10 Our green day

• Ask the children to tell you the affirmative and negative

Lesson objectives past forms of the verb be (they will find three of them in
To understand a simple report about a past event the text). Write them on the board like this:
To review and extend vocabulary related to cleaning up ✔ ✘
a river was wasn’t
To use the past forms of the verb be were weren’t
To write a simple report about an event in the past • Leave the words on the board so the children can refer to
them while they are doing the activities below.
Language
(The river) was/wasn’t (dirty).
Comprehension (page 41)
(The river and the grass) were/weren’t (clean). 2 Match. Write the letter.
There was/wasn’t (lots of rubbish). • Read out the sentences and tell the children to point to
There were/weren’t (lots of people). the correct picture underneath.
New vocabulary: river, clean, dirty, pick up, muddy • The children read the sentences to themselves and write
Other vocabulary: rubbish, grass, trees, tidy, morning, the appropriate letters.
evening • Check the answers as a class.
More words: pavement, bin, path, untidy Key
1  b   ​2  c   ​3  a   ​4  d   ​5  f   ​6  e
Presentation and pre-reading (page 40)
3 Write was or wasn’t.
• Ask the children to open their books at page 40 and look
at all the pictures. Ask them to tell you (in L1) what they • The children use the text to help them decide whether
think this text is all about. Draw their attention to the to write was or wasn’t in each gap. You might like them to
unit title and explain what it means. Explain that green in work orally in pairs before they write anything.
this context means doing things that protect the natural • Check the answers as a class.
environment. Key
• Point to the pictures in the vocabulary panel at the top 1  wasn’t   ​2  was   ​3  was   ​4  wasn’t   ​5  was
of the page, and say the words. Ask the children which
words are adjectives (clean, dirty and muddy). Make sure 4 Put the sentences in the correct order.
they understand the meaning of the words. • Let the children work in pairs to put the sentences in
• Model the words again for the children and drill order. Tell them to read all the sentences through first,
pronunciation. Then say the words in a different order and before they write anything. Encourage them to use the
ask children to point at the right picture. text to help them.
• Ask the children to look at the reading text and tell you • Check the answers as a class by asking volunteers to read
what kind of text they think it is. Explain that it is a report, out the sentences in order.
written by a child, about a special day. Key
1 The river was dirty.
Reading (page 40) 2 There was lots of rubbish on the grass.
3 Class 2B’s first job was picking up the rubbish on the grass.
1 Read and listen.  $ 10
4 Class 2B’s second job was picking up the rubbish in the river.
• Play the recording while the children follow the text in 5 The river and the grass were clean and tidy.
their books. Teach or revise the word rubbish if necessary. 6 Class 2B was very dirty!
• Play the recording again. Then ask some questions to
check understanding, e.g. What was the river like in the Vocabulary (page 42)
morning / in the evening? What did the children do?
• Say The water was dirty. Morning or evening? The children 5 Read and write Saturday or Sunday.
find this sentence in the text, and answer morning. Model • The children look at the pictures and read the sentences,
and drill the sentence for the children to repeat. and write Saturday or Sunday as appropriate.
• Repeat with these sentences: There wasn’t any rubbish. Key
There was lots of rubbish on the grass and in the trees. The 1  Saturday   ​2  Saturday   ​3  Sunday   ​4  Saturday   ​
river was clean. 5  Saturday   6​   Sunday

1 Oxford Primary Skills 2  Unit 10  Teaching Notes  © Oxford University Press
 6 Look at the picture and complete the sentences. • When you think the children are ready, ask them to work
• Ask the children to look at the picture and tell you what individually to complete the sentences, then check their
they think has been happening (the children and Dad answers in pairs. Check the answers as a class.
have been washing the car). Teach or revise the word Key
untidy if necessary. Say Look at the picture. Is it tidy or untidy? 1  was   ​2  were   ​3  wasn’t; was   ​4  were   ​5  was
Explain the difference between untidy and dirty (untidy
means things are disordered or not in their correct places; 8 Write about a special day at your school.
dirty means unclean). • Explain that the children are going to write about a special
• The children choose words from the box to complete the day or event at their school. Give them some ideas of
sentences, so that they accurately describe the picture. events that they could write about, if necessary.
You might like to let them do this in pairs. • Look at the writing framework with the children and
• Check the answers as a class. explain that they are going to use the prompts in brackets
to help them. Before the children write anything, do some
Key
oral preparation.
1  muddy   ​2  dirty   ​3  wet   ​4  untidy   ​5  clean
• Divide the class into two groups: sports day and art day.
Hold up your book and point to the first prompt, and
More words (page 48)
say When? Tell the children to find the sentence in the
• In a stronger class, use the More words section to extend appropriate text for their group that tells us when the
the children’s vocabulary. event took place (i.e. The 30th of June was our school sports
• Ask the class to turn to page 48 and look at the pictures day and Yesterday was our school art day).
in the vocabulary panel. Ask the children to tell you which • Repeat for the other prompts. (Note that fun and activities
word is an adjective (untidy). aren’t mentioned in the Exercise 7 text).
• Model and drill the new words. Explain the difference • Then do the same thing with some volunteers, helping
between pavement and path (a pavement is made of them to formulate sentences about their chosen events.
cement and is built at the sides of roads for people to walk
safely on; a path is usually dirt and is a passageway across
• Finally, when you think the children are ready, they
complete the writing framework about their chosen
land where people can walk). Then say the words in a
events.
different order while the children point to the pictures.

Circle. Vocabulary (optional extension activity)

• The children read the sentences and circle the correct • Focus on pairs of adjectives that are opposite in meaning
words. that the children know. Draw a table like this on the board:
Key hot
1  path   ​2  untidy   ​3  clean   ​4  river   ​5  bin sad
clean
Writing (page 43) wet
• Ask the children to look at the photo next to the model tidy
text. Talk about the photo in L1. Explain that the boy is tall
taking part in a sack race (where the children have to small
stand inside big bags, or sacks, and jump across the field).
• The children write the opposites of the adjectives.
• Read the text while the children follow it in their books. Encourage them to add to the table if they can.
Tell the children in L1 about school sports days in Britain
– see note below. Then ask some questions to check
understanding, e.g. When was the sports day? What was the
weather like? Did the boy like the sports day?
Note   Primary schools in Britain usually hold a sports day
in the summer term. Children take part in running races,
skipping races, sack races and egg-and-spoon races (where
they have to run while carrying an egg on a spoon!). Prizes
are sometimes given to the winners. Parents watch the races
and support their children.

7 Write was, wasn’t or weren’t.

• Explain that Exercise 7 is a text about a school art day,
but that the past forms of be are missing. Do the exercise
orally with the children if you think they need the support.
Refer them to the past forms that you wrote on the board
earlier, and help them to decide whether each sentence
needs a singular or a plural form.

2 Oxford Primary Skills 2  Unit 10  Teaching Notes  © Oxford University Press