Lesson plan

Name: Rosca Lucretia Cristina

School: Școala Gimnaziala Dobrosloveni
Date: 26.10.2020
Level: Elementary
Class: 8th grade
Time: 50 minutes
Unit: Unit 1d Grammar
Topic: Past simple and past continuous tense
Type of lesson – Consolidation

Aims:

To raise Ss’ awareness of the English language;

To use correctly grammar in different communicational situations;
To talk about past using Past simple tense and Past continuous tense;
To stimulate students’ imagination and creativity;
To identify and compare linguistic aspects between English and Romanian.
To discern the meaning/use distinction between the simple past and the past
continuous..
To use the past continuous meaningfully in spoken interaction.

Materials:
Blackboard, laptop, worksheets, ball of thread, picture

Skills involved: reading, speaking, listening and writing

Class management: individual work, pair work

Anticipated problems and possible solutions:

If Ss do not understand the oral commands or the tasks, they will be translated into
Romanian
Activity 1 Warm-up Inter Tim
actio ing
Aim: To create a pleasant atmosphere and to relax the Ss n
To get Ss involved in the topic T-Ss
Procedure: Ss-T 2
1. Informal conversation, greetings min
2. Check if there are students missing

Activity 2- Checking the Previous Knowledge

Aim- to check their previous acquisition. T-Ss 5

Procedure: Ss-Ss min
T asks the Ss » Did you have anything to learn for today?
(the Ss had to revise the list of irregular verbs and the regular verbs)
» Playing the Ball of thread game. Ss are familiar with this kind of revision so they
feel comfortable using the ball of thread when answering to the colleague’s
questions .T starts the activity by throwing the ball to a student and asking him/her
the infinitive of a verb and the S gives the past form of the verb. Then, the student
throws the ball to another one asking him/her about the past form of another verb
and so on. When a S doesn’t know the answer the ball is thrown back and the S sits
down. The result of the activity is a spider web The Ss who hold the thread are
congratulated by the T and the ones that didn’t know the answers are encouraged to
keep trying .

Activity 3 Lead in
T-Ss 10
Aim: to introduce the theme of the lesson –Past Simple and Continuous- Ss-T min
Consolidation
Procedure: To set up a framework of the lesson and activate schemata, T begins by
asking some of the students the following question: “What did you do last
weekend?”Before proceeding,T writes the question down on the board. While eliciting
responses from the students, T will make sure that the simple past form is properly
used.For example:
T: What did you do last weekend, Radu?
S1: I saw a movie.
This conversation will continue to include other Ss.T lists up the answers on the left
side of the board, underlining the verbs in the simple past form.
Then, T proceeds to ask another question, using the past continuous: “What were you
doing at eight o’clock yesterday evening?”A few of the students may be able to answer
this question, using the past progressive properly (e.g., “I was watching TV.”). But it is
likely that many of them fail to do so; some use the simple past (e.g., “I watched TV.”),
while others attempt to use the past continuous but omit the auxiliary BE (e.g., “I
watching TV.”). T would provide negative feedback, using recasts (e.g., “You were
watching TV, right?”), to make the students aware of the past continuous form.T lists
up the answers on the right side of the board, underlining the verbs in the past
continuous form.
 Thus, example sentences of the simple past and the past progressive are
elicited from the students and presented for comparison on the board .

» Then she asks the Ss to remember the use of the Simple Past
Use: we use the Simple Past to talk about completed actions in the past.
T uses the written sentences as an example for the Ss
T asks the Ss : Can you identify the tense in the examples?
The Ss recognize the Past Continuous tense.
What do we use it for?
Use: we use the Past Continuous tense to talk about actions which were in progress
at a particular moment in the past.
The actions can be:
interrupted – when …
Happening at the same time – while…or as I……..
Activity 4 Written Practice 5mi
Tn
Aim: Consolidation -Ss
Procedure: T asks the Ss to have a look at the following sentences and to complete S
them on their handouts. (Appendix 1). Ss solve the task and after that, they are s-Ss
asked to read the sentences and correct if necessary.

Activity 5 Oral Practice

Aim: To use correctly grammar in different communicational situations
Procedure: 7
T adds the following example sentences for T-Ss min
further illustration of the distinction between Past Ss-T
Simple and Continuous

The dog drowned in the river. The dog was

drowning in the river.

