How do I teach Mixed Conditionals?

Q: Dear Lucy, HELP!!! I am teaching a lesson on tuesday on mixed conditionals, so i will need to review conditionals and explain when we use mixed and exploit it!!! can't think of how to do this????? HELP!!! daviesel

A: Dear Daviesel, I suggest that you start by checking that students are familiar with the third conditional, if you haven't done this already. You can then move onto mixed conditionals. Find a text you can use to present mixed conditionals or show students sentences such as the following:

• If I hadn't gone shopping, I wouldn't have found those gorgeous boots.
• If I hadn't gone shopping, I'd have enough money to go out tonight.

Ask students to look at the phrases and to discuss in pairs a) which tenses are used in each sentence and b) what is the difference in meaning in the two sentences. The first sentence refers to two past events whereas the second refers to a past event and a present result. As follow-up practice, you can prepare sentences using third conditionals and mixed conditionals. Cut up slips of paper: some should contain the beginning of the conditional sentence and other papers the second half of the conditional. In pairs or groups, students can put together the beginnings and ends of sentences to produce as many correct sentences as possible. Best regards, Lucy

More answers from Lucy

Talking Point: Stress
A worksheet designed to get students talking - everyone will have something to say about this topic! The students' vocabulary range is extended by focusing on the various meanings and uses of the word "stress" in a variety of contexts. Learners are also encouraged to exercise their fluency through stimulating discussion questions such as: "Do you think life is more stressful now than in the past?"

download lesson plan...

Talking Point worksheets are designed for pre-intermediate and above levels. They are printer-friendly and come with Teaching Suggestions and answers.

 

In the European calendar, which year occurred first?

a) 1600 A.D.
b) 10 B.C.
c) 900 B.C.

See end of newsletter for answer.

Dealing with Difficulties: Solutions, strategies and suggestions for successful teaching
Luke Prodromou & Lindsay Clanfield
Publisher: Delta Publishing
Summary: Resources for teachers with classroom dynamics or behaviour difficulties who need to gain control over their classes and increase their self-esteem.

There is no shortage of literature on the difficulties teachers can face: for example a recent issue in TESL EJ described the problematic situation of high school teaching in Spain and the US (Garcia Laborda, 2006), and a great article described the importance and professional development in China (Hu, 2005). Both papers show that there is little question about the changing roles of teachers and students in many parts of the world- especially in Europe, Latin America and the States. Many teachers even feel alienated and discredited.

Not so long ago, teachers were respected by their students and recognized socially. In the last twenty years, however, many schools have experienced situations of disruptive and bad-mannered children. According to Garcia Laborda (2003), the reason why many textbooks have changed the type of tasks to make them shorter and easy-to-correct is so that teachers can control their classrooms better, and many teachers have decided to increase group work activities assuming that weaker students progress more in cooperative language groups (Gillies, 2006), and decrease the degree of anxiety that affects the atmosphere of both formal school instruction and exam classes (Chen & Goretti Chang, 2004)...

read on...

Reviewed by Jesus Garcia Laborda

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c) 900 B.C.

This is a level 5 question and answer from Word Up, the ESL board game that's fun to play in class.