Upper Beginner ESL Speaking - Daily Life 1

Click here for full screen ⬇️       

A Complete ESL Speaking Unit for Daily Life & Routines

Unit 1, Daily Life, is designed as a high-engagement, speaking-focused introduction to everyday English for multilingual learners ages 6–18.

These lessons help students build real oral communication skills by talking about:

  • Morning routines

  • School life

  • Helping at home

  • After-school routines

Teachers searching for ESL speaking lessons, daily routine conversation activities, A1 speaking worksheets, or K–12 ESL speaking curriculum will find this unit extremely effective and easy to teach.

This unit lays the foundation for all future speaking units by helping students describe their daily habits in clear, simple English—an essential part of beginner oral fluency.


🏡 Unit Overview: Speaking-First Lessons About Everyday Life

This unit is structured around four speaking lessons, each centered on a different part of daily life:

  1. Morning routines

  2. A day at school

  3. Helping at home

  4. After-school routines

Every lesson includes:

Chat-a-Bit speaking warm-up
✔ Short, accessible “mini readings” to introduce speaking vocabulary
Oral comprehension questions
Speaking-focused vocabulary practice
Four guided dialogues for fluency
Partner speaking tasks
“Would you rather…?” oral prompts
✔ End-of-lesson speaking reflection

The unit supports consistent speaking practice across familiar topics that students already know and can easily talk about.


🧠 Speaking Skills Developed

1. Oral Fluency Skills

  • Asking and answering everyday questions

  • Talking about routines and habits

  • Building full-sentence responses

  • Using descriptive language

  • Practicing real conversation patterns (“I usually…,” “I prefer…”)

2. Listening Skills

  • Listening to dialogue models

  • Responding to peers in real time

  • Following oral instructions

3. Everyday Vocabulary for Speaking

Students learn and USE vocabulary related to:

  • Morning routines

  • School subjects & breaks

  • Chores, cleaning, kitchen tasks

  • Homework, dinner, bedtime

  • After-school activities

Vocabulary is always used in a speaking context, not as isolated memorization.

4. Grammar for Conversation

  • Present simple (“I wake up…”, “I clean…”)

  • Time expressions (“after school,” “in the morning”)

  • Question forms (“What do you do…?”)

  • Habit language (“I always,” “I sometimes,” “I never”)


🎓 Teaching Approach: Designed for Speaking Success

Unit 1 uses proven ESL methods:

Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

Students communicate from the first minute using functional language.

Task-Based Speaking

Students complete tasks such as:

  • Describing their morning routine

  • Talking about what happens at school

  • Sharing household responsibilities

  • Explaining after-school habits

Scaffolding for All Ages (6–18)

  • Sentence frames for newcomers

  • Open-ended speaking questions for older students

  • Predictable routines for confidence

Multilingual-Friendly Design

Students are encouraged to share routines from their home cultures, supporting engagement and equity.


📘 How Unit 1 Fits the Full Speaking Curriculum

Unit 1 is the foundation unit in the K–12 ESL speaking sequence.

It prepares students for:

  • Unit 2 (Neighborhood speaking)

  • Unit 3 (Animals speaking)

  • Unit 4 (Food speaking)

  • Unit 5 (Home & routines expanded)

  • Unit 6 (Nature & weather)

By mastering daily-life speaking abilities first, students gain confidence for every other theme that follows.


🏠 Detailed Speaking-Focused Lesson Descriptions


Lesson 1 — Routines (Morning Routine Speaking Lesson)

Speaking Objective: Students talk about their morning routine and describe how they prepare for the day.
Speaking Vocabulary: routine, fresh, energized, prepare, hydrated, organized
Speaking Activities:

  • Warm-up questions about mornings

  • Short readings with oral comprehension

  • WH questions for speaking practice

  • 4 dialogues: waking up, breakfast, getting ready, going to school

  • Ranking tasks and discussion
    Speaking Benefit: Perfect for helping students speak confidently about daily habits.


Lesson 2 — A Day at School (School Speaking Lesson)

Speaking Objective: Students describe school routines, subjects, breaks, and activities.
Speaking Vocabulary: arrive, on time, subject, focus, break, experiment
Speaking Activities:

  • Conversation warm-up about school preferences

  • Mini-readings with vocabulary for oral use

  • Speaking questions after each section

  • 4 school life dialogues (morning, subjects, breaks, end of day)

  • “Would you rather…?” school speaking choices
    Speaking Benefit: Builds everyday speaking confidence for school contexts.


Lesson 3 — Helping at Home (Chores & Home Speaking Lesson)

Speaking Objective: Students talk about chores, helping at home, and family teamwork.
Speaking Vocabulary: chore, organized, dust, recipe, attention, proud
Speaking Activities:

  • Warm-up about family life

  • Short readings on cleaning, kitchen help, and pet care

  • Oral vocabulary discussion

  • 4 dialogues focused on chores & helping

  • Ranking chores speaking task
    Speaking Benefit: Encourages real conversation about responsibility & home life.


Lesson 4 — My After-School Routine (After-School Speaking Lesson)

Speaking Objective: Students describe after-school activities, hobbies, chores, and bedtime routines.
Speaking Vocabulary: starving, assignment, responsibility, chapter, exhausted, immediately
Speaking Activities:

  • Warm-up about relaxing after school

  • Readings on coming home, snacks, homework, and bedtime

  • Oral questions & vocabulary review

  • 4 guided dialogues for fluency

  • “Would you rather…?” after-school speaking discussion
    Speaking Benefit: Helps students confidently describe personal routines and choices.


🍎 Teacher Tips (Speaking-Focused)

  • Use gestures, pictures, or quick sketches to support comprehension.

  • Encourage pair-sharing with rotating speaking partners.

  • Allow beginners to read answers; encourage advanced learners to speak freely.

  • Use sentence starters like:

    • “First, I…”

    • “After that, I…”

    • “Usually, I…”

  • Have students act out routines as a TPR-style warm-up.


📝 Speaking-Based Assessment

  • Oral retell of their daily routine

  • Dialogue performance with a partner

  • Short speaking presentation (“My morning routine”)

  • Conversation check using unit questions

  • End-of-unit oral interview about daily life