Jazz Up Your Lesson

CONDITIONALS

It might seem surprising but I have recently found out that some students are just keen on making mistakes in conditional sentences. No matter how hard you try you never seem to try hard enough!.. That can be pretty exhausting… Meanwhile, conditionals of all kinds are truly popular in everyday speech and in my view it is rather necessary to teach our students to use them correctly. So let’s try to do it with a smile!

Zero Conditional

This is a team game. Here is a set of homophones that you will need.

week –> weak	dear –> deer
flower –> flour	fair –> fare
red –> read	I –> eye
stair –> stare	roll –> role
night –> knight	piece –> peace
poor –> pour	mail –> male
break –> brake	blue –> blew
hole –> whole	allowed –> aloud
pear –> pair	see –> sea
right –> write	new –> knew
wait –> weight	board –> bored
sure –> shore	guest –> guessed

1. Cut the table up so that you have 6 cards for 4 teams.

2. Divide the class in teams.

3. Explain what a homophone is.

4. Give each team their own set of homophones.

5. Explain to the students that they will have to write a sentence saying how you can change one word on the left to another word on the right.

6. Give an example:

NO –> KNOW

If you add a first and last letter, you get a clever verb.

7. The aim is to solve other teams’ riddles as soon as possible.

8. When teams are ready with their riddles you may either ask them to exchange their cards or to write out the words on the left on the board and let the students from every group read their riddles so that other teams guess the words.

9. The winner of the game is the team that scores most points for guessing the other teams’ riddles correctly. Keep the scores on the board.

Second Conditional

Remind the students how to build sentences with the second conditional.

Here is a rhyme to make it easier:

If I had a lot of money – I would go to Miami.

1. This is a whole class team game. It’s better if everybody sits in a circle. The teacher gives the first sentence: “If I was born in Africa I would swim in the Nile every day.” Next the first student says: “If I swam in the Nile every day I would surely see a crocodile one day.” The third student continues the story and so on until all the students say their phrases. It’s fun to compare the first and the last phrases.

2. This is a team game in smaller groups. Divide the class in groups of 3-4 people in each. Make a set of questions for every group, put them in a pile so that the students cannot see the questions. Then in their small groups they take the questions one by one and answer the questions. Every member should give his/her own answer.

Possible Questions:

1. If you caught a goldfish that would grant you three wishes, what would you wish?

2. If you could have one special talent what would that be?

3. If you were the head of government in Russia, what would be the first thing you’d change?

4. If you could interview a famous person who would that be and what would you ask?

5. If you could travel round the world what three countries would you visit and why?

6. If you could change 1 thing about yourself, what would it be?

7. If you could be someone famous for 1 day, who would you be and why?

8. If you were an animal, which animal would you be and why?

9. If you could change one event in the history what would it be and why?

10. If you had a chance to be either famous, rich, happy or intelligent which would you choose and why?

Third Conditional

Remind the students how to build sentences with the third conditional.

Here is a rhyme to make it easier:

If I had been a crocodile – I would have lived in the river Nile.

1. Ask the students to match the columns:

1. I would have believed you	a. if he hadn’t left his fingerprints.
2. The dog wouldn’t have got out	b. if you hadn’t left the iron on.
3. I would have been here sooner	c. if you had watered it.
4. We would have won	d. if you had applied some sun cream.
5. It would have tasted better	e. if you had put a warmer coat on.
6. He wouldn’t have been caught	f. if it had been warmer.
7. You wouldn’t have burnt	g. if I hadn’t had a flat tyre.
8. The fire wouldn’t have started	h. if you hadn’t played music so loudly.
9. The plant wouldn’t have died	i. if you had added some salt.
10. The thief wouldn’t have got in	j. if you hadn’t left the gate open.
11. We would have gone swimming	k. if I had had a phone card.
12. You wouldn’t have caught a cold	l. if you hadn’t left the window open.
13. The neighbours would not have complained	m. if she hadn’t missed the shot.
14. I would have rung	n. if it hadn’t been April Fool’s Day.

2. Ask the students to make their own continuation to the beginnings on the left.

Key: 1. 1. n; 2. j; 3. g; 4. m; 5. i; 6. a; 7. d; 8. b; 9. c; 10. l; 11. f; 12. e; 13. h; 14. k