Try to remember vs. try remembering

In this ESL lesson plan, the student will revise and practice the use of gerunds and infinitives.

Gerunds and infinitives! Not again! They are confusing and give us nothing but a massive headache. Well, it’s true. Gerunds and infinitives can be tricky and confusing. That’s why there is no such thing as enough lessons about gerunds and infinitives. We recommend trying this one. Experiment with it! Have fun! Who knows? Maybe it’ll turn out right up your alley. Enjoy! 

Warm-up

The student looks at a picture of a bone and a calendar and tries to figure out what these two have in common. This serves as an introduction to the video part.

Video: The Ishango Bone

The student watches the video The Ishango Bone and answers the video comprehension questions. Afterwards, they read a quote about the Ishango Bone by a British comedian and identify examples of to-infinitive and gerund, which serves as an intro to the grammar part.

Grammar: Gerund vs. To-infinitive 

Gerund and to-infinitive forms are compared and contrasted along with their implied meanings. The student reads a few examples of both forms and explains the differences in meanings to, then, complete the rules of use of gerund and to-infinitive.
The student completes the table with different meanings of to-infinitive and their examples. Then, they do the same with gerund.
They complete another table in which they sort out verbs based on whether they are followed by gerund or to-infinitive.

In order to further practice using these forms, they do a couple more exercises including matching halves of sentences, correcting the mistakes, choosing the correct forms, and filling in the gaps.
Finally, they finish the sentences with their own ideas using -ing or infinitive verb forms.