I can’t believe I did that

In this grammar-based Upper Intermediate ESL lesson plan, student will learn everything there is to know about expressing regret using unreal conditionals and put their knowledge into practice in a variety of exercises. They will also get to discuss their own and other people’s biggest regrets.

Warm-up

The lesson starts with a speaking exercise where the student is presented with four hypothetical situations. Their task is to say how they would feel in each of them.

Reading: Late for work

The student reads a short passage about a person sleeping in and being late for work. Then, they answer some reading comprehension questions. Conditionals are extracted from the text to point out the grammar topic. The student identifies the function and meaning of these conditionals.

Grammar: expressing regrets

Two types of conditionals used to express regret are introduced and exemplified. This is followed by an exercise in which the student matches halves of sentences to make conditionals expressing regrets. Then, they fill in the gaps in conditionals with the correct verb forms.
The student is presented with a few scenarios for which they have to express regrets. Next, they find and fix the mistakes in conditional sentences.

Speaking practice

The student is presented with a chain of regrets (conditionals) based on which they have to create their own chain starting with If I had gone to bed earlier…

Video: What’s your biggest regret?

The student watches a video What’s your biggest regret?, where people talk and write about regretting things they never did. Then, they answer video comprehension questions.

Finally, they get to talk about their own regrets by answering discussion questions to solidify the new skills.