Kindness Boomerang

I came across Kindness Boomerang through Larry Ferlazzo in late December. Larry already warned us of the oversentimentality of the video, but he considered it was full of learning opportunities for the English student. He suggested two: Describing the everyday actions the clip portraits, something which language students of all levels find really demanding, and discussing the message in the video.



I think Kindness Boomerang gives us the chance of revising/learning conditional sentences of all kinds.

I would suggest the following steps in the lesson:

• Students watch the video and make a note of the chain of actions in it: the builder helps the skateboarder to get up > the skateboarder helps the old woman cross the street > the old woman gives the girl change for the parking meter > The girl picks up the envelope the man in the suit has inadvertently dropped > The man in the suit helps a man unload the luggage from the car boot > The car man buys a hot dog for the beggar > The vendor gives the beggar water > The beggar gives the girl the mobile she had forgotten > The mobile phone girl buys some flowers for the woman sitting at the cafe > The woman at the flower stall gives a flower to the mobile phone girl > The woman sitting at the cafe leaves a generous tip > The waitress gives a drink of water to the builder.

From here, students repeat the chain of events

• First conditional: If the builder helps the skateboarder to get up, the skateboarder will help the old woman cross the street > If the skateboarder helps the old woman, she will give the girl change for the parking meter > ...

• Second conditional: If the parking meter girl picked up the envelope, the man in a suit would help the man unload the car > If the man in a suit helped the man unload, the car man would buy a hotdog for the beggar > ...

• Third conditional: If the beggar had given the mobile to the girl, she would have bought flowers for the woman > If the mobile phone girl had bought flowers for the woman at the cafe, the woman would have left a generous tip > ...

Sex and the City -The wedding

Self-study activity:
a) Watch the famous ill-fated wedding scene of the film Sex and the City, and say which of the questions that follow are true or false.

The little girl hid Carrie’s cell phone.
Carrie didn’t receive any calls.
Carrie didn’t know where her phone was.
Carrie didn’t receive Big’s phone calls or messages.
Big wasn’t confident enough to go into church by himself.
Big quit getting married.
Big took too long to apologize.
Carrie hit him with the wedding bouquet.
Carrie’s friend didn’t let Big explain what had happened.
Carrie went home in state of shock.
Carrie and Big didn’t get married.
They both had a horrible afternoon.

b) Now complete the sentences below by saying how things would have been different if the characters had acted differently. Use the third conditional in all the sentences and the verbs in brackets.

1- If the girl hadn't hidden (hide) Carrie’s phone,she would have received (receive) some calls.
2- If Carrie ........... (know) where her phone was, she ........ (receive) Big’s messages.
3- If Big ........... (take) too long to apologize, Carrie ........ (hit) him with her wedding bouquet.
4- If Carrie’s friend ..... (let) Big explain what had happened, Carrie ......... (go) home in state of shock.
5- If Carrie and Big ........ (get) married, they ........... (have) such a horrible afternoon.

c) Discuss with an English-speaking friend:
1- What would you do if you were in Carrie’s position?
2- Who was right? Why?
3- How could the situation be prevented from happening?

Key a):
All the sentences are true.

Key b):
2. had known // would have received 3. hadn't taken // wouldn't have hit 4. had let // wouldn't have gone 5. had got // wouldn't have had

This activity is taken from Movie Segments to Assess Grammar Goals

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Watch this short scene from the film The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, where a series of unpredicted events lead to an accident.

Self-study activity:
Now watch the scene again and finish off the sentences below imagining what would have happened if things had been different. You will have to use the third conditional in all the instances.

Remember the formula for the third conditional:
If + past perfect // would have + participle

The second part of the conditional will be the same in the exercise:
... Daisy and her friend would have crossed the street and the taxi would have driven by.

Only the "if" part will change. Example:
Daisy’s friend’s shoelace broke > If her shoelace hadn't broken (they would have crossed the street...)

1. the delivery truck moved
2. the package wasn’t wrapped
3. the girl broke up with her boyfriend
4. the man forgot to set the alarm
5. the taxi driver stopped for a cup of coffee
6. the woman didn’t remember her coat

Self-study activity: Get together with a friend or a classmate and talk about one time in your life when you suffered or witnessed an accident.
Afterwards think about different ways the accident might have been prevented by using third conditional sentences, as in the activity above.
Example: If I hadn't answered my mobile I wouldn't have crashed with the van.

Key: 1. If the truck hadn't moved... 2. If the package had been wrapped... 3. If the girl hadn't broken up with her boyfriend... 4. If the man hadn't forgotten (or had remembered) to set the alarm... 5. If the taxi driver hadn't stopped... 6. If the woman had remembered her coat.

This activity is adapted from one designed by Claudio Azevedo (Movie Segments to Assess Grammar Goals).