Activity 1: Warm-up · 4 minutes
Tense Detective
a) Aims
Ss activate prior knowledge of the past continuous, past simple and present perfect, and identify what the lesson will focus on.
b) Content
Ss look at three sentences on the board and decide which tense each one uses and why:
- While we were packing, the organiser called.
- We have tested the device twice.
- We tested it yesterday.
T asks: 'Which action is in progress? Which action is finished? Which action connects the past to now?'
c) Expected outcomes
Ss identify: sentence 1 – past continuous (action in progress) + past simple (completed interruption); sentence 2 – present perfect (past experience connected to now); sentence 3 – past simple (finished past time, 'yesterday').
Key takeaway written in Ss' notebooks: 'Meaning decides the tense; time expressions like yesterday and so far give strong clues.'
d) Organisation
Teacher's activities
Students' activities
Teacher
Step 1: Task delivering
T writes the three sentences on the board and says: 'Look at these sentences. Which tense is used? Why do you think so? You have one minute to discuss with your partner.'
Students
Ss read the sentences silently and note their ideas in their notebooks.
Teacher
Step 2: Task performance
T walks around, listens to pairs and gives hints if needed (e.g., 'Look at the word yesterday.').
Students
Pairs discuss. Possible answers: 'The first sentence has two actions: was packing is in progress, called is the completed interruption.'
Teacher
Step 3: Report and discussion
T invites two or three pairs to share their answers and asks: 'What is the clue word in sentence 3?'
Students
A pair reports: 'Sentence 2 uses have tested because the time is not finished; we tested it yesterday shows a finished time.' Another S answers: 'Yesterday.'
Teacher
Step 4: Conclusion and assessment
T confirms the answers and writes on the board: 'Past continuous = in progress; past simple = completed; present perfect = past experience/unfinished time up to now.' T says the lesson will review these structures in more detail.
Students
Ss copy the summary into their notebooks.