By 

Kenneth Beare
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Updated on January 02, 2019

Learning the basic structure and usage of the past continuous is

usually not that difficult for most students. Unfortunately, this
is not the case when it comes to actively integrating the past
continuous into everyday conversations or written
communications. This lesson is aimed at helping students
actively use the past continuous in speaking and writing. This is
done through the use of the past continuous as a descriptive
tense to "paint a picture" in words of the moment when
something important occurred.

Aim
To increase active usage of the past continuous

Activity
Speaking activity followed by a gap fill exercise and creative
writing

Level
Intermediate

Outline
 Begin teaching the past continuous by telling a story with
exaggerated details through the use of the past continuous.
For example: "I remember that day well. The birds were
singing, the sun was shining, and the children were
playing games peacefully. At that moment, I saw Alex and
fell in love." Point out how the past continuous is used to
paint a picture of the scene.
  Quickly review the past continuous structure with the
class. Go over differences in usage between the past simple
and past continuous. Point out that the past continuous
focuses on a specific moment in the past.
 Write various examples on the board of sentences
combining the past simple and past continuous to
illustrate the idea of an interrupted past. For example, "I
was walking through the park when I met David." Ask
students to comment on what function the past
continuous plays in the example sentences.
 Have students divide into small groups of 3-4.
 Ask students to complete the activity by providing an
appropriate response with the past continuous to describe
an action that was interrupted.
 Next, have students first conjugate verbs in the past
simple to complete the story. Next, ask them to insert past
continuous clauses into the appropriate place in the story.
 Correct this exercise as a class. Make sure to note
differences between the past continuous and past simple
as you review.
 Ask students to complete the written exercise focusing on
a special day in their lives.
 Once they've written their paragraph, ask students to find
a partner. Each student should read their paragraph and
ask questions to check to understand. 

Interrupted Actions
Use the verb suggestion to complete the sentence with an
appropriate phrase expressing an interrupted action:

1. I (watch) ____________ when her boss called with a job

offer.
2. My friends (play) _____________ when they felt the
earthquake.
3. When I walked in the door, they children (study)
_________________.
 4. We (eat) _________________ when we heard the
news.
5. My parents (travel) ________________ when I
telephoned that I was pregnant. 

Use of the Past Continuous in Writing

Put the following verbs into the past simple:

Thomas _______ (live) in the small town of Brington. Thomas

_______ (love) walking through the beautiful forest that
surrounded Brington. One evening, he ____ (take) his
umbrella and _____ (go) for a walk in the woods. He ______
(meet) an old man named Frank. Frank _______ (tell)
Thomas that, if he _____ (want) to become rich, he should
invest in a little-known stock called Microsoft. Thomas
______ (think) Frank _____ (be) foolish because Microsoft
____ (be) a computer stock. Everybody _____ (know) that
computers _____ (be) just a passing fad. At any rate, Frank
_______ (insist) that Thomas _____ (be) wrong. Frank
_______ (draw) a wonderful graph of future possibilities.
Thomas ______ (begin) thinking that maybe Frank ______
(understand) stocks. Thomas _______ (decide) to buy some of
these stocks. The next day, he ______ (go) to the stock
broker's and _____ (buy) $1,000 worth of Microsoft stock.
That _____ (be) in 1986. Today, that $1,000 is worth more
than $250,000!

Improve the Story

Insert the following past continuous fragments into the above
story:

 As Frank was drawing the graph, ...

 ... while he was walking to work,
 it was raining, so...
 While they were discussing the stock, ...
 When he was returning from his walk, ...
 As he was walking through the woods,
Written Exercise
1. Write a description of an important day in your life.
Include the most important events that occurred during
that day in the past simple. Once you have written the
important events using the past simple, try to include a
description of what was happening at some of the specific
moments when those events occurred to provide more
details.
2. Write out a few questions about your important day. Make
sure to include a few questions in the past continuous. For
example, "What was I doing when I found out about the
job?"
3. Find a partner and read your story twice. Next, ask your
partner your questions and discuss.
4. Listen to your partner's story and answer their questions. 

WORKSHEET

Fill in the blanks to complete past continuous tense

sentences.
1. He .......... singing a sweet song. (was/were)
2. The girls ................. playing football. (was/were)
3. They ......... going to the cinema tonight. (was/were)
4. My uncle ........... arriving tomorrow. (was/were)
5. We ..........thinking of going to Mussoorie.
(was/were)
6. It .......... getting darker. (was/were)
7. I ....... reading the book. (was/were)
8. She ............. meeting us tonight. (was/were)
9. My children ........... playing outside. (was/were)
10. You ............ gambling in the nearest casino.
(was/were)
 Lesson Plan: The Past Simple and the Past
ContinuousEnglish
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson
teaching students how to use the past simple and the past continuous to talk about
ecotourism and holidays.

Objectives
Students will be able to
 practise the past simple to talk about completed actions in the past,
 use the past continuous to talk about an action that occured in the past for a certain
period of time,
 use the past simple with the past continuous to show a shorter action being
interrupted by a longer action,
 use conjunctions (e.g., while, as, and when), prepositions (e.g., during), and
adverbs (e.g., just) with the past simple and the past continuous,
 understand that stative verbs are not used in the continuous tense.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
 irregular verbs,
 the past simple,
 the present continuous.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
 passive forms.

Lesson Plan: The Past Simple and the Past

ContinuousEnglish
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson
teaching students how to use the past simple and the past continuous to talk about
ecotourism and holidays.

Objectives
Students will be able to
 practise the past simple to talk about completed actions in the past,
 use the past continuous to talk about an action that occured in the past for a certain
period of time,
 use the past simple with the past continuous to show a shorter action being
interrupted by a longer action,
 use conjunctions (e.g., while, as, and when), prepositions (e.g., during), and
adverbs (e.g., just) with the past simple and the past continuous,
 understand that stative verbs are not used in the continuous tense.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
 irregular verbs,
 the past simple,
 the present continuous.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
 passive forms.