I really love teaching this unit. By this 5th unit, I am so ready for my students to be able to speak and write the date correctly. Up to this point, we have been practicing the date during bell work, but now we are going to teach ordinal numbers and the correct places for commas in dates. This unit also includes so many fun activities. Besides “the usual” (daily bell work, flashcards, fluency, lots of grammar worksheets), there is a writing activity with a rubric and an interview assignment to get kids speaking. Additionally, all five speaking and listening activities are games, so students learn while having fun. Isn’t that always the best?
The first game is adapted from Easy ESL Games to review months of the year and month order. It’s a challenging game and one that’s perfect for tournament play. Simply Google “double elimination brackets” for the number of students you have and host a tournament. This format motivates students to learn their months because they want to win. The next game is called “Last One Standing,” and students must speak the date correctly to stay in. Luckily, students who get out have opportunities to get back in. The next game is Match the Color, and it allows students to get creative. Lots of laughs and definitely student-approved! The below picture is a group of four playing.
Next up is Preposition Slap. Students play each other to advance around the classroom. It’s great for some friendly classroom competition and excellent at helping students learn prepositions. One time (during covid of course) I only had three students in the class, so I just kept a tally of each student’s points on the board and that worked as well. Finally, there is a board game that reviews the THREE tenses students have learned so far in this curriculum - simple present, present progressive, and simple future.
The unit takes 3.5 to 4 weeks. I teach it in nine or ten 80 minute block periods, but
it can be adapted to fit your needs. This unit reviews the prepositions “at,” “on,” and “in” and the present progressive tense from my previous units. It introduces ordinal numbers, how to write the date correctly (in American English), creating questions using “when,” more ways to use prepositions “on” and “in,” and the future tense. The summative test includes vocabulary and grammar. Please note that simultaneous to this unit, my students are also working through Words Their Way, Sorts 1-5 to master short and long vowel sounds. They are also reading books silently on their own. Here is the library they use. They are also in Unit 1 or 2 of Edge Fundamentals.
Please see my TPT store to access this unit. I have listed the specific words and other phrases learned in this unit. Isn’t it a joy teaching ESL students?! If you ever have feedback, please send it my way. I would love to hear your ideas.
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