Past Simple House: Was /Were
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Updated: 16 hours ago

ESL Lesson Plan Past Simple Was Were A2 is the first part of the Past Simple House series, focused entirely on was/were. Students build the tense from the ground up — positive and negative forms, questions, and short answers — through controlled practice, a mistake-correction task, and a dialogue completion exercise. The lesson closes with the true story of Frank Epperson, the eleven-year-old who accidentally invented the popsicle in 1905, used as a fill-in-the-blank reading and a picture-based retelling activity.
📄A2 ⏱️50 min 📁15 slides
Skills and Outcomes
Form positive and negative sentences with was/were.
Ask and answer yes/no questions with was/were, including short answers.
Correct common mistakes with was/were.
Read and retell a short narrative using was/were accurately.
Lesson Plan
Lead-in: The Past Simple House
Students are introduced to the three-floor house concept, previewing was/were, regular, and irregular verbs.
Grammar Presentation: Was/Were
Students study the forms of was/were for all pronouns, alongside the positive/negative rules.
Practice: Positive and Negative
Students circle the correct form (was/were, wasn't/weren't) in six sentences.
Questions and Short Answers
Students study question formation with was/were and how to give short answers.
Spot the Mistake
Students find and correct the error in five sentences using was/were.
Complete the Dialogue
Students fill in four short dialogues with was, were, wasn't, or weren't.
Short Answer Speaking Practice
Students ask and answer eight personalised questions using was/were.
Story Time: The Popsicle
Students read the true story of Frank Epperson's accidental 1905 invention, filling in ten blanks with was/were/wasn't/weren't.
Retell
Students use eight picture prompts and a keyword bank to retell the popsicle story in their own words.
Review
Students complete a summary table covering positive, negative, question, and short-answer forms.
Additional Video


