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What's going to happen at LA 2028? Be going to for plans and predictions

This A2 ESL lesson plan teaches be going to for plans and predictions, built around the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Grammar
Am, is or are + going to + verb for plans (We're going to come back.) and for predictions from what you see (It isn't going to rain.), with questions and short answers.
Topic
The LA 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, from the old Coliseum to new Olympic sports, with words such as host, compete, athlete and flag football.
Activities
A news page to read, a dialogue outside the Coliseum and a voice message to hear, self-checking drills, a chat about the student's plans and open-box questions.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Game on, LA!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: the Games in LAVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: the LA 2028 plan

    • Look at the photo: Los AngelesPictureUnlock
    • Read the news: LA 2028Real-life documentTry it
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: at the Coliseum

    • Listen to Nora and Marco: our LA 2028 tripListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to Grandpa's challengeListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: we're going to come back

    • Study the scheme: going toGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct option: going toChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: be + going to + verbFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: say no and ask a questionFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the correct answerQuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: my plans for 2028

    • Choose the right replies: my plans for 2028ChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: my plansOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the words from the lessonAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: words from the lessonFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: plans and predictionsChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: questions and short answersFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: a plan or a prediction?QuizUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Nora's postDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Glen's commentChoose the optionUnlock

30 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Olympic sports vocabulary

10 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+7 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • stadium
  • arch
  • flag football
  • squash
  • lacrosse
  • cricket
  • beach volleyball

Grammar: be going to for plans and predictions

The going to future talks about plans and about things you can already see coming. With the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, where every date is still a plan, learners build the form on am, is or are, tell a plan from a prediction, ask questions with short answers, and keep gonna for speech.

We're going to come back in 2028!

am / is / are + going to + verb: for plans, and for things we can see coming.

Be + going to + the base verb

Three parts make the form: am, is or are, then going to, then the base verb: I'm going to learn flag football. For the negative, not goes right after am, is or are: I'm not going to watch. It isn't going to rain.

The form

am / is / aregoing toverb

I'm going to learn flag football.

It isn't going to rain.

Are you going to watch the swimming?

Every person

Who✓✗?
II'm going to watch.I'm not going to watch.Am I going to watch?
youYou're going to watch.You aren't going to watch.Are you going to watch?
he, she, itShe's going to watch. It's going to rain.He isn't going to watch. It isn't going to rain.Is she going to watch? Is it going to rain?
weWe're going to watch.We aren't going to watch.Are we going to watch?
theyThey're going to watch.They aren't going to watch.Are they going to watch?

A plan or a prediction?

A plan is already decided: We're going to come back in 2028. A prediction comes from what you see now: Look at that blue sky! It isn't going to rain. A city's plans can still change, so the news says The plan is: …

Two uses

A plan 📅

  • I'm going to learn flag football.
  • We're going to come back in 2028.
  • The plan is: athletes are going to compete at the Coliseum.

A prediction: we can see it now 👀

  • Look at that blue sky! It isn't going to rain.
  • Biscuit is looking at the hot dog. He's going to steal it!
  • The stadium is full of people. It's going to be loud!

Plans can change

A city or a team makes a plan, but plans can change. Say: The plan is: the Olympics are going to start on July 14.

Questions, short answers and time words

Questions start with am, is or are: Are you going to watch? Short answers repeat that verb, in full after yes: Yes, I am. No, it isn't. Question words go first (Where are the swimmers going to swim?), and time words like next summer or in 2028 say when.

Questions and answers

QuestionAnswer
Are you going to watch?Yes, I am. / No, I'm not.
Is it going to rain?Yes, it is. / No, it isn't.
Are they going to compete?Yes, they are. / No, they aren't.
Where are the swimmers going to swim?In the stadium in Inglewood.
What are you going to watch?I'm going to watch the swimming.

Time words for plans

  • tonight
  • tomorrow
  • this weekend
  • next week
  • next summer
  • in 2028
  • soon

Gonna in speech, going to in writing

In fast speech, Americans often say gonna: I'm gonna watch. In writing, use going to: I'm going to film the races. And the to never drops out: Are you going to watch?, not Are you going watch?

Say gonna, write going to

In fast speech, Americans often say gonna: I'm gonna watch. In writing, use going to: I'm going to watch.

Common mistakes

  • I going to watch the races.

    I'm going to watch the races.

    don't forget am, is or are

  • We're going to came back.

    We're going to come back.

    going to + the base verb: come, not came

  • I'm go to learn flag football.

    I'm going to learn flag football.

    going to, not go to

  • Are you going watch the swimming?

