3. Collect and shuffle the cards. Hand one card to each student. Students circulate and try to find their match. (The student who wrote the superstition will have to be the judge of whether or not the match is good because you will probably be unfamiliar with several of the superstitions.)
4. As a class, go over the superstitions and check (as a group) to see if the correct grammar forms were used.
4. JUST THE FACTS
Materials: Worksheet 2.2[11]
Dynamic: Whole class
Time: 10 minutes
Procedure: 1. Cut up the cards in the worksheet or prepare your own. Distribute one to each student, who must construct a sentence that uses the true conditional form.
Example: Add lemon to milk
Example fact (by student): If you add lemon to milk, it curdles.
2. Arrange students in a circle, and have each say his/her sentence.
Variation: To avoid students' losing interest, do step 2 as a memory round. Each student says his/her sentence and repeats all those that came before his/hers.
5. EXPERIMENT REPORT
Materials: None
Dynamic: Small groups
Time: 10 minutes
Procedure: 1. Divide the class into groups of three or four. Assign each group an experiment.
Suggested experiments: putting a spoon in the microwave mixing blue and yellow paint boiling eggs in water with onion skins touching your tongue to a frozen surface shaving your eyebrows frowning all the time
2. The students discuss what they think the result will be, Then each group reports to the class, using some conditional sentences.
(If you intend to have the students act out the experiments in class or for homework, obviously there are some in the list above you would not want to assign.)
NOTE: Because the results of these experiments can be perceived as
a habitual result or as a predictable fact, either the present or the future can be used in the result clause.
6. DIRECTIONS
Materials: A map (Worksheet 2.3) and a handout (either A or B) per student[12]
Dynamic: Pairs
Time: 15 minutes
Procedure: 1. Break the class into pairs and give a map and two worksheets to each pair. Each student handout contains both locations and routes as indicated in Worksheet 2.4.
2. Student A begins and asks Student В for directions to the first location. Student В looks at the map and the list of routes on his/her handout and gives advice in a conditional sentence.
Example:
Student A: How can I get to Bethesda?
Student B: If you take Route 190, you will get to Bethesda.
3. After Student A has asked for directions to all the locations on 2.3 Part A, Student В asks for directions to the location on his/her handout (2.3 Part B). Student A now gives the advice.
NOTES: Locations and the ways to get there are not in order. Students must match them. A local map also works well because the students are familiar with places and highways. Pattern the handouts after Worksheet 2.3, in that case.
Variation: For a higher-level class, provide locations only and have the partner search the map for a route that goes to the requested location.
UNTRUE IN THE PRESENT
1. MEMORY GAME
Materials: 3" x 5" cards
Dynamic: Whole class
Time: 25 minutes
Procedure: 1. On each card write an adjective in large letters so that it can be seen around the room.
SUGGESTIONS: sad, drunk, lonely, stranded, nauseous, hungry, thirsty, nervous, angry, rich, sick, sleepy, famous, tired, poor, lost, married, single, scared
(Include a few new words that will be challenging even for higher-level students, such as jilted or stranded.) Have students sit or stand in a circle while you distribute the cards. (If you use adjectives like married or single, be sure to give them to students who are not!)
2. Ask who has the best memory and then start with the person next to him/her. If you know you have a weak student, you may want to start with that person. The first student holds up his/her card and composes a sentence, using the untrue present conditional.
Example card: lonely Example sentence: If I were lonely, I would call my family.
3. The second student says his/her sentence and repeats student one's sentence. Continue around the circle, with each new student adding a sentence and repeating all the previous sentences. The last student will have to remember the sentences from all the other students. It is important that students hold their cards toward the circle at all times because they serve as clues. Also, don't let any of the students write. Students may cue their classmates through gestures. The only correction allowed is to emphasize were rather than was.
NOTE: If your class is large, divide it into two groups and play two rounds. The same cards can be used, but different sentences must be created. The game has been played with up to 14 in a low-level class and up to 22 in a high-level class.
2. CLUE
Materials: None
Dynamic: Whole class
Time: 10 minutes
Procedure: 1. One student volunteers to leave the room and, when he/she returns, will guess the word chosen by the class from clues given by the rest of the class. The volunteer can ask questions if they are in the form of the untrue present.
2. While the volunteer is out of the room, decide on a category (suggestions: occupations, food, school material). Have the class choose a word in that category. Brainstorm together the kinds of clues that can be given. They must be in the form of the untrue present conditional.
