3.5.4 Wish and Hope Lesson Plan

Lesson Procedure:

1. This is Unreal. Before showing the movie I Hope We Win (L3U5L4), explain to students that the verb wish is used for unreal situations, things that you want to be true, but have not actually happened. To reinforce this concept, play the movie again and pause each time Ben says a sentence with wish, such as: I wish I could fly all three. Ask students to respond (as Ben) with the short answer: “But I can’t.” This exercise will also reinforce how the verb goes back in time in sentences with wish. Other examples are: I wish it could do this. But it can’t. I wish you would fly it lower. But you won’t. I wish it hadn’t crashed. But it did. (Or “But it has.”) After students have practiced using wish and hope, pause the movie after sentences with either of the two verbs. Ask the students if wish and hope can be switched in the sentences. Discuss why or why not.
2. Interviews. Direct students’ attention to the interview questions on the board (See Preparation). You may want to brainstorm more interview questions with the class. Working in pairs, have students take turns interviewing each other, asking these questions. Explain that their answers must include the word wish and remind them of the shift in the verb tense after the word wish.
3. Wishing and Hoping. Divide the class into small groups. Have a representative from each group select a prompt (See Preparation). Then instruct the groups to discuss their responses, or write them on a paper in a Roundtable activity. Their responses should answer the prompt using either wish or hope. Remind students to pay attention to verb tense changes. When they are done, have a student from each group read the prompt and their wishes aloud. Allow students from other groups to contribute additional wishes. Model an example with the class. For example: Prompt: We’re having sandwiches for lunch today. Possible responses: I wish we weren’t having sandwiches. / I wish we were having pizza. / I hope they’re good sandwiches. / I hope they aren’t cheese sandwiches.
4. Wish/Hope Montage. Encourage students to think about something they wish or something they hope. It can be possible, such as I hope it snows tonight. Or something fantastical, like I wish I could fly. Have students write their wishes and hopes and make illustrations to go with them. They can draw, or find pictures from magazines or the Internet and glue them onto their papers. Collect everyone’s wishes and hopes and create a montage or slideshow on the computer or an offline collage to display in the classroom. You may have students who will want to create the collage or montage as a project. When it is completed, students may work on a narration.
5. Close-viewing Questions. In a repeated viewing of the movie, have students answer Close-viewing Questions, such as the following:
   1. What’s a positive and negative thing about the yellow plane?
   2. What’s a positive and negative thing about the red plane?
   3. What’s a positive and negative thing about the blue plane?
   4. Find the moment when Ben tells Moby, “You wish!” What would the complete sentence be?
   5. Why did the red plane crash into the tree?
   6. Why is Ben jealous?
   7. What do you think Ben meant when he said that they each have strengths and weaknesses? Name a strength and weakness of both Ben and Moby.
   8. What does Ben see on the box that tells him that the plane will fly very fast?