Textbooks often don´t offer enough speaking practice.
If the book is good it gives you two speaking activities per unit and nothing more.
Then the teacher has to search high and low to find some more.
To make the search shorter, I share three speaking activities you can use to practise the past simple tense. In these activities, your students will use regular verbs, irregular verbs and questions in the past simple tense.
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Elementary students often struggle with verbs. They know very few of them and this deficit becomes obvious at the moment they start learning the past simple tense. To help them I created the following post where I try to teach 22 frequent verbs and their past tense.
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In this post, you can find an infographic with all the verbs and four games to learn the verbs.
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Verbs in the past simple tense – infographic
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Ask your students to study the following infographic. Drill the pronunciation with them and give them about five minutes to memorise the words.
You might ask your students to divide the verbs to regular and irregular verbs, too.
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Verbs in the past simple tense – games
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Then play the following games. If each student has got their own computer, they play on their own. If you use an IWB, ask one student to come to the front of the class and the others try to help him/her.
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[tab]Darts game[/tab]
[tab]Dice game[/tab]
[tab]Time game[/tab]
[tab]Length game[/tab]
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In this games, students should write the verbs. They must divide the verbs with a comma and a space. If they answer correctly they have to stop the dart to get as many points as possible. The highest score they can achieve is 60, if they stop the dart in the triple of the number 20. The aim of this game is to get as many points as possible.
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[su_button url=”https://engames.eu/Irregular_verbs_past_simple/darts game/index.html” target=”blank” background=”#f56b68″ size=”6″]Darts game – full screen[/su_button]
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In this games, students should write the verbs. They must divide the verbs with a comma and a space. If they answer correctly they have to stop the dice to get as many points as possible. They get one point for each point on the dice and they get 10 points bonus if the dice show the same number.
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[su_button url=”https://engames.eu/past tense verbs/dice/index.html” target=”blank” background=”#f56b68″ size=”6″]Dice game – full screen[/su_button]
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In this game, student write the verbs. They must divide the verbs with a comma and a space. If they answer correctly, they have to guess how long is the line on the screen. The better their guess is the more points they get.
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[su_button url=”https://engames.eu/past tense verbs/length/index.html” target=”blank” background=”#f56b68″ size=”6″]Length game[/su_button]
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In this game, student write the verbs. They must divide the verbs with a comma and a space. If they answer correctly, they have to stop the countdown when it reaches zero. The closer to zero they get the more points they get.
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[su_button url=”https://engames.eu/past tense verbs/time/index.html” target=”blank” background=”#f56b68″ size=”6″]Guess the time game[/su_button]
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Which game do you like best
Irregular verbs are an evergreen in TEFL. There are a lot of them and students have to memorise them. There seems to be no way around it. However, I still try to come up with something that will make this hard work easier for my students. And this time I try to teach 31 irregular verbs in two lessons using simple rhymes.
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In this post you can find a worksheet with the short rhymes, an interactive quiz where students can practise their knowledge of irregular verbs, an interactive game and a worksheet with two exercises. I hope you find the activities interesting, useful and effective.
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Irregular verbs – rhymes
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Start the lesson with the following rhymes. The verbs are organised into rhyming sets and a simple short story is added. This should help the students remember the irregular verbs.
In the lesson, ask the students to read the rhymes aloud. Then translate the stories and tell them to memorise 4 of them. In the following lesson check that they have learnt the rhymes and ask them to memorise the rest of the rhymes.
Here you can find the pdf file with the rhymes for easier printing:
Irregular verbs rhymes
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Irregular verbs – worksheet
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Once your students learn the rhymes, it is time to concentrate only on the irregular verbs. Print out the following worksheet:
In the first exercise students should complete the mind map with the verbs they remember from the rhymes. They have to write the verbs only on the branches belonging to the appropriate rhyme. Check their answers.
In the second task students have to write the past tense and past participle of the verbs given.
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Irregular verbs – quiz
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The following quiz can help your students practise the irregular verbs either at school or at home. The quiz consists of two parts. In the first part, students should write the past tense and the past particples of the verbs. In the second part, students have to drag the correct verbs into the sentences. The students will be rewarded with a game after each part of the quiz they pass. The quiz is in HTML5, so it will play on all desktops and mobile devices.
[su_button url=”https://engames.eu/irregular_verbs/Irregular verbs rhymes quiz (Web)/index.html” target=”blank” background=”#f56b68″ size=”6″]Irregular verbs – quiz[/su_button]
I think that your students will love usind the following game. Their task is to click the correct past tense and past participle. While the first round is easy, the others are very difficult indeed.
