How Does it Taste?

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Meet David De’ Ath, co-founder, editor, and writer at Wonderful World English. With his extensive background as an English teacher, David provides valuable insights and practical tips on ESL for students and teachers alike.

If you’re an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher and you’re looking for some inspiration to teach a class on the subject of “How does it taste?”, you’re in the right place!

This type of lesson is perfect for young learners and beginners; it can be a lot of fun and is something everyone has an opinion on.

Spicy, salty, sour, or sweet?

What’s your favorite?

Your students will be sure to let you know theirs!

Teachers should use as many materials and visual prompts as possible to effectively teach a lesson on “How does it taste?”. Students must be clear on each unique flavor or taste and be able to answer the topic question. Make good use of TPR and keep the lesson fun and engaging for the best results.

I am an experienced ESL teacher who has taught this lesson many times; this one can be a lot of fun and will surely get the taste buds tingling!

I have provided the materials I use for this lesson, along with the PPT and lesson plan for you below, for free!

Feel free to use these materials in your classroom; you can add or take away anything to cater to your class the way you like.

Knives and forks at the ready, let’s jump in!

A “How does it taste?” lesson is a class favorite!

How Does it Taste? ESL Lesson

This lesson is a class favorite and a great option for ESL students of all ages.

It is not just visually enticing; it stimulates the taste buds and gets the students thinking about their favorite foods!

With the right mix of games and activities, songs, and movies, you will be sure to have a successful lesson with this one.

Below, we will look at the lesson plan for a 45-minute class for young ESL learners and some materials and games.

As mentioned above, if you want to tweak this to suit your class needs, length, and preferences, please do so.

Here is the lesson plan for you:

1. Lesson Plan

This lesson is focused on the key sentence: “How does it taste?”, and teaches students to reply with “It’s sour,” “It’s spicy,” “It’s sweet,” or “It’s salty.”

This lesson is for very basic-level English learners, so I don’t overwhelm them.

If you believe your students can handle a little more, then go ahead and include more vocabulary, such as “it’s bitter” or “it’s delicious,” for example.

This plan should be used as a guide to accompany the PPT supplied below:

Objective: To teach ESL students taste-related vocabulary, build comprehension, and produce the target language.

You will need An interactive whiteboard for the PPT, a whiteboard/blackboard to keep score of points, and flashcards of keywords (optional).

1. Introduction (5 minutes):

Greetings and classroom rule review.
Split the class into teams (e.g., boys vs. girls or by the row they are sitting in).
Review content from your previous lesson (if applicable).

2. New Topic Introduction (3 minutes):

Introduce the new topic: “How does it taste?”
Show the slide of some pizza and ask, “What is pizza?” The answer should be, “Pizza is a food.”

3. Taste Vocabulary (8 minutes):

Present four different taste categories: sweet, spicy, salty, and sour.
Show pictures of foods that represent each taste category.
Use these slides to talk about these foods that students are familiar with and drill new vocabulary to build comprehension.

Taking time to plan for lessons properly is key to ensuring a successful class.

4. Drinks Vocabulary (3 minutes):

Show a picture of orange juice and ask, “What is this?” The answer is, “Orange juice is a drink.”
Review various drinks and ask, “How does it taste?”

Click here for a great guide on how to lesson plan for new teachers!

5. Movie Time (4 minutes):

Play a movie related to the class topic, focusing on taste and food (I have provided a link to one below).

6. Sentence Practice (5 minutes):

Review and practice sentences like: “Lemons are sour,” “Ice cream is sweet,” “Pizza is salty,” and “Onions are spicy.”

7. Taste Preferences Discussion (5 minutes):

Engage students in a discussion about their taste preferences. For example, “I like sweet and salty food. What food do you like?”
Reward students who participate with points for their teams on the blackboard.

Be sure to include lots of facial expressions and TPR when teaching new words!

8. Taste Challenge Game (8 minutes):

Select two to four students to come to the front of the class and face the others.
Say, “How does it taste?” and show a picture of food or drink on the screen.
The selected students must quickly turn around and tell you how the food or drink tastes.
The fastest response wins points for their team.

9. Wrap-up and Rewards (4 minutes):

Review all the new language covered in the lesson.
Congratulate the winning team; small rewards such as stickers can be an excellent token of appreciation.

You can swap out the taste challenge game for another game or activity if you prefer, and if you can, using actual food props that students can see, smell, and even taste can be a great way to enhance this lesson.

If you’re looking for some great ideas for games and activities that you can include within your lesson plan for this lesson, or any other, the guide below is for you!

A class of engaged students is a pleasure to teach!

2. Free PPT

Below is the PPT I made for you to use in your class; you can download this and use it as it is with the lesson plan above, or you can edit it however you would like:

3. Materials

There are some great materials available on the subject of food, drink, and taste.

You can use YouTube, copyright-free images on sites like Canva, or check out some useful platforms such as Teachers Pay Teachers.

Make sure to use appropriate and relevant materials to ensure your class is as fun and engaging as it can be.

It is great to make the most of flash cards and props for such lessons.

Even buying real food like lemons and apples for students to smell, taste, and produce the language can be an excellent idea, although it is not required in the lesson plan above.

If your school has materials that you can use, be sure to make the most of them!

I’ve found the video below to be a huge favorite among my students; it’s entertaining, catchy, and covers the four key flavor words of this lesson:

Sweet, Salty, Spicy Wrong Slots | Kids Songs @tigiboo

Any eye-catching video or song on the subject will be sure to keep your students captivated and more receptive to retaining the newly learned language.

Families are another huge subject for ESL learners to understand.

For more FREE materials that cover families, check out the link below!

Conclusion

“How does it taste?” is a commonly asked question all over the world and a significant part of English for learners to understand.

These lessons can be fun and engaging, allowing teachers to be creative to ensure the best lessons for their students.

Use the lesson plan and PPT provided in this guide to help if you are looking for inspiration on what to teach.

You can make the PPT your own by adding or removing slides where needed, catering it to your lesson perfectly.

Make sure to add some fun games, activities, and materials, and your lesson will surely be one to remember.

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We hope this helps!

Happy teaching, and have a wonderful day!

Image Attribution: All images licensed via canva.com

How Does it Taste? – Free Lesson Plan & PPT for ESL Teachers