Simple Past Stories - ESL Grammar Ideas




The simple past is one of the most important verb tenses in English. 

This simple past activity helps students practice the verb tense and conjugate the verbs.  

Many students have trouble using past tense verbs when speaking in the past. When telling a story, it is common to use a few verbs in the present instead of the past. This is especially true with irregular verbs. This activity will help them fix that issue.

Here are the steps:

1.  Students work in pairs.

2.  Student A tells Student B everything he/she did that day. They key is to be very specific.  For example, 

  • I woke up at 7 am.
  • I made breakfast.
  • I ate breakfast.
  • I had a shower.
  • etc.

3.  Student B writes down every verb mistake Student A makes.  

4.  Students changes places and repeat.

5.  Students share the verb tense mistakes with each other.


You will notice the activity is simple, but it is something students can do every day for 5 minutes. It is also a good activity for homework. The idea is to close the gap between students' grammar abilities and their use of verbs in speaking.

I have made it a routine for students to explain what they did the day before in every class. It is amazing how doing this 5-minute activity each day can lead to dramatic improvements.

Do you have other activities you like to do for the simple past? 




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