Resource 7 It’s all in the past!

Unit 03

1 today / yesterday …      

2 last week / month / year …      

3 when I was …      

4 … years / weeks / months ago      

5 in 2005 / October …      

6 this morning / afternoon, etc. …      

I last played
I visited
It rained ... a computer I wore shorts ...
a Facebook site ...
game ...

I started at this I last watched I read my first I went on

school ... a cartoon ... book ... holiday ...

I first met my best I phoned my best I last gave a friend I bought these
friend ... friend ... a present ... shoes ...

I learned My family bought I last did my

I had a haircut ...
to swim ... a new car ... homework …

I first went to
I bought I didn’t watch I last laughed at
a concert/the
a computer … TV … a joke …
cinema …

176© Pearson Central Europe Sp. z o.o. 2011  New Matura Success Pre-Intermediate PHOTOCOPIABLE
 7 It’s all in the past!
Aim: To practise statements in the Past Simple.

Interaction: Pairs

Exercise type: Card game

Time: 20 minutes

Language: I (learned to swim) (this morning).

Materials: One copy, cut up, per pair of sentence slips. One copy each of the checklist of time
expressions.

Instructions: (1) Cut up the sentence cards and hand out to one student who puts them
in front of the pair, face down. (2) Hand out the checklist to both Ss. Check understanding
of time expressions. Make sure Ss know they can only use each different time expression
a maximum of three times. (3) One student picks up a sentence card and then must
immediately use a time expression correctly with it. If the sentence is logical, immediate,
i.e. the student doesn’t stutter or struggle to make the sentence, and is using a valid time
expression, the other student puts a tick by the relevant time expression. If not, the student
has failed on that card and then it is the partner’s turn. (4) When the cards are finished, each
student may then go through their partner’s cards, trying to create a logical sentence with the
time expressions remaining to him/her. (5) The student with the most ticks on the checklist at
the end is the winner.

Optional activity 1: Do a class check with each card by asking students what they remember
their friends said. You may also ask certain Ss to justify their answers.

Optional activity 2: If you have a strong group of Ss, you might ask them to justify their
answers to each other, e.g. I visited a Facebook site yesterday. I wanted to check my
messages.

177© Pearson Central Europe Sp. z o.o. 2011  New Matura Success Pre-Intermediate PHOTOCOPIABLE