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Past Simple House: Was /Were

  • 2 days ago
  • 2 min read

Updated: 16 hours ago

Cartoon person stirs a drink in a mug beside a thermometer graphic; text reads Part One and A2.

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

  1. Lead-in: The Past Simple House

    Students are introduced to the three-floor house concept, previewing was/were, regular, and irregular verbs.

  2. Grammar Presentation: Was/Were

    Students study the forms of was/were for all pronouns, alongside the positive/negative rules.

  3. Practice: Positive and Negative

    Students circle the correct form (was/were, wasn't/weren't) in six sentences.

  4. Questions and Short Answers

    Students study question formation with was/were and how to give short answers.

  5. Spot the Mistake

    Students find and correct the error in five sentences using was/were.

  6. Complete the Dialogue

    Students fill in four short dialogues with was, were, wasn't, or weren't.

  7. Short Answer Speaking Practice

    Students ask and answer eight personalised questions using was/were.

  8. 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.

  9. Retell

    Students use eight picture prompts and a keyword bank to retell the popsicle story in their own words.

  10. Review

    Students complete a summary table covering positive, negative, question, and short-answer forms.

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by Kate · ESL teacher

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