):

• “Kore wa oishii desu ka?” and give a short response, OR
• “Suki desu ka?” and give “suki desu / suki dewa arimasen” with support.

Resources

• Food picture cards (print or digital)
• Prompt cards for questions (4–6)
• Sentence starter desk cards (greetings, question/answer frames, polite ending)
• Dialogue track strips with blanks for key words
• Understanding grid (circle/short response)
• Teacher checklist for pairing performance
• Dyslexia-friendly option: audio recordings or teacher-led modelling + colour-coded cue cards (instead of dense text)

Assessment

• Formative: teacher circulates during prompt drill and role-play, using an observation checklist for turn-taking, question–answer matching, and culturally appropriate phrasing.
• Formative: understanding grid at 45–55 minutes to confirm comprehension of key ideas (food mentioned + opinion).
• Summative-in-mini: exit ticket to verify students can produce a short, relevant response in Japanese.

Differentiation

• Support for students needing scaffolding:
• Provide sentence starters with a colour code (Question=blue, Answer=green, Polite ending=purple).
• Allow a “gesture-first” option: students can point to foods before speaking.
• Offer a reduced dialogue requirement (minimum 3 lines instead of 4).
• Use audio modelling and repeated choral practice before independent role-play.
• Extension for advanced students:
• Add a follow-up question (e.g. “Tabemasu ka?” after stating an opinion) and a brief justification with a single extra reason word (e.g. “karai desu / atsui desu” type descriptors).
• Encourage more natural conversational phrasing (including hesitation fillers) while maintaining clarity.
• Dyslexia-friendly reading options:
• Replace worksheets with cue-card sets (icons + short word/phrase only).
• Provide audio for all dialogue prompts and allow students to rehearse from printed colour-coded cue cards rather than long text strips.
• EAL/SEN considerations:
• Pre-teach pronunciation of high-frequency sounds/words used in the dialogue.
• Pair students strategically (supportive peer) and allow rehearsal time with one script cue card.