How to Use this blog

This blog has been designed to help learners in a very special topic: SIMPLE PAST TENSE.

You may find different activities to understand the grammar rules related to the simple past tense, introductión, explanation, games and more. (5 activities divided different links)
3 activities for teenagers
2 activities for adults

If you have any questions, just write your comments below

Best Regards,

Your Tutors

Silvia - Osiris - Yudith - Erinzon - Yamile

UNAD - 2016

Activities for Adults

Activity 1
Educaplay.com

The following activity was created to work with adult students. We used the software EDUCAPLAY to develop it.

The activity is a funny game in which students need to complete a short story related to the target topic (simple past). They have some time to get the activity done. It is a meaningful way to learn while having fun.

https://www.educaplay.com/es/recursoseducativos/2718455/simple_past_.htm

Activity 2

The Big Cheese

The game is known as "The Big Cheese" is fun and easy. It will help students learn and develop the skills needed to listen and identify verbs in a sentence. In addition, this game will give enough practice of past tense verbs and will facilitate quick memorization as well as give students the opportunity to write irregular verbs in past tense. You can play with a large or small class and with beginner, advanced or intermediate students. Preparation time and materials required are minimal.

Your students already have all the necessary equipment for this fun and easy game. They only need paper and pencil or pen, and the teacher needs a blackboard and a marker or chalk.

The investment to organize this game is nominal. Prepare a list of irregular verbs and write a sentence with each in the present tense. For a class of 45 minutes, you will need about 20 irregular verbs. You can use the verbs below or you can make a list of your own to customize this game and adapt it to the plan or lesson.

Here is a short list of some of the most commonly used irregular verbs in English: become, bite, buy, catch, come, draw, drive, eat, feed, fight, find, give, know, leave, lose, make, pay, read, see, sell, sing, sit, take, think, and write.

How to play

1. Divide class into groups of 2, 3 or 4 students
2. Instruct students to choose a name for the team and write it on the board
3. They must choose a team leader
4. This person will bring the sentence to the teacher and verify it
5. Students are asked to take out a piece of paper and a pencil or pen
6. They practice (in the first round) verbs in past
7. Teacher writes an example on the board for students 
8. Read the sentence three times in the present time, loudly, slowly and clearly
9. Students have to rewrite it in the past tense using the correct form and the irregular verb spelled in past
10. To earn points Ss must take their exercise to the teacher
11. If the exercise is complete and correct, the teacher will mark a point on the board for the team
12. Write the correct sentence on the board and continue the next round
13. The winning team will have the most points and get "The Big Cheese"

Activities for Teenagers

Activities for Adolescents

Activity 1

Scavenger Hunt

Scavenger Hunts are fun, memorable activities that can be carried out with EL students of all ages, there are thousands of ideas on line. The idea is for them be separated into groups, go outdoors searching for a list of "things"** written on a piece of paper, at the end, they must "report" what they did using simple past as the main grammar subject to be focused on:

e.g. **Find a restaurant napkin,          

When Ss come back to the classroom they must write a report on what, where, when, how they found (using simple past) all the "things".

They’re easy to create and can be designed according to students’ ages, levels, the number of students, etc.

Materials to be used:

·         Scavenger hunt list (print one of the PDFs below or create your own)

·         Pen or pencil

·         Bag or box to collect items in

·         Prize (to reward the winners)

SCAVENGER HUNT

1.      Choose the team’s leader: _______________________________________

2.      Answer questions in an appropriate way.

3.      At the library, ask for the librarian’s full name  ____________________________________________________________

4.      What are the open hours of the library?

­____________________________________________________________

5.      How many sculptures are there in the school? ___________ Take a picture of the whole team next to each sculpture

6.      How many restrooms are available for students? ____________

7.      How many steps do you need to take to get to the cafeteria from your classroom? _________________________________

8.      What’s the secretary’s full name? _______________________________

9.      Write the English teacher’s full names you find at the teacher’s lounge, at the moment you get there: ____________________________________________________________

10.  Bring back:      a green pebble

a piece of cement

a piece of metal

a tree leaf

a petal (from a flower fallen on the floor)

a restaurant napkin

11.  Picture of the whole team in the cafeteria

12.  Picture of the whole team hugging a tree (because we care about nature)

13.  Make a 1-minute video of the team pretending there is an earthquake

14.   Write a report of your experience doing this Scavenger Hunt and make an oral presentation, each student will be evaluated, so practice pronunciation, grammar, fluency, vocalization, etc.

Retrieved from http://www.mykidsadventures.com/scavenger-hunt-ideas/

Computer Lab

  You are going to practice your understanding through games:

Activity 2
Grammar Game

  
  Click on the dice, choose the correct answer to the question and click on the submit button to check if it's right or wrong. Enjoy the following link:

Snakes and Ladders Game

Activity 3

Reading and Sequencing Game

  Read the information of each block, put the correct number on the block and submit to check if it's right or wrong. Enjoy the following link:

  

  Sequencing Game

Introduction Activity

SIMPLE PAST TENSE

Warm Up

Think about this:

Why do we use past tense?

How do we make a question in past tense?

How do we make negative sentences in past tense?

Can you identify some regular and irregular verbs?

What is the simple past?

There are many ways to speak of the past in English, but the simple past is the most common form. The simple past in English is equivalent to the preterite imperfect and preterite indefinite of Spanish. We use the simple past for complete actions in the past. The time period of these actions is not as important as in Spanish. In the simple past, there are regular verbs and irregular verbs

Watch the following video:

Let's check your understanding

Go to teens or adults practice and enjoy your learning!!