Meses / Months

New Learning and Practice:

1. Teach the months of the year vocabulary

Start off by looking at a calendar with everyone (and English one, if possible). Have some fun with the calendar first: ask students to point at holidays such as Christmas and to point out their birthdays. Ask what month their birthdays are in and point to the month word (e.g. January) at the top of each month. Start to teach / elicit the English words for months as you discuss their birthdays. Ask what

month it is now as well as the following (using the calendar):

•   the month Christmas is in
•   months other holidays are in (e.g. Easter, famous national holidays – this depends onthe country you are teaching in!)
•   months for different seasons (e.g. summer months, winter, spring and fall / autumn)

2. Play «Put the months in order»

Before class, prepare some colored rectangles of card and write
the months of the year in thick marker pen on each rectangle of
card. You’ll be putting students in pairs so make enough sets for
each pair. Also, if each month can be written on a different
colored card it will help the students to quickly identify each
month. Put your students in pairs and give each pair a set of
mixed up cards. By referring to the calendar, have the pairs put
the months in order on the floor or table. Then get everyone to
touch each card and repeat after you as you chorus the months of the year paying special attention to the fist letter of each word (e.g. «J» for «January»). Run through a few times, getting faster and faster. Finally, get the pairs to mix up the cards and tell them they are going to race to see which pair can put their cards in order first. Say “Ready, steady, go!” and let the students put the cards in order.

3. Play «Wall Touch»

Give each pair some Blue-Tak or something to stick the cards on the wall with. Ask everyone to randomly stick their cards all over the walls around the room. Then bring everyone into the middle of the room. Shout out «January» and everyone has to race over to a January card and touch it. Then “February” and so on (in the correct order) until you make it through all the months. Play another round, this time faster.

4. Sing the «Months March» song

Put one set of months cards on the board in the correct order (or use our song poster). Get everyone to stand to attention, like soldiers, and then follow the steps in the «Gestures for Months March» shown below. If this is the first time to sing the song, play it at least twice and let everyone enjoy marching around.

5. Read classroom reader «Silly Willy’s Months»

Let’s follow the song with a reader which uses the all of the months vocabulary. Before class, download and print off the reader «Silly Willy’s Months» from our website. As you go through each page, point to the pictures and elicit the months, as well as other vocab including weather and the things the characters are doing, for example:

Teacher: (pointing at the picture on page 3) Look at Silly Willy! What is he doing? Students: Sunbathing!
Teacher: Yes, that’s right! But is it hot?
Students: No, it’s cold. It’s snowing.

Teacher: Yes, that’s right! Silly, Silly Willy! So, what month do you think it is when it’s snowing?
Students: January?
Teacher: Let’s check (reading) «Where Silly Willy lives, January and February are very cold. But Silly Willy likes to sunbathe!». So it’s January and February.

Get the students really involved in the story by asking lots of questions about the weather during different months and activities they do (and don’t do) in their country, for example:

Teacher: Do you like to sunbathe in January and February?
Students: No!
Teacher: Why not? What is the weather like here in January and February? Students: It’s cold and rainy.
Teacher: So, when do you like to sunbathe?
Students: In August.
etc.

6. Do «Months Order» worksheet

Give out the «Months Order» worksheet to each student. As your students are doing their worksheets, circulate and ask questions (e.g. “What month is it?”, etc.).

Wrap Up:

1. Assign Homework: «Months Scramble»