This month we encourage our B2 First / C1 Advanced students to reflect on the future of education and the impact of new technologies on teaching and learning while our B1 Preliminary students can find out about the past to understand the reason behind the tradition of wearing poppies in some English-speaking countries. Our A2 Key students can practise their speaking skills while they familiarise themselves with the revised version of the A2 Key exam, which will be launched in 2020. Finally, the youngest ones can find out more about English-speaking countries. Happy teaching!

1. 1
October
Autumn has just started and we want to celebrate the new season with our activities for B1
Preliminary and B2 First / C1 Advanced students. At B2 / C1, learners will be able to find out
about Daylight Saving Time and discuss its pros and cons. At B1, students will be able to
practise their speaking skills and reflect on assessment. In October we also celebrate
Halloween so we have designed some fun activities for A2 Flyers / A2 Key students topractise
storytelling and make the most of their creativity. Finally, Pre-A1 Starters and A1 Movers can
play our Halloween dominoes. Happy teaching!
1. Changing clocks............................................................................................................. 2
2. Autumn .........................................................................................................................10
3. Tell your own story........................................................................................................15
4. Halloween Dominoes.....................................................................................................17
5. References....................................................................................................................19

2. 2
1. Changing clocks
Level: B2 First / C1 Advanced
Skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing
Interaction: whole classand group activity
Equipment and materials: handouts, speakers, internet
and digital board
Time: 100 minutes
Warm up! (10’) – whole class activity
• What is DST?
• What do you think about Daylight Saving Time? Why?
• Do you experience any problems when clocks change because of summer or winter
time? If so, can you explain what or how you feel?
• Why do you think we change clocks between summer and winter time?
• Do you think it is necessary? Why (not)?
Reading (30’) – in groups
You can divide your students into four groups. Each group will be assigned a star:
Facts Feelings
Positive Negative

3. 3
While reading the texts and watching the video, the yellow team should look for facts, the
turquoise team should try to imagine what people may feel and the orange team should
consider the advantages of clock changes because of summer / winter time. Finally,thepurple
team should look at the disadvantages of clock changes because of summer / winter time.
Text 1: 552 words
European MPs vote to end summer time
clock changes
26 March 2019
The European Parliament hasbackeda
proposal to stop the obligatory one-
hour clock change which extends
daylight hours in summer EU-wide.
The proposal requires states to stop the
twice-yearly clock change from 2021, and
choose either permanent summer time or
winter time.
Ministers will also have a say on this. Under
an EU directive, all 28 states currently
switch to summer time on the last Sunday
of March and back to winter time on the last
Sunday of October.
The European Commission - in charge of
drafting EUlegislation - made the proposal
last year, after a public consultation which
showed 84% of respondents wanting to
scrap the biannual clock changes. There
were 4.6 million replies in that consultation,
70% of which were from Germans.
But MEPs and the Commission stress that
states must co-ordinate their choices, to
minimise the risk of economic disruption
from a patchwork of different time systems.
What are the pros and cons of
summer time?
Daylight saving time (DST) - so-called
summer time - has been compulsory in the
EU since 2001, aimed at making the EU
internal market work more smoothly and
reducing energy costs.
Fewer time differences, it was argued,
would facilitate cross-border trade and
travel in the EU. The extra daylight hoursin
summer could reduce spending on artificial
lighting and help outdoor leisure activities.
But the energy savings from DST have
proven to be quite marginal. And some of
the EU's major trading partners - among
them China, Russia and Turkey - do not
operate under DST.

