Lesson start ideas | Give a creative idea how to begin a lesson |
Which subject | English |
What age group | Year or Grade 6 |
What topic | simple past / ^laying in the playground |
Quantity | 1 |
Any other preferences |
Welcome back, class! Today, we're going to be exploring an exciting topic in English - the simple past tense. To help us get started, we're going to think back to a time when most of us loved nothing more than running around outside with our friends - playtime in the playground!
Before we dive into the lesson, let's do a quick brainstorming activity to get our minds thinking about all the different activities we used to enjoy in the playground. On a piece of paper or in your notebook, jot down as many ideas as you can think of. Here are a few to get you started:
Once you've finished your list, share your ideas with a partner or in a small group. Did anyone think of something you hadn't considered before?
Now that we've got some fun memories of playtime in the playground fresh in our minds, it's time to talk about how we can talk about those experiences in English. We use the simple past tense to talk about things that happened in the past, and we often form it by adding '-ed' to the end of a regular verb. For example:
Let's try it out with our own playground memories. In pairs or groups, take turns sharing a sentence about something you used to do in the playground, using the simple past tense. For example:
To test our understanding of the simple past tense, let's work through a few different activities together.
Use the simple past form of the verb in parentheses to complete each sentence.
Match the sentence beginnings on the left with the correct simple past verb form on the right.
a. ...the slide.
b. ...the jungle gym.
c. ...the field.
Great work today, everyone! We've explored the simple past tense and talked about our favorite memories of playtime in the playground. As you continue to learn and practice English, remember to use the simple past tense when talking about things that happened in the past. See you next time!