T asks the Ss to look at a picture. Example of conversation:

T: Look at this picture. Poor dog. This picture was taken yesterday. Which sentence do
you think describes this picture better? Here the dog drowned in the sea? Or here the
dog was drowning in the sea? In which sentences the action complete? Also, to which
sentence do you think you can add “but someone jumped into the water and saved the
dog”?The possible answers would be:
S: Ah, probably, …“The dog was drowning in the sea.”
T: Yes, exactly. When the dog drowned, can you save the dog?
S: No.
T: Why?
S: The dog drowned. The dog is dead.
T: Yes, when the dog drowned, the action is complete. That is, the dog is dead now.
But when the dog was drowning, the action was not yet complete at least at that time.
So, what is the meaning of the simple past and the past progressive? What’s the main
difference?
S: Ah,…finished or not?
T: Yes, exactly. When you describe a complete action, you should use the simple past.
But when you describe an incomplete action at a certain time in the past, you should
use the past progressive. The Ss liked the exercise very much and answer to the
questions on spot.

Activity 6 Reading comprehension

Aim: to practice reading comprehension and identify the verbs form the text
Procedure: The T give the Ss handouts with a text asks the Ss to read the text from
the handout (Appendix 2) T-Ss 7mi
Ss-T n
The T asks the Ss to identify and underline the verbs in the past simple and past
continuous in the text.

Activity 6 Story Maker

Aim: to make stories using Past Simple and Continuous

Ss-Ss
T-Ss 12m
Procedure: T divides the Ss into group of 4 students each. Then T asks the Ss to
in
pay close attention to the given clues... They have to make short stories using the
Past simple and Past Continuous using the clues. They are told to use ‘’when’ ’and
‘’while’’ If the Ss don’t understand words or tasks, they ask the T for help.
(Appendix 3).
After solving the task each team names a leader to read the stories to the whole the
class. All Ss pay attention to the other group’s stories and wait for their turn.

 Due to medical conditions the students will work alone.

Activity 7 Homework Assignment T-Ss
2
The Ss are assigned to write a short strange story using the two tenses. min
The T congratulates the class and grades the best students.
Appendix 1:

Complete the following sentences with the correct form of the verbs in brackets.
Use past Simple or Continuous:

1. I was picking fresh vegetables when it (start)...................................to rain.

2. Elaine was still working on her project last night when the phone (ring)
………….and interrupted her.
3. We (visit)……………………….the Zoo when a tiger escaped from its cage.
4.Mother(cook)……………………………..while I was having a shower.
5. Jessica was playing tennis while Tom (play)………………………football.

Appendix 2

Read the text carefully and underline the verbs in the Past simple and
continuous.

A Strange Experience

Last month I was on holiday in Ireland with my mum and dad. One day, were
driving through a small village. It was time for lunch, so we stopped at a
restaurant.

It was a large, old building. We looked through the window. There were lots of
people in the restaurant. They were eating, drinking and chatting. A musician was
playing the violin. But there was something strange about the people. They weren’t
wearing normal, modern clothes. They were wearing hats, jackets and dresses from
another century. We couldn’t understand it. But we were hungry, so we opened the
door.

When we went into the restaurant, everything was different. The people were
wearing normal clothes. The musician wasn’t there… the music was on CD. It was
a very strange experience.

Appendix 3

Team A
Make short stories using the clues below:

1. shop/ for clothes/ department store

2. wait to pay/ man steal my purse
3. security guard/ watch on video camera/ see everything
4. arrest the man/ leave the store

Team B
Make short stories using the clues below:

1. walk/ in the park/my friend Julie

2. sit on a bench to have a rest/ a woman fall on the ground
3. a doctor/ run in the park/ see what happened
4. give the woman first aid/ an ambulance arrive/ take the woman to the
hospital

Team C
Make short stories using the clues below:

1. I Play/ football/ my friends.

2. Play /Tom/fall/on the grass/break his glasses.
3. Everybody/stop/game/.
4. Doctor/come/see/if he /hurt

Team D
Make short stories using the clues below:
1. On the morning/leave/London/it rain/
2. When I step/off the plane in Greece, it was a beautiful day
3. The sun/shine/and a cold wind/blow/
4. It/be/a sunny day/
.