TEACHING PAST HABITS / 6th class 174th Primary School of Athens. Teacher: Antigone Bratsoli
Lesson Plan
Class: 6th grade Primary school, 11-12 year olds (4th year of English)
Level: Beginners +
Lesson time: 40 minutes
Materials: Pupil’s book (PB), Unit 5, pp. 50-53, Teacher’s handouts, CD with song downloaded from the internet
] Stage 1-Brainstorming / Pre-reading
Procedure: The class are given handouts with a list of statements which they have to match to decades these statements are representative of (activity ‘Which decade is it?’ on handout).
Objectives: To introduce the topic of the texts which are going to follow and acquaint the ss with the structure to be taught (used to).
Classroom Organization: Whole class.
Interaction: T-Ss, Ss-T.
Time : 5 minutes.
Materials: handout, p.1
] Stage 2- While-reading
Procedure: The class listen to and read the texts in the Pupil’s book (p. 50). The teacher asks comprehension questions and draws the ss’ attention to the use of ‘used to’ in the text. They then proceed to activities B and C on p. 51 in the PB.
Objectives: To help the ss with developing scanning/reading comprehension strategies and check comprehension. Also to provide a context for the use of the structure taught.
Interaction: T-Ss, Ss-T.
Time: 15 minutes.
] Stage 3 – Post reading / Production - Consolidation
Procedure: The class are guided through the grammar section of the Pupil’s book and complete the missing words in activity B on p.52. They are then asked to come up with ‘personal’ ‘used to’ / ‘didn’t use to’ statements where they are expected to talk about past habits of theirs (adaptation of activity B on p. 53 of the PB).
Objectives: To consolidate the use of ‘used to’ through providing a meaningful context (talking about themselves).
Classroom Organization: Individual work.
Interaction: Ss-T.
Time: 5 minutes.
] Stage 4 - Fun Time
Procedure: The class is divided in groups of 4-5 students and each group is handed a set of photocopies of pictures of Mr Fat in the past and now (Pictures from Fun Way English 3, WB, p.68 which the teacher has separated and enlarged before handing out to the ss). The students have to match ‘before’ and ‘now’ and come up with sentences to describe the changes in Mr Fat’s life. The team to come up with the correct pairs and produce the sentences first is the winner. The students then report the ‘past’ and ‘present’ sentences in class.
Objectives: To consolidate production of ‘used to’ and add an element of fun.
Classroom Organization: Group work.
Interaction: Ss-T.
Time: 10 minutes.
Materials: handouts with pictures
] Stage 5 – Listening
Procedure: The students listen to a song (‘The Boy I Used To Know’, by Marie Serneholt), fill in the blanks in the lyrics with ‘used to’ phrases and sing along.
Objectives: To provide a context for the use of the structure taught while creating an enjoyable environment in the classroom.
Classroom Organization: Pair work.
Interaction: Ss-T.
Time: 10 minutes.
Materials: handout, p.2, CD with the song retrieved from https://mp3skull.com/mp3/marie_serneholt_boy_i_used_to_know.html
Note: If more time is available, a pre-listening stage can be introduced where the students can guess from context and rhyming patterns and fill in the blanks before listening to the song. They will then listen to verify their guesses and sing along. This will allow them to develop ‘guessing from context’ strategies while having fun.
Hand out exercises and lyrics of song
δειγματική_28-2-11_Μπρατσόλη_ss' handout.doc (65,5 kB)