Example 1: Food server
Clues: If I were you, I would wear a uniform.
If I were you, I'd never have dirty hands.
If I were you, I would talk to many people.
Also, decide which clues should be saved for last. (For example: "If I were you, I would serve customers quickly in order to get a good tip.")
Example 2: mustard
Clues: If I were you, I'd be careful not to get this on my clothes.
If I were you, I'd never eat this by itself.
If you were a waitress, you would put this on the table next to the ketchup.
Last clue: If I were you, I would always put it on hot dogs.
3. When the volunteer returns, students take turns offering clues, but they must be in the form of the untrue present conditional.
3. BUILDING AROUND
Materials: None
Dynamic: Large groups
Time: 15 minutes
Procedure: 1. Put students into groups of five to seven.
2. One student begins with a sentence in the untrue present conditional.
Example: If I lived in France, I would speak French.
3. Each student builds on the story by taking the result of the previous sentence and turning it into an if-clause.
Example:
Student 1: If I lived in France, I would speak French.
Student 2: And if I spoke French, I would speak the same native language as Florence.
Student 3: And if I spoke the same native language as Florence, we would be good friends.
Student 4: And if we were good friends, we would go to parties together.
4. Encourage the students to correct/help each other within the groups.
4. SONG
Materials: Lyrics to a song, handout with questions (optional) Tape player (optional)
Dynamic: Pairs/Small groups
Time: 30 minutes
Procedure: 1. Choose a song that has several examples of the untrue present conditional.
SUGGESTIONS: "If I Were a Carpenter"
"If I Had a Hammer"
"If I Could Save Time in a Bottle"
Type up the lyrics, but leave blanks for the conditional forms—just provide the verb.
2. The students, working in pairs, fill in the missing verbs.
3. Listen to the song to check answers.
Variation: Add some questions that make use of the conditional or allow students to think about why the conditional was used. For the song "If I Were a Carpenter," questions can include:
a. What kinds of jobs are mentioned?
b. Does the man hold any of these jobs? How do you know?
С. The man asks a lot of questions about occupations, but what does he really want to know from his girlfriend? Write a conditional sentence to express what he wants.
5. LINE-UPS
Materials: Worksheet 2.4 or 3"x 5" cards[13]
Dynamic: Whole class
Time: 20 minutes
Procedure: 1. Use the cards in the worksheet or prepare your own cards with similar questions. If you make your own cards, it is advisable to make each set a different color so you can assemble students in lines more easily. ("Everyone with a pink card, stand against the board. If you have a yellow card, stand in front of someone with a pink card.") Have all the students holding one of the colors come to the front of the room and stand against the board (or wall). Have the other students stand in front of one of these students.
2. The students in the line against the board ask their questions of the student standing in front of them. When the students in the "answer line" have answered the question, they move on to the next "questioner." The students in the "question line" do not move.
3. When the students in the "answer line" have talked to every student in the "question line," it is time to change positions.
Continue as specified in step 2.
4. To wrap up this activity, ask each student to share some of the responses he/she received.
NOTE: If you have an uneven number of students, have one student wait at the end of the line until the students move. One student will always be without a partner, but because the students will answer the questions at different rates, it will always appear as if several students are waiting. If you have a very large class, divide the class in two and do the line-ups both in front and in back of the class.
6. VALUES
Materials: Worksheet 2.5 [14]
Dynamic: Groups
Time: 20 minutes
Procedure: 1. Prepare two sets of cards from Worksheets 2.5 A and 2.5 B. Break the class into small groups. Give each group a values card and a YES or NO card. Stress that they cannot let any of the other groups know if their card says YES or NO.
2. Each group is presented with a situation. They must change the wording on the card into a conditional sentence. They then choose one classmate in another group who they feel will give them the answer on their YES/NO card.
Example:
The card says: You find a wallet with $50 and an ID inside. Do you keep it?
Sentence made by the group: If you found a wallet with $50 and an ID inside, would you keep it?
YES/NO card: YES
Task: Decide which of their classmates not in their group will answer YES to the question they generated. They must make an educated guess based on what they know of their classmates.
3. Check with each group to make sure they have chosen a classmate. When all groups have done so, play a round: the first group picks a student and asks its question. If the student's answer matches the group's card, the group receives a point. Go on to the next group.
4. Play another round.
7. IMAGINE THAT! (Might and Would)
Materials: None
Dynamics: Groups
Time: 15 minutes
Procedure: 1. Write a result on the board that is either unusual or funny. Ask students when or why they might do that action. Generate as many (if-clauses as possible.
