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A house with 132 rooms: this is, these are and rooms in a house

An A1 ESL lesson plan on rooms in a house and how to show them with this is and these are.

Grammar
Showing rooms with this is for one and these are for more (These are the bedrooms.), regular plurals with -s and -es, How many…? and big numbers.
Topic
The rooms of the house, counted in the White House in Washington, D.C. and shown in the student's home, with words like kitchen, bathroom, living room and fireplace.
Activities
A White House poster to read, a dialogue about a shared Brooklyn house, self-checking drills, a video-call chat, open-the-box questions, a message to write and a home tour to record.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Welcome home!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: homes and roomsVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: a very white house

    • Look at the photo: the White HousePictureUnlock
    • Read the posterReal-life documentTry it
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: 35 bathrooms?!

    • Listen to Emma and TundeListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: This is the kitchen

    • Study the scheme: This is the kitchenGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the right wordChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: write the pluralFill in the gapsTry it
    • Drag the words into the gaps: a home tourDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the correct sentenceQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: welcome to my home!

    • Choose the right replies: a video tourChatTry it
    • Open a box and answerOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Match the numbers and the wordsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the words: rooms and placesAnagramUnlock
    • Write a message: my homeWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
    • Record yourself: a tour of your homeSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

23 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Rooms in a house vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • bathroom
  • bedroom
  • living room
  • dining room
  • door
  • window
  • fireplace

Grammar: this is, these are and plurals

A house with 132 rooms gives learners plenty to count, and a home tour gives them something to point at: This is the kitchen. These are the bedrooms. They choose between the two forms, learn that a number needs a plural noun, ask How many…? and say the White House's numbers aloud.

This is the kitchen. These are the bedrooms.

Show your home: one room or two or more rooms. Say how many.

This is for one, these are for two or more

Point at one room and say This is the kitchen. Point at two or more and say These are the bedrooms. This goes with is, these with are, so both words change together.

One (1): this is

  • This is the kitchen.
  • This is our bathroom.
  • This is my bedroom.

Two or more (2, 3, 132…): these are

  • These are the bedrooms.
  • These are our bathrooms.
  • These are my windows.

The, our or my before the room

A room never stands alone after this is: it needs the, our or my, as in This is the kitchen and These are our bedrooms. Without it, learners say This is kitchen, one of the scheme's common mistakes.

This is / These arethe / our / myroom / rooms

This is the kitchen.

These are our bedrooms.

Plurals: -s, -es and people

Most nouns add -s: 132 rooms, 412 doors, 28 fireplaces. Nouns ending in -s, -x, -ch or -sh add -es (two boxes), and person becomes people, a new word.

One (a / one)Two or moreHow?
a room132 roomsmost words: + s
a window147 windowsmost words: + s
a door412 doorsmost words: + s
a fireplace28 fireplacesmost words: + s
a boxtwo boxes-s, -x, -ch, -sh: + es
a personnine peoplea new word

How many…? A number and a plural

How many takes a plural, and so does the answer: How many bathrooms? 35 bathrooms. After a or one, the noun stays singular: one kitchen, never one kitchens.

How many…?

Ask How many + a plural: How many rooms? How many bathrooms? Answer with a number + a plural: 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, nine people. But with a or one, no plural: one kitchen, a kitchen.

Big numbers the American way

The scheme shows how to say the poster's numbers: 132 is a hundred thirty-two (or one hundred thirty-two). Hundred takes no -s after a number: four hundred twelve.

NumberSay it
35thirty-five
132a hundred thirty-two (or one hundred thirty-two)
147a hundred forty-seven
412four hundred twelve (not four hundreds)
570five hundred seventy

Common mistakes

  • This are the bedrooms.

    These are the bedrooms.

    two or more → these are

  • These is the kitchen.

    This is the kitchen.

    one → this is

  • 35 bathroom

    35 bathrooms

    a number (2, 3, 35…) + a plural

  • This is kitchen.

    This is the kitchen.

    Say the (or our, my) before the room.

More lessons on this grammar: This, that, these and those lessons and exercises

Try the this is and these are exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 10 auto-checked exercises
  • 4 games
  • 2 teacher-checked tasks
  • 1 real-life document
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 1 audio clip
  • 2 pictures
  • 1 transcript

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • show the rooms of a home, one room or more: This is the kitchen. These are the bedrooms.
  • make plurals with -s or -es, as in fireplaces and boxes, and use people as the plural of person
  • ask How many rooms? and answer with a number and a plural, but say one kitchen
  • say big numbers the American way: a hundred thirty-two, four hundred twelve
  • name rooms and parts of a home, from living room and dining room to window and fireplace

Lesson 13 of English A1.1 · Hello, World opens the unit Home sweet home. It builds on two earlier lessons: the plurals and big numbers of lesson 10, such as two children and two hundred seventy-five, and have got from lesson 6, which now says what a house has. Lesson 16 reviews it with the rest of the unit. The White House suits a lesson on plurals: its home part has 132 rooms, 412 doors and 147 windows, so every room word comes with a number.

