Here’s a quick idea for revising some conditionals. I used this the other day and it worked well:

Ask students the following:

What would you do if you were the last person on earth?

Encourage creativity:

If I were the last man on earth, I’d fly a jumbo jet/drink every bar in the world dry/clone myself/etc

Get the students to continue their sentences as a ‘conditionals chain’, e.g.

If I cloned myself I’d have some company

If I had some company I’d go to the pub with my clone

If I went to the pub with my clone I’d get bored, because they would only talk about the same things as me

If I got bored I’d go home 

Show students this video of the last man on earth. Ask the following:

Does he do anything you mentioned?

How would he feel now?

(This video is from the BBC film network)

Feedback as a class.

Revising other conditional forms

Display this frame from the video on the board.

This is from after he has taken the poison. Students discuss what the man is thinking now.

Then put the following sentence starters into the thinking bubbles:

Sentence 1 is for the 3^rd conditional, sentence 2 for mixed conditional.

Extension:

You could get the students to act out the next part of the video. Imagine that the speaker makes a new recording to explain what happened:

(the Caller ID on the phone said ‘Stevo’)

Stevo, It’s me. Why didn’t you call me earlier? Had I known you were alive, I’d never have decided to end my life… etc.

There may also be scope to practise structures like ‘If only…’

‘If only I’d tried to call everyone in my address book one more time’

‘If only Stevo had rung 1 minute earlier’

Etc.

Anyway, this is a great video – well worth using! Enjoy!

Categories: grammar, Lesson Ideas, videos

Tags: 2nd conditional, 3rd conditional, BBC film network, grammar activity, ideas, mixed conditionals, video lesson