Simple

 Past  Tense  Lesson:  Message  in  a  Bottle  

 
Grade  and  Level:  Middle  School  (Grade  7-­‐9)     ESL  level:  2-­‐2.5  
 
Class  time:  2/40min  classes.  
 
Objective:  To  engage  students  in  practicing  their  knowledge  of  the  simple  past  
tense  forms  of  words  in  an  applied  way,  and  then  completing  a  written  activity  to  
demonstrate  their  understanding.  
 
Time   Outline   Students   Teacher  
10mins   Simple  past   Read  sentences  on  the   On  the  board  write  
tense  review   board  and  think  pair  share   sentences  with  the  
about  what  words  are   simple  past  tense.  
used  in  the  simple  past    
tense.  E.g.     Instruct  students  to  
1. Violet  kicked  the   think  pair  share  about  
ball  hard.   the  words  that  are  in  
2. Felix  went  and   the  simple  past  tense  
looked  for  the  lost   form.  
treasure.    
  Underline  the  students’  
Students  call  out  words  in   answers  in  the  
the  simple  past  tense  form   sentences.  
for  the  teacher  to  write  on    
the  board.     Ask  students  to  call  out  
words  using  the  past  
simple  tense  form  and  
write  a  list  on  the  
board.  E.g.  moved,  saw,  
put,  cut,  took  etc.  
30mins   What  would  you   Individually  students   Ask  students  to  
do  if…   think  about  what  they   imagine  they  are  
would  do  if  they  were   stranded  on  a  deserted  
stranded  on  a  deserted   island.    Ask  them  to  
island.  (They  can  take   think  about  what  they  
notes  to  help  them   would  do.  E.g.  What  
remember.)   would  you  eat?  Where  
  would  you  sleep?  
In  pairs  students  share   Would  you  try  to  
what  they  would  do  on  the   escape?  
island  and  tell  the  story  in    
simple  past  tense  form.   Ask  students  in  pairs  to  
share  what  they  did  on  
the  island  with  their  
Linsie  Kolshuk  
www.mskolshuk.com  
“Facilitating  Thought  and  Expression”  
 partner  using  the  
simple  past  tense  form.  
40mins   Message  in  a   Individually  students  are   Introduce  activity  and  
Bottle  Activity   given  a  handout  with  the   put  comic/pictures  on  
start  of  a  story  already   the  classroom  screen.  
written  in  simple  past   • A  bottle  has  
tense  and  blank  lines   been  found  with  
where  the  rest  of  the  story   the  start  of  a  
will  be  written.  They  are   journal  and  
to  complete  the  story   pictures  inside.  
according  to  the   Write  the  rest  of  
comic/pictures  on  the   the  journal  
screen,  continuing  to  use   based  on  what  
the  past  simple  tense.   the  pictures  
show.  
 
Circulate  and  provide  
support  as  needed.  
 
Review  student’s  work  
as  they  finish.  
Extension   Podcast  Reading   Students  make  a  recording   Teacher  supports  
Lesson  of   of  their  story  that  will  be   students  to  make  a  
20+mins.   made  into  an  MP3  file.   podcasts;  computer  
room,  classroom  
computer  etc.  
 
Assessment:  
 
Message  in  a  Bottle  Grading  
Criteria   Grade  
Past  simple  tense  words  have  been  used  and  underlined  to  show  your    
understanding.  
The  journal  has  been  completed  with  all  pictures  included  in  the  story.    
The  journal  was  neatly  written  and  could  be  understood.    
Podcast  included  the  whole  journal  and  could  be  clearly  understood.    
  /16  
0-­‐Missing   3-­‐Well  done  
1-­‐Needs  more  work   4Excellent    
2-­‐Good  start  
 
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Linsie  Kolshuk  
www.mskolshuk.com  
“Facilitating  Thought  and  Expression”