Teacher Guide
To complete the crossword the students need to convert each verb given into the past tense. It is a good opportunity to note the irregular verbs and to help the students take note of the spelling of some of the less intuitive forms, such as 'thought' and 'took'. Have them answer the questions with complete sentences by first underlining the verb in the question that will need to be converted into the past in the response.
It's also useful to point out how we often use the word 'did' to form questions about the past and when we do, we use the verb in the present tense.
10 mins - Conversation Starter: Birthday Memories
Begin the lesson with a discussion about birthdays. Ask students, What did you do to celebrate your last birthday? Encourage them to talk about their party, what they ate, and who they celebrated with. Guide them to use the simple past naturally in their responses. If students struggle, provide examples like, I had a party with my friends. We ate cake and played games. To keep the conversation flowing, ask follow-up questions such as What was the best part? Did anything unexpected happen?
05 mins - Revision: Simple Past Catch
Divide the class into two teams. Each team must think of 10 verbs in the present tense and write them down. Team 1 will throw a verb to Team 2, who must change it to the simple past to earn a point. If Team 2 answers incorrectly, Team 1 can steal the point by providing the correct past tense form. To make it more challenging, ask students to use the past verb in a sentence before earning a point.
15 mins - Activity/Game: Group Storytelling
Give students the following writing prompt: “Yesterday while I was at the park, I saw a dog with two heads!” As a class, create a story together, with each student adding one sentence. Guide them to use the simple past and linking expressions like first, then, next, after, finally. Encourage creativity—What did the dog do? Who else saw it? If students need help, provide an example: Then, the dog barked loudly, and everyone in the park looked at it!
20 mins - Worksheet: 03 Simple Past - ‘Did you…?’
Hand out a worksheet where students will practice forming and answering past simple questions using “Did you…?”. Pair them up so they can quiz each other before completing the worksheet. Encourage them to answer in full sentences instead of just saying yes or no.
25 mins - Test: 03 Reading Practice - Part 1
Begin by asking students to predict what the reading text might be about based on the title or a short introduction. While reading, students should underline all past tense verbs they find. After reading, discuss any difficult words and ask comprehension questions. This section helps students become familiar with past tense usage in longer texts.
10 mins - Warm Down: What Did You Learn?
To close the lesson, ask students to share one thing they learned today. You can also play a quick exit challenge by asking a student one final question in the simple past before they leave. For example: What did you eat for breakfast?
05 mins - Homework Option: “Dear Diary…”
Ask students to write a short diary entry about something fun they did recently. It can be about school, the weekend, or a trip. Remind them to use the past tense and try to include details about what happened.
00 mins - Mica eLearning
Remind students to continue their Mica eLearning course at home. They should review today’s topic and complete any extra exercises available online.
Part 1:
Across:
2) was
4) had
6) took
8) learned
10) read
12) did
14) went
16) asked
Down:
1) ran
3) talked
5) studied
7) walked
9) drove
11) played
13) called
15) thought
Part 2: possible answers
1) I did five exams in May.
2) Yes, I studied English last year.
3) I went to London on holiday last summer.
4) Last year I bought a camera.
5) I arrived by car to my English lesson today.