Sarah McLachlan, 1999

This song works well as a springboard to practicing the future tense with will as well as talking about the topic “Remembering.” That, combined with the song’s slow tempo and the singer’s clear diction, make it a great choice for the language classroom. The activities below are suitable for levels high beginning and up.

Choose from the following activities:

• Pre-Listening Predict the missing words. Students write the missing words in the lyrics worksheet below. Lyrics intended for nonprofit educational purposes only.

I Will Remember You, gap-fill.docx        I will remember you, gap-fill.pdf

• Listening Listen to the audio-only video. Students check the answers they wrote in the worksheet above.
• Listening Watch the live 2020 performance at Edmonton Folk Music Festival or the official music video. (The official music video ends with a romantic kiss and may not be appropriate for all classrooms; previewing is advised.)
• Grammar The future tense with will, rather than the future tense with going to, is generally used to make promises. Practice using will to make promises. (The song repeats the promise I will remember you four times.) The worksheet below has two parts. Part 2 is a little more challenging. Permission granted to duplicate for classroom use.

will, making promises.docx      will, making promises.pdf       will, making promises (webpage)

• Grammar Practice the future tense with will by playing the Memory Circle game. First, each student writes a sentence beginning with I’ll. All their sentences should be related by topic–for example, students could write what they’ll remember from this year’s class (I’ll remember our Halloween party) or a life experience they’ll always remember (I’ll always remember the birth of my daughter). Then they form a circle and follow the steps below. (A circle should not contain more than 12 students, so they may need to form several circles.)

1. Student 1 says the sentence he/she wrote. (For example, I’ll always remember the birth of my daughter.)
2. Student 2 repeats what Student 1 said. (Maria will always remember the birth of her daughter.)
3. Student 2 then adds his/her own sentence. (For example, I’ll always remember the day I arrived in this country.)
4. Student 3 repeats what Students 1 and 2 said. (Maria will always remember the birth of her daughter. Yoshi will always remember the day he arrived in this country.)
5. Student 3 adds his/her own sentence.
6. Students continue going around the circle, repeating what the other students said, in order, and then adding his/her own sentence.
7. After the last student says all the sentences, ask students to give him/her a round of applause. It’s not easy to be the last student!

• Discussion Talk about people we will always remember. Structure the discussion as a Draw-Write-Share activity. First, students draw a picture of someone they’ll always remember. Under their drawing, they complete this sentence: I’ll never forget _________________ because ______________________. Then they share their drawing and their writing in a small group. This activity is from the resource book Drawing Out by Sharron Bassano and Mary Ann Christison.
• Discussion Talk about how we will be remembered. Structure the conversation with the interactive worksheet below, for levels high beginning and up. The worksheet gives students practice changing verbs in the simple present to the simple past. This activity is highly recommended. Permission granted to duplicate for classroom use.

remembering you.docx       remembering you.pdf      remembering you (webpage)

• Reading Read a story about a soldier in WW I who was injured and suffered a temporary memory loss, including all memory of himself. His memory was restored by a song–one he wrote himself. (Coming to this site in 2024)