👩‍🏫 Teacher Instructions

1. Hand one secret date card to each student face down.
2. Say: "Stand up, speak only English, and ask questions to find your place in line from January to December."
3. Walk around the room to monitor and listen for English only.
4. Count down the final thirty seconds, then freeze the line.
5. Check positions together out loud from start to finish and award points.
6. Use the teacher key at the bottom to verify the exact calendar order.

🎒 Student Rules

1. Keep your card secret until the teacher says "Go!".
2. Walk around the room and talk to your classmates in English only.
3. Ask when their birthday is and listen carefully to the month and date.
4. Line up from January 1st at the front door to December 31st at the window.
5. Earn 1 point for being in the right place when the line stops.
6. Earn 1 bonus point when you read your date aloud correctly.

Step 1

Give out cards and review the goal.

Step 2

Model question cards and practice answers.

Step 3

Mingle, ask questions, and build the line.

Step 4

Check the whole line out loud for points.

Step 5

Total points and praise the class.

Each student earns 1 point if they are standing in the correct calendar order when the timer stops and the class checks the line.

Each student earns 1 bonus point for speaking their full date aloud with "the" and "of", such as "the third of March" or "March the third".

"My birthday is in May."

Grammar: in + month

"My birthday is on the third of March."

Grammar: on + full date

"I invite you to my birthday party!"

Unit words: invite, party

"We celebrate with a cake and a candle."

Unit words: celebrate, cake, candle

"Look at this red balloon and nice card."

Unit words: balloon, card

"We sing a song and open a present."

Unit words: sing, present

⚠️ Mistakes to Listen For

• Using cardinal numbers instead of ordinals: "three March" instead of "the third of March".
• Wrong preposition: "on March" instead of "in March", or "in 3rd March" instead of "on the 3rd of March".
• Dropping "the" or "of": saying "March three" or "the third March".

Month Islands

Label 12 spots around the classroom for each month. Students first walk to their month group, then line up by day within their group.

Show and Tell Party

When two students meet, they must ask the birthday question and name one gift or party item they want before moving on.

Silent Day Guess

Students can say the month aloud ("in July"), but they must use English clues for the day: "My day is two times ten" or "My day is after the twenty-first".

Speed Line-up Challenge

Put a 3-minute timer on the screen. The class tries to complete the exact line-up before the buzzer rings with zero mistakes.

"Who has a birthday in the same month as you?"

Model: "Anna's birthday is in March too."

"What do you like to do on your birthday?"

Model: "I like to eat cake and open a present."

"Which preposition do we use for months, and which for dates?"

Model: "We use 'in' for months and 'on' for dates."