Aug 4, 2012

The Time Traveler's Wife: 2nd Conditional

I had very little expectations about this movie, but it is amazingly pleasant and creative. The whole idea is very interesting and the gripping beginning is just great. I used two scenes from the movie to have students practice the 2nd conditional in an imaginative, contextualized way.




I. Work with a friend. Write down your answers to the questions:


1. Would you like to time travel? Why (not)?
I ______________________ because ______________________.
2. What would the consequences of time travel be?
If people could time travel, _________________________________.
3. Would you change anything about your past?

If I could change anything about my past, I _________________ .
4. What about history? Would you change anything? What would you do to change it?
If I could change anything in history, I ___________________-.

II. Watch the 1st segment and talk to a friend about the questions that follow.






1. What happened in the segment?

2. Why did he decide to go back in time to talk to himself as a child?

3. What do you think will happen next?


III. Watch the 2nd segment now. Then answer the questions. Write down your answers and use the 2nd conditional.





1. If you could go back in time, would you choose the person you wanted to marry and make her love you? Why (not)?

If I ______________________, I ______________________

2. Would you do what he did if you were the main character of the movie? Why (not)?
If I ______________________, I _______________________

3. Would life be better or worse if people could travel in time? Why?
If people __________________, _________________________

IV. Rank the periods that, If you could time travel, you would visit first, second, or never. Justify your answer.
1. Prehistoric Age
2. 0 BC - Jesus Christ era
3. 1800's
4. A few years ago
5. The 60's
6. 20 years in the future
7. 100 years in the future.
8. 500 years in the future.

9. Choose a time period.

V. Prepare a speech to share with the rest of the class. Follow the model below. Make sure you use the 2nd conditional.


I I could travel across time , first I ______________________________ because ____________. Second, I _____________________ because ____________, and finally I _____________________ because _____________. However, I _____________ (never) because_______________.



WORKSHEET

movie segment download - part 1
movie segment download - part 2

14 comments:

Roberta said...

Congratulations on the blog. I work at Cultura Inglesa in Maceió and many teachers love your blog. We had been doing our own film exercises ,but when we found your blog we got very happy.It´s great :))

Bill said...

Cláudio

The choice for the film segment was lovely and creative.
i suppose the students will love it.

Best.

Claudio Azevedo said...

Thanks, Roberta. If yiu have anything to share, let me know. See you.

Claudio Azevedo said...

Hey Bill,
My students really liked it it was a great conversation generator.

Anonymous said...

I am sorry, but are you sure that this film in the task named "Time traveller's wife" of 2009? I didn't find those segments in the movie itself..

Claudio Azevedo said...

Yes, I'm sure. The scenes take place at different moments of the movie. In fact, both scenes are key to the plot. I don't know if there is another Time Traveller's Wife, but I'm positive the scenes are from the movie on the poster.

Elda said...

Wow! This is great! This is the first time I'm teaching English to young adults and I find this exercise very useful, thank you so much!

Claudio Azevedo said...

Great to hear that.

Cris Lopes said...

Claudio,
I want to congratulate you on this brilliant job. Your blog is a resourceful tool for EFL teachers! Now, about this lesson:
I guess we have two different movies here. I believe the first clip is from the 2002 The Time Machine with Guy Pierce. The second clip belongs to The Time Traveler's Wife. The questions for the first clip don't go to the first sequence.

Claudio Azevedo said...

Yes, the file is wrong. I have to remove the post.

Claudio Azevedo said...

Everything is okay now. Sorry about that.

MARIA FOUROUNTZOGLOU said...

Excellent work! Thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

The work is really useful and creative. Thanks a lot Claudio

Claudio Azevedo said...

Thanks. Waiting for more of your awesome material!