4. 4
The consultation and scientific studies
suggested that the clock changes were
having negative effects on people's health.
The EUCommission says studies suggest
"the effect on the human biorhythm maybe
more severe than previously thought".
Commission President Jean-Claude
Juncker said "there is no applause when
EU law dictates that Europeans have to
change the clocks twice a year. Clock-
changing must stop. Member states should
themselves decide whether their citizens
live in summer or winter time."
Under the new legislation, governments
opting to make summer time permanent
would adjust their clocks for the last timeon
the last Sunday in March 2021.
For those choosing permanent standard
time - also called winter time - the final
clock change would be on the last Sunday
of October 2021.
Finland called for daylight saving to be
abolished EU-wide, after a petition
gathered more than 70,000 signaturesfrom
citizens calling for such a change.
Opposition to the clock changes tends to
be greater in northern countries, where
seasonal differences in daylight hours are
greater than in the south.
In June, Finland has 18.5 hours of daylight,
but in December only 5.5 hours. The
corresponding figures for Greece are 14.5
hours and 9.3 hours. Yet both countriesare
in the same standard time zone - Eastern
European Time (GMT+2).
What are the EU's time zones?
During the winter, spring and autumn,
when DST is not applied, there are three
standard time zones:
 Four states apply GMT: the UK, Ireland,
Portugal, excluding the Azores, and the
Canary Islands (Spain).
 17 have Central European Time, which
is GMT+1
 Eight have Eastern European Time,
which is GMT+2.
Source: BBC, 2019
Text 2: 513 words
Why do the clocks go forward in spring for
summer?
The UK has been using DaylightSaving
Time for more than a century
On Sunday 31 March at 1am, Brits will lose
an hour of sleep when the clocks go
forward, signalling that summer is well and
truly on its way.
The annual ritual marks the official
beginning of British Summer Time, which
ends when the clocks go back an hour in
late October.
So where did the idea for changing the
clocks come from, who came up with it and

5. 5
how do people feel about it? Here’s
everything you need to know:
Who invented Daylight Saving Time?
British Summer Time was first introduced
more than a century ago as part of the
Summer Time Act 1916.
The Summer Time Act came into effect
following a campaign by builder William
Willett, who proposed that the clocks go
forward in spring and go back in winter so that
people could save energy and spend more
time outdoors during the day.
Willett wrote about his proposal in a pamphlet
called “The Waste of Daylight”, published in
1907.
While British Summer Time was eventually
established during the First World War,
Willett wasn’t the first person to conceive the
idea of altering time to preserve daylight.
Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding
Fathers of the United States, wrote about the
notion in a satirical letter to the editor of
the Journal of Paris in 1784.
Furthermore, the ancient Romans also
implemented a similar system as a means of
using their time efficiently during the day.
As scholar Berthold L. Ullman explains in an
article published in The Classical Journal, the
ancient Romans would split the period of day
in which there was sunlight into 12 periods of
equal length, which they would call “hours”.
These hours would vary in length from
between 45 to 75 minutes, depending on the
time of year.
How do people feelabout
pushing the clocks back and
forward?
While many people may relish in the idea
of having an additional hour of sleep when
the clocks go back, some are of the opinion
that the practice should be stopped.
In August 2018, the European Commission
conducted a survey across the continent,
which received responses from 4.6 million
people.
More than 80 per cent of the participants
said that they want to stop moving the
clocks back and forward by an hour.
According to European Commission
president Jean-Claude Juncker, millions of
people “think that in the future we should
have summertime all year round.”
In September 2018, a proposal was
presented by the Commission to putanend
to seasonal time changes in 2019, with
member states being given the option to
“decide their standard time”.
Some people argue that Daylight Saving
Time can increase the risk of road
accidents, due to more people driving
during dark autumn and winter evenings.

6. 6
The Royal Society for the Prevention of
Accidents suggests moving the clocks
forward an hour in autumn and forward two
hours in spring, in order to create lighter
evenings throughout the entire year and
thus reduce the likelihood of traffic
accidents.
Source: Barr, 2019
Text 3: 293 words
EU Parliament votes to end clock changes
between winter and summer time
26 March 2019
The European Parliament has voted toend
the changing of clocks between winter and
summer time as member states will decide
their own time zone.
MEPs voted in favour of EU Commission
proposals to end the practice of adjusting
clocks by an hour in spring and autumn
from 2021.
Each member state will decide whether to
keep summer time or winter time all year
round.
If countries prefer daylight saving time or
summer time, the final clock change should
be made on the last Sunday in March2021.
But if they prefer winter time, EU member
states must adjust their clocks for the final
time on the last Sunday in October 2021.
Despite Brexit, the UK will still have to
choose either Greenwich Mean Time
(GMT) or British Summer Time (BST).
However this would only apply until the end
of the Brexit transition period - which is
currently the end of 2020.
The EU Parliament voted overwhelmingly
in favour of ending the twice-yearlyprocess
of adjusting clocks, after 410 MEPs
approved the draft law, with 192 against.
MEPs voted to postpone the year when the
clock changes would end from 2019 to
2021.
EU member states must inform the EU
Commission of their preferred time zoneby
April 2020, so the single market is not
disrupted during the switch in time zones.
Currently, all 28 member states switch to
summer time on the last Sunday in March
and winter time on the last Sunday in
October.
The unified approach was introduced in
1980 to ensure the single market worked
smoothly, as at the time summer time
practices were different for member states.
The EU Commission made the proposal
after a public consultation showed 84% of
respondents wanted to end the biannual
clock changes.
Source: ITV plc, 2019

