Sign up for freeSign up

Music on every street: the present continuous for future plans

An A2 ESL lesson plan on the present continuous for future arrangements: plans already fixed with a time, a place and other people.

Grammar
Am, is or are + verb-ing with a time word (We're meeting at noon.), negatives, questions like What are you doing on Saturday? and telling now from later.
Topic
Street music on June 21, when Make Music New York holds free concerts in all five boroughs, with music vocabulary such as perform, rehearse and duet.
Activities
A concert schedule to read, a dialogue that plans a duet and a voice message to hear, self-checking drills, a chat with invitations and open-box questions about plans.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Turn up the music!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answerSpin the wheelUnlock
    • Study the words: music on the streetVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: concerts all over the city

    • Look at the photo: music on the streetPictureUnlock
    • Read the concert scheduleReal-life documentTry it
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the right answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: a duet on the stoop

    • Listen to Marco and TessaListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the right answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to Grandpa's ChallengeListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen again and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: we're meeting at noon

    • Study the scheme: plans with a timeGrammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the right words: plans with a timeChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with am / is / are + -ing: plans for June 21Fill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: every personFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the right answer: now or later?QuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: what are you doing?

    • Choose the right replies: Tessa's messagesChatTry it
    • Open a box and answer: plans and arrangementsOpen the boxUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMemory gameUnlock
    • Unscramble the words: music on the streetAnagramUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: music in the cityDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the right words: plans and nowChoose the optionUnlock
    • Put the words in the right orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Sort the sentences into the correct columns: now or later?Sort into columnsUnlock
    • Match the questions and the answersMatchUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with am / is / are + -ing: Nora's plannerFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Choose the right words: Nora's postChoose 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.

Music 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

  • duet
  • stoop
  • rooftop
  • borough
  • choir
  • bandshell
  • DJ

Grammar: the present continuous for future arrangements

Besides what is happening now, the present continuous describes future arrangements: plans agreed with other people for a set time. As New York gets ready for a day of free concerts, learners give every -ing plan a time word, make negatives and questions, and tell a plan from an action happening right now.

We're meeting at noon. She's playing at six.

Use am / is / are + verb-ing for an arrangement: a plan with a time, a place and other people.

Am, is, are + -ing + a time

An arrangement has three parts: am, is or are, the verb + -ing and a time word. The band is performing at noon tomorrow. We're rehearsing tonight at seven. The time word turns the sentence into a plan.

am / is / areverb + -inga time word

Tessa is performing at noon tomorrow.

We're rehearsing tonight at seven.

Every person, yes and no

The form of be follows the person, exactly as it does for now: I'm playing, she's playing, they're playing at noon tomorrow. For the negative, add not: I'm not playing tonight. He isn't playing. We aren't playing.

WhoYes ✓No ✗
II'm playing at noon tomorrow.I'm not playing tonight.
youYou're playing at noon tomorrow.You aren't playing tonight.
he, she, itHe's / She's / It's playing at noon tomorrow.He / She / It isn't playing tonight.
weWe're playing at noon tomorrow.We aren't playing tonight.
theyThey're playing at noon tomorrow.They aren't playing tonight.

What are you doing on Saturday?

Questions put am, is or are before the person: Are you coming tomorrow? Yes, I am. Is she performing at noon? No, she isn't. Plans need What are you doing…?, since What do you do? asks about a job or a habit.

QuestionAnswer
Are you coming tomorrow?Yes, I am. / No, I'm not.
Is Tessa performing at noon?Yes, she is. / No, she isn't.
Are they rehearsing tonight?Yes, they are. / No, they aren't.
What are you doing on Saturday?I'm meeting my friends.
Where is the choir singing tomorrow?In a garden in Queens.

Now or later? Look at the time word

The same form can mean now or later. Look!, Listen!, Shh! and right now point to this moment: Shh! The choir is singing. Tonight, tomorrow, on Saturday and at six point to an arrangement: The choir is singing at two on June 21.

Now or later?

pastfuturenow
  • now: Look! Tessa is playing.
  • tonight at seven: We're rehearsing.
  • June 21 at noon: We're performing!

The same form: look at the time word!

Now

  • Look! Tessa is playing the guitar right now.
  • Shh! The choir is singing.
  • now, right now, Look!, Listen!, Shh!

