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Review: a New York morning – daily routines and telling the time

This A1 ESL lesson plan reviews daily routines and telling the time, with days and parts of the day.

Grammar
Telling the time and routine verbs with at, the present simple with we and they, on + a day, and in the morning or at night: We don't open at five on Sunday.
Topic
A Monday morning in New York, from a Brooklyn deli to the subway, with words such as bagel, cream cheese, platform and commuter.
Activities
A deli menu, a dialogue before work and a radio show, review drills and a memory game, a chat with Emma and a post about the student's Monday morning.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Good morning, New York!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the new wordsVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: the Sunrise Deli

    • Look at the photo: a bagel with cream cheesePictureUnlock
    • Read the menuReal-life documentTry it
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: before work

    • Listen to Emma and TundeListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the morning radioListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Review: what can you do now?

    • Do you remember? Choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Is the sentence correct? True or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Sort the time words: at, on or in?Sort into columnsTry it
    • Complete the house group chatFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the pairs: question and answerMemory gameUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: my mornings

    • Choose the right repliesChatTry it
    • Open a box and answerOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Match the words and their meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Write a post: my morningWriting, checked by the teacherUnlock
    • Record yourself: my morningsSpeaking, checked by the teacherUnlock

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Vocabulary

9 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+6 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • cream cheese
  • deli
  • subway
  • station
  • platform
  • commuter

Grammar: time, routines and days, reviewed

A weekday morning in New York runs on the clock: up at six, the subway at seven, a deli that opens at five. That makes it a natural setting for a daily routine review, where learners use the unit's three lessons together in new sentences about Emma, Tunde and the deli.

Telling the time, and at + a time

Learners give times with past and to and put at before a clock time, never in: I get up at six, not I get up in six.

  • It's half past six, Liam!
  • Tunde: I start work at seven.
  • In Los Angeles, it's quarter to four in the morning.

We and they: the present simple

The verb stays the same after we and they, don't makes the negative, and a short answer ends on do or don't.

  • The commuters take the subway at seven.
  • We don't open at five on Sunday.
  • Do they have poppy seed bagels? Yes, they do.

At, on or in?

Each time word fits one column: at for a time, on for a day, and in the for the morning, the afternoon and the evening. Night is the odd one out: at night.

  • I do yoga in the morning.
  • I work at the café on Saturdays.
  • See you on Saturday at nine!

What time is it in…? Hello by the clock

Learners ask the time in another city and greet people by their part of the day, as in the time-zones lesson.

  • What time is it in Los Angeles? It's 3:45 a.m. there.
  • 6:30 a.m. at the deli: Good morning, Emma!
  • It's 10 p.m., and Emma is in bed: Good night, Emma!

Try the daily routine review exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 11 auto-checked exercises
  • 4 games
  • 2 teacher-checked tasks
  • 1 real-life document
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • tell the time and describe a morning: It's quarter past six. I get up at six, and then I take a shower.
  • talk about routines with we and they: The commuters take the subway at seven. Do they have poppy seed bagels?
  • choose at, on or in for times, days and parts of the day: on Sunday morning, at night
  • read a deli menu and talk about a New York morning with words like bagel, subway and commuter

Lesson 24 closes My day, the sixth unit of English A1.1 · Hello, World, and brings no new grammar. It reviews telling the time and routine verbs with at from lesson 21, the present simple with we and they and on + a day from lesson 22, and in the morning, at night and What time is it in…? from lesson 23.

Students warm up with a spin wheel about mornings and nine new words, from bagel to commuter, with pictures and audio. They read the menu of the Sunrise Deli, next to a Brooklyn subway station, and answer true-or-false and multiple-choice questions, then listen to Emma and Tunde before work (an AI-voiced dialogue) and to a radio host at 6:45 a.m. The review chapter has five exercises that mix the unit's lessons: a quiz, a true-or-false on correct and incorrect sentences, sorting time words under at, on and in, completing the house group chat, and a memory game of questions and answers. In the speaking chapter, students accept Emma's invitation to Saturday breakfast in a chat and open boxes about their own mornings.

Homework puts sentences in order and matches the new words with their meanings, both checked as students go, then asks for a short post about the student's Monday morning and a recording about their mornings; both go to the teacher for review.

