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ESL Lesson Plan · CEFR A1

Zero Conditional ESL Lesson Plan (A1, 60 Minutes)

A complete 60-minute A1 lesson on Zero Conditional, built round the theme "Facts About Our World".

  • CEFR A1
  • 60 minutes
  • Teenagers and adults
  • Grammar
  • Conditionals
  • Zero Conditional

About this lesson

Who it is for. High beginners who use the present simple for facts and routines (Water boils at 100 degrees. I drink tea in the morning.) but cannot yet join two ideas with if. They say If I tired, I sleep.

Everything the lesson needs is on this page: the language analysis, the timed stages with the teacher's own words and instruction-checking questions, the differentiation, the printable handouts and the answer key.

At a glance

Level
CEFR A1 (Beginner)
Learners
Teenagers and adults
Length
60 minutes. For 45 minutes, run only "Find your partner" of the two tasks in "Freer practice" and cut "Feedback and wrap-up" to board-based error correction.
Skills
Speaking
Language focus
Grammar: Zero Conditional (If + present, present)
Framework
PPP (presentation, practice, production)
Materials
A glass of water, an ice cube and a plant (or pictures), Handout 1 (science facts), Handout 2 (practice), Handout 3 (half-sentence cards), Handout 4 (my routines).
Preparation
About 10 minutes: print Handouts 1 to 4, one per learner, and read the language analysis. The answer key is for you, not the class.

Aims

Main aim. To present and practise the zero conditional (If + present simple, present simple) for facts and routines.

Learning outcome. By the end of the lesson, students can say and write 6 true sentences with If ..., ... about science facts and their own routines.

  • Subsidiary aim. To review the present simple, including he/she/it -s.
  • Subsidiary aim. To develop speaking through a matching game and a partner interview.

Language analysis

What to know before the lesson: the meaning, form and pronunciation of the target language, and the problems learners usually have with it.

Form

If clauseMain clause
If + present simplepresent simple
If you heat ice,it melts.
If I am tired,I go to bed early.
If it rains,we don't play outside.

Form: notes

  • The two clauses can change places: Ice melts if you heat it. We use a comma only when If comes first.
  • If can be replaced by When with the same meaning: When I'm hungry, I eat fruit.

Meaning and use

  • Facts that are always true: If you mix red and yellow, you get orange.
  • Routines and habits: If I'm late, my mother drives me to school.
  • Both clauses are about general time (always), not one future moment.

Pronunciation

  • Intonation rises a little at the end of the if clause and falls at the end of the sentence: If you heat ice ↗, it melts ↘.
  • -s endings: melts /s/, boils /z/, dies /z/, freezes /ɪz/.

Concept-checking questions

  • If you heat ice, it melts. Is this true only today? (No, always.) · Do we heat the ice first? (Yes.) Then what happens? (It melts.)
  • If I'm tired, I go to bed early. Is this about one night or every time I'm tired? (Every time.)

Anticipated problems and solutions

ProblemSolution
Missing verb be (If I tired).Board If I am tired and drill.
Missing third-person -s (If water get cold, it freeze).Highlight -s in a different colour; quick drill.
Using will (If you heat ice, it will melt).Accept as understandable but teach the zero conditional for "always true" facts.
Comma confusion.Show both orders on the board.

Board plan

Left: vocabularyCentre: grammarRight: pronunciation
heat · melt · boil · freeze · mix · water (v.) · grow · die · tired · hungry · thirsty
If + present, present · If you heat ice, it melts. · Ice melts if you heat it. (no comma) · If I'm tired, I go to bed. · If = When (always true)
If you heat ice ↗, it melts ↘. · melts /s/ · boils /z/ · freezes /ɪz/

CEFR A1 · 60 minutes · Teenagers and adults

Procedure: Zero Conditional, step by step

Warm-up5 minutes · T → Ss, whole class

Aim: To engage students with simple real-life "experiments".

Show a glass of water and an ice cube (or a picture). Ask: "What happens if I put the ice in the sun?" Students answer freely (It melts / water).

