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ESL Lesson Plan · CEFR B2

Future Perfect and Future Continuous ESL Lesson Plan (B2, 60 Minutes)

A complete 60-minute B2 lesson on Future Perfect and Future Continuous, built round the theme "My Life in Five Years".

  • CEFR B2
  • 60 minutes
  • Teenagers and adults
  • Grammar
  • Perfect Tenses
  • Future Perfect and Future Continuous

About this lesson

Who it is for. Upper-intermediate students who use will and going to confidently but rarely use the future perfect or future continuous, and say By 2030 I will graduate.

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 B2 (Upper-intermediate)
Learners
Teenagers and adults
Length
60 minutes. For 45 minutes, run only "Interviews" of the two tasks in "Freer practice" and cut "Feedback and wrap-up" to board-based error correction.
Skills
Speaking and writing
Language focus
Grammar: Future Perfect and Future Continuous
Framework
PPP (presentation, practice, production)
Materials
Handout 1 (university brochure), Handout 2 (language reference and practice), Handout 3 (further practice), Handout 4 (life timeline and interview questions).
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 develop students' use of the future perfect (simple and continuous) and the future continuous to talk about achievements and activities at future points in time.

Learning outcome. By the end of the lesson, students can describe their life at points 1, 5 and 10 years from now, e.g. By 2030, I'll have graduated. This time next year, I'll be living in Melbourne.

  • Subsidiary aim. To develop fluency in talking about plans and predictions.
  • Subsidiary aim. To practise contracted will have /ˈwɪləv/.

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 and meaning

FormStructureMeaningExample
Future perfect simplewill have + past participleAn action completed before a future pointBy 2030, I will have graduated.
Future perfect continuouswill have been + verb-ingDuration up to a future pointBy June, I'll have been working here for five years.
Future continuouswill be + verb-ingAn action in progress at a future momentThis time next year, I'll be living abroad.

Form and meaning: notes

Time expressions: by (2030), by the time + present simple, this time next week / year, in five years' time, at 9 pm tomorrow.

Accuracy points

  • By the time you arrive, (present simple after time conjunctions, not will arrive).
  • by = not later than; until = continuing up to.
  • The future continuous is also used for polite questions about plans: Will you be using the car tonight?

Pronunciation

  • I'll have /aɪl əv/; will have been /wɪl əv bɪn/. Students should hear the contracted forms.

Concept-checking questions

  • By 2030, I will have graduated. Will I graduate before 2030 or after? (Before, or by 2030.) · In 2030, will graduation be finished? (Yes.)
  • This time next year, I'll be living in Melbourne. Will I be in Melbourne next year at this time? (Yes.) · Is the living finished? (No, it's in progress.)

Anticipated problems and solutions

ProblemSolution
Using will + base verb instead of the future perfect (By 2030 I will graduate).Timeline with by marked; CCQs.
will after time conjunctions (By the time you will arrive).Board the rule; include several items in the practice.
Not hearing have in fast speech.Listening and drilling of contracted forms.
Students' timelines are too short.Give an example timeline; encourage both personal and world predictions.

Board plan

Left: time expressionsCentre: timelines and rulesRight: pronunciation
by 2030 · by the time + present · this time next year · in five years' time · at 9 pm tomorrow
NOW ———— [X graduated] ——— 2030: By 2030, I'll have graduated (finished). · NOW ———— [~~~living~~~] next year: This time next year, I'll be living ... (in progress). · 2021 =========> June: By June, I'll have been working here for five years (duration). · By the time you arrive (present)
I'll have /aɪl əv/ · will have been /wɪl əv bɪn/

CEFR B2 · 60 minutes · Teenagers and adults

Procedure: Future Perfect and Future Continuous, step by step

Warm-up5 minutes · Pairs, then whole class

Aim: To engage students and introduce the theme.

Ask: "Imagine it's five years from now. Where are you? What's your life like?"

Students tell a partner (2 minutes). Don't correct.

Take two or three ideas.

Presentation20 minutes · Individual, pairs, whole class

Aim: To present the three future forms in context and clarify their meaning, form and pronunciation.

Part A: Reading (6 minutes)

Give out Handout 1. Say: "Read about the course. What will graduates have done by the end? What will they be doing in their final year? Three minutes."

Pairs compare. Students answer the three questions. Check as a class.

Part B: Noticing (4 minutes)

Draw three timelines on the board (see Board plan) without labels. Say: "Underline the future forms in the brochure. Match each one to a timeline." Pairs compare.

Part C: Clarification (10 minutes)

Label each timeline with its form and an example from the brochure. Ask the CCQs from the Language analysis.

Highlight by (= not later than) and by the time + present simple. Board By the time you will arrive and ask what's wrong.

Show the future continuous for polite questions: Will you be using the car tonight?

Pronunciation. Drill contracted forms: By 2030, I'll have graduated. This time next year, I'll be living abroad. By June, I'll have been working here for five years.

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

Aim: To practise choosing and forming the three forms accurately.

Give out Handout 2. Say: "Read the reference box. Do Exercise A: choose the best form. Then complete Exercise B about you. Seven minutes."

Pairs compare. Check Exercise A as a class; two students read their Exercise B sentences.

Fast finishers do Handout 3 (further practice); otherwise set it for homework.