Later: an arrangement

  • Tessa is playing on her stoop at noon tomorrow.
  • The choir is singing at two on June 21.
  • tonight, tomorrow, this evening, on Saturday, at six

Going to or am, is, are + -ing?

Both forms talk about the future. Going to suits an idea (I'm going to learn the guitar one day), and am, is or are + -ing suits a fixed arrangement (I'm meeting my friend at seven tonight). One verb can't take both: I'm going to meeting is wrong.

going to or am / is / are + -ing?

Both talk about the future. going to is good for a plan or an idea: I'm going to learn the guitar one day. For an arrangement with a time, a place and other people, we often use am / is / are + -ing: I'm meeting Tessa at seven tonight.

Common mistakes

  • We meet at noon tomorrow.

    We're meeting at noon tomorrow.

    a plan with a time and other people: am / is / are + -ing

  • I'm going to meeting Tessa tonight.

    I'm meeting Tessa tonight.

    not both! I'm meeting… or I'm going to meet…

  • What do you do tonight?

    What are you doing tonight?

    ask about plans with are you + -ing

  • She playing at six.

    She's playing at six.

    Don't forget am / is / are.

More lessons on this grammar: Future tenses lessons and exercises · Present continuous lessons and exercises

Try the present continuous for the future exercises

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

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 16 auto-checked exercises
  • 5 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:

  • describe arrangements with am, is or are + -ing and a time word: We're rehearsing tonight at seven.
  • say what isn't happening: I'm not playing tonight. My friends aren't coming on Saturday.
  • ask about plans and answer: What are you doing on June 21? Are you coming? Yes, I am.
  • tell now from later by the time word: Shh! The choir is singing. The choir is singing at two tomorrow.

Lesson 22 is the second lesson of Music and nights out, unit 6 of English A2.1 · Then and Now. A1.2 lesson 7 used the present continuous for things happening now (It's raining.), and A2.1 lesson 18 taught going to for plans and predictions; this lesson points the same -ing form at a set time later. Lesson 30 then compares it with going to. A festival held every June 21 gives each arrangement a real date and hour.

Students spin a wheel of questions about live music and weekend plans, then learn ten words with pictures and audio, from perform and rehearse to borough and bandshell. They read a schedule of free concerts for June 21 across the five boroughs and answer true-or-false and multiple-choice questions. Then they hear Marco and a street musician plan a duet (an AI-voiced dialogue) and Grandpa's voice message with a challenge. After the scheme, the grammar chapter has four drills that check themselves, one of them a quiz that sorts now from later. In the speaking chapter, students reply to a street musician's messages in a chat, then open boxes about their own arrangements.

All nine homework exercises check themselves: a memory game, an anagram and a drag-and-drop of the words, two choose-the-word drills, word-order sentences, a now-or-later sort, questions matched with answers and a gap-fill of Nora's planner.

Grammar:
present continuous for arrangements · the future with a time word · What are you doing on Saturday? · now or later
Topic:
Make Music New York · June 21 · street music · New York City · subway musicians · Grandpa's Map

Teaching tips

  • Play find-a-time in pairs: each student secretly picks three busy hours on Saturday, then partners ask What are you doing at two? until they find a free hour to meet.
  • Start the schedule with the longest day of the year: ask when it is and what people do on summer evenings, then have students find which borough has a choir and which has a rooftop concert.
  • Pause the dialogue after each -ing sentence: students call out now or later and name the time word that decided it, as in We're rehearsing here on the stoop tonight at seven.
  • Let pairs plan a duet after the chat: they agree what they're playing, when they're rehearsing and where they're performing, then tell the class in three sentences.

Liked it?

Teach the whole lesson in edio

30 exercises in 6 chapters, ready to teach. edio is an online platform for language schools and teachers: ready-made interactive lessons, live classes, homework and student progress in one place.

  1. Start a free trial

    7 days, no credit card.

  2. Open the lesson

    Find it in the library of 621 ready lessons. Teach it as it is, or copy any chapter into your own lessons.

  3. Teach it live or as homework

    Students work in their own accounts, in sync with you during the lesson, and the practice exercises check themselves.