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[su_button url=”http://www.classtools.net/widgets/quiz_77/Vocabulary_game_iqBGs.htm” target=”blank” background=”#f56b68″ size=”6″]Irregular verbs – games[/su_button]
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Irregular verbs – links
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You can find a list and several interactive activities at British Council site.
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Irregular verbs – your opinion
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Which post on irregular verbs is the best?
It is really important that students learn to form questions in the past simple tense. If they don’t, they won’t be able to ask about the things that happened in the past. And as most conversations deal with the things that already happened it is vital to be able to ask about the details they are interested in.
In this post I would like to help you teach your students form questions in the past simple tense using the auxiliary DID. This post will not deal with the verb TO BE in the past tense. You can find a post on the verb TO BE in questions here.
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You will find here two videos, an infographic and several interactive exercises. I hope you like it.
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Question words
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Before dealing with questions in the past tense, it is important to revise the question words with your students. It is shocking how many students struggle with such a simple, yet crucial, thing.
First play the video and ask the students to watch and say the question words – best before they see them on the screen.
Then, cut the following worksheet into five stripes and ask the students to write the appropriate question words there.
[su_button url=”https://engames.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Wh-questions-worksheet.pdf” target=”blank” background=”#f56b68″ size=”6″]Wh question words worksheet[/su_button]
Now you can move to forming questions in the past simple tense.
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Forming questions in past tense – explanation
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Start the explanation with eliciting the affirmative sentences formation. Explain that there is one basic rule in English and it is called SVOMPT. All English sentences have to follow this rule. At the beginning there is a subject and it is followed by a verb and then there is the rest of the sentence.
If you use the following infographic ask the students to fold the paper, so they can see only the last three rectangles.
To form a question in the past tense, just add DID at the beginning of the sentence and put the verb into its basic form. If you want to get a more complex answer, put a question word at the beginning. And there you are. Now you can form questions in the past simple tense.
Here you can see a video on how to form questions in the past simple tense.
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Forming questions in Past simple tense – games
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The following quiz can help your students practise forming questions in the past tense. They can do it either at school or at home. The quiz consists of two parts. In the first part, students should match the beginnings and ends of the questions. In the second part, students have to write the questions in the past simple tense. The students will be rewarded with a game after each part of the quiz they pass. The quiz is in HTML5, so it will play on all desktops and mobile devices.
[su_button url=”https://engames.eu/questions in past tense/Questions Past tense (Web)/index.html” target=”blank” background=”#f56b68″ size=”6″]Questions in the past simple tense – quiz[/su_button]
Teaching irregular verbs in context is not only useful, but rewarding too. A short story attracts the attention of students and can be used in many communicative activities. Unfortunately, there are not many short stories which can be easily used for teaching the past tense.
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Luckily, my friend Lynne Blackburn sent me a nice short story to use here. With this post you can teach 8 irregular verbs and practise the past tense of regular verbs. There are many interesting activities which will make it easier for you to teach and for your students to learn. In this post you will find a video, a worksheet, a picture and an interactive exercise. I hope you will find them useful and interesting.
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Irregular verbs in context – the story
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Here is the story. First, ask your students to have a look at the picture and figure out what happened.
Once, you think the students have had enough of guessing, play the following video.
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Irregular verbs in context – the worksheet
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After watching the video, it is time to start using the worksheet. Download the following worksheet and print one copy for everyone.
Ask the students to translate the words in exercise one. They can use dictionaries or their mobile phones to do this.
Then ask the students to read the story again and answer the comprehension questions. You can find the correct answers in the key at the end of the worksheet.
In the third exercise students should complete the text with the correct verbs in the past tense. They can do so either in writing or orally.
The fourth exercise is called Grammar Up. You can find detailed instructions for this exercise in the following video:
In the fifth exercise students should complete the sentences with the correct conjunction. The correct answers are again in the key.
In the sixth exercise students should match the opposites.
In the seventh exercise students should find nine verbs in the past tense.
In the last exercise students should retell the story.