Grammar:
review · telling the time and routine verbs · present simple (we, they) for routines · days of the week, on + days, at + times · in the morning, at night, What time is it in…?
Topic:
New York · bagels · subway · mornings · review

Teaching tips

  • Use the review chapter's first quiz as a diagnostic: it has two questions from each of lessons 21 to 23, so every wrong answer points to the lesson to revisit.
  • Let pairs order from the Sunrise Deli menu, one at the counter and one in line, with A bagel with cream cheese, please and the menu's prices.
  • Make the sorting exercise a board race: call out a time word, and teams shout at, on or in before it goes into its column.
  • After the radio clip, add a city: if it's 6:45 a.m. in New York, what time is it where your students live, and which greeting fits?

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The whole course: English A1.1 · Hello, World

32 lessons for complete beginners in simple American English, from the verb to be to can and can't. Eight units cover greetings, family, numbers, home, food, daily routines, the town and free time, and each ends with a review lesson. Pictures and definitions replace translations, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Hello!

    greetings, the verb to be, countries and nationalities, yes/no questions

    1. Lesson 1Hi, hey, howdy or aloha?The verb to be with I and you
    2. Lesson 2Ellis Island: where are they from?He's, she's, they're: the verb to be
    3. Lesson 3Six languages at the UNYes/no questions with be and short answers
    4. Lesson 4Review: hello from the Statue of LibertyThe verb to be and yes/no questions, reviewed

  2. Unit 2 My people

    family members, possessive adjectives, have got, describing people

    1. Lesson 5Why is Mother's Day in May?Possessive adjectives: my, your, his, her
    2. Lesson 6Best in show!Have got and the possessive 's
    3. Lesson 7National Best Friends DaySubject pronouns, possessives and describing people
    4. Lesson 8Review: Bobbie the Wonder DogPossessives, have got and 's, reviewed

  3. Unit 3 Numbers all around

    numbers and dates, a/an and plurals, phone numbers and prices

    1. Lesson 9Why is March 14 Pi Day?Numbers 0 to 100, decimals and US dates
    2. Lesson 10How old is the General Sherman tree?A, an and plurals, with big numbers and How old…?
    3. Lesson 119-1-1 and other numbers to knowSaying phone numbers, emails and prices
    4. Lesson 12Review: 102 floors and 1,860 stepsNumbers, dates, ages and prices, reviewed

  4. Unit 4 Home sweet home

    rooms in a house, this, that, these and those, furniture, opposites

    1. Lesson 13A house with 132 roomsThis is, these are and plurals
    2. Lesson 14Boston's skinny house: where's the bed?This, that, these, those and Where's…?
    3. Lesson 15Can a dorm room be cozy?Opposite adjectives and have got
    4. Lesson 16Review: homes for everyoneShowing and describing a home, reviewed

  5. Unit 5 Food I love

    likes and dislikes, present simple questions, ordering food

    1. Lesson 17Pancakes for breakfast?I like, I don't like and plural nouns
    2. Lesson 18New York pizza or Chicago deep-dish?Present simple questions and short answers
    3. Lesson 19A coffee to go, please!Ordering food with I'd like and Can I have…?
    4. Lesson 20Review: lunch from a food truckI like, Do you like and I'd like, reviewed

  6. Unit 6 My day

    telling the time, daily routines, days of the week, prepositions of time

    1. Lesson 21What time is it in Times Square?Telling the time and daily routines
    2. Lesson 22Who brings the mail?The present simple with we and they
    3. Lesson 23Is it morning in Hawaii?Prepositions of time with parts of the day
    4. Lesson 24 · you're hereReview: a New York morningTime, routines and days, reviewed

  7. Unit 7 My town

    places in town, prepositions of place, giving directions

    1. Lesson 25Main Street, USAPrepositions of place: near and next to
    2. Lesson 26Meet me at Union SquarePresent simple questions and negatives with we and they
    3. Lesson 27Turn left on 42nd StreetImperatives for giving directions
    4. Lesson 28Review: streets for peoplePlaces, the present simple and directions, reviewed