Students start with a spin wheel about their own homes and ten words, from kitchen and dining room to fireplace, with pictures and audio, then choose the right word for each picture. They read Emma's poster and answer true-or-false and multiple-choice questions, then hear Emma and Tunde compare the two houses (an AI-voiced dialogue). In the grammar chapter, the scheme comes before four exercises: choosing this or these, writing plurals, dragging room words into a home tour and picking the correct sentence, each checked as students answer. To finish, students reply to Emma in a video-call chat and open boxes of questions about their own home.

Homework starts with three exercises that check themselves: word order, matching numbers with words such as a hundred forty-seven, and unscrambling room words. Then students write a short message about their home and record a tour of it, and the teacher gets both to review.

Grammar:
This is… / These are… · plurals · numbers · How many…?
Topic:
home · rooms · the White House · Washington, D.C.

Teaching tips

  • Before the reading, take guesses: how many rooms, bathrooms and windows does the White House have? Write them on the board and let the poster decide who's closest.
  • Turn your classroom into the home tour: point at the door and say This is the door, then at the windows for These are the windows. Then let students lead the tour.
  • Listen for This is kitchen, a common slip. Answer Which kitchen? until the student adds the, our or my.
  • Read the poster's numbers aloud as a class before the homework: a hundred thirty-two, four hundred twelve, five hundred seventy. Then call out a number and have students write it in words.
  • After the chat with Emma, put students in pairs: one shows a room on their phone, the other asks How many windows? and What's your favorite room?

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The whole course: English A1.1 · Hello, World

32 lessons for complete beginners in simple American English, from the verb to be to can and can't. Eight units cover greetings, family, numbers, home, food, daily routines, the town and free time, and each ends with a review lesson. Pictures and definitions replace translations, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Hello!

    greetings, the verb to be, countries and nationalities, yes/no questions

    1. Lesson 1Hi, hey, howdy or aloha?The verb to be with I and you
    2. Lesson 2Ellis Island: where are they from?He's, she's, they're: the verb to be
    3. Lesson 3Six languages at the UNYes/no questions with be and short answers
    4. Lesson 4Review: hello from the Statue of LibertyThe verb to be and yes/no questions, reviewed

  2. Unit 2 My people

    family members, possessive adjectives, have got, describing people

    1. Lesson 5Why is Mother's Day in May?Possessive adjectives: my, your, his, her
    2. Lesson 6Best in show!Have got and the possessive 's
    3. Lesson 7National Best Friends DaySubject pronouns, possessives and describing people
    4. Lesson 8Review: Bobbie the Wonder DogPossessives, have got and 's, reviewed

  3. Unit 3 Numbers all around

    numbers and dates, a/an and plurals, phone numbers and prices

    1. Lesson 9Why is March 14 Pi Day?Numbers 0 to 100, decimals and US dates
    2. Lesson 10How old is the General Sherman tree?A, an and plurals, with big numbers and How old…?
    3. Lesson 119-1-1 and other numbers to knowSaying phone numbers, emails and prices
    4. Lesson 12Review: 102 floors and 1,860 stepsNumbers, dates, ages and prices, reviewed

  4. Unit 4 Home sweet home

    rooms in a house, this, that, these and those, furniture, opposites

    1. Lesson 13 · you're hereA house with 132 roomsThis is, these are and plurals
    2. Lesson 14Boston's skinny house: where's the bed?This, that, these, those and Where's…?
    3. Lesson 15Can a dorm room be cozy?Opposite adjectives and have got
    4. Lesson 16Review: homes for everyoneShowing and describing a home, reviewed

  5. Unit 5 Food I love

    likes and dislikes, present simple questions, ordering food

    1. Lesson 17Pancakes for breakfast?I like, I don't like and plural nouns
    2. Lesson 18New York pizza or Chicago deep-dish?Present simple questions and short answers
    3. Lesson 19A coffee to go, please!Ordering food with I'd like and Can I have…?
    4. Lesson 20Review: lunch from a food truckI like, Do you like and I'd like, reviewed

  6. Unit 6 My day

    telling the time, daily routines, days of the week, prepositions of time

    1. Lesson 21What time is it in Times Square?Telling the time and daily routines
    2. Lesson 22Who brings the mail?The present simple with we and they
    3. Lesson 23Is it morning in Hawaii?Prepositions of time with parts of the day
    4. Lesson 24Review: a New York morningTime, routines and days, reviewed