7. 7
The European Commission wants to have a better understanding of young people’s opinion
about Daylight Saving Time. You can post your thoughts on the Commission’s website.
Write an essay to explain your point of view. In your essay you should:
1. say whether you are for or against Daylight Saving Time
2. explain how it would benefit or negatively affect your country
3. your own idea
Write your essay in 140-190 words.
Video:
Speaking (15’) – in groups of four
Students from each team should mixwith one student from each of the other teams. Ideally
there should be a student from the yellowteam, the orange team, the turquoise team andthe
purple team together. They should discuss the content of the texts and video from their
different perspectives.
Writing (45’) – in groups
Divide the students into two groups. Group A should write an essay in favour of changing
clocks for summer and winter time using the information obtained from the texts andthegroup
discussions. Group B should write an essay against changing clocks using the same
resources.

8. 8
When students have a first draft, they should exchange the essays and come up with
suggestions in terms of: content, communicative achievement, organisation, language.
Students are asked to produce a final draft based on their classmates’ comments.
POSSIBLE ANSWERS FOR READING ACTIVITY:
Facts
 The European Parliament has backed a
proposal to stop the obligatory one-hour
clock change which extends daylight hours
in summer EU-wide. [Text 1]
 Finland called for daylight saving to be
abolished EU-wide, after a petition gathered
more than 70,000 signatures from
citizens calling for such as change. [Text
1]
 British Summer Time was first introduced
more than a century ago as part of the
Summer Time Act 1916. [Text 2]
 The ancient Romans also implemented a
similar system as a means of using their
time efficiently during the day. [Text 2]
 The EU Commission made the proposal
after a public consultation showed 84% of
respondents wanted to end the biannual
clock changes. [Text 3]
Positive
 DST (…) aimed at making the EU internal
market work more smoothly and reducing
energy costs. [Text 1]
 The extra daylight hours in summer could
reduce spending on artificial lighting and
help outdoor leisure activities [Text 1]

9. 9
Feelings
 excited / happy / thrilled / annoyed / angry
/ disappointed - While many people may
relish in the idea of having an additional
hour of sleep when the clocks go back, some
are of the opinion that the practice should be
stopped. [Text 2]
 determined – The European Commission – in
charge of drafting EU legislation – made the
proposal last year, after a public consultation
which showed 84% of respondents want to
scrap the biannual clock changes. [Text 1]
 cheerful / active - The extra daylight hours
in summer could reduce spending on
artificial lighting and help outdoor leisure
activities [Text 1]
 ill / tired - The consultation and scientific
studies suggested that the clock changes
were having negative effects on people’s
health. [Text 1]
 tired / sleepy - Brits will lose an hour of sleep
when the clocks go forward. [Text 2]
Negative
 But the energy savings from DST have proven to
be quite marginal. And some of the EU’s major
trading partners – among them China, Russia
and Turkey – do not operate DST. [Text 1]
 The consultation and scientific studies suggested
that the clock changes were having negative effects
on people’s health. [Text 1]
 Brits will lose an hour of sleep when the clocks go
forward. [Text 2]