  8. Unit 8 Free time

    hobbies, can and can't, sports, making plans

    1. Lesson 29Can you play Scrabble?Can and can't for ability
    2. Lesson 30Can you surf?Can for ability and how well
    3. Lesson 31Saturday morning: Little LeagueFree time and making plans
    4. Lesson 32Review: a book for every childCan, can't and free time, reviewed

Questions about this lesson

What are common daily routine activities in English?
Common daily routine activities are verb phrases for each step of an ordinary day: get up, take a shower, have breakfast, walk to work or take the subway, start work and go to bed. Most take at and a time: I start work at seven. These activities fill one city morning in the A1 lesson Review: a New York morning on edio.ai, through a deli menu, a dialogue before work and a radio show.
How do you put daily routine activities in order in English?
To put routine activities in order, link them with and then, or with first and then: I get up at six, and then I take a shower. First, bakers boil the bagels. Then they bake them. Clock times make the order clear too: I get up at five thirty. I start work at seven. Keep each step short, with one verb phrase per sentence.
Is it "I don't work" or "I not work"?
It's I don't work: a present simple negative needs don't. More examples: I don't work at the café on Mondays. We don't open at five on Sunday. Not can't make the negative alone, so I not work and No, I not are both wrong. In a short answer, don't ends the sentence: Do you work on Saturdays? – No, I don't.
Is it "the commuters take" or "the commuters takes"?
It's the commuters take, because a plural subject works like they: The commuters take the subway at seven. Bakers boil the bagels. The -s on commuters marks the plural, and the verb after it has no ending, just as after we and they. Questions follow the same rule: Do they take the subway? – Yes, they do.
Can you say "six and fifteen" for 6:15?
No: 6:15 is six fifteen or quarter past six, with no and. The same goes for 6:30, six thirty or half past six, never six and thirty. For minutes before the hour, use to: 3:45 is quarter to four. O'clock is only for the full hour: seven o'clock.
When do you say "good night" in English?
Good night is a goodbye for the end of the day, said when someone leaves in the evening or goes to bed. To say hello in the evening, use Good evening! instead. Greetings follow the clock: Good morning! at a deli at 6:30 a.m., but Good night! to a friend who writes at 10 p.m. that she's in bed, as in the chat that plans Saturday breakfast.
What words do you need to talk about taking the subway?
For the subway, you need subway, station, platform and commuter, with the phrase take the subway: I take the subway to school at seven. You wait on the platform, and a commuter is a person on the way to work. For the rest of the trip, use walk: I walk to the subway station. All five are picture cards with audio in Review: a New York morning on edio.ai.
How do I review daily routines in an ESL class?
To review daily routines, mix times, routine verbs and days in each exercise, so every wrong answer points to what needs more work. On edio.ai, Review: a New York morning does this in five exercises: a quiz, a true-or-false on correct sentences, a sorting task, a group chat and a memory game. Its opening quiz asks two questions on each of the unit's three topics, so it doubles as a quick check of who needs what.
What's a good game for practicing daily routines?
A good game for daily routines is a memory game that pairs each question with its answer: What time do you get up? with At five thirty. It's early!, or Do the commuters take the subway at seven? with Yes, they do. Each answer fits only one question, by its form and its words. Six such pairs make up the memory game in Review: a New York morning, edio.ai's A1 review of times and routines.
How do you review daily routines one-to-one?
One-to-one, compare two real mornings, the student's and yours: What time do you get up on Monday? And on Saturday? Do you walk to work, or do you take the bus? The breakfast chat needs no partner, since the student picks each reply, from What time do we meet? to Good night! After it, play the deli worker while the student orders from the menu.
What's good homework for reviewing daily routines?
Good review homework is a short post about the learner's Monday morning, with times and steps: I get up at six thirty. I take a shower and have breakfast. Then I walk to the subway station. In the edio.ai lesson Review: a New York morning, it comes after two self-checking tasks, sentences to put in order and new words to match with their meanings, and adds a recording about the student's mornings for the teacher.
Are there interactive exercises for reviewing daily routines?
Yes: interactive review exercises check each answer as the student gives it, so gaps show up at once. Review: a New York morning, an A1 lesson on edio.ai, opens four parts on its page without an account: a Brooklyn deli menu, a dialogue between two friends before work, a task that sorts time words under at, on and in, and a chat that plans Saturday breakfast. The rest is locked.
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