  7. Unit 7 My town

    places in town, prepositions of place, giving directions

    1. Lesson 25Main Street, USAPrepositions of place: near and next to
    2. Lesson 26Meet me at Union SquarePresent simple questions and negatives with we and they
    3. Lesson 27Turn left on 42nd StreetImperatives for giving directions
    4. Lesson 28Review: streets for peoplePlaces, the present simple and directions, reviewed

  8. Unit 8 Free time

    hobbies, can and can't, sports, making plans

    1. Lesson 29Can you play Scrabble?Can and can't for ability
    2. Lesson 30Can you surf?Can for ability and how well
    3. Lesson 31Saturday morning: Little LeagueFree time and making plans
    4. Lesson 32Review: a book for every childCan, can't and free time, reviewed

Questions about this lesson

What are the rooms in a house in English?
The main rooms in a house are the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room, and many homes also have a dining room. Bedroom and bathroom are one word; living room and dining room are two. A home has a door and windows too, and sometimes a fireplace. On edio.ai, the A1 lesson A house with 132 rooms puts each of these words on a card with a picture and audio.
What do you do in each room of the house?
You cook in the kitchen and sleep in the bedroom, sit and watch TV in the living room and eat with your family in the dining room. The bathroom has the shower and the toilet. On a tour, name the room, then its use: This is the kitchen. We cook here. These are the bedrooms. We sleep here. Here points back to the room, so you don't repeat its name.
When do you use this is and these are?
Use this is for one thing and these are for more, often while you point: This is the kitchen. These are the bedrooms. After these are, the noun is plural, and a room needs the, my or our in front. The A1 lesson A house with 132 rooms on edio.ai has learners use both on a video call, showing their own home room by room.
How do you say how many rooms your home has in English?
Use has got or has with a number and a plural: My apartment has got four rooms. It has two bedrooms. Two or more takes a plural, but one doesn't: one bathroom, not one bathrooms. To ask, put a plural after How many: How many bathrooms? The White House, for comparison, has 132 rooms and 35 bathrooms.
Is it "This are the bedrooms" or "These are the bedrooms"?
These are the bedrooms is correct, because two or more rooms take these and are. One room takes this and is: This is the bedroom. The pointing word, the verb and the noun change as a set, so This are and These is are both mistakes, and so is These are the bedroom.
Do you say "This is kitchen" or "This is the kitchen"?
Say This is the kitchen: a room after this is needs a small word in front, usually the, my or our. So it's This is my bedroom and These are our bathrooms. Other singular nouns work the same way: This is the front door. Leaving that small word out, as in This is kitchen, is a very common beginner slip.
What do you say when you show someone around your home?
Start with Welcome to my home! and then name each room: This is the living room. Add one detail per room, such as It's got two big windows, and say which room you like best: My favorite room is the kitchen. Short lines like these work just as well on a video call, one room at a time.
How do I teach this is and these are to beginners?
Let students hear both forms in a home tour first, then set one against two or more, and only then ask them to show their own rooms. A house with 132 rooms, an A1 lesson on edio.ai, works in that order: a dialogue about a shared house (Look, this is our kitchen. And these are our bedrooms.), a scheme, then drills and a video-call chat about the student's home.
What's a good game for practicing the rooms of the house?
An open-the-box game about the student's home works well, because every box hides a speaking task: Show a photo of a room in your home. Say: This is the… or Your dream home: how many bathrooms? For a warm-up, spin a wheel of questions like What's your favorite room at home? A house with 132 rooms on edio.ai opens with the wheel and closes its speaking chapter with the boxes.
How do you practice this is and these are one-to-one?
Make it a live home tour on camera: the student carries the phone from room to room and says This is the kitchen or These are my windows, while you ask How many rooms? and Do you have a fireplace? Then swap and show your own home. The chat in A house with 132 rooms on edio.ai rehearses a call like this for one learner, reply by reply.
What's good homework for practicing rooms in a house?
A short message about your home and a recorded tour make good homework, since both need room words, plurals and It's got, as in My home is an apartment. It's got two bedrooms and one bathroom. In A house with 132 rooms on edio.ai, they come after self-checking practice with word order, numbers and an anagram of room words, and the teacher reviews the writing and the recording.
Are there interactive exercises for this is and these are?
Yes: drills that mark each answer as you go suit this is, these are and plurals. The page of A house with 132 rooms, an A1 lesson on edio.ai, plays four parts with no account: a poster of the White House in numbers, a dialogue about a shared Brooklyn house, a gap-fill that turns room into rooms and person into people, and a video-call chat. The rest is locked.
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