Past simple: regular verbs

Objective & content

This grammar sheet teaches the past simple of regular verbs in positive sentences: -ed (played, watched), only -d after -e (baked), y to ied (studied) and the double letter in short verbs (stopped), with yesterday, last Saturday, two days ago and in 2019. Pupils read Hattie's diary of her weekend, find the missing verbs and read the rule, given in a box. By the end, they can write the past form of a regular verb with the right spelling and say what people did.

Pedagogical guide

Page 1 is the diary, with a picture of Hattie: on Saturday it rained, she baked a cake for her grandma's birthday with her dad, and her little brother dropped his ice cream on the floor; on Sunday she walked to the park with her friend Esme and watched a football match. Pupils find nine missing verbs in sentences from the diary. Then they read the rule, given in a box in short lines: -ed after the verb, the same form with every person, the spelling rules (verbs in -e, in -ay, -ey and -oy, other verbs in -y, short verbs like stop) and past time words. Page 2 has ten sentences where the time word decides between the present and the past, ten verbs to write in the past with the right spelling, and four sentences to change from today to yesterday. Page 3 has nine sentences with the verb in brackets to write in the past, then a crossword of nine past forms: each clue is a sentence with a gap and the verb in brackets. Every exercise opens with a worked example, except the crossword. There are no questions or negatives on the sheet.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Tell the class "Last weekend, I watched a film and I played tennis" and write the verbs on the board.
2. (10 min) Read the diary aloud; pupils find the missing verbs.
3. (5 min) Read the rule in the box with the class; pupils find a verb in the diary for each spelling rule.
4. (10 min) Page 2: present or past, then the spelling task and today and yesterday.
5. (10 min) Page 3: the verbs in brackets, then the crossword.
6. (5 min) Check with the answer key on pages 4 and 5.

Adaptations

[S] Pupils read the diary aloud, one day each, before the tasks.

[A] Pupils write three sentences about their own last weekend with regular verbs.

Materials & prerequisites

One copy of pages 1 to 3 per pupil. Pages 4 and 5 are the answer key, the crossword solution and teacher notes: keep them. Pupils need the present simple, was and were, and the words for free time, food, the family and the weather. To take it further, pupils write a short diary of last weekend for a class display.