Future Forms: 'Will', 'Be Going To' And Present Continuous

Topic: Future forms: 'will', 'be going to' and present continuous

Objectives & Outcomes

• To understand the differences between 'will', 'be going to' and present continuous
• To be able to use 'will', 'be going to' and present continuous correctly in sentences

Materials

• Pen and paper for each student
• Examples of each type of future form (e.g. 'I will go to school tomorrow', 'It's going to rain tomorrow', 'She's studying English')

Warm-up

• Ask students if they know what the future form of a verb is.
• Ask for some examples of future forms, and write them on the board.
• Ask students if they can think of any ways to say that something will happen in the future, other than using the future form of will.
• Write some examples of other ways to express future on the board (e.g. 'I'm going to go to the party', 'It's going to rain tomorrow').

Direct Instruction

• Introduce the three future forms: will, be going to and present continuous.
• Explain that will is used when we are certain about something happening in the future, and is the simplest of the future forms.
• Explain that be going to is more informal than will, and is used when we think something is likely to happen in the future.
• Explain that present continuous is used when we are referring to a period of time in the future, and is the most formal of the future forms.
• Give some examples of each future form, using the verbs on the board.

Guided Practice

• Give the students some more examples of each future form, on the board or on a worksheet.
• Have the students work in pairs to identify the future form of the verb in each sentence.
• Have the pairs check their answers with the teacher and discuss any problems.

Independent Practice

• Project-based activity: Have the students work in small groups to create a short skit or role-play scenario, in which they use the future forms in -a natural and realistic way. For example, a student might pretend to be a shop assistant who is talking to a customer about the opening hours, or a husband and wife planning a holiday.
• Encourage the students to use the future forms naturally and correctly in their skit or role-play.
• Allow time for the students to present their skit or role-play to the class.

Closure

• Review the main points of the lesson with the class, emphasizing the difference between will and be going to, and the correct use of the present continuous.
• Ask the students to share any new understandings or insights they gained from the lesson.

Assessment

• Assess the students' understanding of the difference between will and be going to, and their ability to correctly use the present continuous, through the use of their participation in class activities, their completed exercise, and their presentation.
• Use the feedback from the assessments to inform future lessons and the students' continued development.