Basically it’s a card which each student receives, divided into the 3 sections described below.  One option is that they can keep the card and write the definitions of the vocabulary directly onto it, or they return it to you so you can use it for another class.  In the latter case they write any definitions in an appropriate place in their notebooks.  There are four cards per sheet so you can save some money and paper when making copies.  If you like, you can impress your students by printing the cards onto a harder (longer-lasting) carton paper that isn’t the standard white.  (For example yellow is a cheerful colour and makes for easy reading.)

This contains the theme title and a brief description, usually with a task for the students to explore in their speaking (such as agreeing or disagreeing, finding examples in their own experiences or making comments on the situation).  Feel free to modify or add to the task in any way you feel appropriate.

This provides six expressions, phrasal verbs or other vocabulary that might be interesting for your students to learn and use again in future situations.  It’s possible there might be a few items that the students have come across before but perhaps they don’t frequently use them in their speaking.  They should be familiar with all six items before the exploring the theme, and while speaking, try to incorporate at least two of them.

This is an option which encourages the use of specific grammatical structures such as the use of hypothetical conditionals or comparatives).  If you feel it’s too much you can leave this section out but as you become more familiar with Today’s Theme cards, you might want to try this part out at a later date.  There are some tips to help deliberate inclusion of grammar be successfully done in the SUGGESTED APPROACH guide below.