Today

Objective & content

By the end, students can say the day, the date, the weather and how they feel. The classroom poster has three panels, each with a question and a sentence frame: What day is it today? It's ... the ... of ..., What's the weather like today? It's ..., How do you feel today? I feel .... Around the frames are the 7 days, ordinal numbers, 12 months, 6 weather words with icons and 16 feelings with faces. It is a display poster, not a worksheet: there is nothing to fill in and no answer key.

Pedagogical guide

Use the poster as a 3-minute routine at the start of every lesson: repetition builds the full sentences. The date frame is the British form (It's Monday, the third of March). The poster lists the ordinals only in part (1 to 16, then 20, 21, 30 and 31), so write the others on the board when needed. Sixteen feelings are a lot for an A1- class: start with four to six (happy, sad, tired, angry, scared, bored) and add the rest during the year. Ordinal numbers are above a strict A1- level, so teach them as fixed chunks.

Suggested procedure

1. (1 min) Display the poster where every student can see it.
2. (2 min) Ask What day is it today? Students answer with the frame, first together, then one by one.
3. (1 min) Ask about the weather; a student looks out of the window and answers.
4. (1 min) Ask How do you feel today? Students point to a face and say I feel ....
5. (each week) Choose a student leader who asks the three questions.

Adaptations

• [S] Start with days and weather only; add feelings in week 2. Students point to the word and repeat.
• [A] Students ask a partner the three questions and add one extra sentence (I feel tired. It's Monday.).