going to (future plans)

Tomorrow's grammar: I'm going to build a rocket. Plans, dreams and five-year-old ambitions, all on one pattern the class already half-knows.

From age 8Cambridge level: A2 Flyers

Age: Ages 8–11
Level: A2
Skill: Grammar
Format: Teacher guide

The pattern

Saying it: I'm going to play.
Saying no: I'm not going to cry.
Asking: What are you going to do?
Short answer: I'm going to draw.

Printable worksheet Presentation (PPT)

Sentences a child can say

Tap any sentence to hear it. Every one uses words from a topic pack you already have.

Mini exercise: choose the right word

Five sentences from this page, each with a word missing. A child taps the word that fits and, once it is right, hears the whole sentence.

She's going to blank a doctor.
It's going to blank.
I'm going to blank a dragon.
We're going to blank a party!
I'm not going to blank that.

What you will actually hear

The mistakes that come up in every class, and what is behind each one, with a tag on those a first language makes typical.

I going to play.I'm going to play.

Going to leans on am/is/are — drop the little verb and the structure falls over. Teach I'm-going-to as one breath.

I'm going to the play.I'm going to play.

Two patterns share clothes: going to + PLACE (the park) and going to + VERB (play). If a verb follows, no the ever squeezes in.

How to teach it

1
Friday ritual: 'What are you going to do at the weekend?' — the future twin of Monday's past-simple question. The two rituals teach both tenses all year.
2
Plan something real together — the class party, a picnic, a show. Real plans need going to sentences and nothing motivates grammar like an actual cake.
3
Fortune-teller game: a child mimes tomorrow's action, the class predicts — 'You're going to swim!' Guessing keeps the long structure light.

Topic packs that pair with this

Same structure, words your class already knows — no new vocabulary needed.

Actions Birthday party Summer holidays Jobs Space

Questions teachers ask

Going to or will first?

Going to. It grows out of the present continuous the class knows, covers plans (a child's whole future), and leaves will free to arrive later for promises and guesses.

Is 'gonna' acceptable?

For their ears, essential — songs and films run on it. For their mouths, let it happen naturally; correct it only in writing, where going to is the uniform.