Teach it free for 7 days

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 18What'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 22 · you're hereMusic 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 the present continuous for the future?
Use am, is or are + verb-ing with a future time for plans already fixed: We're meeting at noon tomorrow. She's playing in the park at six. The time word, such as tonight, on Saturday or at seven, shows it's a plan and not something happening now. Questions use the same form: What are you doing on Saturday? Are you coming?
What is a future arrangement?
A future arrangement is a plan with a time, place and other people, and English usually puts it in the present continuous: I'm meeting my friend at ten. We're rehearsing on the stoop tonight at seven. An idea with no fixed time more often takes going to: I'm going to learn the guitar one day. Entries in a planner are typical arrangements: At eleven, we're rehearsing one last time.
What's the difference between going to and the present continuous for future plans?
For future plans, going to fits ideas; be + -ing fits arrangements. I'm going to learn the guitar one day has no date and no one else involved; I'm meeting my friends at seven tonight is agreed, with a set time. Often either form works, but never both in one verb: I'm going to meeting should be I'm meeting or I'm going to meet.
Does the present continuous mean now or the future?
The present continuous can mean now or later; the time word decides. Look!, Listen!, Shh! and right now point to this moment: Shh! The choir is singing. Tonight, tomorrow and on Saturday point to a plan: The choir is singing at two on June 21. With no time word, the situation shows which is meant. A quiz in Music on every street, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, asks students to tell the two apart.
How do you answer "What are you doing this weekend?"
Answer with your plans, using am, is or are + -ing and a day or time: I'm meeting my friends on Saturday. I'm having dinner with my family on Sunday. For something you're not doing, add not: I'm not working this weekend. The answer often leads to an invitation, so be ready for We're performing on Saturday. Are you coming? and reply Yes, I am!
Is it "We meet at noon tomorrow" or "We're meeting at noon tomorrow"?
For a plan two people have made, We're meeting at noon tomorrow is the natural choice. The present simple We meet at noon sounds like a timetable or a habit, not an arrangement. A related slip: What do you do tonight? should be What are you doing tonight? The chat in Music on every street, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, sets I meet my friend at ten as a trap.
What music vocabulary do A2 students need?
A2 music vocabulary starts with verbs for making music and words for performers: perform (play, sing or dance for people), rehearse (practice before a show), a duet (music for two players or singers), a choir (a big group of singers) and a DJ. Add instruments like the harmonica and places like a bandshell, an outdoor stage with a round roof. Word cards in Music on every street on edio.ai teach them with pictures and audio.
What words do you need to talk about street music?
Street music talk needs verbs like perform and the places musicians play: street corners, parks, rooftops and the stoop, a New York word for the front steps of a city house. A trio is performing on the corner. She's playing on her stoop at noon. In New York, official subway musicians first have an audition with judges, and a borough is one of the city's five parts.
How do I teach future arrangements to A2 students?
Start from a real planner: put three of your own appointments on the board with times, then say them as arrangements: On Tuesday, I'm singing with the choir at seven. Students ask about the rest with What are you doing on Thursday? Then set the same form for now beside it, since only the time word differs: Look! I'm singing. and I'm singing at seven tomorrow.
What's a good game for practicing future plans?
Try an open-the-box round of weekly plans: each box holds a prompt such as Ask your partner: What are you doing tonight? And tomorrow? or Say two things you're not doing this weekend, and the student answers aloud. A spin-the-wheel warm-up with What are you doing this weekend? on it works as a first round. Music on every street, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, uses both games.
What's good homework for the present continuous for the future?
Good homework is a day planner with -ing gaps: students turn (take) into We're taking the subway at ten and (not come) into He isn't coming to the rooftop concert. Sorting sentences into now and later and matching questions with answers add practice, and everything checks itself. In Music on every street on edio.ai, the planner covers a whole day of concerts on June 21.
Are there interactive exercises for the present continuous for the future?
Yes: a gap-fill of plans and a chat with invitations check answers as students go. Four parts of Music on every street, an A2 lesson on edio.ai, play on this page with no account: a schedule of free concerts for June 21, a dialogue in which Marco and a street musician plan a duet, a gap-fill with am, is or are + -ing, and a chat where students answer a musician's invitations. Everything else stays locked.
Unlock full lesson

Teach this lesson with your students

Book a demoStart free trial

No credit card required