לומדים אנגלית / קוראים ספרי ילדים

Reviewing the Cycle of the Present

In order to teach or review the Present Simple, the Present Progressive and the Future Simple, we need suitable texts and oral and writing activities.

We are about to complete activities concerning the Cycle of the Present.

In my last post I presented texts and activities regarding the Present Simple.

I will now suggest texts and activities regarding the Present Progressive and the Future Simple.

The following dialogue including all the tenses of the Cycle of the Present could be used for review.

Sharon is a "homeworkoholic". Keren is trying to "cure" her…

Keren: What are you doing now?

Sharon: I am working on my Math exercises.

Keren: Why? The test is next week. You will have enough time to prepare. You look tired. Why don't you go to bed?

Sharon: Maybe I should. I must wake up very early tomorrow.

Keren: When are you planning to get up?

Sharon: At five at the latest. I want to review the last History lesson.

Keren: You get top grades in all the subjects. Even your teachers and parents say you work too hard.. Why do you do it?

Sharon: I can't help it. I know I am overdoing it. I spend so much time on homework that I have no time left for anything else. I just can't help it. It's an uncontollable urge.

Keren: Well, I must say you have a rare disease. Would you like me to help you?

Sharon: Of course I would like you to help me, but I am afraid it's useless. I have been hooked on homework ever since I can remember.

Keren: Just follow my plan step by step. I want you to spend only five hours on homework today, then four, then three…

Sharon: Ok. I will try to follow your instructions. Now, If you don't mind, i still have some homework in Math, History, Arabic…

Suggestions

You can use this text as a role play with two participants.

You can put the verbs in brackets and use the dialogue as an exercise in Tenses.

The text might be followed by a class discussion. You can have a debate between a group that is for homework and a group that is against. Each group should have strong arguments to justify his position.

Other suggestions for Oral and Writing Activities:

The weather forecast: 

Write the weather forecast for today in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Eilat, Paris, New York.

Horoscopes:

Write the horoscope for various Zodiac signs.

Ask two students to improvise a role play: Fortune Teller and Customer..

Imagining the Future:

What will the world look like a hundred years from now?

Robots will replace people at work, test-tube babies will be born in huge laboratories and may never know the meaning of words like father, mother, brother, etc. People will have no family, no friends. They will spend their lives with their electronic companions: television, tablets, computers, cellular phones, etc.

Encourage your students to develop this picture in an oral or writing activity.

Then try to help them develop an optimistic approach to the Future: A world without illness, pain or death – paradise on earth. 

That's all for today. 

For more texts and activities, please see The Lively World of English. Book 1, p 39 – 55, p 145 – 180

For more exercises, please see The New Language Guidebook and Workbook, p 17 – 26, p 62 – 65

You may also find the Map of the Cycle of the Present – מפת ההווה.pdf –  very useful.