Show the plant. Ask: "What happens if I don't give it water?" (It dies.)

Say: "Today we talk about things that always happen."

Presentation20 minutes · Individual, pairs, whole class

Aim: To present the target language in context. To clarify meaning, form and pronunciation.

Part A: Context (8 minutes)

Give out Handout 1. Say: "Read the science facts. Match the beginnings and the endings." (4 minutes.)

ICQs: "Do you write sentences or match?" (Match.) "Alone or in pairs?" (Alone first.)

Pairs compare. Check as a class. Students read the full sentences aloud.

Part B: Language clarification (12 minutes)

Meaning. Board If you heat ice, it melts. Ask the CCQs. Draw two boxes with an arrow: heat ice → melts. Say: "Always. Every time."

Form. Underline both verbs. Ask: "Past, present or future?" (Present, both.) Write If + present, present in the centre of the board.

Order. Board Ice melts if you heat it. Ask: "Same meaning?" (Yes.) "Where is the comma?" (No comma.)

-s and be. Board If water gets cold, it freezes. and If I am tired, I go to bed. Highlight -s and am.

Routines. Give a personal example: "If I'm hungry at school, I eat a banana." Ask two students: "What do you do if you're hungry?"

Pronunciation. Model the intonation and drill chorally and individually: If you heat ice ↗, it melts ↘. If I'm tired ↗, I go to bed ↘.

Controlled practice10 minutes · Individual, then pairs, then whole class

Aim: To practise the form accurately.

Give out Handout 2. Say: "Exercise A: write the verbs. Exercise B: correct the mistakes. Six minutes."

ICQs: "Present or past?" (Present.) "Remember -s for he, she, it?" (Yes.)

Pairs check. Nominate students to read their answers.

Quick chain drill: say the start of a sentence (If you don't sleep, ...); students finish it.

Freer practice18 minutes · Mingle, then pairs, then individual

Aim: To use the zero conditional in speaking and writing about facts and routines.

Find your partner (6 minutes). Give each student one card from Handout 3 (a beginning or an ending). Students stand up, read their card and find the person with the matching half. Pairs read their full sentence to the class.

ICQs: "Do you show your card or read it?" (Read it.)

My routines (8 minutes). Give out Handout 4. Students complete the sentences about themselves, then ask a partner: "What do you do if you're bored?" They write the partner's answers in the "My partner" column.

Writing (4 minutes). Students write 3 sentences about their partner: If Kasun is bored, he plays cricket.

Monitor and note errors.

Feedback and wrap-up7 minutes · Whole class

Aim: To give feedback and consolidate.

Two or three students read their sentences about their partner.

Board four sentences from your notes (two with errors). Students correct them.

Set the homework.

Homework Write 6 sentences with if: 3 science facts and 3 sentences about your family's routines (If my father is tired, he watches TV.).

PPP (presentation, practice, production). Stage times add up to 60 minutes.

Differentiation

Support
Give weaker students the verbs for Handout 4 in a box (eat, sleep, drink, call, play, read). Allow them to write only the main clause in Handout 4.
Stretch
Stronger students use When and unless (preview): Plants die unless you water them. They write a two-step fact: If you heat water, it boils, and if it boils, it makes steam.

Adapting the lesson

ForWhat to change
A large class (40 or more)Keep the pairwork in "Freer practice" in fixed pairs rather than a mingle, and take feedback from four or five pairs instead of the whole room. Run "Find your partner" once, with two pairs reporting, rather than hearing every pair. Monitor one half of the room during "Controlled practice" and the other half during "Freer practice".
A class with no photocopierPut the exercises from Handout 2: Practice on the board for learners to copy into their notebooks, and read any text aloud twice instead of printing it. Handout 3: Find Your Partner (cut up) works read out from the front: learners note what they need rather than holding a card. The board plan above is this lesson's minimum - with that on the board, it runs on no paper at all.
An online classSend Handouts 1 to 4 in the chat before the lesson and put the board plan on a shared slide. Use breakout rooms for "Find your partner" and visit each room once. Have learners type the controlled answers in the chat, so you see every answer at once instead of nominating.
A different age groupWith young learners, cut the writing at the end and give that time to the speaking task; keep the drilling short, and let them draw or mime where the plan allows it. With adults, keep the writing and ask for a short spoken summary in place of anything drawn or mimed.

