English materials for
​Secondary school in México

First Grade

Unit 5

Lesson plan

Lesson plan | Games & Lead-ins | Worksheets & Handouts | PowerPoint presentations
Exercises for students | ​Project Ideas | Pop Quizzes & Exams
Introduction (15 mins.)
T writes on the board a few questions about future in general:
  1. What will you do in 10 years? (Predictions - Will)
  2. What are you going to do the next weekend? (Intentions – Be going to)
  3. What are your arrangements after school? (Future plans – Present continuous)
In pairs, Ss discuss their answers. T monitors the activity.
T gives Ss feedback on speaking activity. T labels a chart on the board with the following headings: predictions, intentions and arrangements, then T writes Ss’ answers. T highlights or underlines the grammar structure for each case. Ss take notes.
T tells Ss that there are several different ways in English to talk about the future.
Development (15 mins.)
T tells Ss that they’re going to listen to a story and shows them an image (wedding invitation). T encourages Ss to try inferring what the story is about. Then, Ss listen to the story (audio) while the T writes on the board the expressions where the future tense is used. Finally, T asks Ss to identify which expressions are predictions, intentions and arrangements.
T explains that these sentences show Billy and Ivana’s future plans.
This is the story:
Let´s say Billy wants to marry Ivana.
He comes to her and asks her if 1) she will marry him. Because he is NOT sure what she will respond he asks with WILL: 2) "Will you marry me?"
She is delighted and responds "Yes, 3) I’ll marry you!"
He goes home and knowing that she accepted and surer that it will happen he tells his father with the GOING TO “Dad, me and Ivana, 4) we are going to get married!"
Arrangements begin and Billy calls his best friend and tells him when and where: "John, 5) me and Ivana are getting married on November 3rd!" and again asks an insecure question 6) "Will you be my best man?"
Consolidation (10 mins.)
Ss classify a list of expressions into 2 categories: predictions and future plans that already made.
Here are some expressions:
  1. I think it will rain later.
  2. I am taking the bus with John to work tomorrow.
  3. They’re traveling to New York next week.
  4. I’ll be a teacher.
  5. You won’t have any problem.
  6. Look at the clouds. It´s going to rain.
  7. There will be 50 people at the party.
  8. Our grandparents aren’t visiting us this Christmas.
  9. I’m going to the dentist tomorrow.
  10. My sister's going to have a baby.
  11. Be careful! You are going to fall.
  12. We are visiting China in June.
Closure (5 mins.)
T reads aloud to the class the achievements for this unit and encourages Ss to share their ideas about the meaning of each achievement. Ss say their expectations they have of the unit.
Handout: Future forms
Introduction (10 mins.)
First, T introduces the idea of fortune telling. Then, T draws a crystal ball on the board and writes a list of predictions inside. Next, T reads aloud one by one of the predictions and asks Ss to raise his/her hand if the predictions may come true for him/her.
Here is a list of predictions:
  • You will get rich.
  • You will be lucky in love.
  • You will die young.
  • You will travel around the world.
  • You will work as an English teacher.
  • You will be the president of México.
  • You will have a lot of children.
  • You will live in a big mansion.
Development (10 mins.)
Ss look at a new crystal ball with predictions and Ss do a gap-fill activity.
Consolidation (20 mins.)
T asks Ss to write a brief description of their future. T encourages Ss to use expressions such as: “I will…, in 3 years I will…, in 5 years I will... and in 10 years I will... “
Ss share their predictions with others. Ss take notes on their notebooks.
Closure (10 mins.)
T asks volunteers to tell the class what their classmates said. 
Introduction (10 mins.)
Ss played a game called “Slowly reveal a picture”. Ss look at a pair of pictures and make predictions using simple future (will). For each correct prediction T gradually shows more and more of the secret picture. Ss try to guess the picture.
Development (15 mins.)
T explains that when using the future tense, the word will should be used. T gives Ss examples of future tense:
  • I will travel to Paris next spring.
  • I’ll buy a new t-shirt.
T explains how Ss can also use ‘ll as a contraction. Also, T explains the negative and interrogative form of the future tense. T gives Ss examples:
  • She will not read a book.
  • We won’t send the postcard.
  • Will you ask her?
  • What will you do tomorrow?
Consolidation (20 mins.)
Ss complete a future tense worksheet.
T goes over the worksheet with the Ss.
Closure (5 mins.)
T invites Ss to tell the class what they have learned about simple future tense.
Time filler: “Making predictions” – Ss look at pairs of images and complete the predictions using “will”. 
Pop quiz: Simple future tense (preditions).
Introduction (15 mins.)
T starts a general conversation asking Ss what their plans are for their birthday party. T writes on the board Ss’ answers.
T introduces the topic (first conditional) making predictions about what might happen at the birthday party. T gives Ss examples of the situations in which the grammatical structures can be used (if clause & main clause/main clause & if clause). T emphasizes the grammar and the flexibility of it.
For example:
  • If it rains, we will go to a restaurant. (If clause + main clause)
  • We will rent a house with a pool if the weather is sunny. (Main clause + if clause) 
Development (20 mins.)
First, T tells Ss that they are going to listen to a short story about the plans for a birthday party. Then, T writes on the board three sentence halves:
