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Level 2Week 2SpeakingVocabularyReading

What does she look like? Describing people

Children learn to describe how people look and what they are like, read a dialogue about a lost sister, then play a describe-and-guess game.

Ages 8 to 11A160 minutesChecked 7 November 2026

At a glance

From
Level 2, Moving Up English: Week 2, Describing people
Grammar
What's he like? / What does she look like?
Key language
What does she look like? She's tall. She's got curly hair / glasses. / What's he like? He's friendly, shy, funny, kind, chatty.
Children make
A spoken and written description of a friend or family member.
Class size
Works with 10 to 50 children; pair and group steps say how to scale.

Objective

Children describe appearance and personality, and understand the difference between "What does he look like?" and "What's he like?"

Success criteria for children

  • I can describe someone's hair, face and height.
  • I can say what someone is like with two personality words.
  • I know which question asks about looks and which asks about personality.

Timing: 60 minutes

MinutesStageWhat happens
0 to 5Warm-up: describe meChildren describe the teacher with any words they know.
5 to 17Appearance wordsHair, height and face words with board faces; have got.
17 to 25Looks or personality?Contrast What does he look like? with What's he like?
25 to 35Reading: Lost at the fairRead the dialogue in pairs; find Lily's description.
35 to 47Speaking: Who is it?Describe a classmate without saying the name; group guesses.
47 to 55WritingWorksheet tasks 1 to 3: questions, Lily, someone I know.
55 to 60Exit ticketTwo sentences: one looks, one personality.

Materials

Step by step, with teacher talk

0 to 5 minWarm-up: describe me

  1. Ask "What do I look like?" Write every correct word children offer on the board in two groups: hair and other.

5 to 17 minAppearance words

  1. Use the board faces to teach: long, short, curly, straight, dark, fair hair; tall, short; glasses, a beard, freckles.
  2. Model "She's got long curly hair." Point out the order: size, then shape, then colour, then hair.
  3. Point to a face; rows say a sentence each.
Concept-check questions
  • "She's got straight hair." Is it curly? (No.)
  • Do we say "She's got hair long"? (No, long hair.)

17 to 25 minLooks or personality?

  1. Write both questions on the board. Answer each about a famous cartoon character the class knows.
  2. Teach friendly, shy, funny, kind, chatty, brave with quick mimes.
  3. Call out answers ("He's got a beard." "He's shy."); children point to the question it answers.
Teacher talk

"What's my brother like? He's funny and kind. What does he look like? He's tall and he's got short dark hair."

Concept-check questions
  • "He's kind." Can you see kind in a photo? (No, it is personality.)
  • Which question is about personality? (What's he like?)

25 to 35 minReading: Lost at the fair

  1. Pairs read the dialogue aloud, then swap roles.
  2. They underline everything about how Lily looks and circle what she is like. Check answers and questions together.

35 to 47 minSpeaking: Who is it?

  1. Model: "She's got short straight hair. She's got glasses. She's chatty and very kind." The class guesses.
  2. In fours, each child describes someone in the class (only kind words). The others guess.
  3. Rule: only say nice things about personality.
Concept-check questions
  • Can you say the person's name? (No.)

47 to 55 minWriting

  1. Children complete the worksheet. Early finishers add a sentence with "but": "He's shy, but he's very funny."

55 to 60 minExit ticket

  1. See below.

Differentiation

Support

  • Give a word bank grouped as hair, height, extras and personality.
  • Children describe a board face instead of a classmate.

Stretch

  • Use "quite" and "very": "He's quite shy."
  • Add a reason: "She's kind because she always helps me."
  • Describe a book character for others to guess.

Dialogue

Dialogue: Lost at the fair

Helper: Hello. Are you OK? You look worried.

Sami: I can't find my little sister, Lily.

Helper: Don't worry. We can find her. What does she look like?

Sami: She's six. She's quite short and she's got long curly hair. It's dark brown.

Helper: Has she got glasses?

Sami: Yes, she's got small red glasses. And she's wearing a yellow T-shirt.

Helper: And what's she like? Is she shy?

Sami: No, she isn't shy. She's very chatty and friendly. She talks to everyone!

Helper: Look over there, next to the cake stall. Is that Lily, talking to the clown?

Sami: Yes! Lily! Thank you so much!

Questions

  1. How old is Lily?
  2. Describe Lily's hair.
  3. What colour are her glasses?
  4. Is Lily shy? How do you know?
  5. Where do they find Lily?

Printable worksheet

Prints on its own A4 page. Use Print the worksheet above, or print the whole plan and the worksheet starts on a new page. One copy per child, or one per pair to save paper.

Litlings Free English · Level 2 · Week 2NameDate

Describing people

1. Match the question to the answer.

1. What does your dad look like?●●a. She's funny and kind.
2. What's your dad like?●●b. He's tall with short hair.
3. Has your sister got glasses?●●c. No, she hasn't.
4. What's your teacher like?●●d. He's quiet and kind.

2. Write about Lily from the dialogue.

  1. Lily is years old.
  2. She's got long, , dark brown hair.
  3. She's got small glasses.
  4. She's very and friendly.

3. Describe someone you know. Write four sentences: two about looks, two about personality.

Free to copy for classroom use.english.litlings.com/lesson-plans/describing-people-speaking-lesson/

Answer key

Dialogue questions

  1. She is six.
  2. Long, curly and dark brown.
  3. Red.
  4. No. She is chatty and friendly, and she talks to everyone.
  5. Next to the cake stall, talking to the clown.

Worksheet

  • 1: 1b, 2d, 3c, 4a. (Accept 2a and 4d too: both answers describe personality.)
  • 2: six; curly; red; chatty.
  • 3: answers will vary. Check "She's got" for looks and "She's" plus an adjective for personality.

Exit ticket

On a slip, describe a famous person or character in two sentences, one for looks and one for personality, without the name. Read three aloud; the class guesses.

Homework

Find a photo of someone in your family (or draw them). Write a short description: what they look like and what they are like.

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More lesson plans

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Sources and free resources
  • Level 2, Week 2: Describing people (the curriculum week this plan comes from)
  • All reading texts, dialogues, scripts, worksheets and answer keys on this page are original to Litlings and free to copy for classroom use.