Here are a bunch of ideas for teaching about shopping. Activities are organized under different headings, but some can be used at various stages of a lesson, and adapted to other lessons too. Choose the activities that you feel suit you and, most importantly, your students best. Arrange them in a lesson plan as you see fit alongside your own activities. Be sure to give students as much help with the target expressions/language as they need. Feel free to improve the example handouts as much as you like.
Greeting/Introduction Ideas:
JTE and ALT have a conversation about their favorite shops/what they bought last etc.
ALT and JTE move around the class asking some students about their favorite shops/the last time they went shopping etc.
Warm-ups/Vocab Activities:
The Price is Right:
Students can work individually, in pairs or in small groups. The ALT teaches about their home currency and the exchange rate with the Yen. Then the ALT shows or shouts out random objects and the students must try to guess how much it is in the ALT's home country. Closest guess wins points. Team with the most points wins. To make it more difficult, teach a few currencies and for each object, specify the currency you want to them to guess. Prizes could include small change from back home if you are feeling generous. Here are some currencies and exchange rates.
Chinese Whispers:
Students play Chinese whispers in rows as teams. The ALT tells an expression to the back students who then send the message along the rows to the front students who tell the JTE. All messages are expressions that are commonly used when shopping, eg "May I help you?" and "How much is this." After each expression, the ALT can write it on the blackboard, explain it and give alternatives, before moving on to the next expression. If done in order, eventually a basic dialog made from all the expressions could be written on the blackboard ready for class practice and the next activity.
Currency Quiz I:
ALT shouts out random currencies/countries and the students try to guess the country/currency.
Currency Quiz II:
ALT passes out random foreign currency and the students try to guess which country its from (you need different currency for this).
Do You Have a...duel!:
Two students come to the front of the class, receive a picture card of an item and stand 10 feet apart with their backs to each other and the picture card stuck to their forehead/shirt, or hold it in front. When the ALT shouts "Excuse me!" the students turn around to face each other. The first to correctly say "Do you have a (opponent's item)?" wins. This can also be done between two teams. The teams line up and the front students play against each other. The loser goes to the back of the line and the next student in their team plays against the winner. When one team has lost all their players, the other team wins.
Where can you buy it?:
Give the students a handout with a list of items and a list of shops and have them match the item to where they can buy it. After that, you could play a memory game. Students cut up the handout and spread the vocab around. In pairs or small groups they take turns uncovering 2 of the vocab and try to match the items with the shops. When correct, they keep those cards and the player with the most cards is the winner. Here is an example handout.
Practice Activities:
Currency from other countries:
Students love seein real money from other countries, so try to bring in some of your home currency to pass around. It's also important to explain how your money works--the decimal system in particular that the US and the UK uses seems to confuse Japanese students. Americans can use this worksheet to teach students about the values of different coins. Have students individually calculate each price, and then ask for students to volunteer to say the answers out loud. Make sure to teach them how to say prices (e.g. $2.50 = "two dollars and fifty cents" or "two fifty") first!
Let's Go Shopping!:
You can adapt this in many ways, but here is the basic gist: Students make small groups. Each group becomes one kind of shop (eg the Florist) and sells one kind of thing (e.g. flowers). They can have picture cards as items. Divide them into groups and have them set up shop with shop signs. Each group then designates its own shop clerks and shoppers (about half and half). The shop clerks stay in the shop to sell stuff and the shoppers go to the other shops to buy stuff. Everyone must use the dialog that the class has practiced with the ALT and/or in pairs. When a shopper has bought something, they return to their own shop with the item, swap places with one of their shop clerks and continue. The first group to buy one item from each of the other groups is the winner. If the group structure sounds a little too manic for your students, you can just divide the class in half (half of them clerks, half of them shoppers), have the clerks make their own shop sign and give the shoppers shopping lists or have them make their own. The shoppers then go to various 'shops' to get the things on their shopping lists. Be sure to give clerks and shoppers a chance to switch roles though. Here are some example handouts for shopping: 1, 2. Here also, are some items to sell.
Consolidation/Filler Activities:
Price Practice:
Students often find prices difficult. Read out about 10 different prices, at varying speeds, and have the students write them down. Then give them the answers. Students can mark their own or a partner's answers.
Hot Potato:
After doing a main shopping activity, have the students play hot potato. Two balls are passed/hurled around the classroom, while music plays. When the ALT stops the music, the two students holding the balls perform the dialog with each other/the ALT.
Journals:
If students write journals for the ALT, have them write about their favorite shop; what they like to buy; what they bought last; what they would buy if they had lots of money; capitalism, consumerism and consumption (if you have a class of geniuses/social activists); anything to do with shopping.
Advanced Activities:
Shopping activities can be made more advanced by incorporating things like change, returns and complaints etc. This can generate more vocab and also make the practice activity more like the real thing, which is the ultimate goal.
You could also focus more on working in a shop/restaurant. The students might find this useful if they can see themselves on a working holiday one day.
Skits:
Students work in groups and take the standard dialog and incorporate it into their own skit, perhaps adding their own twist. Then, each group performs in front of the others. Remember though, that this could be time consuming.
Easier Activities:
If your students have problems doing simple, dialog-based activities, the warm-up activities and one or two of the consolidation activities can work well.
'The Price is Right' can be elaborated upon into a main activity, and practices some useful expressions, particularly "How much is it" and numbers and prices. When revealing true prices, you can first comment on the students' guesses with expressions such as "its too cheap/expensive". You could also give teams money and teams who guess the nearest price the opportunity to buy the item, introducing expressions such as "I'll take it", "That's five pounds please" and "Thank you". With imagination, it can be made into an easy and fun main activity that uses many important expressions.
You could also make a shopping-based board game, like a simple version of monopoly, but involving buying items at different kinds of stores, if you have the time and the imagination! You don't have to give money to all students, rather have them start with a certain amount each and individually keep tabs of how much they have as the game goes on, working out the change as they buy things off their shopping list. The first student to finish their list is the winner. Genius! Just be sure to rig it that they can actually win. Anyone want to make it and send it in?