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Session 31: Past tense

Session Title

Past tense

Objective

By the end of the session, students will be able to:


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  • Understand what Simple Past Tense is.

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Identify regular and a few irregular past tense verbs.

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Form and use simple past tense sentences.

Topics/Concept

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 Understanding simple past tense

- 

Identifying regular and irregular Verbs

- 

Forming and using past tense sentences

Material Required

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  1. Slips of paper with regular and irregular verbs

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Small box or bowl

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Board and chalk

Methodology

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 Activity-based learning

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Constructive approach

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Collaborative learning

Session Duration

 90 Minutes

Intro  Activity (15

minutes)

     
 

      “Yesterday,I….”! (15 minutes)


1.

  Students want to sit in a circle 


2.

 The first student starts by saying a sentence beginning with:  

   “Yesterday, I…” and completes it with an activity using a past tense verb.  


   Example:  

-   “Yesterday, I played football.”

 -  “Yesterday, I ate mangoes.”


3.

    The next student must repeat the previous sentence(s) and add their own.  

        Example:  

     -  “Yesterday, I played football, and I watched TV.”


    4.

     Continue around the circle. Each student adds one more sentence to the chain, using a new past tense verb.


    5.

     If someone forgets or makes a mistake, offer support and gently correct the tense if needed.



    Main Topic/ Activity (60 minutes)

         

                                What is Past Tense?

    (20 minutes)

     


                                    

      The past tense is used to talk about something that already happened. It tells us about actions or events that took place before now — yesterday, last week, or even just a minute ago!



       Types of Past Tense Verbs:


      1. Regular Verbs – We just add -ed- at the end.

       -  walk → walked  

       -   jump → jumped  

       -  clean → cleaned  


      2. Irregular Verbs – The spelling changes completely or doesn't follow a rule.

       -   go → went  

       -  eat → ate  

       -  buy → bought  


       Give them more examples of irregular verbs

                     

                                      Story Time

      (20 minutes)

       


                            

      ●

        Tell the students that the story you are telling about is something that happened yesterday.


         Story = “Raju’s Busy Day”Day”


        –  Yesterday, Raju woke up early. He brushed his teeth and ate a banana. Then, he packed his bag and ran to school. At school, he wrote a test and drew a picture in art class. After school, he played with his friends and came home tired. He watched TV, read a book, and finally, he slept.


        -

        Write this story on the board and call students to underline past tense verbs on the board." 


        Purpose

        - Purpose:: Children connect deeply with stories. When a story is told in the past tense, it provides a natural, engaging way to introduce and reinforce past tense verb forms without a heavy grammar focus.

                               Charades: Past Tense Edition

        (20 minutes)

         


                                        

        -

           Write a mix of regular and irregular past tense verbs on small pieces of paper.


          -

           Fold and place them in a bowl or container.


          -

           Divide the class into two teams.


          -

           One student from Team A comes up and picks a slip from the bowl.


          -

          The student then has 30 seconds to act out the verb without speaking.


          -

           Their team tries to guess the verb in past tense (e.g., “danced”, not “dance”).


          -

           If the team guesses correctly within the time, they score a point.


          -

           If not, the other team gets one chance to guess and steal the point!


          -

           Then it’s Team B’s turn, and the game continues.


          • Example Verbs to Include:

          - Regular:Regular: walked, cooked, cleaned, smiled, jumped, clapped 

          - Irregular:Irregular: ate, went, ran, drank, sang, wrote, slept, drove  


             *

          The team with the most correct guesses at the end of the game wins!



          Expected Learning  Outcome:

          Knowledge building-


          1. Identify the concept of past tense and recognize when to use it in everyday situations.  


          2. Use regular and irregular verbs in simple past tense form while speaking and writing short sentences.  


          3. Differentiate between regular and irregular past tense verb forms (e.g., played vs ate).  


          Skill building


           - Charades:past tense edition helps students verbally guess past tense verbs ("You danced!").  


           - Peer interaction and group problem-solving. 

           

           - By story time activity students collectively identify the past tense verbs.  


          Knowledge building


             - Recognize that past tense describes completed actions(e.g., "Yesterday, I played football").  


             - Differentiate between regular (-ed) and irregular (go→went) verbs.  


          - Identify and use common irregular verbs (ate, bought, wrote).

            

          Review Questions/Assessment/Tasks (10 minutes)


          Fill in the Blanks” board activity:


          - I ___ (go) to school yesterday. → went  

          - She ___ (play) football. → played  

          - They ___ (eat) ice cream. → ate  

          - We ___ (watch) a movie. → watched



          Follow up Tasks (5 minutes)


          Quickly review:

          - Quickly review:

            -

          What are regular verbs?

           - What are irregular verbs?


          - For homework:homework: Ask students to write 5 sentences using simple past tense (3 regular + 2 irregular)

          Review Questions/Assessment/Tasks (10 minutes)

          Fill in the Blanks” board activity:

             I ___ (go) to school yesterday. → went  
            She ___ (play) football. → played  
            They ___ (eat) ice cream. → ate  
            We ___ (watch) a movie. → watched

            Expected Learning  Outcome:

            Knowledge building-

              Identify the concept of past tense and recognize when to use it in everyday situations.  
               Use regular and irregular verbs in simple past tense form while speaking and writing short sentences.  
               Differentiate between regular and irregular past tense verb forms (e.g., played vs ate).  

              Skill building-

                Charades:past tense edition helps students verbally guess past tense verbs ("You danced!").  
                 Peer interaction and group problem-solving.  By story time activity students collectively identify the past tense verbs.  

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