Computer and projector, Mobile devices for students, student email accounts
Activity Description
Source: FutureMe by Unknown (License: Protected by Copyright (c) [i.e. screenshot])
In this activity, students set goals for themselves for a particular point in time in the future (end of a school session, in a month, six months, a year, etc.) and write letters to their future selves (and/or to others) about their goals. The letters are posted on the site, which e-mails the letters to recipients on the future date chosen. This works well as an introduction at the beginning of the school term.
Preparation
Check the website to ensure it is not blocked at your site.
Read through the lesson plan.
Print and make copies of any handouts.
Teacher Tips
Preview the lesson materials and modify them for use with your class to fit your students' level. For lower-level students, you may want to simply brainstorm a list of goals for the class rather than long-range goals and have students select and write about a goal that is attainable within the timeframe of the class rather than far into the future.
Also, be sure to discuss the steps necessary for making goals happen.
For ESL students, you may choose to teach simple future and/or future progressive before beginning this lesson so that they can use appropriate grammar forms.
FutureMe e-mails can be designated as private so that only students can view their letters, or public but anonymous so that students' letters will be published in the public letters section.
Students' e-mail addresses are not shown, but both the body and the subject of the letter are shown in their entirety.
No registration is required unless users want to modify their email addresses, change the status of letters, resend or delete old letters, or send letters to other people, then registration is necessary.
The dates that letters are submitted and their contents cannot be edited. There is an app for the site on Google Play and the Apple App Store.
You could also have students present to the class their goals for the future by creating a visual aid such as Google Slideshow or a PowerPoint file.
More Ways
The site could also be used for students to write and send emails about their predictions for the future.
Program Areas
ABE: Adult Basic Education
ESL: English as a Second Language
ASE: High School Equivalency Preparation
ASE: High School Diploma
Levels
Beginning High
Intermediate Low
Intermediate High
Advanced
Low
Intermediate
High
View Lesson Plan
Warm-up
Engagement
Tell about a time you set a goal for yourself, how you set it, and whether you succeeded or failed and why. Ask students if they ever set goals for themselves and if so, ask a volunteer to tell them about their goals. If the student attained their goal, ask what they did to make it achievable.
Introduction
Engagement
Tell students that they are going to learn about effective practices for goal-setting, set at least one goal for themselves, and write a letter to themselves in the future about their goal(s).
Presentation
Engagement Enhancement
As desired, use one or both of the following videos and note-taking forms that are included in this lesson.
Have students watch (a) video(s) and compare their notes with a classmate. Check as a whole class and discuss what is suggested for setting goals that have a greater chance of being accomplished.
Practice
Engagement Enhancement
Ask students to brainstorm goals and show them a sample letter. Model with your own goal brainstorming or provide examples.
Collect students' letters and provide feedback on comprehensibility, format, sentence structure, grammar, punctuation, and spelling. Have students revise their letters, as needed
In a computer lab setting, have students open the Future Me site. Guide students on how to use the site by demonstrating on your computer and projecting it onto a screen. Optionally, students can use the app.
Students will type in their e-mail addresses, a subject line, and the body of their letters.
They will then choose a “deliver on” date (up to the year 2071 at the time of writing) and status (public or private).
Have them type in the letters and select “Send to the Future!” If students didn’t register, they will be prompted to do so.
They will then receive an e-mail from the site asking for e-mail verification, which they will need to do by clicking on the verify email link.
They will receive their letter/e-mail on the date they designated on the site.
Evaluation
Enhancement
Use a rubric or simple checklist, as desired, to provide students with final, summative feedback on their writing. Ask students to reflect on what they learned about goal-setting, how they will apply the information they learned, and what they gained from the lesson.
Application
Extension
If your class is still in session on the date students selected to receive their letters, you can have students read their letters again and reflect on/discuss the goals that they achieved and did not achieve and reformulate their goals that have not been completed to be more achievable.
Students will be able to apply goal-setting and achievement strategies such as writing down goals and revisiting them in all areas of their lives.
CCR Anchor 4 - Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCR Anchor 5 - Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
CCR Anchor 6 - Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others.
Speaking and Listening
CCR Anchor 2 - Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.
CCR Anchor 4 - Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
CCR Anchor 5 - Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations.
CCR Anchor 6 - Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate.
Language
CCR Anchor 1 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
CCR Anchor 2 - Demonstrate command of the conventions of English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
CCR Anchor 3 - Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
View Tags
Grammar, Listening, Speaking, Writing, be going to, future tenses, goals, goal-setting, will, future
View Tools
FutureMe, Future Me
View Creative Commons License
CC BY: This license allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, so long as
attribution is given to the creator. The license allows for commercial use.
View Conditions
See https://www.futureme.org/pages/tos
Permitted Uses
Personal Use: Users can write letters to themselves, choosing to keep them private or share them publicly (anonymously).
Age Requirement: Users must be at least 13 years old. Younger users may participate under supervision, such as through a teacher or guardian acting as a Site Administrator.
Content Ownership: Users retain ownership of their content but grant FutureMe a non-exclusive, royalty-free, perpetual license to reproduce, modify, and publish the content as necessary for service provision.
Respectful Communication: Users should ensure their content does not violate any laws or infringe on the rights of others.
