“If only one thing had happened differently”

This 3^rd Conditional activity has 4 steps and it’s based on this segment from the movie “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button “. It’s a great way for students to see grammar being applied to real life situations.

1)    Identify

 Write the sentences below on strips of paper and spread them on the floor. After the students watch the movie segment, ask them to put the sentences in order according to the movie sequence. We recommend two sets of sentences for bigger groups.

 If only the shoelace hadn't broken

If the delivery truck had moved moments earlier

If the package had been wrapped and ready

If the girl hadn't broken up with her boyfriend

If the man had set his alarm and got up five minutes earlier

If the taxi driver hadn't stopped for a cup of coffee

If the woman had remembered her coat, and had gotten into an earlier cab.

Daisy and her friend would have crossed the street...and the taxi would have driven by them.

     2) Practice:

Make two columns on the board, and ask the students to identify what is cause and what is effect.

CAUSE	EFFECT
If only the shoelace hadn't broken If the delivery truck had moved moments earlier If the package had been wrapped and ready If the girl hadn't broken up with her boyfriend If the man had set his alarm and got up five minutes earlier If the taxi driver hadn't stopped for a cup of coffee If the woman had remembered her coat, and had gotten into an earlier cab.	Daisy and her friend would have crossed the street, and the taxi would have driven by them.

      3) Consolidate:

a) Write Benjamin Buttons’ narrative on the board, and Brainstorm with your students the meaning of it.

What did he want to say by that?

"But life being what it is... a series of intersecting lives and incidents. Out of anyone's control... the taxi did not go by... and the driver momentarily was distracted...And he didn't see Daisy crossing the street...and that taxi hit Daisy."

b) Think of events that wouldn’t have happened if something had happened differently. Use the examples, and encourage your students to share experiences.

E.G.:

If Lennon hadn’t met Yoko, the Beatles wouldn’t have split up.

If the Mediterranean Sea hadn’t been closed, Cabral wouldn’t have discovered Brazil.

If Paulo Rossi hadn’t played in 1982, Brazil would have won the world cup.

     4) Personalize.

Ask your students to write an episode of their lives that would have turned out some other way “if only one thing had happened differently”:

e.g.:

What if I had lost the bus today?

What if I hadn’t….

If only I had….

What is your dream about?

Tell your students that they are going to pretend they are dream analyzers and they are going to evaluate their classmates’ dreams. Divide your group into pairs and tell them to get prepared to ask other students about dreams they can remember. Guide them to write down just keywords as “door”, “cat”, “river”. After listing a few keywords, tell your students to access the link below:

http://www.dreammoods.com/dreamdictionary/

In this website, it is possible to search keywords and symbols in a dream dictionary. Tell the students to search every word they listed, and write the best meaning they find 

(e.g. : "Cat – unlucky" "Door – big changes").

Next, they have to work together and write a dream interpretation paragraph to report to the student they have asked in the beginning of this activity.

The grammar point is that the students must use first conditionals in order to write their interpretation.

E.G.: “If you dream of a river and a door, you will have a joyful change in your life.”


The interviewed students will be looking forward to receive their results. This interaction is very productive and the students feel very motivated and involved, but more importantly, they are learning “if clauses” in a fun way!