    Are you going to watch the swimming?

    don't forget to

More lessons on this grammar: Future tenses lessons and exercises

Try the going to exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 17 auto-checked exercises
  • 4 games
  • 1 real-life document
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • talk about plans with am, is or are + going to + verb: I'm going to learn flag football.
  • make predictions from what they can see: Look at that blue sky! It isn't going to rain.
  • ask and answer questions: Are you going to watch the Games? – Yes, I am. Where are the swimmers going to swim?
  • say gonna in fast speech but write going to, with the base verb after it: come, not came

Lesson 18 is the second lesson of Game on, the fifth unit of English A2.1 · Then and Now. It builds on the present continuous of A1.2 lessons 7 and 22, whose am, is and are, negatives and questions come back in Are you going to watch? A2.1 lesson 30 then sets going to against the present continuous for plans, and A2.2 lesson 30 against will. Every date for the 2028 Games is still a plan, which is why the news page describes them with going to.

Students spin a wheel of questions about sports and big events, then learn ten words, from compete and host to lacrosse and beach volleyball, with pictures and audio. They read a news page on the plans for LA 2028, then listen to Nora and Marco (an AI-voiced dialogue) plan a trip outside the Coliseum and to a voice message with a challenge: tell a local your plans for 2028. The grammar chapter pairs the scheme with four drills that mark themselves, including a table that turns plans into negatives and questions. In the speaking chapter, Marco asks about the student's plans in a chat, and open boxes ask for weekend plans and a prediction from the window.

The homework checks itself: matching and unscrambling the words, gap-fills of questions and short answers, sentences to order, a quiz on plan or prediction, and a post and a viewer's comment to complete.

Grammar:
going to · plans · predictions · be going to: questions and negatives · short answers
Topic:
LA 2028 · the Olympic Games · the Paralympic Games · Los Angeles · the LA Memorial Coliseum · new Olympic sports · beach volleyball · flag football · the 1932 Olympic Games

Teaching tips

  • Make predictions from a picture: show dark clouds, a full stadium or a dog next to a hot dog, and ask What's going to happen? Students answer It's going to rain. or He's going to steal it!
  • Before the news page, ask which sports might be new at the 2028 Olympics. Students guess, then read to check which are going to be new and which are going to come back.
  • Play the dialogue outside the Coliseum twice: first for each person's plan, then for the predictions, which students mark by raising a hand.
  • After the chat, run a plans interview in pairs: one asks What are you going to do next summer? and Are you going to watch the Games?, the other gives a short answer and one more sentence.

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The whole course: English A2.1 · Then and Now

32 lessons for adults at A2 in simple American English, from the past simple to going to, should and might. Eight units tell stories of journeys, American firsts, food, places, sports, music, neighbors and dreams. Pictures and definitions replace translations, and the practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Amazing journeys

    the past simple, regular and irregular verbs, negatives, prepositions of movement

    1. Lesson 1Around the world in 72 daysThe past simple of regular verbs
    2. Lesson 2The first drive across AmericaIrregular verbs in the past simple
    3. Lesson 3Get your kicks on Route 66Past simple negatives with didn't
    4. Lesson 4She walked 2,000 miles in sneakersPrepositions of movement

  2. Unit 2 American firsts

    was and were, past questions and short answers, ago and in, could for past ability

    1. Lesson 5The first American woman in spaceWas, were, there was and there were
    2. Lesson 6A real bug in the computerPast simple questions with did
    3. Lesson 7“Mr. Watson, come here”Wh- questions in the past simple
    4. Lesson 8Twelve seconds in the airCould and couldn't for past ability

  3. Unit 3 American food

    countable and uncountable nouns, comparatives, ordering food, a few and a little

    1. Lesson 9The first chocolate chip cookieCountable and uncountable nouns in a recipe
    2. Lesson 10Is a jalapeño hotter than a habanero?Comparatives of short adjectives
    3. Lesson 11Two eggs, sunny side up!Offers and orders with would like
    4. Lesson 12Cooking for twenty on ThanksgivingA few, a little and a lot of

  4. Unit 4 City or country?

    comparatives with more and less, superlatives, as … as, too and enough

    1. Lesson 13The island with no carsComparatives with more and less, plus better, worse and farther
    2. Lesson 14America's extremesSuperlatives with the + -est, the most and the least
    3. Lesson 15San Francisco or Yosemite? You choose!As … as for the same, not as … as for less
    4. Lesson 16A park on an old railroadToo, enough and not … enough

  5. Unit 5 Game on

    play, go and do with sports, going to, adverbs of manner, reflexive pronouns

    1. Lesson 17Basketball started with peach baskets?Play, go and do with sports
    2. Lesson 18 · you're hereWhat's going to happen at LA 2028?Be going to for plans and predictions
    3. Lesson 19Pickleball: a game from a backyardAdverbs of manner
    4. Lesson 20Be brave and tryReflexive pronouns and each other

  6. Unit 6 Music and nights out

    love, enjoy and hate + -ing, the present continuous for plans, suggestions, to for purpose

