Routines and habits

This lesson helps learners to talk about their daily routines.

Angela Ferarre

9 - 12

This lesson focuses on vocabulary to talk about daily routines and using the present simple in the first and third person. First, learners will review telling the time and days of the week. Language to describe daily routine activities will then be introduced, and learners will answer questions about their own daily routines as well as find out about their classmates' routines. Finally, learners will play a game to practise using the present simple in both the first and third person. There are some additional suggestions for review and follow-up activities. This can be done as a print-free lesson. The notebook work can be skipped if writing is difficult for your class.

Learning outcomes

Revise telling the time and days of the week
Use the vocabulary of daily routines
Practise the present simple, first and third person singular
Record learning in notebook

Age/ Level

Aged 9-12 (CEFR A1/2)

Time

85 minutes - This can be done over two lessons

Materials

Lesson plan

teaching clock or old wall clock with movable hands

Optional materials

flashcards and word cards for daily routine activities, such as:
https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/flashcards/daily-routines-flashcards
A4 paper folded into eighths, one per learner

Lesson one (50 minutes)

Warmer – Days of the week review (10 minutes)

•    Review the days of the week. Write the days of the week on the board in order
•    Drill the days while pointing at the words as you say them. The whole class repeats the word.
•    Erase Wednesday. Drill the days again, pointing at the words and the space where Wednesday was written.
•    Erase another word and continue the drill until all the words have been erased and the learners remember the words and day order.
•    Write one day of the week on the board and nominate one learner to say it by asking ‘What day is it?’
•    Repeat this a few times

Lead in -Telling the time (15 minutes)

•    This is a revision activity
•    Use a clock where you can change the time. Set a time on the clock and ask learners, ‘What time is it?’ If they answer correctly, drill the answer.
Tip: If you don’t have a clock draw a clock face on the board and keep changing and erasing the hands.
•    Then ask the learners to draw their own clocks (or use real clocks) to ask each other the time.
•    Monitor to check there are no problems.

Talking about daily routines (15 minutes)

Introduce daily routine vocabulary using a ‘listen and do activity’.
If possible, ask learners to make a circle. If this isn’t possible, they can do the actions from their desk.
Ask learners to copy you, they only do the actions. Say, ‘I wake up at 7 o’clock.’ While miming a yawning/ stretching motion.
Continue describing your routine with actions. E.g.
1. I get up at 7 o’ clock
2. I have a shower at 7. 15
3. I get dressed at 7.30
4. I have breakfast at 8 o’ clock
5. I clean my teeth at 8.15
6. I go to school at 8.30
7. I have lunch as 12 o’ clock
8. I go home at 4 o’ clock
9. I do homework at 5 o’ clock
10. I have dinner at 6 o’ clock
11. I go to bed at 10 o’ clock

Note: You could use quarter to/ from and half if this is suitable for the learners. However, they may be more familiar with the use of digital time in their L1.

Repeat the sequence but this time encourage choral repetition
Repeat again using individual repetition. You may need to say the model sentence a few times before getting them to repeat it.

Notebook work (10 minutes)

Write the routine sentences on the board, one by one. Indicate each word as you say the sentence aloud.
Ask learners to write the sentences in their notebook.
Tip: If writing is difficult for your learners prompt them to repeat each sentence 4 times, each time getting quieter.
Ask learners to work in pairs. After writing each sentence they compare their work to check it’s correct. Pairs use an appropriate gesture to indicate their sentences are correct (thumbs up, ok gesture, etc.)
Note: Including supported peer checking in lessons at this stage can take more time but makes it easier to use peer correction when learners are doing more creative writing.

Lesson two (45 minutes)

Individual Practice (15 minutes)

Say the first routine action. E.g. ‘I get up at 7 o’ clock and do the relevant action.
Nominate a learner and ask them ‘What time do you get up?’ Indicate that they should do the action and give a true answer.
Repeat this sequence with 2 more learners. Correct and drill any errors with the whole group.
Tip: You could also ask, ‘What time do you get up on Saturday and Sunday?’, to get a variety of answers.
Move on to the second action. E.g. I have a shower at 7.15.
Again, prompt 3 or 4 learners to give their own answers
Repeat this sequence until you’ve covered all actions. Most of the children should have had the opportunity to speak.

Note: learners generally have real interest about their classmates so should be motivated throughout this activity.

Talking about other people’s daily routines (15 minutes)

Draw a grid on the board with five lines and two columns. Ask children to copy the grid into their notebooks, if possible.
In column one, write one of the learner’s names. Ask them what time he or she gets up. Either write ‘get up’ on the board, or use a flashcard, to remind the learners that this grid gives information about what time they get up.
On line 1, column two of the grid, next to the learner’s name, write the time he or she gets up. Read the information out, e.g. ‘Alex gets up at half past seven.’
Ask further learners, filling in the lines in the same way and eliciting full sentences from the class. If appropriate, you can write the sentence on the board, adding the ‘s’ for the third person singular in a different colour.
This sentence-building activity can be repeated with other actions, such as: ‘have a shower’ and ‘watch TV’.
Nominate children to be ‘teacher’ and take over filling in the grid on the board from the information given by classmates.

Memory review game (15 minutes)

Demonstrate the game with a group of four or five children first.
The first player says, for example, ‘I watch TV at six o’clock.’ The second player repeats the information in the third person and then adds a sentence about themselves, e.g. ‘Anna watches TV at six o’clock. I watch TV at half past six.’ The third player repeats the information given by the first two and adds his own, and so on.
If one of the players forgets any of the information, the game has to start again. This can be played by several groups at the same time if you have a large class, or you can monitor one group at a time, while the other children draw their daily routine in their notebook, for example.

Extension or follow up

Ask for a volunteer to come and mime one of the actions for the others to guess.
Each child can illustrate their daily routine with a simple comic strip. Fold an A4 so that there are eight squares.
Ask the children to do one drawing in each square and write the appropriate sentence underneath, if writing is appropriate for your learners. The comic strips can then be displayed in the classroom.

Useful links