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edfisher
Joined: 11 Dec 2007
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 Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:27 pm Post subject: Teaching the future tense? |
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Hello folks,
I'm going to be teaching my middle school students the future tense and don't really know where to start. I've had a look in the ideas cookbook and only found a couple of suitable things...has anyone got any more activites that have worked for them?
Any help appreciated!
Ed |
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kprrok
Joined: 06 Apr 2004
Location: KC
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| Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:48 pm Post subject: |
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future tense is easy. There are no exceptions (at least that I'm aware of). It's all "will + infinitive" or "won't + infinitive." As for teaching it, just have them tell what they will do tomorrow, or next week, or next year.
This is one lesson my students are really good at. Past tense is another story. |
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edfisher
Joined: 11 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 6:53 pm Post subject: |
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| I did a past tense pairs game where the students got points for matching present simple and past simple verbs and then got extra points for using that verb in a sentence...they seemed to really like it. Have you got a game or song to get them interested? |
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gangpae
Joined: 03 Sep 2007
Location: Busan
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| Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 7:21 pm Post subject: |
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| kprrok wrote: |
future tense is easy. There are no exceptions (at least that I'm aware of). It's all "will + infinitive" or "won't + infinitive." As for teaching it, just have them tell what they will do tomorrow, or next week, or next year.
This is one lesson my students are really good at. Past tense is another story. |
The future can be expressed many ways:
a. The simple present tense.
b. will + infinitive
c. The present continuous.
d. The 'be going to' form.
e. The 'future simple' will/shall + infinitive.
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Teaching a 'future tense' might be a mistake, and will handcuff your student's correct usage. I suggest getting a good grammar reference and combining that with your native ability to think of some teaching activities. A comparison of the use of 'be going to' and 'will' + infinitive to express future intention is important. |
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kprrok
Joined: 06 Apr 2004
Location: KC
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| Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 8:13 pm Post subject: |
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| gangpae wrote: |
| kprrok wrote: |
future tense is easy. There are no exceptions (at least that I'm aware of). It's all "will + infinitive" or "won't + infinitive." As for teaching it, just have them tell what they will do tomorrow, or next week, or next year.
This is one lesson my students are really good at. Past tense is another story. |
The future can be expressed many ways:
a. The simple present tense.
b. will + infinitive
c. The present continuous.
d. The 'be going to' form.
e. The 'future simple' will/shall + infinitive.
.
.
.
Teaching a 'future tense' might be a mistake, and will handcuff your student's correct usage. I suggest getting a good grammar reference and combining that with your native ability to think of some teaching activities. A comparison of the use of 'be going to' and 'will' + infinitive to express future intention is important. |
I guess I should have made that clearer..."future simple tense is easy" which is normally the first future tense people study. If they're onto future continuous, they've probably already mastered future simple which should make it a little easier.
Present continuous is not future, it's present, as the name suggests. How is "present simple" the future? That's also present tense.
So let's restate your list to make it clearer.
a.) will/won't + infinitive = future simple
b.) to be going to + infiinitive = future something
c.) will be + infinitive + ing = future continuous
d.) will have + infinitive = future perfect
e.) will have + infinitive + ing = future perfect continuous
I'm sure there are more, but those are the basic ones. I don't teach anyone to use "shall" instead of "will" because that's the way it's spoken where I'm from. "Shall" is only used by arrogant snobs who want to sound better where I'm from. I know it's correct, and I can use it, I just choose not to. |
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patongpanda
Joined: 06 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 8:29 pm Post subject: |
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Lot of Koreans overuse 'will'. They use simple future tense everytime they talk about the future because it's easy to construct.
I'm teaching the different reasons we use
1. will
2. 'be+going to'
3. present continuous
The differences can be pretty subtle though.,
Then I add modals, imaginaries* and remind them about present simple tense being used in the future.
*made up word |
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Juregen
Joined: 30 May 2006
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| Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 8:29 pm Post subject: |
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How about might
I might go to the movies.  |
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ddeubel
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
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| Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 8:57 pm Post subject: |
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One of the best ways to practice the future tense is PREDICTION. Any reading teacher know this for sure.
Just show/read a good story. Stop at turns and ask, What will happen next? What's ... going to do? etc.... Students predict as a whole class or in groups, then continue the story.
One good one, (besides the hundreds like this on EFL Classroom 2.0) is
The Eyebrow Story
Good luck. This will work for sure. Or use your own fav. story.
DD
http://eflclassroom.ning.com |
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GreenlightmeansGO
Joined: 11 Dec 2006
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 9:39 pm Post subject: |
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When I did my CELTA I was told, very specifically, that there is no such thing as the future tense.
I thought my instructors were idiots...each to their own. They said: 'it's the present tense with a modal 'will''.
Why bother to say that? What time is it telling you about? THE FUTURE. Ay, Carumba. |
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Cornfed
Joined: 14 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 11:08 pm Post subject: |
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| kprrok wrote: |
| Present continuous is not future, it's present, as the name suggests. |
"I am going to sleep tonight" is using present continuous to talk about the future. |
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withnail
Joined: 13 Oct 2008
Location: Seoul, South Korea.
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| Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 1:06 am Post subject: |
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For higher level students, it can sometimes be useful to talk about the differences among these sentences.
I'm having a party!
I'm going to have a party.
I think I'll have a party.
Ok, I'll have a party!
The party starts at 900. |
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wings
Joined: 09 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:17 pm Post subject: |
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For a consolidation activity I like to have my students brainstrom some things that would be part of a good future - be rich, be happy, etc - and some bad things - live under a bridge etc.
Then we make those origami thingies that kids always make back home. Koreans make them too, the korean name translates to "north, south east west" The kids choose 6 good futures and 2 bad ones and write them inside, then mingle telling each others futures using will. You can really spice it up with some acting like a fortune teller etc. |
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Fat_Elvis
Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Location: In the ghetto
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| Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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Because most students overuse 'will', I start with 'be going to'. You can get them to discuss their plans for the weekend, you can get them to plan an overseas trip, get them to guess their partners plans and then check by asking them (this practises questions forms too), even do a mime activity where they mime the preparation for an activity and then ask "What is he/she going to do?"
Present continuous for the future is useful too. Only when they've got a handle on these would I start to contrast with will and other modals, want to etc for future. |
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