This post is about how to teach the future perfect tense. For a detailed explanation of its form and usage, check out our comprehensive guide on the future perfect tense.
Table of Contents
Introduction
This lesson plan is designed to help advanced learners master the future perfect tense. It focuses on making students notice and use the form and function of the future perfect tense in various contexts.
Lesson Overview
Lesson Title: Teaching the Future Perfect Tense
Level: Advanced Learners
Duration: 60-90 minutes
Objective: By the end of the lesson, students will be able to correctly form and use the future perfect tense to describe actions that will be completed by a specific time in the future. They will also practice differentiating between the future simple and future perfect tenses.
Materials Needed:
- Whiteboard and markers
- Student handouts with tables and timelines
- Example sentences for drilling activities
- List of future milestones or events for group discussions
Key Language Points:
- Structure of the future perfect tense (WILL + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE)
- Understanding the timeline associated with the future perfect
- Formation of affirmative, negative, and interrogative sentences using the future perfect
- Differentiation between future simple and future perfect tenses
Lesson Structure:
- Introduction: Engage students with a discussion about their future plans and set the context for learning the future perfect tense.
- Presentation: Introduce the form and use of the future perfect tense, using examples and a timeline.
- Practice: Conduct pair work, drilling exercises, and group activities to reinforce understanding and usage.
- Production: Students personalize their learning by creating to-do lists and writing about future achievements.
- Follow-Up: Consolidate learning with a writing activity about life goals and achievements.
The Lesson Plan
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1. Setting the Context: Future Plans
Begin by engaging students in a discussion about their future plans. Ask them to think about what they hope to accomplish in the next 20 years. Encourage them to complete a table like this:
| Future Events |
|---|
| I will finish my studies. |
| I will get a job. |
| I will get married. |
| I will buy a car. |
This activity not only activates their prior knowledge but also sets the stage for introducing the future perfect tense.
2. Introducing the Future Perfect Tense
Draw a timeline on the board and write an example of the future perfect tense:
“By the time I am 40, I will have finished my studies.”
Explain to students that the future perfect tense is used to describe an action that will be completed by a specific time in the future. Highlight the structure:
WILL + HAVE + PAST PARTICIPLE
3. Noticing the Future Perfect
Ask students to notice the following:
- When is the action completed? (By a certain time in the future)
- How is the future perfect different from the future simple?
Contrast examples on the board:
| Future Simple | Future Perfect |
|---|---|
| I will finish my studies this year. | By the end of this year, I will have finished my studies. |
Encourage students to come up with their own examples:
- “By the time I am 40, I will have found a job.”
- “I will have bought a car.”
Students should understand that the future perfect tense is used to describe actions that will be completed before a specific point in the future.
4. Introducing Negative and Interrogative Forms
Present the negative and interrogative forms of the future perfect:
| Negative | Interrogative |
|---|---|
| I will not have finished my studies. | Will you have finished your studies? |
Ask students to complete the following table:
| Interrogative | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Will you have finished your studies by the time you are 40? | Yes, I will have finished my studies by then. | No, I will not have finished my studies by then. |
5. Practicing the Future Perfect
Drilling in Pairs
Organize pair work where students practice the future perfect tense. One student starts with the first part of a sentence, and the other completes it.
For example:
A: “By the time I finish my Spanish course,
B: I will have become fluent in Spanish.”
6. Less Controlled Activity: Imagining the Year 2100
Write on the board: “What will mankind have achieved by the year 2100? What will have happened?”
Ask students to brainstorm ideas:
- “Man will have settled on the moon.”
- “Scientists will have discovered new planets.”
- “Doctors will have found cures for serious diseases like AIDS and cancer.”
7. Personalizing the Future Perfect
To-Do Lists
To reinforce the lesson, have students create a to-do list for the next day. Then, ask them to write sentences about what they will have done by the end of the day. For example:
| When | What to do? |
|---|---|
| 8:30 | Do the washing. |
| 10:00 | Take out the trash. |
| 10:15 | Buy a birthday card. |
| 11:30 | Pay bills. |
| 12:00 | Have lunch with my sister. |
| 14:00 | Sort mail. |
Students will then write:
- “I will have done the washing by 10 o’clock tomorrow.”
- “I will have taken out the trash by half past ten tomorrow.”
Follow-Up Activity
“Things You Should Have Done Before You Die”
As a follow-up activity, ask students to write a paragraph about five important things they will have achieved by the time they reach 75. They can start their paragraph like this:
“By the time I reach 75, I will have lived a happy life. I will have loved…”