The whole world will be watching on 20 January as Washington DC stages the biggest presidential inauguration party in US history. This collection of materials gives younger learners and beginners the chance to connect with this historic occasion in English, in a variety of communicative activities.

 If you would like to check some facts or catch up on the latest developments, please click on the links below for comprehensive coverage: the New York Times, the Guardian or Die Zeit . Before you use the activities, don't forget to take a look at the complete teacher's guide.

Activities level A1 and A1+

Activities 1-4 are intended to be used with pupils in their first year of learning English. The activities draw on topics from Your Turn 1 Units 3, 7 and 13, but of course are also suitable for classes using other coursebooks.Activities 5-9 should be suitable for pupils in their second or at the beginning of their third year of English. The activities draw on topics from Your Turn 2 Units 14, 17 and 18, but again can also be used with other coursebooks.

The activities at this level focus on Obama’s daughters, Malia and Sasha, to give younger learners people of their own age to identify with, and to avoid complex themes which could not be handled at this level. For younger learners you may need to check (perhaps in their mother tongue) that they are aware that Barack Obama has been elected president of the USA, and that he starts being president on 20 January.

As activity 1, 2 and 3 use the same content, it is advisable to do only one of these activities with the same class. Activity 4 is only useable as a follow-up exercise as the worksheets do not contain the information needed to complete the questions.

Activities level B1

Activities 10-12 use authentic material to reach and engage pupils at this level.