Zero Conditional Practice- Advice for Parents

Advice for parents zero conditional practice

Complete one of the sentences below to make what you think is a true statement about children and parents. You can add a positive imperative, a negative imperative (“don’t…”), a modal (such as “really should”, “can”, “could possibly”, “have to” or “don’t have to”), or a statement about the possible (positive or negative) consequences. Your partner will listen and ask for more details, give feedback on your ideas and/ or give related advice. Discuss for as long as you like, then take turns doing the same with other sentences from below.

Useful phrases for responding to your partner’s advice “I (totally) agree.” “That may be a true/ may be a good idea, but I would say…” “I’m not sure that I’d say that. How about…?” “I think that’s a bit too strong. I’d change it to…”

Zero conditional sentence stems to complete

• If a boy rarely sees his father,…
• If your child doesn't seem to want to talk about their day at school,…
• If a child starts dreaming about computer games,…
• If a child occasionally has fights with other children at school,…
• If a child often has grazed knees and elbows,…
• If a child spends a lot of time with technology,…
• If children don't have brothers and sisters,…
• If children get lots of colds and other minor illnesses when they are young,…
• If children go to single-sex schools,…
• If children study English from when they are really young then stop,…
• If one parent always speaks a second language such as English to their child,…
• If parents are always really strict with their children,…
• If parents don’t push their children to succeed,…
• If parents force reluctant children to learn a musical instrument,…
• If parents keep their houses really really clean,…
• If parents pay children to do household chores,…
• If parents resist buying their children all the latest things,…
• If parents stop children from eating sweet things,…
• If parents who often argue get divorced,…

 

Zero conditional advice to discuss

Find advice below which you agree with and see if your partner has the same opinion.

• If a boy rarely sees his father, he has problems growing up to be a man.
• If your child doesn't seem to want to talk about their day at school, don’t force it, just wait until they are ready to talk.
• If a child starts dreaming about computer games, the parents should force them to stop for a week or two.
• If a child occasionally has fights with other children at school, that is nothing to worry about.
• If a child often has scratched knees and elbows, that’s a normal part of growing up.
• If a child spends a lot of time with technology, that gives them the skills they will need in their adult life.
• If children don't have brothers and sisters, they become selfish.
• If children get lots of colds and other minor illnesses when they are young, they get sick less often when they grow up.
• If children go to single-sex schools, they never learn how to communicate properly with the other sex.
• If children study English from when they are really young then stop, they totally forget everything that they learnt.
• If one parent always speaks a second language such as English to their child, that parent is often unable to form a normal relationship with their child.
• If parents are always really strict with their children, they grow up thinking that their parents don’t love them.
• If parents don’t push their children to succeed, they regret it when they grow up.
• If parents force reluctant children to learn a musical instrument, the children are usually thankful for that when they grow up.
• If parents keep their houses really really clean, their children more easily get sick when they go out and mix with other kids.
• If parents pay children to do household chores, they learn the value of hard work and money.
• If parents resist buying their children all the latest things, they can’t fit in with their peers.
• If parents stop children from eating sweet things, they just become even more interested in unhealthy food.
• If parents who often argue get divorced, it is sometimes better for the children.

Discuss statements which you disagree with and see if you can change them to match your opinions. Then share a changed sentence with the class.

Ask about any which you don’t understand, couldn’t change to make an opinion you agree with, etc, discussing your opinions as a class each time.

 

Zero conditional grammar presentation

What forms go after the comma above?

Find an example of each of these:

Imperative                                                    Negative imperative

Modal verb                                                  Present Simple