Freer practice18 minutes · Individual, pairs, groups

Aim: To use the forms freely in personalised and group speaking.

Give out Handout 4. Students complete their personal timeline for 1, 5 and 10 years from now (4 minutes).

Interviews (7 minutes). Pairs interview each other with the questions: "By the time you're 30, what will you have achieved? What will you be doing this time next year?"

ICQs: "Do you talk about your own timeline or your partner's?" (Both: we ask and answer.)

World predictions (7 minutes). Groups make three predictions about technology and the world in 2050 using all three forms, and present the boldest one to the class.

Monitor and note language use.

Feedback and wrap-up7 minutes · Whole class

Aim: To give feedback and consolidate.

Board sentences from Stage 4 (correct and incorrect). Students correct the errors.

Ask: "Which form was most useful today?"

Set the homework.

Homework Complete Handout 3. Then write a letter to your future self (180 words) to be opened in ten years, using all three forms.

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

Differentiation

Support
Provide the three timelines on a card during the freer practice. Give sentence frames: By ___, I'll have ___. This time next ___, I'll be ___ing.
Stretch
Stronger students add hedging: I'll probably have ..., I doubt I'll have ..., I might be ... They use the future continuous for polite enquiries: Will you be coming to the meeting?

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 "Interviews" 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: Language Focus and Practice on the board for learners to copy into their notebooks, and read any text aloud twice instead of printing it. 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 "Interviews" 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 teenagers, shorten the analysis and get to the task sooner. With adults in a work context, keep the forms exactly as they are and swap the lesson's theme for one from their own field.

Checking learning

Students use the future perfect with by correctly in the interviews. They use the present simple after by the time / when in future clauses. 7 out of 8 or better on Handout 2, Exercise A.

Teacher's reflection

Which form did students find hardest? Did the timelines help students understand the difference?

Handout 1: University Brochure

Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________

BSc in Environmental Science: Your Future Starts Here

In three years' time, your life will look very different. By the end of the course, you will have studied ecology, climate science and data analysis. You will have completed two research projects and you will have spent six months on a work placement with a real company.

In your final year, you will be working on your own research project, and you will be presenting your findings at our international student conference.

By graduation day, you will have been studying with experts from around the world for three years, and you will have made friends for life.

And five years from now? Our graduates tell us they will be working in conservation, government and business, and many of them will be living and working abroad.

Questions

  • What will students have done by the end of the course? ______________________________
  • What will they be doing in their final year? ______________________________
  • How long will they have been studying by graduation day? ______________________________

Handout 2: Language Focus and Practice

Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________

Language reference

A. Choose the best form.

B. Complete about you.

  • By the time we get there, the shop will close / will have closed.
  • At 10 am tomorrow, I will sit / will be sitting my exam.
  • By December, they will have been living / will be living here for ten years.
  • Will you be using / have used the car this evening? I need it.
  • By the time you arrive / will arrive, I'll have cooked dinner.
  • This time next week, we will have lain / will be lying on a beach in Bentota.
  • By 2040, scientists will have found / will be finding a cure for many diseases.
  • Next year, I will have worked / will have been working here for a decade.
  • By the time I'm 25, I ______________________________
  • This time next year, I ______________________________
  • By the end of this course, I ______________________________
FormUseExample
will have + past participlecompleted before a future timeBy 2030, I'll have graduated.
will have been + -ingduration up to a future timeBy June, I'll have been working here for five years.
will be + -ingin progress at a future timeThis time next year, I'll be living abroad.

Handout 3: Further Practice

Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________

Complete with the future perfect simple, future perfect continuous or future continuous.

  • By the end of the year, I ______________________ (save) enough money for a car.
  • This time tomorrow, we ______________________ (fly) over the Indian Ocean.
  • By next June, she ______________________ (teach) for twenty years.
  • Don't call me at 8. I ______________________ (have) dinner with my family.
  • By the time you arrive, the film ______________________ (start).
  • In 2035, robots ______________________ (do) most of the housework.
  • By Friday, I ______________________ (finish) all my exams!
  • When you get home, I ______________________ (cook) for two hours, so I'll be tired.

Handout 4: My Life Timeline

Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________

Complete your timeline. Use notes.

Interview questions

World in 2050: three group predictions

  • By the time you're 30, what will you have achieved?
  • What will you be doing this time next year?
  • How long will you have been studying English by the end of this year?
  • Where do you think you'll be living in ten years?
  • What will you definitely not have done by 2030?
What will you have done?What will you be doing?
In 1 year
In 5 years
In 10 years

Answer Key

Handout 1

Handout 2, Exercise A

Handout 3

Common errors to watch for

  • Studied ecology, climate science and data analysis; completed two research projects; spent six months on a work placement. 2. Working on their own research project and presenting their findings. 3. For three years.
  • will have closed · 2. will be sitting · 3. will have been living · 4. be using · 5. arrive · 6. will be lying · 7. will have found · 8. will have been working
  • will have saved · 2. will be flying · 3. will have been teaching · 4. will be having · 5. will have started · 6. will be doing · 7. will have finished · 8. will have been cooking
ErrorCorrection
By 2030 I will graduate.By 2030 I will have graduated.
This time next week I will lie on a beach.This time next week I will be lying on a beach.
By the time you will arrive ...By the time you arrive ...
I will have been knowing her for ten years.I will have known her for ten years.

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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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