Click below to view:

Click below to watch this video and find out what happened to Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg after they crashed into Kvitoya Island in the Arctic Ocean.

There are two ways of expressing the future progressive tense.

1) Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg will be building a shelter.

2) Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg are going to be building a shelter. (This is used to make a prediction.)

Relax! For everyday speech you can use either one!

Choose the sentence that uses either form of the

future progressive tense.

1.   a) Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg build a shelter.

b) Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg will be building a shelter.

c) Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg built a shelter.

2.   a) The explorer’s families will not be hearing news of them for thirty-three years.

b) The explorer’s families didn’t hear news of them for thirty-three years.

c) The explorer’s families haven’t heard news of them for thirty-three years.

3.   a) It’s thirty-three years later; the world is going to hear about the explorers.

b) It’s thirty-three years later; the world hears about the explorers.

c) It’s thirty-three years later; the world has just heard about the explorers.

4.   a) Thirty-three years later some sailors go onto the island.

b) Thirty-three years later some sailors will be going onto the island.

c) Thirty-three years later some sailors went onto the island.

5.   a) The sailors are going to find Anna’s locket with Nil’s things.

b) The sailors found Anna’s locket with Nil’s things.

c) The sailors find Anna’s locket with Nil’s things.

Put the verbs in brackets into the future progressive tense.

Then check your answers.

 The three explorers (to build) ______________________ / _________________

a shelter onKvitoyaIsland. They are hopeful that they (to survive) _________________

the winter. However, no one hears of them for thirty-three years. After all that time, a

Norwegian ship (to land) ______________________ on the island.

As the crew of the Norwegian ship look around the island (to identify)

_______________ / _________________ the two skeletons by the names on their

clothing. As soon as the bodies are returned to Sweden, the people (to celebrate)

___________________  / ______________________ the three men as heroes.

Many of Nils Strindberg’s photographs survived the Arctic cold. People around the world

(to view) __________________/ __________________ them for decades to come.

Note: These two forms are usually interchangeable. Their use will become automatic as you gain more practice.

This article reviews the future progressive tense and provides practice questions for students. A video of Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg’s adventures is provided to add interest to an otherwise dull subject.

ESL Students

If you are a student you may wish to practice your English grammar. This blog provides several exercises that will allow you to review the simple future tense. If you have a minute, try them now.

Click below to view the video:

Choose the sentence with the simple future tense form of the verb

1.    a The three explorers will trek across the ice.

       b The three explorers trekked across the ice.

       c The three explorers are trekking across the ice.

2.    a Their ice-floe is changing direction.

       b Their ice-floe will change direction.

       c Their ice-floe has changed direction.

3.    a They hunted for a few days.

       b They have been hunting for a few days.

       c They will hunt for a few days.

4.    a Their ice-floe will break-up.

       b Their ice-floe has broken-up.

       c Their ice-floe broke-up.

5.    a They arrived at Kvitoya.

       b They will arrive at Kvitoya.

       c They have arrived at Kvitoya.

Answers

Complete the paragraphs using the simple future tense of the verb in brackets. ( )

The three explorers, Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg

are making their long trek over the Arctic Ocean. They

hope to shoot another polar bear, so they  (to watch)

 ______________ as they struggle over the ice. Then, after a few days the

 wind changes direction. Where _____________ it (to take)

_____________ them?

As they drift, their floe crashes into others. _________ they (to reach)

______________ open water or __________ their floe (to break-up)

_________________? They drift rapidly and soon crash into Kvitoya Island

 with such force that their floe breaks into many pieces. ____________ they

(to get) ____________  onto the Island? What __________ they (to find)

 _______________ on the Island?

Their floe settles beside a rocky snow-free area. ______________ they (to

 build) ______________ a snow-house there?  _____________ their food

 supply (to last) ______________ the winter? How many animals _______

 they (to see) _________________? ___________ they (to be able)

______________ to survive the winter?

Find out what happened! Go to:

Click below to view the video.

Our practice questions refer to Andrée’s Arctic Balloon Expedition. Videos for Part 1 and Part 2 told how Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg left Sweden on a balloon in 1897. They lost control of their balloon’s direction and landed on the Arctic ice. They had little idea of their location, but packed some of their equipment and food and headed across the ice to where they had stored some supplies.

The Present Progressive Tense

 The present progressive tenses show that something is happening at a specific time.

To form this tense use the present tense of the verb “to be” (am – is – are) plus the present participle. For the present progressive add  “ing” to the root of the infinitive.

EXAMPLE:

to land = landing

Choose the sentence that uses the present progressive tense.