    1. Lesson 21Where jazz was bornGerunds after love, like, enjoy, hate and don't mind
    2. Lesson 22Music on every streetThe present continuous for future arrangements
    3. Lesson 23A night on BroadwaySuggestions with Let's, Why don't we and How about
    4. Lesson 24An orchestra for every kidThe infinitive of purpose and to or for

  7. Unit 7 Neighbors and community

    much and many, should, something and everyone, because and so

    1. Lesson 25Everybody cleans up!Much and many with nouns you can and can't count
    2. Lesson 26Good neighbors shovel snowShould and shouldn't + the base verb
    3. Lesson 27Take a book, leave a bookIndefinite pronouns with some-, any-, no- and every-
    4. Lesson 28A bench for making friendsBecause for reasons, so for results

  8. Unit 8 Plans and dreams

    verb + to, the present continuous vs going to, might, when, before and after

    1. Lesson 29Never give up: from farm fields to spaceVerb + to + the base form
    2. Lesson 30Across America by trainGoing to and the present continuous for the future
    3. Lesson 31Open in the year 6939Might and might not for possibility
    4. Lesson 32A college graduate at 95Time clauses with when, before and after

Questions about this lesson

How do you use going to in English?
Use going to for plans and for predictions based on what you can see now. A plan: I'm going to learn flag football next summer. A prediction: Look at those dark clouds! It's going to rain. Both put am, is or are before going to and the base verb after it. The A2 lesson What's going to happen at LA 2028? on edio.ai has students sort six sentences into plans and predictions.
How do you form be going to?
Be going to is be + going to + the base verb: I'm going to watch, she's going to watch, they're going to watch. Only be changes with the person; going to and the verb stay the same. For a negative, add not after be: He isn't going to watch. We aren't going to watch. Don't drop be: I going to watch is a mistake.
How do you talk about future plans in English?
For a plan you have already made, use the going to future with a time word: I'm going to visit LA next summer. We're going to come back in 2028. Useful time words are tonight, tomorrow, this weekend, next week and soon. A city's or a team's plan can still change, so start it with The plan is: the Olympics are going to start on July 14.
How do you ask questions with going to?
Put am, is or are before the subject: Are you going to watch the Games? Is it going to rain? Short answers repeat that verb, as in Yes, I am or No, it isn't, never Yes, I do or Yes, I'm. In wh- questions, the question word comes first: Where are the swimmers going to swim? What are you going to watch?
Is it "going to come" or "going to came"?
It's going to come: the base verb follows going to, never a past form or an -ing form. We're going to come back in 2028, not going to came or going to coming. He's going to steal it, not going to stole. Two more slips to watch: I'm go to learn for I'm going to learn, and going watch without to.
Is "gonna" correct English?
Gonna is normal in fast speech, but write going to. Americans often say I'm gonna watch, but an email, an essay or a test needs I'm going to watch. Gonna keeps be too: I'm gonna, never I gonna. A quiz in What's going to happen at LA 2028?, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, asks which sentence fits an email to a teacher.
What are the names of Olympic sports in English?
Olympic sports include track and field, swimming, basketball and beach volleyball, and the plan for Los Angeles 2028 adds flag football and squash as new sports and brings back baseball and softball, cricket and lacrosse. The people who take part are athletes, who compete in a stadium, and the city that holds the Games hosts them.
How do I teach going to for plans and predictions?
Start with plans students really have, such as I'm going to watch the game tonight, then add predictions about things the class can see, like the weather outside. Leave will for later so the form settles first. What's going to happen at LA 2028? on edio.ai moves from a news page full of plans to a dialogue that adds predictions, then the scheme and four drills.
What's a good game for practicing going to?
Opening boxes of plans and predictions makes a quick speaking game: a student opens one, reads a prompt such as Say one thing you aren't going to do tonight or Is it going to rain today? What can you see?, and answers aloud. For a guessing round, one student mimes a weekend plan while the class asks Are you going to swim? until someone gets it.
How do you practice going to one-to-one?
Plan a weekend together, out loud: the teacher asks What are you going to do on Saturday? and Are you going to see friends?, the student answers, then asks the same questions back. The chat in What's going to happen at LA 2028? on edio.ai works without a partner: Marco asks about the student's plans for 2028, and Yes, I am! is the right reply, not Yes, I'm!
What's good homework for practicing going to?
Good homework checks the form and the meaning separately: gap-fills such as … (you / watch) the Olympics? – Yes, I am. for the form, and a quiz on whether It's going to be loud! is a plan or a prediction for the meaning. All nine homework tasks in What's going to happen at LA 2028? on edio.ai check themselves.
Are there interactive exercises for going to?
Yes: gap-fills and chats that mark answers instantly help with the form and the short answers. This page plays four parts of What's going to happen at LA 2028?, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, with no account: the news page about the 2028 plan, Nora and Marco's dialogue outside the Coliseum, a gap-fill of be + going to + verb, and a chat about the student's plans. The rest needs an account.
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