10. 10
2. Autumn
Level: B1 Preliminary
Skills: reading, listening and speaking
Interaction: whole class and group activity
Content: vocabulary related to descriptions and assessment
Time: 50 minutes
Warm up! (10’) – whole class activity
• How do you feel about autumn? Why?
• What’s your favourite season? Why?
• Can you explain the meaning of these quotes?
Speaking (10’) – in pairs
Students should work in pairs. Student A will describe picture A and student B will have to try
and drawthe picture. Then they will swap roles.
Students should check the original picture and the drawing, identifydifferencesand try to
understand the reason for them (too little detail, incorrect instructions, problems with
vocabulary, etc.).
1) It was one of those perfect English autumnal days which occur more
frequently in memory than in life. P.D. James
2) Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.
JimBishop
3) Autumn is a second spring when every leaf's a flower.
AlbertCamus
4) October is a symphony of permanence and change.
Bonaro W. Overstreet

11. 11
Picture A
Picture B

12. 12
Understanding assessment (20’) – whole class activity
You can stick one card for each criterion on the wall and print each descriptor ononecardand
put it on the floor or on one of the classroom walls. You can divide your students into four
groups. They will have to work together to match the descriptors with the right criterion.
Criteria:
Descriptors
Grammar and Vocabulary
Discourse Management
Pronunciation
Interactive Communication
Shows a good degree of control of
simple grammatical forms
Produces responses which are extended
beyond short phrases, despite hesitation

13. 13
Initiates and responds appropriately
Keeps the interaction going with very
little prompting and support
Has some control of phonological
features at both utterance and word
levels
Contributions are mostly relevant, but
there may be some repetition
Uses a range of appropriate vocabulary
when talking about familiar topics
Uses basic cohesive devices
Is mostly intelligible

14. 14
Check that the descriptors have been assigned to the right category and check that the
students understand them.
Speaking (15’) – in groups of three
Students will take turns to describe a picture each and then assess their classmatesusingthe
Grammar and Vocabulary, Discourse Management and Pronunciation criteria. They canuse
the same photographs or find photographs they like.

15. 15
3. Tell your own story
Level: A2 Flyers / A2 Key
Skills: writing, speaking and listening
Interaction: whole class and group activity
Content: time expressions, storytelling, Halloween
vocabulary
Time: 55 minutes
Warm up! (10’) – whole group
• Do you prefer reading or telling stories? Why?
• How often do you read books?
• What is your favourite kind of book? Why?
• What is your favourite book? Why?
• Can you tell us about a memorable character you have read about? What made him/
her / it memorable?
You can show your students the titles belowand brainstorm what the stories may be about.
• Who are the main characters?
• What are the characters like?
• Where does the story happen?
• When does the story happen?
• What happens in the story?
• Why do the characters have this problem?
• How do the characters feel?
Storytelling (20’) – in groups
Students will work in groups of three or four. They should each choose a name for their team
(they can choose Halloween characters). Each team will have to choose a story and draw
three pictures about it.
Top 5 SpookyShortStories
1. The Haunted House
2. My Hungry Pet Ghost
3. The Mummy
4. Dark, Dark Wood
5. The Cold Planet

16. 16
Writing (15’) – in groups
When the teams have finished drawing, each team (Team A) will exchange their pictures with
another team (Team B). Team B will have to write a story based on Team A’s pictures. They
should write their story in 35 words or more and they can follow these tips.
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Source: Robinson, 2017.
Follow up (10’) – in groups
Each team can tell / role-play their storyin front of the class. The team who drewthe pictures
can comment on the similarities and differences they find between howthe imagined their
story and the way the story has been told / role-played by the other team.
Give names to people
and useplaces.
Useshorterand
longersentences.
Check thethings that
are thesameand the
things that aredifferent
in thepictures.
Add time words like
oneday, first, then,
later…

17. 17
4. Halloween Dominoes
Level: Pre-A1 Starters / A1 Movers
Skills: writing
Interaction: group activity
Time: 15 minutes
Warm up! (5’) – whole group activity
• What do we celebrate on October 31st?
• Do you like Halloween?
• What’s your favourite Halloween costume?
Dominoes (15’) – in groups of three

18. 18

19. 19
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20. 20
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21. 21
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