UNIT 2 Past

2.1 Gotcha!
Language focus Vocabulary
Simple past of regular and Verbs: meet, buy, see, arrive, go, celebrate, eat, do, get up, come, visit, brush, read, talk, have,
irregular verbs spend, leave, wash, wear, give
Level
Comments
Elementary
The objective of this game is to give learners plenty of wh-questions in the simple past as input, plus
Type an opportunity to practise the simple past of regular and irregular verbs in statements. Even though
Questions and answers it is quite controlled, this activity urges learners to talk about themselves, and to monitor their own
Topic language as well as their peers, as they can only score with accurate answers.

Activities and events

Language output
Interaction
A: Where did you spend your last holiday?
Pairs B: I spent my last holiday on my uncle’s farm.
Time
Procedures
10 minutes
1 Before class, take copies of the worksheet and cut them in half as indicated.
Material
2 Elicit and model the language output by asking students several wh-questions in the simple past
Worksheets A and B, dice
and requiring their answers to be correct, especially with regard to verb form.
(two per pair)
3 Hand out worksheet A to half of the class, and worksheet B to the other half. Pair off students
with worksheets A and B, and give two dice to each pair.
4 Playing the game:
Q The game begins with student B casting the dice and adding the numbers rolled. Then
student A asks the question that corresponds to that total on his or her own worksheet. For
example, if B rolls the dice and they total 8, student A asks question 8 on his or her
worksheet, which is: Where did you spend your last holiday?
Q If student B answers correctly, he or she blasts that question from student A’s worksheet.
Otherwise, that question remains active and can be asked again at some other turn, depending
on the dice. In other words, because incorrect answers are rejected rather than corrected
immediately, players are given an opportunity for self-correction at some other point in the
game.
Q Players take turns doing this. The first player to blast all of the opponents’ questions wins the
game.

Variations
If you want students to practise formulating the questions rather than just reading them, replace the
questions on the worksheets with cues.
Note on material
If you are short of dice, hand out one to each pair and have them roll it twice.

Sample pages from

Games for
Grammar Practice
 Gotcha! 2.1
yesterday?
to school/work mother for Christmas? home yesterday?
A What did you wear What did you give your How did you go

4 3 2

your last holiday? breakfast last Sunday? wash your hair? home this morning?
Where did you spend What did you have for When did you last What time did you leave
8 7 6 5

with last night? last weekend? brush your teeth yesterday? last weekend?
Who did you talk What did you read How many times did you What did you do
12 11 10 9

9 10 11 12
Where did you meet What did you buy When did you first What time did you arrive
your best friend? last week? see the sea? home last Saturday?

5 6 7 8
Who did you visit How many times did Where did you What did you eat
last weekend? you go to the movies celebrate your last last night?
last month? birthday?

2 3 4
What did you do
yesterday?
What time did you
get up this morning?
How did you come
here today? B
From Games for Grammar Practice by Maria Zaorob and Elizabeth Chin ©Cambridge University Press 2005 PHOTOCOPIABLE