Raees Calafato Raees Calafato

Past continuous
Elementary A2-1 Sept 24 2015 level

Description

In this lesson, students do additional practice with regard to the past continuous. There are a series of listening and gap-fill exercises, followed by freer speaking practice and activities.

Materials

No materials added to this plan yet.

Main Aims

  • To provide review and practice of the past continuous tense

Subsidiary Aims

  • To provide accuracy speaking practice in a conversation in the context of two simultaneous or parallel actions

Procedure

Warmer/Lead-in (2-4 minutes) • To set lesson context and engage students

Do some quick introductions. Check SS homework from the previous lesson (2d, p. 13) and correct this with them. Take no longer than a minute for the corrections if possible. Tell the SS about today's lesson plan, i.e. it will be a continuation of the past continuous.

Exposure (8-10 minutes) • To provide context for the target language through a text or situation

Do a quick review of the past continuous (i.e. form, meaning, use timeline if needed to stress duration as opposed to a completed action). Check SS vocabulary for the Olivia's story text, i.e. spaceship, planet, etc. Ask SS to read Olivia's story on p. 14 and answer the questions in section 5a. The students then listen to the rest of the story to check their predictions.

Highlighting (4-6 minutes) • To draw students' attention to the target language

Choose a sentence from Olivia's story and ask SS to point out the past continuous and past simple verbs in the sentence. Draw a timeline for the past and elicit responses as to duration covered by each tense, whether its an action with a certain duration or whether it happens in one moment, and which action interrupts the other. Write down the rule and ask SS to fill in the gaps.

Clarification (6-8 minutes) • To clarify the meaning, form and pronunciation of the target language

As SS to work in pairs and do the gap-fill exercise 6c. Elicit the correct response from each pair.

Highlighting (4-6 minutes) • To draw students' attention to the target language

Highlight 'when' and 'while' in the sentences found in Olivia's story. Ask SS which actions are accompanied by 'while' and which by 'when'. Ask the SS to complete the rule about when/while usage.

Clarification (8-10 minutes) • To clarify the meaning, form and pronunciation of the target language

Ask SS to do exercise 6e in pairs. Have the pairs check answers. Elicit the correct responses from each pair. Now move on to exercise 6f. Ask the pairs to join the sentences in two different ways, using 'when' and 'while'. Ask the pairs to check their answers and then elicit responses from the pairs.

Semi-Controlled Practice (12-14 minutes) • To concept check further and prepare students for free practice

SS play a game of charades where one S picks from a bunch of sentences using a set form of the past simple and past continuous tenses and while/when. The SS take turns reading from the slip of paper and acting out the actions included in the sentence. The other SS try to guess the action using the specific sentence structure contained therein. The teacher will do a demo so that SS are familiar with the game before they participate. Example sentences: I was preparing dinner when I cut my finger, etc.

Free Practice (8-10 minutes) • To provide students with free practice of the target language

The teacher writes down the wh-words (what, where, when) on the board, after which he/she writes down the following pattern: Once, when I was ...-ing, I found/lost/saw... The teacher provides an example (Once, when I was travelling in London, I lost my passport) and then asks SS to ask questions using the wh-words (i.e. what, where, when, etc), e.g. "When did this happen?" or "Were you travelling alone?" SS are asked to write three to four sentences with the same patter and then work in pairs, where they take turns telling each other what they wrote down and asking each other questions containing the wh-words. The teacher monitors and provides correction/feedback during the speaking practice.

Free Practice (Extra) (10-14 minutes) • To provide students with free practice of the target language

The teacher hands out a drawing with two stick figures and conversation bubbles, as if these were in conversation. SS are divided into pairs and the teacher then hands out cutouts of the dialogue to each pair. The dialogue is jumbled up and each pair is asked to put the dialogue in the correct order. The pairs are asked to check their answers with each other and then the teacher asks one student from each pair to come to the front of the class and enact the dialogue. Following this, the teacher asks each pair to come up with their own dialogue, mirroring a similar context, e.g. a broken leg, a person with bad luck, etc.

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