Practice questions answers

1: a. In 1897 the three explorers are leaving their balloon on the ice.

b. In 1897 the three explorers leave their balloon on the ice.

c. In 1897 the three explorers left their balloon on the ice.

2:     a. They use their little boat on the open water.

b. They will use their little boat on the open water.

c. They are using their little boat on the open water.

3: a. The wind has moved them away from Seven Islands.

b. The wind is moving them away from Seven Islands.

c. The wind moved them away from Seven Islands.

4:     a. They camp on a large ice floe for the duration of winter.

b. They will camp on a large ice floe for the duration of winter.

c. They are camping on a large ice floe for the duration of winter.

5: a. The weather is getting much colder as the winter progresses.

b. The weather gets much colder as the winter progresses.

c. The weather got much colder as the winter progressed.

Put the verbs in brackets into the present continuous tense.

Then check your answers.

Andrée, Frænkel and Strindberg (to head) ______________

across the Arctic ice. They (to expect) _________________

to reach Seven Islands where they will find their supplies. The

large smooth ice floes (to make) _________________ their

progress easier. As they travel they (to drink) __________________ good water

from pools on the floe. Later they rejoice  as they skin a polar bear that they have been

able to shoot.

Now they (to move) ________________ at a good speed towards Seven Islands,

when suddenly, the wind changes and moves them in another direction. Consequently,

because the weather (to get) ________________ colder and as they (to drift)

________________ in the wrong direction, they need to change their plans. As they

(to progress) ________________ towards Kvitoya they decide to build a snow

shelter for the winter. They will need a lot of space so they (to design)

_________________ a snow house with three rooms. In spite of the cold weather

the three explorers (to hope) ________________ that they will survive the winter.

See also:

Learning English with Laughter

Computers are an important tool for teaching English Second Language students but do we have a responsibility to teach about the dangers that they can encounter with a click of the mouse? This wonderful tool is an exciting English language motivator because a lot of the Internet is in English. The students know about watching television, some of them may have a computer at home but that isn’t the norm in many countries. How can we show them the difference between watching television and interacting on a computer?

Here are some simple suggestions:
Have a small group of children gather around a computer monitor or sit at a monitor and keyboard in a computer lab.
Ask: Can you change what is on TV?
The children will say “Yes, you can go to a different story.” (channel)
Ask: Can you change what the people say on television?
Help them to understand that they can’t.

Open a window on the computer monitor and ask:
What do you want to say? (Type what they suggest or let one of them type it, according to their knowledge of English.)
What else do you want to say?
Continue until they understand that they can do something on the computer that they can’t do on the television.

Prepare a picture showing the head and shoulders of a person.

The face should be blank – no eyes, nose or mouth. It is a good idea to color it blue so that there is no hint of race, color or sex. The picture can be on the screen or on a piece of paper, whichever is easier.
Explain that using a computer they can talk to people who live all over the world.
Show them the picture and ask:
“Do you know this person?”
“Do you talk to people you don’t know?”
“Are some people dangerous?”
Encourage them to talk about dangerous people they have heard about.

Ask: How could someone on the computer screen be dangerous?
Explain that talking to strangers on the Internet is the same a talking to strangers anywhere because they might ask:
What is your name?
Where do you live?
What is your phone number?

Explain that their name, address and phone number is their information. It belongs to them. They only give it to people that their parents know or to friends that they know well. Tell them that adults too, are very careful about giving out their personal information.

Perhaps if they see their personal information as one of their valuable possessions then they will be less likely to give it away. These suggestions are only several ways of dealing with the important problem of Internet safety. Young people are very vulnerable if they have no knowledge of the very real dangers that are a part of using a computer online.

How Can We Keep the Kids Interested and Excited About Learning English?
Thinking about what kids like will give us some clues. We suggest a few:
animals – friends – family – machines – space – wizards

adventure stories – mysteries – stories – science fiction – pictures – puzzles

games – drawing – singing – sports – talking activities – making things

anticipating something – guessing the ending – rewards – success – praise – being accepted – belonging to a group

The storybooks a teacher uses may be a part of the curriculum or they may be supplementary. The essential point is: How many of the above items do they include? A single storybook won’t provide all of the items but a series of books can involve many of them and the teacher can be the catalyst for many more.

Example:
If we choose “animals” then dinosaurs would likely be a popular choice. The story provided below includes an exciting adventure and requires the students to anticipate events. Other popular activities such as talking, drawing, guessing the ending, writing and working together are included.

Give each student a copy of the first part of this story. Do not give them the end of the story until they have done the following.
Explain:
Bob, Daniella, Nicholas and Sid are the children in this story. They have traveled back in time to the age of the dinosaurs. An enormous creature is attacking them but they are with the wizard, “Tempus”. He is a time traveler and has a sword with magic powers.

