Mastering the Past: Simple and Continuous Tenses

Mastering the Past: Simple and Continuous Tenses

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson, you will be able to confidently use and identify the differences between the past simple and past continuous tenses.

Introduce the lesson objective and what students will be able to do by the end of the lesson.

What do you already know about the differences between the past simple and past continuous tenses?

Past Simple

The past simple is used for a completed action in the past. It is formed with the base form of the verb + -ed (regular verbs) or the second form of the verb (irregular verbs). Example: I walked to school yesterday.

Explain the concept of the past simple tense and provide an example.

Past Continuous

The past continuous is used for an action that was in progress at a specific time in the past. It is formed with 'was/were' + verb + '-ing'. Example: I was walking to school yesterday when it started raining.

Explain the concept of the past continuous tense and provide an example.

Signal Words

Signal words can help identify which tense to use. For past simple, common signal words include yesterday, last night, and ago. For past continuous, common signal words include when, while, and as.

Introduce signal words that can help indicate which tense to use.

Practice 1

Choose the correct form of the verb: Yesterday, I (walk/was walking) to school when it (started/starts) raining.

Provide a practice activity for students to differentiate between the two tenses.

Practice 2

Rewrite the sentence in the past continuous: She opened the door and saw the surprise party.

Provide a practice activity for students to rewrite a sentence in the past continuous tense.

Common Mistakes

A common mistake is using the past continuous for a completed action in the past. For example, 'I was walking to school yesterday' should be 'I walked to school yesterday.'

Address common mistakes students might make when using the two tenses.

Final Thoughts

Remember to use the past simple for completed actions in the past and past continuous for actions that were in progress at a specific time in the past.

Summarize the lesson and provide final thoughts on how to use the two tenses.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.