  1. “If it rains,”
  2. “We will go to an Indian restaurant If…”
  3. “If we get two cakes,”
Next, T asks Ss to listen carefully to the story and write their answers on their notebooks.
T tells Ss if the "if" clause comes first, a comma is usually used. If the "if" clause comes second, there is no need for a comma. Also, we use different verb forms in each part of a first conditional:
  1. If clause: if + subject + simple present verb
  2. Main clause: subject + will + verb
T put Ss into small groups and provides them with strips of paper with conditions and results. Ss infers what if happens and match them.
Consolidation (10 mins.)
T writes on the board a list of first part of sentences and asks Ss to suggest the second half.
Examples:
  1. If I study, I…
  2. I will go to the movies if…
  3. I’ll travel to USA if…
  4. If my parents/grandparents take me to Hawaii, I…
  5. I won’t be sad if…
Ss share their answers with their partners and rewrite their sentences if necessary.
Closure (5 mins.)
T invites volunteers to read out their answers. T gives feedback and makes contributions to improve Ss’ writing and speaking skills.
Introduction (10 mins.)
Ss are going to watch a video about planning (be going to). So, T writes some statements on the board and asks Ss mark if they are true or false according to the video.
Here some statements:
  1. Ana is going to read a book.
  2. The weather is going to be cloudy and rainy.
  3. They are going to see some friends and eat out.
  4. Emily is not going to browse the internet.
  5. Emily and Ana are going to the park.
T highlights or underlines the grammar structure of “be going to” and explains that the auxiliary verb going to is used in talking about intentions. T makes a review of the verb “to be”, if necessary.
Development (20 mins.)
Ss complete a worksheet about the topic. T monitors the activity and helps Ss who have difficulties to complete the exercise.
Consolidation (15 mins.)
In pairs, Ss talk about what they are going to do on weekend. Ss write down his/her partner’s answers.  Ss have to write 5 or more sentences.
Closure (5 mins.)
T invites volunteers to read out his/her partner’s answers. T gives feedback and makes contributions to improve Ss’ writing and speaking skills.
Homework: Ss make a list of their plans for the next vacation. 
Introduction (10 mins.)
T asks Ss some questions with “will” and “be going to”. For example: “What will you do tomorrow?”, “What are you going to do after school?”, “Who do you think will win the next world cup?”, etc. T invites Ss to reflect on the questions T asked: Which future form did you use and Why?
Development (20 mins.)
T writes 5 sentences on the board using different forms of future and asks Ss to match the sentences and purposes. Ss take notes.
Here are the sentences:
  1. Look at the clouds! It’s going to rain.
  2. I think Spain will win the next World Cup.
  3. Oh, sorry, I dropped all the soup. Don’t worry, I’ll clean it
  4. I’m going to visit her tomorrow.
  5. I think she will visit me this year.
 Here are the purposes:
  • To express general prediction/forecast about the future.
  • To express a prediction/forecast made on present evidence.
  • To express a prediction/forecast without evidence.
  • To express a decision about the future taken at the moment of speaking.
  • To express a plan for the future.
Ss complete the sentences with the appropriate form of be going to or will.
  1. When I grow up, I _________________ be a teacher.
  2. It’s cold and cloudy. It __________________ snow.
  3. The weather __________________ be rainy.
  4. I think people _________________ live on Mars in 2150.
  5. We _________________ have dinner together tomorrow.
  6. He _________________ buy a new car next year.
  7. I _________________ call you back later.
  8. Who do you think _________________ win the next presidential election?
 Consolidation (15 mins.)
In pairs, Ss make 2 sentences for each purpose using future forms.
Closure (5 mins.)
Ss raise questions about the class they either were unsure about or need clarification. T gives Ss feedback.
Introduction (5 mins.)
Ss watch a video about present continuous for future arrangements.
T explains Ss that the present continuous tense can be used to indicate future plans.
Development (15 mins.)
Ss complete a worksheet about the topic.
Consolidation (25 mins.)
First, T asks Ss to make a schedule about their plans for the weekend. Ss set the date and the time for each plan. Then, in pairs, Ss need to find a day for their get‐together. Ss take turns to ask and answer questions about their schedules so as to find a day and a time to meet:
A: What are you doing on Friday?     
B: I am going to the movies on Friday afternoon with my friends.   
Closure (5 mins.)
T asks Ss to summarize the key points from present continuous for future arrangements. 
Pop Quiz: Future forms
T asks Ss to make sentences that describe predictions, future plans or arrangements. Ss discuss the format of their work. Ss can describe future expectations, dreams, marriage, job, future intentions, etc.
Ss make a draft of their project and interchange their information with others. T makes sure the final version is correct, legible and the right sequencing of actions and ideas.
T asks Ss to write the final version on nice, attractive pieces of cardboard to be exhibited in the classroom. If time allows and the work is well done, linguistically speaking, Ss may add a bit of artwork to make them more attractive.
T invites Ss to present their work in front of the class. T allows time for questions stemming from the oral presentations. T assists and promotes correction as necessary.