How do I teach phrasal verbs to my students?

If you’re an English teacher, you’re probably already familiar with phrasal verbs and why it can be a challenge to teach them to your students (if not, start with this blog post).

To recap, English learners find phrasal verbs challenging because:

1. the meanings of phrasal verbs can change depending on the context and the particles that are used, and

2. phrasal verbs are often idiomatic, and their meanings cannot be deduced from the meanings of their individual parts.

When teaching this topic to your students, it’s important to keep in mind that coming across phrasal verbs in context, and repeated exposure, are very important for English learners to understand what they mean and how to use them. Online learning resources are very helpful in achieving this, but it can be tricky to know how to integrate them into the classroom effectively.

To help, we’ve put together a lesson plan which should make teaching phrasal verbs to your students as straightforward as possible. It makes use of our online grammar program, Tense Buster.

Lesson Plan Structure:

Title: Exploring Phrasal Verbs
Level: Upper Intermediate (CEFR B2)
Aim: By the end of this lesson, students will have a solid grasp on the concept of phrasal verbs, and why they are important. They will be able to understand and use a selection of several dozen phrasal verbs in context.
Time: 60 minutes
Materials needed:
1) Tense Buster
2) Computers or mobile phones for the students
3) Whiteboard and markers [optional]

Step 1: Presentation stage [10 minutes]

In the presentation stage of an inductive teaching approach, students are presented with examples of the target language and students are encouraged to analyse these examples to draw generalisations.

Two Tense Buster exercises will be used for the presentation stage in this lesson. Ask the students to complete these two exercises individually on their laptop, tablet, or mobile phone:

Level: Advanced > Unit: Phrasal verbs > Exercises: 1) Introduction, 2) The rule

In the first exercise, students will be presented with a text and asked to find sixteen phrasal verbs in it, with the support of automatic marking and feedback. In the next exercise, students are presented with the formal definition of phrasal verbs, how they are constructed, and why they are important. They finish off this exercise by matching a selection of 10 phrasal verbs to their single-word equivalents.

Step 2: Introduction [5 minutes]

By this stage, students should have a basic understanding of what phrasal verbs are and why they are important. As a group, run through the concept again.

Write six phrasal verbs on the board and ask students to identify their meanings. Cover six examples that were covered in the Tense Buster exercises: blow up, calm down, put off, put up with, break up, and make up.

Step 3: Explanation [15 minutes]

There are two types of phrasal verbs — those that can be broken up by other words (separable phrasal verbs), and those that cannot be broken up (inseparable phrasal verbs). Using an example for each (separable: turn off, inseparable: come across), distinguish between the two types on the board.

Revisit the six examples of phrasal verbs that were covered in the Introduction stage, and — as a group — ask the students to categorise each as either separable or inseparable.

Then, cover six new examples of phrasal verbs that are commonly used: take off, look forward to, give up, get along, bring up, set up. For each one, ask the class to identify the meaning and type of phrasal verb.

Step 4: Practice [20 minutes]

Have the students open Tense Buster on their devices, and complete the next four exercises in the ‘phrasal verbs’ unit.

These exercises will challenge the students by having them practise selecting and using phrasal verbs in a variety of contexts: a magazine quiz, a dialogue between friends, and a Q&A between a manager and assistant. Each of these exercises has automatic marking and feedback, so the students can better understand why their responses were correct or incorrect.

The seventh exercise in the ‘phrasal verbs’ unit tests the students’ comprehension of the topic. If time permits, have the students complete the true or false questions individually. If the lesson is running behind schedule, go through the true or false questions as a group, and address any questions together.

Step 5: Application [10 minutes]

Review any errors or questions that the students may have following the practice exercises they completed.

Finally, have the students split into pairs and ask them to create their own short dialogue for a skit. Each sentence should contain at least one phrasal verb. Then, have them act out the dialogue for the class. Alternatively, if time is short, have them perform the skit for another pair of students, then switch.

Step 6: Homework

Assigning homework is much easier with blended online learning. Simply ask the students to complete the remaining three exercises in the Tense Buster unit on phrasal verbs, including a randomised test on the topic. This should take 20-30 minutes. If you want the students to spend a longer time studying, ask them to also complete the unit on The passive in the Intermediate level — which has phrasal verbs with ‘get’ as a sub-focus.

The beauty of online homework is that you can track their progress in the Admin Panel. You’ll be able to see their individual scores in each exercise, as well as the amount of time they spent learning.

Conclusion:

By the end of this lesson, students will have a solid grasp on the concept of phrasal verbs, and why they are important. Encourage them to continue practising and applying this knowledge in their everyday conversations.

If you have any questions on Tense Buster, or any of our other online English programs, please get in touch.