TEACHER’S NOTES

ESL / EFL RESOURCES People used to...

Activity Type Introduction

Reading, writing, In this intriguing worksheet activity, students play a guessing
listening and speaking game where they talk about what people used to do and didn't
activity, group and pair use to do before certain inventions existed.
work
Procedure
Language Focus Divide the class into two groups (A and B). Give each student a
corresponding A or B worksheet.
'Used to'
Tell the students that they are going to write down how life used
'Didn't use to' to be like before the invention of each item on their worksheet.
As an example, focus on the invention of the light bulb.
Aim Ask the students: What people used to do and didn't use to do
To talk about what people before the invention of the light bulb?
used to do and didn't
Elicit answers from the students and write their ideas on the board.
use to do before certain
inventions existed. Examples:
People used to go to bed when it was dark.
Preparation People used to use candles to see at night.
People didn’t use to go to bed late.
Make one copy of the two People didn’t use to read at night.
worksheets for each pair
of students. Next, tell the students to work together with the people in their
group and complete the sentences with what people used to do
and didn't use to do before the invention of each item on their
Level worksheet.

Pre-intermediate When the students have finished, have them pair up with someone
from the other group.
The students then take it in turns to read their sentences to their
Time partner, without saying the underlined invention. Instead, students
40 minutes use the word 'blank' as the missing word in the sentence, e.g.
'Before the invention of the 'blank', people used to...'
Their partner then tries to guess the invention. For each correct
guess, students win a point.
Encourage the students to make more sentences with 'used to'
and 'didn't use to' if their partner is having trouble guessing.
The student with the most points at the end of the game wins.
When the students have finished, ask the class which were the
hardest inventions to guess.
Finally, give the students five minutes to choose three inventions
that they couldn’t live without and three that they could happily
live without. Afterwards, have the students compare choices and
explain why.

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 USED TO

ESL / EFL RESOURCES People used to...

Student A

Complete the sentences with what people used to do and didn't use to do before the invention
of each item.

1. B
 efore the invention of the light bulb, 2. Before the invention of the fridge,
people used to ........................................... people used to ...........................................
people didn’t use to .................................... people didn’t use to ....................................

3. Before the invention of the TV, 4. Before the invention of the Internet,
people used to ........................................... people used to ...........................................
people didn’t use to .................................... people didn’t use to ....................................

5. Before the invention of the mobile phone, 6. Before the invention of the car,
people used to ........................................... people used to ...........................................
people didn’t use to .................................... people didn’t use to ....................................

7. Before the invention of the remote control, 8. Before the invention of the digital camera,
people used to ........................................... people used to ...........................................
people didn’t use to .................................... people didn’t use to ....................................

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 USED TO

ESL / EFL RESOURCES People used to...

Student B

Complete the sentences with what people used to do and didn't use to do before the invention
of each item.

1. B
 efore the invention of the airplane, 2. Before the invention of the wheel,
people used to ........................................... people used to ...........................................
people didn’t use to .................................... people didn’t use to ....................................

3. Before the invention of the printing press, 4. Before the invention of the calculator,
people used to ........................................... people used to ...........................................
people didn’t use to .................................... people didn’t use to ....................................

5. Before the invention of the electricity, 6. Before the invention of the bar code,
people used to ........................................... people used to ...........................................
people didn’t use to .................................... people didn’t use to ....................................

7. Before the invention of the ATM, 8. Before the invention of the e-mail,
people used to ........................................... people used to ...........................................
people didn’t use to .................................... people didn’t use to ....................................

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