Talking about yesterday
A2 level
Description
Materials
Main Aims
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To provide students review and practice in speaking for fluency through talking about their daily routines, by using irregular past tense verbs
Subsidiary Aims
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To give students review and practice in irregular past tense verbs
Procedure (36-51 minutes)
- Divide the classroom into two groups. - Tell the students that you are going to play a game called 'back to the board.' - Explain students that each group will send one 'nominee' to the board, and they will turn their backs to the board. - Explain them that you will write the past tense form of a verb (from the previous lesson,) and each group will help their friend in front of the board, by saying the present form of the verb on the board, so the 'nominees' will try to guess the past form written on WB. - Tell students that the quickest, and the best group wins. - Before the game, ask ICQs to confirm whether they understood what to do (e.g. Are you going to tell your friend the word on the board? No. Is your friend going to look at the board? No. Am I going to write the present form on the board? No.)
- Introduce the new useful vocabulary to the classroom on WB (wake up, throw, fall, take, and come). Try to elicit the past forms from the classroom. Try to elicit one example for each word. - Divide the classroom into three groups. - Tell students that you are going to move, and show what you did yesterday. Tell them that they will use past simple verbs, and they will tell the story for you. Tell them that they have to construct full sentences, and each time they miss a word, they will get a cross for their group. - In order to connect the sentences, use conjunctions and adverbs where needed (e.g. then, because, and, etc.)
- Write on WB the problematic pronunciations of students, Drill the correct pronunciation of the verbs. Ask the pronunciations of tricky irregular verbs such as 'read,' and 'put.'
- Pair the students. - Tell students that they are going to talk about what they did the previous day, and they are going to get information from their partners. - Tell them that note taking is optional (ICQ: Are you going to write down everything? No. What are you going to do? Take small notes.) - For feedback: Tell students that everytime you clap your hands, they will mingle and find another friend, and tell them what they learned about their partner. - Walk around and take notes of errors during the exercise.
- After the exercise, write the errors on WB, and elicit the correct versions of the sentences, and/or correct pronunciations from the classroom.
- Circle the students. - Tell them that you are going to mime/gesture a verb, and they will construct a full sentence using that verb. (ICQ: Are you going to tell the verb? No. Are you going to tell the present form or past form of the verb? Past.) - Tell them that they are going to do the same thing in front of the class one by one, as 'tellers.' - Tell them that everyone should pick only one verb, so a verb will be told only once. - If the classroom is crowded, divide the class into two teams, and explain students that each team will find a verb, and tell the verb to the rival team's 'teller.' - Give students a short time limit to tell as much words as they can to their group members. - If students are short of words, you give them the vocabulary, and turn the exercise into a controlled practice.