Story Excerpt:

Terrible Creature

Tempus saves the children.

Nicholas sees the terrible creature appear from behind a rock.
“Look at that!” he yells.
“Quickly, stand behind me!” commands Tempus. “I’ll need all the strength of my sword to protect us from this creature.”

The great reptile approached as Tempus raised his sword to protect them all.

Bob, Daniella, Nicholas and Sid watch as Tempus swings his sword and great clouds of smoke and sparks surround the creature. As Tempus worked to chase the creature away they could hear the roar of the angry reptile and the swishing of the sword.

Possible Class Activities
- discuss what Tempus and the enormous creature might look like
- discuss their environment
- ask if they would want to travel back to the time of the dinosaurs
- discuss how they would feel
- have the children imagine the scene and draw it

Brainstorm What They Think Will Happen Next
Will the creature be too strong for Tempus?
Will the children need to return to real time in a hurry?
Will Tempus kill the creature or will he scare it away?

Student Work
Have the students write several sentences or a paragraph telling what they think will happen next.
Have them divide into groups according to what they think will happen. Then they are to tell the other groups why they made that decision.

Distribute the Possible End of the Story
After many minutes had passed, the angry creature ran down over the rocks and away through the water. Tempus turned back and smiled at them all.

“He’s scared,” he said. “He won’t come back.”
“Wow! That was a blast!” they all shouted.

Explain that everyone’s ending was right because they were all storytellers and could create their own ending.

See Also:

Prehistoric Visits: Jurassic Times

Teacher Productivity Power Tips

They made a big pot of stone soup

This is the video format of the blog

“ESL Grammar Practice Questions – The Conditional”

This video gives many practical examples of the use of

Conditional Sentences, while telling an interesting old story.

To view the video CLICK BELOW:

video-conditional-soup

See Also:

ESL Grammar Practice Questions – The Conditional

Suggestions and Activities for Teaching Verb Tenses

Why Do ESL Children New to an English Speaking Culture Have Difficulty Participating?
These students often have trouble understanding the language used by other kids on the playground, so they tend to withdraw from group participation. Perhaps they are confused about the behavior of the other children because they don’t understand the way the others react to different situations.

Why Do Some Children Living in Their First Language Environment Withdraw or Act-out in an English Foreign Language Class?
These children may reject learning a language different from the one spoken in their community. One child commented: “I don’t want to talk funny”.
They have no knowledge of what their future needs might be. It is understandable for them to want to cling to the language and culture that they know.

Suggestions for Helping Children New to an English Speaking Culture
or Those Learning English in Their First Language Environment.

Giraffe

Drawing:
For shy or frightened children with very little English, give them a small drawing assignment where oral language isn’t required. They should remain sitting with the rest of the group you are teaching. This removes the pressure for them to understand and speak, but they are hearing the lesson, they are still a part of the group and perhaps they understand some of it. They will want to be like the other children and they will participate more and more if their small attempts are recognized and they receive lots of teacher encouragement.

Songs and Verses:
At the pre-teen level these can be repeated many times. Songs are easy to remember. Students who have difficulty participating can sing with the rest of the group. Young shy or frightened students will enjoy participating in action songs or verses. It is important, however, that for the ten, eleven and twelve year olds, the choice of songs is what the other students consider to be “cool”. 

Friendly Alien Puppet

Boy Girl Puppets

These are another effective way of helping children to speak. At first they can take a puppet’s role by speaking in unison with another child. As they gain confidence they will be able to speak for the puppet by themselves.  For the child, it’s the puppet that’s talking, so the fear of making a mistake is minimized.

Every classroom group is different. Try any or all of these suggestions and adapt them to your style of teaching. If they help even one student in your classroom to feel more confident, then any changes you have made have been worthwhile.

Could you play a trumpet like this?

Conditional sentences can be tricky for the ESL student. People will understand you if you use the conditional incorrectly, but those who master it, speak with real polish.

The following is a guide to its usage, and some practice questions.

There are three words that are used for the conditional:

COULD – to be able          WOULD – expresses intention         SHOULD – duty

 The conditional is used to ask politely for something:
I would like coffee, please.

 It is used to express doubt, so is often preceded by an “if” clause:                                       If I got home early I could help my mother.

 It is used to express a duty to do something:
We shouldvisit my aunt in the hospital.

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES: UNTRUE FACTS IN THE PRESENT TENSE

CLAUSE: A clause is a group of words that has a subject and a verb.

