Lesson plan

Talking About the Future

Topic
The future simple tense

Aims
 To help learners talk about the future
 To review different future tenses
 To help learners to choose the most appropriate future tense
 To develop learners’ communication skills

Age group
Teens

Level
B1

Time
60 minutes

Materials
 Talking About the Future student worksheet

Introduction
In this simple lesson you will allow students chance to speak freely about different
aspects of their future life while guiding them (with their help) to the best available
grammar forms in order to do so. It is intended as a revision hour, maybe useful
ahead of a programme of study involving the future forms in which you introduce new
language beyond that they will have learned at A2.

Procedure
1. Lead in:  Put students in pairs, and direct their attention to the board
Open where they will read the following:
discussion
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Talk for a minute about each of the following:

 Your arrangements for this evening

 Your intentions for the rest of the year

 Your predictions for the planet for 2020

 By means of a gesture get them to start. I don’t offer the slightest

insight into what I want nor expect from them. I don’t nterject nor
correct (unless they’re well off track), I just want them to talk. By
this level they have already met all the tenses we are going to be
using, so there will be no actual teaching, but as very often they
misuse the forms to some considerable degree, there will be
plenty of opportunity for revision.

2. Task 1:  As they are talking, I quickly draw a simple diagram on the

Matching board representing the four main forms of the future that B1
functions to students are familiar with, thus:
grammar
Present Simple Going to + infinitive

Present Continuous Will + infinitive

 Without drawing reference to the previous activity, I draw their

attention to this table and then hand them, in their pairs, a set of
situations/functions each on separate strips of paper with blu tac on
the reverse (see Student Worksheet.) Their job now is to pair the
situations/functions to one of the grammar forms and they do so
physically, by coming to the board and sticking them on.

 You can adapt the sentences to personalise them for your

learners. Be sure to mix the order, and give all of them to each
pair.
Answers:
 Lesson plan
Timetabled events, e.g. TV programme or train departure PS

Personal arrangements PC

Predictions (when you can see the evidence) GT

Predictions (based on no evidence) W

General future intentions (not arranged) GT

Decisions made at the time of speaking W

Promises W

Decisions already made GT

Offers, refusals W

 Have students come and stick the situations on the board in the
right box (or the wrong box).

 When the board is full, ask the class to correct, by moving any
misplaced items, and then let them study it for a few moments.
Deal with questions as they arise, but don’t ask any yourself.

3. Task 2:  Now, without any further input from you, change the original pairs
Discussion and tell students that they are going to talk about the three topics
task in the lead in, but this time using the correct (or should I say,
recommended?) grammar forms. They should tell their new partner
what they told the first one but this time, where it’s a personal
arrangement, they should now be using the present continuous.
Any prediction for 2020 could surely not be based on evidence, so
they need to be using will.

 While they do it this time, I monitor and correct

4. Task 3:  At this point, perhaps another ten minutes later, I bring the class
Feedback together and we talk about what’s been said, in the third person.
One of the pair will tell the class what their partner said after
prompting from me, for example I might ask, “and what are Aizhan’s
arrangements for this evening, Erik?” to which Erik would hopefully reply
somewhere along the lines of “she’s eating out with some friends this
evening.”

 I never know whether to correct people when they say, “she’s going
to eat out this evening” because as such, it’s not wrong, but still lies
contrary to the focus of this lesson. I suppose there’s no exact
science in this regard, and although I generally suggest the
modification to the present continuous, it
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pays to play it by ear.

 After this group discussion, which can last up to fifteen minutes

(especially if we develop the prediction section), we are ready to
focus a little more on the technicalities of the grammar, but still
without involving formal study.

5. Task 4:  There are variations on the game and some of them are less
Grammar teacher-centred than my approach. I’ll offer you the basic version
auction and invite you to adapt it to suit.

 Put students into groups of three or four. I’d say a maximum of six
groups is best, although when I played it with seven it went OK, so
see how it feels in your classroom.

 Introduce the idea of an auction, including teaching words such as

auction, item, lot, bid. If you have the internet in your classroom, you
could find a clip of an auction on YouTube to show them to make
sure they’ve got the idea.

 Tell them they are going to attend an auction and bid for items. The
items are English sentences to talk about the future. Make it very
clear to them that they must ONLY bid for sentences that they think
are grammatically correct. (The winners are those who buy the
most correct sentences. In the event of a tie, the victory is
determined by who has most money left.)

 Hand out the lists of sentences, below (or write your own) and
ask the students to study them to decide which are correct, i.e.
which they want to buy, and why they are right or wrong
(although you don’t ask them for this during the auction itself.
Nor should you confirm or deny if they are right at this stage,
wait until later). Do not let them broadcast their choices or share
answers with other teams.

 Allocate $10,000 to each team. Before bidding starts, remind them

(you may need to) that they should not attempt to buy sentences
they believe to be incorrect. Add that they can only increase bids
in $500 increments, or they will try to bid single dollars which is
pointless.

 Take your copy of the sentences and cut them up. These then
become individual items which you take in random order.

 Begin the bidding. I’m no auctioneer but the more spirit you put
into this, the better it will go. Start each item at $500 and take it
from there. Remember to deduct money from the starting total
after each sale.

 When all the sentences have been sold, ask each group to count
their
Lesson plan
sentences and then they can be checked.

 I check by asking the group with least to start. They read the
sentences in turn, and I write them on the board. Then I ask
everybody if they are correct, and as a group we discuss the
grammar and the reasons for using it.

 This is where I become more the traditional teacher, explaining

anything where necessary. However I have always found that for
a relatively strong group who only need reminding of the correct
forms, this lesson is a very good way to tidy up the basic future
tenses.