Used to
Upper intermediate level
Description
Materials
Main Aims
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To provide clarification of used to in the context of talking about past states and past habits that no longer exist
Subsidiary Aims
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To provide practice of previously taught adjectives like fit, fat, fair, young, old
Procedure (45-59 minutes)
The teacher shows students a picture of an old woman looking at her younger reflection in the mirror reminiscing about the good old days. T asks Ss to look at the picture for 30 seconds, then describe what they saw to their partners in a minute. T gets feedback from Ss.
T tells Ss that they will be given handouts in which there are pairs of sentences about the picture and that they have 2 minutes to work individually ticking the correct ones and crossing the incorrect ones. In the handout, there are these pairs of sentences: "Mrs. Lee was fit / She's no longer fit." "Mrs. Lee had fair hair / She doesn't have fair hair now." "Mrs. Lee was fat / She is still fat". Before handing them the handouts, T asks ICQs: Are you going to work in pairs or individually? How long will you take to finish the activity? T gives Ss the handouts. T asks Ss to peer check. Then, T checks the answers with the whole class.
T shows the correct pairs of sentences on the board, draws the timeline and asks Ss, Mrs. Lee being fit is a past state or a present state?" "Did it last for a long time or happen once?" "Is she still fit?" T says "Mrs. Lee used to be fit" and drills more than once. T asks Ss, "Mrs. Lee having fair hair is a past state or a present state?" "Did it last for a long time or happen for once?" "Does she have fair hair now?" T says, "Mrs. Lee used to have fair hair" and drills for three times.
T writes the sentences on the board: "Mrs. Lee used to have fair hair" & "Mrs. Lee used to be fit" and draws Ss' attention to the structure of the target language, "used to + inf". T draws Ss' attention to the correct pronunciation of "used to" and shows the transcription of the word. T stresses that "used to + inf" is used to talk about past habits and states that no longer exist.
T tells Ss that they have to do the next activity in pairs filling in the gaps with the correct form of the verb between brackets. Ss have 3 minutes to finish it. T gives Ss handouts with the following sentences: "1- Mrs. Lee used to........(have) fair hair. 2- Mrs. Lee.......(use) to have long hair. 3- Mrs. Lee used to..........(is) fit." After 3 minutes, T shows the sentences on the board and checks the answers with the whole class.
T tells Ss that they will see 3 pictures of old people recollecting past memories and they have to write a sentence about each one of them using "used to". T tells Ss that they have to work individually and that they have 4 minutes to finish it. T shows the pictures on the board: 1- a picture about a bald man who had long hair in the past / 2- a picture about a thin man who was fat when he was younger / 3- a picture about an old woman who was in the habit of smoking but no longer smokes". T asks Ss to peer-check the answers. T checks Ss' answers and gives feedback.
T asks Ss to work in pairs. One of them plays the role of an old grandparent and the other one plays the role of a grandchild. The grandparents are to talk for 3 minutes about their past habits and states to their grandchildren. Then the grandchildren are to tell the others what their grandparents have told them. T asks ICQs before they get started: "Are you going to work in pairs or individually? / Are you going to tell the truth or is it an imaginary situation? How many minutes do you have?" After 3 minutes, T asks grandchildren to tell the others what their grandparents have told them.