Checking learning

8 out of 10 or better on Handout 2, Exercise A. Students use the present simple in both clauses in their written sentences. Students match and read sentences correctly in the card game.

Teacher's reflection

Did students remember the -s in the main clause? Was the difference between facts and routines clear?

Handout 1: Science Facts

Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________

Match the beginnings (1–6) and the endings (a–f).

Answers: 1 ___ 2 ___ 3 ___ 4 ___ 5 ___ 6 ___

Read about Kasun. Answer the questions.

Hi, I'm Kasun. I'm 12. If I'm hungry after school, I eat a banana. If it rains, I don't play cricket. I play games on my phone. If I'm tired, I go to bed at 8 o'clock. My little sister is funny. If she is happy, she sings!

  • What does Kasun eat if he's hungry? ______________________________
  • What does he do if it rains? ______________________________
  • What does his sister do if she's happy? ______________________________
BeginningEnding
1. If you heat ice,a. you get green.
2. If you don't water a plant,b. it boils.
3. If you mix blue and yellow,c. it melts.
4. If water gets very cold,d. it dies.
5. If you heat water to 100 °C,e. it floats.
6. If you put oil in water,f. it freezes.

Handout 2: Practice

Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________

A. Complete with the correct form of the verb in brackets.

B. Correct the mistakes. One sentence is correct.

  • If you ______________ (heat) chocolate, it ______________ (melt).
  • If I ______________ (be) thirsty, I ______________ (drink) water.
  • If my brother ______________ (be) late, my mother ______________ (get) angry.
  • If it ______________ (rain), we ______________ (not / go) to the park.
  • Plants ______________ (grow) if they ______________ (get) sun and water.
  • If I tired, I sleep. ______________________________
  • If water get cold, it freeze. ______________________________
  • If you mix red and white, you get pink. ______________________________
  • If my dog is hungry, it bark. ______________________________

Handout 3: Find Your Partner (cut up)

If you heat butter,it melts.
If you drop a glass,it breaks.
If I'm cold,I wear a jumper.
If my cat is hungry,it comes to the kitchen.
If you don't sleep,you feel tired.
If it's sunny,we go to the beach.
If you eat too many sweets,your teeth hurt.
If my grandmother visits,she brings cake.

Handout 4: My Routines

Name: ______________________________ Partner: ______________________________

Complete about you. Then ask your partner: "What do you do if ...?"

Write 3 sentences about your partner.

Example: If Kasun is bored, he plays cricket.

..........................................................................................

..........................................................................................

..........................................................................................

If ...MeMy partner
If I'm hungry,
If I'm bored,
If I'm tired,
If it rains,
If I'm sad,
If I have a test,

Answer Key

Handout 1

Handout 2, Exercise A

Handout 2, Exercise B

Common errors to watch for

  • 1 c · 2 d · 3 a · 4 f · 5 b · 6 e
  • A banana · 2. He plays games on his phone (he doesn't play cricket). · 3. She sings.
  • heat ... melts · 2. am ... drink · 3. is ... gets · 4. rains ... don't go · 5. grow ... get
  • If I'm tired, I sleep. · 2. If water gets cold, it freezes. · 3. Correct. · 4. If my dog is hungry, it barks.
ErrorCorrection
If I tired, I sleep.If I'm tired, I sleep.
If water get cold, it freeze.If water gets cold, it freezes.
If you will heat ice, it melts.If you heat ice, it melts.
Ice melts, if you heat it.Ice melts if you heat it.

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About this lesson plan

Written by RCF English to the RCF English international standard: levelled by the CEFR, original throughout, and suitable for classrooms in any country. Last reviewed 22 September 2026.

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