IIn Issue 20 of Dear Sensei, we focused on the topic of Daily life at junior secondary level. In this issue we will look at the same topic at primary level. 　 　 　 Daily life is a good topic for introducing clock time, since we often talk about time in relation to verbs of daily routine such as おきます, たべます etc. Students will have learned numbers, so we'll start here with telling the time. You can use a clock face and 'show and tell' to introduce clock time expressions and to familiarise students with the tricky words, ie. 4 o'clock : よじ not よんじ , 9 o'clock: くじ not きゅうじ and 7 o'clock: しちじ not ななじ.　(Although ななじ can be used to clarify, if しちじ has been misheard.) Once your students are familiar with these times it is an easy step for them to learn the expression for half past the hour,〜はん. The following activities can then be used for reinforcement. 　 　 　 　 Students are given a sheet of clocks with blank faces such as the one on the right which they fill in with various times. Students then ask the teacher together:  いまなんじ（ですか）？  and the teacher answers, giving a time with ＿＿＿＿じです。 Students cross out the times on their sheet as they hear them, and the first student to cross out all the clocks on his/her sheet is the winner. 　 　 Students form pairs and each pair is given a clock with moveable hands. Student A asks student B the time. Student B thinks of a time and responds. Student A sets the clock and shows it to student B for confirmation. If it is correct, Student B takes a turn at asking Student A the time and the process is repeated. Students use the following dialogue. A いまなんじですか？ B ＿＿＿じです。 A ＿＿＿じですか。Sets the clock and shows it to B B はい、そうです。／いいえ、ちがいます。 　 　 　 Once students become familiar with clock time expressions, you can introduce the verbs おきます and ねます, using flashcards from 'Kotoba Flashcards 100'. 　 なんじに　おきますか？／おきる？　What time do you get up? ＿＿じに　おきます。／おきる。 なんじに　ねますか。／ねる？ What time do you go to bed? ＿＿じに　ねます。／ねる。 　 　 　 After students have practiced the pattern, the teacher can conduct a class survey of students' waking and sleeping time by calling out various times and taking a tally. 　 　 　 　 みなさん､クラスのアンケートをします。何(なん)時(じ)におきますか。よく聞(き)いてください。そして手(て)をあげてください。 「6時(じ)におきますか。」Takes tally.「6時(じ)はんにおきますか。」etc. Alternatively, students can interact with each other by circulating around the class to find a person who gets up/goes to bed at the same time as they do. 　 A なんじにおきますか。　　 B ７じにおきます。 A あ、そうですか。どうもありがとう。(If not the same) おなじですね。(If the same) 　 　 　 The next step is to introduce verbal expressions for daily activities. You can introduce daily activities with pictures, and reinforce the expressions with the games below. If appropriate for your students, you can use the opportunity to raise awareness of grammar by comparing the use of the particles を and に. If you teach these expressions in the plain form, the particle を can be omitted, eg. あさごはんたべる。 Make two sets of picture cards of daily activities and play the following games:  Card matching Concentration Snap (Karuta) Lotto Go Fish 　 　 　 　 　 As well as cards of the pictures, the teacher can make cards of clocks. Students can match up a suitable time to an activity and say the sentence out loud. Alternatively, two wheels can be made as below, with the smaller wheel on top of the larger and attached with a metal paper binder. Students turn the upper wheel back and forth to match an activity to the times of the day, creating sentences which describe a daily routine in chronological order. Finally, students can create a chart of their own daily activities, asking the teacher for help with new words if necessary. A useful web page for primary students related to this topic is: A Day with Kentaro http://www.tjf.or.jp/eng/de/deindex.htm  　 　 　 　 This section co-ordinated by Himiko Negishi-Wood (Himiko_Negishi-Wood@jpf.org.au) 　   　 Privacy & Copyright © The Japan Foundation, Sydney