Diary Entry: The Busiest Day of My Week
Write a diary entry about a very busy day: what happened from morning to night and how you felt.
- Time
- 20 min
- Length
- 80-100 words
Writadia · A2 · Stories
NameClassDate
Your task
Write a diary entry about a very busy day you had recently. Write about what happened in the morning, afternoon and evening, and how you felt.
Writing toolkit
Open these only when you need them. Try the first draft on your own.
Plan it in steps
- Start with the date and a sentence about the day.
- Write what happened in order. Use first, then, later, in the end.
- Add feelings: I was tired, I felt nervous, I was happy because...
- End with a sentence about tomorrow.
Useful phrases
Opening
Order
Feelings
Ending
Tap a phrase to add it to your text. Gaps (…) are selected so you can type over them.
Vocabulary
- busy
- with a lot to doI had a busy day.
- nervous
- a bit afraid before somethingI was nervous before the test.
- relaxed
- calm and not worriedI felt relaxed after the swim.
- exhausted
- very, very tiredI was exhausted in the evening.
- in the end
- finally, after everythingIn the end, everything was fine.
Model answer (97 words)
Read it after you’ve written your own version. Notice the highlighted parts. The numbers explain why they work.
Tuesday, 12th March
What a day!1
First, I woke up late because my alarm didn't ring, so I ran to the bus stop without breakfast. Then we had a maths test. I was really nervous because I didn't study enough.2
At lunchtime, I had to practise for the school concert. Later, after school, I went to my grandmother's house and helped her with her shopping.
In the end, I got home at seven and I still had homework. I was so tired that I fell asleep on the sofa!3
Tomorrow is going to be easier, I hope.
- A diary is personal: short exclamations are fine here.
- Feeling + reason.
- "so ... that" shows a result.
Teacher notes
Feelings vocabulary: brainstorm 10 feeling adjectives and rank them from very negative to very positive.
Privacy: let students invent the day if they prefer.
Extra challenge
Write tomorrow's diary entry before it happens: use going to for plans.
Lesson plan
- 5 minWarm-up
Show the situation on the classroom screen and ask: “What would you write in this situation?” Take two or three quick answers.
- 6 minWord pool
Open “Word pool” on the classroom screen. Students make one sentence each with: busy, nervous, relaxed, exhausted, in the end.
- 7 minModel text
Reveal the model sentence by sentence in “Model text” mode. At each sentence ask: “What job does this sentence do?” Write these phrases on the board: “Tuesday, 12th March”, “What a day!”, “First, ...”.
- 15 minWriting
Start the timer. Students write their own text; anyone stuck can use the plan in the toolkit. (80-100 words)
- 5 minPeer review
Students swap texts and fill in the peer-review sheet.
- 2 minWrap-up
Set the extra challenge as homework.
The task’s own teacher notes give extra ideas for the warm-up and focus.
Assessment rubric
| Criterion | 4 · Excellent | 3 · Good | 2 · Developing | 1 · Beginning | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Task | All the requested information is there. | One point is missing. | Several points are missing. | Little connection to the task. | |
| Organisation | Sentences in order; and, but, because used well. | Mostly in order. | Order is confusing. | Unconnected sentences. | |
| Vocabulary | Topic words used; most spelled correctly. | Simple but enough. | A lot of repetition and spelling errors. | Words do not carry the meaning. | |
| Grammar and mechanics | Capitals, full stops and basic tenses correct. | A few errors, meaning clear. | Frequent errors, meaning sometimes lost. | Hard to understand. | |
| Total | / 16 | ||||
Each criterion scores 1–4 (total 16). Use the task checklist below to tick what the student actually did.
Task checklist
- I wrote events in order with time words.
- I wrote about my feelings at least twice.
- I used the past simple.
Teacher comment
Peer-review sheet
Students swap texts and give each other feedback with this sheet.
Before you finish
Before you finish
- I wrote events in order with time words.
- I wrote about my feelings at least twice.
- I used the past simple.
Writadia · A2 · Stories
Assessment rubric: Diary Entry: The Busiest Day of My Week
| Criterion | 4 · Excellent | 3 · Good | 2 · Developing | 1 · Beginning | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Task | All the requested information is there. | One point is missing. | Several points are missing. | Little connection to the task. | |
| Organisation | Sentences in order; and, but, because used well. | Mostly in order. | Order is confusing. | Unconnected sentences. | |
| Vocabulary | Topic words used; most spelled correctly. | Simple but enough. | A lot of repetition and spelling errors. | Words do not carry the meaning. | |
| Grammar and mechanics | Capitals, full stops and basic tenses correct. | A few errors, meaning clear. | Frequent errors, meaning sometimes lost. | Hard to understand. | |
| Total | / 16 | ||||
Each criterion scores 1–4 (total 16). Use the task checklist below to tick what the student actually did.
Task checklist
- I wrote events in order with time words.
- I wrote about my feelings at least twice.
- I used the past simple.
Teacher comment
Writadia · A2 · Stories
Peer-review sheet: Diary Entry: The Busiest Day of My Week
WriterReviewer
Read your partner’s text carefully. Be kind and specific: say why, not just “good”.
Task checklist
| Yes | Partly | No | |
|---|---|---|---|
| I wrote events in order with time words. | |||
| I wrote about my feelings at least twice. | |||
| I used the past simple. |
Questions
- Does the text give all the information asked for?
- Does every sentence start with a capital and end with a full stop?
- Did the writer use and, but or because? Copy one example.
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Writadia · A2 · Stories
Lesson plan: Diary Entry: The Busiest Day of My Week
- 5 minWarm-up
Show the situation on the classroom screen and ask: “What would you write in this situation?” Take two or three quick answers.
- 6 minWord pool
Open “Word pool” on the classroom screen. Students make one sentence each with: busy, nervous, relaxed, exhausted, in the end.
- 7 minModel text
Reveal the model sentence by sentence in “Model text” mode. At each sentence ask: “What job does this sentence do?” Write these phrases on the board: “Tuesday, 12th March”, “What a day!”, “First, ...”.
- 15 minWriting
Start the timer. Students write their own text; anyone stuck can use the plan in the toolkit. (80-100 words)
- 5 minPeer review
Students swap texts and fill in the peer-review sheet.
- 2 minWrap-up
Set the extra challenge as homework.
The task’s own teacher notes give extra ideas for the warm-up and focus.
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