I´ll check my calendar

The objective

To make plans using students´ own planning calendars

The language

Future tenses: Will, going to, present continuous, present simple

Invitations: Do you want to...? Are you free on...? I´m going to....would you like to come?

Accepting: Sure! Sounds good!

Rejecting: Sorry, I can´t; Sorry, I´m busy.

Confirming: So that´s..., So then, we´ll meet on...at...

The set-up

You can print out blank 7-day calendars or just draw one on the board for students to copy. Make sure it has times listed on the left-hand side.

The low-down

If the level is lower, model the following activity first by making your own calendar and inviting students out. Change the wording of your invitations with each student. After a few, ask students to remember what you said verbatim. Check and clear up any doubts. This will provide a language model. Or, just go directly to asking students to write in their calendars everything they´re going to do for the next 7 days. It´s important that they are truthful about their plans or possible plans. Now put them into groups of three or pairs (groups will increase the difficulty of the activity) and tell them they have to make plans to meet for either:

• a cup of coffee
• a beer
• a film
• dinner
• lunch
• a shopping trip
• etc.

In addition, make sure they note down the time, place and duration of the meeting. The number of different activities will depend on the number of pairs/groups. Why? Because once they´ve made one plan, you´ll ask them to change partners and make another different type of plan. Each time they change, the difficulty of finding a "hole" in their calendars will increase. You can add the increased difficulty of giving them a 2-minute time limit for each pair change. The objective is to make one plan with each partner/group.

Now what?

Once they´ve finished, check to see that everyone has completed the objectives. It´s possible that some didn´t have any more openings in their calendars but that´s okay. Ask students to write about their busiest/least busy days and share it with the class.

Time to teach

Obviously, depending on the level/class, you´ll probably going to highlight the use of "going to" versus "will" versus the present continuous for plans. In addition, you can discuss the language of invitations, accepting an invitation and rejecting an invitation.

More talk-time

Do you consider yourself to be a very busy person? Why or why not?

Are you stressed?

Do you wish you had more free time?

Do you have difficulty making plans with friends or family?