New Year’s Resolutions

Setup

Each student will need a piece of paper.

Activity

1. Students write down five or ten things that they intend to do in the coming year (using the future with going to). If necessary, you could think of some topic ideas beforehand as a class, e.g. new hobbies, health, family, money etc.
2. When they have finished, they then share their resolutions with the class, or in small groups (often better for large classes/shy students). The students take turns reading their resolutions, giving a short explanation along with them.
3. At the end, students compare their resolutions and see which was the most common goal.
4. With kids, there is also the option of making posters. They could illustrate their resolutions with small pictures, and you could display them on the wall as a reminder throughout the year.

Target Language

The New Year’s Resolutions ESL activity is a short, simple activity for practicing the future with going to with beginner or low intermediate students. It highlights one particular use of this grammar structure – make sure they understand the difference between a plan and an intention.

Clearly the activity is best done at the start of a calendar year, but a month or two either side stills works. You could even do resolutions for different times of the year, e.g. new school year resolutions, summer vacation resolutions.