A chant to practice the past simple tense (activity)

Today I am sharing an activity that worked really well with my students at the AAETC, AL Azhar University.

Main aim: To practice the past simple tense through a song that is written by the teacher

Timing: 1 hour

Age: any

Level: elementary

stages

Pre-task:

 Tell your students that you are going to share with them a song about a fairy tale. 

In pairs: ask students" what are the fairy tale you know?" 

Task: 

Write this song on the board

Once upon a time, there was an ugly ogre

This ogre was a really kind one

Yet one day he saw a beautiful girl

To far away land he followed her

Funny at night, she also was an ogre

But the ugly ogre fell in love

And happy ever after was an end

Pre-teach:( ogre, happy ever after, once upon a time)

In groups of three: 

-ask your students to first underline (the verbs, then the nouns, then the main expressions)

-Now ask your students to turn around and give their back to the board

-With their notes only, ask students to reconstruct the song.

Start singing the song together as many time as they like.

First :with you leading and them repeating

Then :With you leading , them repeating and using as many body gestures to mimic the events

Finally: when they feel confident, invite one of the students to lead the group.