ESL Questions Lesson Plan: Time Questions

Before you can teach ESL students using time questions, you need to make sure that they are comfortable with time markings in English. Show students a clock, and explain to them how to read it and pronounce the words in English. Note different ways of saying the same time (e.g., 8:45 or “a quarter to nine”), and make sure that students know the terms “morning,” “noon,” “afternoon,” “night,” “midnight,” “a.m.,” and “p.m.” If possible, create a functional clock by using a large piece of tag-board and a paper fastener. Name a time, and have a volunteer come up to the board and move the hands of the clock so that they display the appropriate time. Make sure that students are comfortable with the language of time before asking them the ESL time questions in the following sections.

Teach students these basic time questions and stems to acquaint them with the common form of time questions. Write each of these stems on a sentence strip, and give one out to each pair of students. Have students complete each question and write an answer to it. Then have them share their answers with the class.

· What time is it?

· What time is the…?

· When is the…?

· What day is the…?

· When does…start?

· When does…end?

· When will we…?

For more advanced ESL students, you may be able to begin a discussion about time based on well-crafted time questions. Try asking your students some of these questions, and see whether they can get students discussing time-related concepts.

· Do you like to be early or late?

· What do you like to do in your free time?

· Is “wasting time” a good thing or a bad thing? Why?

· What time do you go to sleep at night? Do you think you need more or less sleep than most people?

· Do you wear a watch? Why or why not?

· If you had a time machine, which time would you want to visit? Why?