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Irregular verbs in context – online quiz
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Your students can practise the grammar at home or on their mobile devices in the following online quiz:
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[su_button url=”https://engames.eu/grammar/irregular verbs/Past simple story – first day (Web)/index.html” target=”blank” background=”#f08cf5″ size=”6″]Irregular verbs – interactive quiz[/su_button]
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Irregular verbs in context – other posts
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If you would like to use more stories like this, you could try the following:
- Irregular verbs in context – Scream
- Irregular verbs in context 1
- Teach 9 irregular verbs in one lesson
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Irregular verbs in context – links
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If you would like more practice with irregular verbs, the British Council has a great site.
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Irregular verbs in context – share
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If you do not have an internet connection at school, you can download the video and online quiz here. Unpack the files and find the index.html and play the quiz.
I have already published several posts on past simple tense. There are several posts on irregular verbs, a post on regular verbs in past tense and now I would like to explain how to make negative sentences in past simple. It is quite simple – you just add DIDN´T and the infinitive. To help you and your students absorb this concept there are two games and a graphical explanation.
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Past tense negatives – video
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In this short video a man ends up in prison because his grammar is bad. The aim of this video is to introduce the basic forms of negatives in past tense.
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Past tense negatives – mind map
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In this mind map you can see how the past tense negatives are formed. There is the explanation and below there is a mind map depicting three frequently asked questions and their answers.
If you are a teacher it might be a good idea to let the students deduce the rules and complete the table. However, beware that this way of teaching is not suitable for weaker students.
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Past tense negatives – games
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I firmly believe that practice makes perfect. If you practice the things you will understand the things better. That is why I think that students should go through the following games at least twice or three times.
The first game is in HTML5. Your task is to choose the correct form and if you pass the test you will play the game called Tower defence. This game will play on all mobile devices.
If you want to play the game on the full screen, click below:
[su_button url=”https://engames.eu/grammar/past_tense_negative/Past tense negatives (Web)/index.html” target=”blank” background=”#771f9b” size=”6″]Past tense negative – Tower defence[/su_button]
The second game will play only on your desktop. It is called a Penalty Shoutout and once you choose the correct option you will get a chance to kick a penalty. Will you score all ten penalties? Good luck.
[su_button url=”https://engames.eu/grammar/past_tense_negative/Past tense negative penalty.html” target=”blank” background=”#771f9b” size=”6″]Past tense negative – Penalty shootout[/su_button]
Teaching of past tense always starts with the verbs was and were, and then the regular verbs are introduced. And in the end, the students learn that there are over 200 irregular verbs which they have to learn. I have posted several articles on irregular verbs and on past tense in general. However, this is the first article that deals with regular verbs only.
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In this post I would like to explain all the grammar about regular verbs in a mind map and then there are three games to practise the past tense of regular verbs. I hope you will find the article interesting and useful.
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Regular verbs – Past tense – Mind map
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In this graphical explanation I try to depict the thinking process the students should go through. They should start at the top of the mind map and check, whether the verb fulfills any of the conditions (ends with -e, ends with -ry etc.) If the answer is yes then they have to follow the rules after the condition. If all the answers are NO then they just add the ending -ed.
Then the mind map shows the top ten regular verbs in past tense and then there is the explanation of the pronunciation.
The mind map does not explain only one thing. How do you know that the verb is regular?
There is just one answer to this question. You have to learn all the irregular verbs and then all the verbs that are not irregular are regular. 🙂
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Regular verbs – Past tense – Games
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In this section there are two HTML5 games which will play on every device and one that will play only on desktops.
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The first HTML5 game is called Tower defence. Your task is to write the past tense of all the verbs and if you pass the quiz you will be given a chance to play the game called Tower defense. Once you lose the game, please do not play again, as you will never win the game again. You have to take the test again and only then you will have a chance to win.
To play the game on the full screen please click below:
[su_button url=”https://engames.eu/grammar/regular_verbs/Regular verbs – past tense – Tower defence (Web)/index.html” target=”blank” background=”#771f9b” size=”6″]Regular verbs – Tower defense[/su_button]
In the second HTML5 game you have to put the verbs in the story into the correct form. I hope you will like the stories 🙂
To play the game on the full screen please click below:
[su_button url=”https://engames.eu/grammar/regular_verbs/Regular verbs past tense (Web)/index.html” target=”blank” background=”#771f9b” size=”6″]Regular verbs – Angry Farmer[/su_button]
The last game is in FLASH and it will play only on desktops. It is called Hoopshoot and your task is to choose the correct form and then score a basket.
[su_button url=”https://engames.eu/grammar/regular_verbs/Regular verbs_hoopshoot.html” target=”blank” background=”#771f9b” size=”6″]Regular verbs – Hoopshoot[/su_button]