Clause 1                             I would meet her at 7:00

Clause 2                             if she weren’t at work.

If the sentence is untrue at the time, use the past tense in the “if” clause.

“were” is used for both singular and plural in conditional sentences.

If I were rich, I would buy a new car.   If I were a dog, I would chase cats.

CONDITIONAL SENTENCES: THE FUTURE TENSE

If the future tense “will” is used, put the “if clause” into the present tense.

EXAMPLES:

I will tell him if I see him.

He will understand if I tell him.

 The following is a story of long ago. It is full of conditional sentences. See if you can fill in the correct tense in the blanks.

Long ago, three hungry travelers were looking for a place to spend the night.

 1^st Traveler: “I think there’s a village up ahead.”

2^nd  Traveler: “I’m starving! If I had a cow I (to eat) _________________ it.

1^st Traveler: “If wishes were horses, beggars (to ride) _______________.

2^nd  Traveler: “If there is a village ahead, maybe we (to get) ______________ something to eat.

 Soon the travelers came to a small village.

 3^rd  Traveler: “This looks like a nice place.”

2^nd  Traveler: “If they have some food, I (to be happy) _________________.

They ask the villagers for some food.

1^st Traveler: “( to give) __________________ us something to eat?

1^st Woman: “I’m sorry, sir! These are hard times! We hardly have enough for ourselves.

2^nd Woman: “I’m sorry, we have had a hard winter.”

 No one had food for the hungry travelers.

 3^rd  Traveler: “We’ll make stone soup.”

How could they make good soup with just a stone?

1^st Traveler: “Get a fire going and some water on to boil.”

2^nd  Traveler: “I’ll find a nice stone to put in it.”

 The travelers built a fire and boiled a big pot of water with a stone in it. When the villagers saw this, they came and asked what they were making.

“Stone soup. It’s delicious!” came the answer.

 “How could they make a good soup with just a stone?” the villagers asked.      “It needs something more!”

 1^st Lady: ”I have a few old potatoes they (to have)__________________. We (give) _____________________ them something.”

2^nd Lady: “Here are a couple of carrots they (to have)____________________.

 And so the villagers brought little bits of food. Some brought a couple of vegetables, others brought a piece of meat or chicken. Soon the pot was full.

Soon the pot was full.

That night the weary travelers had a wonderful meal. They ate all the food they (to hold) _______________________. There was so much soup, they shared it with many of the poor villagers. Everyone who wanted it had a big bowl of stone soup.

To check your answers click below>>

stone-soup-answers

See Also:

ESL Grammar Practice Questions – The Conditional Video

Suggestions and Activities For Teaching Verb Tenses

Tips for Giving Oral Explanations to ESL Students Aged 5 to 8

- Have a picture that represents your subject matter.

- Draw on the board as you talk. Don’t worry about your artistic abilities. The children will love it if their drawings are better than yours. Funny things facilitate learning.

- Take advantage of their drawing ability and have them draw small parts of what you are explaining on the board. They will be listening! They’ll be laughing and involved, learning English will be exciting.

- Dramatize what you are saying with your own actions. Sometimes it seems that teachers need to be able to do everything!

- Follow your own dramatics by giving the children a chance to imitate them while you give them the language.

How Can You Capture Every Child’s Attention?

- The first lesson needs to present something of interest. It might be a song, verse, picture, or a  map. Most children are fascinated by machines or electronic equipment.

- If you are using a textbook you have purchased, it might be effective to display some part of it using an overhead projector.

- Children relate to computers. When they sit down at a computer they give it their full attention, no matter what problems they may have.

- Perhaps you are wondering how to include boring subjects such as phonics. If your lesson includes identifying rhyming words, listening or phonics , then this is the time to teach it. Using any of the teaching aids mentioned above or any others you may have, move into the difficult content.

Let’s suppose you are teaching rhyming words .
Have the students listen to a funny / interesting verse.
For Example:
Explain that A1, A2, A3, and A4 are friendly aliens.They’re flying to Earth in their rocket. On the Internet children can see the rocket zooming in to land near their home. A1 is introducing his friends to all the kids on Earth. Have the children repeat A1′s introduction and identify the rhyming words.

Possible extentions:
- have the children draw what they think the aliens should look like
- brainstorm and list other related rhyming words
- talk about what they might see on a rocket
- talk about space
- make alien puppets

If you are teaching specific sounds or rhyming words, make up or use a program that offers meaningful examples of what you are teaching. Use examples that are fun so the children can enjoy repeating them. They will learn if they are enjoying the lesson.

See Also:

Hand Puppet Resources:

Simple Rod Puppets:

ESL Storybooks