Suggested results (can be used for teacher example and for groups):
go skinny dipping
call 911
paint my body
hop on one foot
climb on the roof
attract a lot of attention
climb a tree
2. Divide the students into groups. Give each group a different result and have them brainstorm if-clauses using might.
3. After each group writes as many (if-clauses as possible, have the students in each group decide which one of the (if-clauses would produce the result they have been working with. The groups should try to reach a consensus, but that may not be possible.
4. Share sentences (or (if-clauses) with the class.
Example: attract a lot of attention
Student sentences:
I might attract a lot of attention if I screamed in class. I might attract a lot of attention if I dyed my hair green. I might attract a lot of attention if I sang a song on the street corner.
5. As a whole class, look at the sentences each group has chosen to share with the class. Decide as a whole class which sentence would most likely produce the result.
SUGGESTION: If you do this game as a competition, have the class vote on the best sentence. The group that receives the most votes gets a point for that round. Then go on to another round of sentences. The only danger here is that students may vote for their own sentence and then no one group would ever win. This could be avoided by telling students that they cannot vote for their own sentence.
8. AS IF/AS THOUGH PICTURES
Materials: Magazines
Dynamic: Small groups
Time: 10 minutes
Procedure: 1. Arrange students in groups of three or four. Find, copy, and distribute magazine pictures that have people with unusual expressions.
2. Have students discuss several pictures, making sentences using as if or as though. ("He looks as if he ate a lemon." "He looks as if he were sick.")
3. Each group takes turns holding up a picture and describing it by using their sentences.
Variation: Have students find their own pictures, perhaps as homework. Or have them each bring a magazine to class and look through them in their groups for a good picture. (In this case, you may want to have some back-up pictures just in case.)
UNTRUE IN THE PAST
1. BUILDING AROUND
Materials: None
Dynamic: Large groups
Time: 15 minutes
Procedure: 1. Break class into groups of five to seven.
2. Have one student begin with a sentence in the untrue past conditional. Follow the steps in Building Around, 16.2.3.
Example:
Student 1: If I had gotten married after high school, I would not have come to the United States.
Student 2: If I had not come to the United States. I would not have visited the Grand Canyon.
Student 3: If I had not visited the Grand Canyon, I would not have taken so many pictures, (etc.)
2. STORY SAGAS
Materials: Worksheet 2.6[15]
Dynamic: Small groups
Time: 20 minutes
Procedure: 1. Have students work in groups of three or four. Give each group a story summary. If you plan to give each group a different summary, give each group a handout with all the summaries and then assign one per group. (There is a handout of sample summaries in Worksheet 2.6.)
2. The students read the summary and then write five conditional sentences based on the information in the summary.
Example:
Blair lied and told Todd she was pregnant with his child so that he would marry her. She knew what he didn't: that he was about to inherit $28 million. As a result of her deception, Cord, the man she really loved, was disgusted with her. Since the marriage, Blair has discovered that she is now, in fact, pregnant, and Todd has discovered that he is a millionaire. Blair's mother, who is in a psychiatric center, knows the truth about the marriage and has a habit of saying whatever comes to mind.
Sample Sentences:
If Blair had not lied to Todd, he wouldn't have married her.
If Blair had not married Todd, she could have married Cord.
If Todd had known about the $28 million before his marriage, he might have suspected Blair.
Variation: Instead of using soap opera summaries, use a story the class has read. If this is a multi skills class, you know what material the class has read. If the reading class is separate, you can check with the reading instructor. Follow the same procedure, but write conditional sentences based on the story. You can also use fairy tales or fables.
MIXED CONDITIONALS
1. WHAT IF
Materials: None
Dynamic: Pairs/Small groups
Time: 15 minutes
Procedure: 1. Break the class into pairs or groups of three or four.
Explain (or review) that some actions have results not only in the time they happened, but can also carry over into the present or future.
Example: If I had eaten more last night... I wouldn't be hungry now.
2. Give each group or pair several if-clauses—things that happened in the past. Tell them this activity has results in the present and that they should make sentences with a past condition and a present result.
SUGGESTIONS: If I had written my essay last weekend
If I had gone to bed earlier last night
If I had washed my hair yesterday
If I had gone to the movies with my friends last night
If I had studied more English in my own country
2. COMIC STRIP ADVICE
Materials: Worksheet 2.7[16]
Dynamic: Small groups
Time: 15 minutes