Let's go to the Supermarket- English Template, Novice High

Created Feb. 7, 2024 by Amber Hoye, Camille Daw, Mimi Fahnstrom

Activity modified the 13th of May by Scott Watford.

Please Note: Many of the activities on the Pathways Project OER Repository were created by upper-division students at Boise State University and serve as a foundation that our community of practice can build upon and refine. While they are polished, we welcome and encourage collaboration from language instructors to help modify grammar, syntax, and content where needed. Kindly contact pathwaysproject@boisestate.edu with any suggestions and we will update the content in a timely manner.  — The Pathways Project

Looking for the Spanish Version of this activity to adapt for your language? CLICK HERE

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The activities provided by the Boise State World Languages Resource Center (WLRC) serve as foundational activities which can be adapted by any language and scaled up or down on the proficiency scale. Many of these activities offer an English Version that is “language-agnostic” to provide language instructors from around the country a platform to remix these instructional materials, infusing them with their target language and culture! The activities within the Pathways Project OER Repository seek to help students solidify their interpersonal speaking and interpretive skills through task-based situations or communicative activities. These activities should be facilitated in the target language for approximately 90% (or more), per the recommendation of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages.

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  • Most activities are 30 minutes in duration, unless otherwise specified.
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Lets go to the supermarket!

Proficiency Level:

Novice High

Description:

In this activity, students will go shopping at different grocery stores in search of the best prices for their foods. Students will use vocabulary involving food, money, and numbers. They will also learn about culture through use of discussing grocery stores. Students will also learn how to ask and answer questions about shopping and selling. 

Keywords:

Groceries, Shopping, Store, Food, Supermarket, Prices

NCSSFL-ACTFL World Readiness Standards:

  • Standard 1.1 - Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.
  • Standard 1.2 - Students understand and interpret spoken and written (target language) on a variety of topics.
  • Standard 1.3 - Students present information, concepts, and ideas in (target language) to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics.
  • Standard 2.2 - Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and perspectives of (target culture). 

Idaho State World Language Standards:

  • COMM 1.1 - Interact and negotiate meaning (spoken, signed, written conversation) to share information, reactions, feelings, and opinions.
  • COMM 2.1 - Understand, interpret, and analyze what is heard, read, or viewed on a variety of topics.
  • CLTR 1.1: Analyze the cultural practices/patterns of behavior accepted as the societal norm in the target culture.
  • CLTR 1.3 Function appropriately in diverse contexts within the target culture.

NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements:

  • I can ask for the cost of food items
  • I can identify common food ingredients and a few dishes that might use them
  • I can compare/contrast the price of food items from different grocery stores
  • I can compare/contrast how prices are written in the United States and in other Spanish-speaking countries (Intercultural)

Materials Needed:

  • Google Slideshow
  • Personal White Boards and Markers (One of each per student)
  • Grocery Lists
  • Food Cards (One or two sets for the entire group)
  • 4 (or more, depending on class size) advertisements from the target culture from different grocery stores

Warm-up

1. Begin by introducing the Can-Dos for today’s activity. 

2.Explain how in the United States a period is used, while in some YOUR LANGUAGE-speaking countries, and many other countries around the world, a comma is used when writing a price. 

“In the United States they use a period, while in other countries they use a comma in order to write the price of something."

3.  Give each student a whiteboard & marker. Have them set up their whiteboards so that they can put six items in order from least expensive to most expensive. 

"On your whiteboards, put a line like this (example on the google slide) in order to put the objects in order from the least expensive to the most expensive."

4.  Put the six Food Cards on the whiteboard in a random order. Tell students that they need to list the items in order from least expensive to most expensive on their whiteboards.

"I am going to put 6 cards on the whiteboard. On your whiteboard, you are going to make a list of the foods in order from the least expensive to the most expensive following your opinion."

What is the most expensive food? What is the least expensive? What’s in the middle?"

5. The next slides will show the items in the correct order from least expensive to most expensive along with the prices of each item in PESOS. The exchange rate is 1 peso is equal to 5-6 cents, but this rate changes constantly. (Note: You can show them how to find the current exchange rate linked here.)

"The next slides are going to have things in order from the least expensive to the most expensive and also have the prices of the items in CURRENCY YOU CHOOSE. The currency changes continuously."

Main Activity

1. Split the students into two different groups. Half the students will be owners or employees of a grocery store using the advertisements. The other half of the students will have a grocery list they must "shop" for.  (Note: This is the recommended distribution, you may distribute the students in the best way for your class.) 

You all need to find the least expensive store to buy your food. The students that have the lists of food in the “supermarkets” are going to be the sellers. Then, you are going to write on your papers the price of each thing that you buy and what store you bought them from.

2. Have students who "own" or "work" at a grocery store spread out in the room. The students with the lists will have to find the store that offers the cheapest options for the items on their lists. They will then write down the price for the item and the store they “bought” the item from.  

3. After the round ends, repeat by having the students switch roles. 
*Note: Make sure each "shopping" student has a different list (they are numbered at the top).  

2.  Tell your students:

“Half of you have a list of groceries and the other half have ads from a supermarket.”

“You all need to find the least expensive store to buy your groceries. The students that have the grocery lists are going to be the sellers, then you are going to write on your papers the price of each thing that you buy and what store you bought them from.” 

Wrap up:

Ask students the following questions to finish the lab:

What was the least expensive vegetable? Where did you buy it?

In what stores did you buy more than one thing?

Of everything you bought, what cost the least?

How much did all of your foods cost in total? (Add the prices)

End of lab:

• Read Can-Do statements once more and have students evaluate their confidence. 
(Use thumbs up/thumbs down or download our student cards.) 
• Encourage students to be honest in their self-evaluation.
• Pay attention, and try to use feedback for future labs!

Relevant NCSSFL-ACTFL Can-Do Statements:

  • I can ask for the cost of food items
  • I can identify common food ingredients and a few dishes that might use them
  • I can compare/contrast the price of food items from different grocery stores
  • I can compare/contrast how prices are written in the United States and in other Spanish-speaking countries (Intercultural)
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