Speech: Expressing Past Actions for Primary 2

Class: Primary 2
Term: First Term
Week: 10
Age: 7 years
Duration: 45 minutes
Subject: English Language Studies
Curriculum Theme: Speech
Previous Lesson: Writing: Copying and Writing Simple Words
Topic: Speech: Expressing Past Actions
Subject Matter: Expressing past actions. Past actions such as: -I walked to school yesterday? -He went to market last Saturday

Specific Objectives

By the end of the lesson, pupils should be able to:

Cognitive Domain

• Identify verbs that show past actions.
• State examples of sentences expressing past actions.
• Recall time markers used for past actions (e.g., yesterday, last week).

Affective Domain

• Participate actively in asking and answering questions about past events.
• Show interest in forming sentences about their past experiences.

Psychomotor Domain

• Formulate simple sentences to express past actions.
• Orally express past actions using correct verbs.

Reference Materials

The following resources were used in planning this lesson:

• 2014 9 Years Basic Education Curriculum
• Relevant State Unified Scheme of Work
• FCT ERC/NAPPS Scheme of work

Instructional Materials

The teacher will teach this lesson with the aid of:

• Chart showing examples of past actions
• Textbook
• Notebook
• Flashcards with past tense verbs (e.g., walked, ate, played, slept)
• Reading text with simple stories about past events

Rationale for the Lesson

This lesson helps pupils communicate effectively about events that have already happened, which is a fundamental aspect of daily conversation. It builds their grammatical foundation by introducing simple past tense verbs and time expressions. Mastering this skill enables pupils to share their experiences and understand narratives about the past.

Prerequisite/Previous Knowledge

Pupils should be able to identify simple verbs and understand basic sentence structures in the present tense.

Lesson Content/Board Summary

Speech: Expressing Past Actions

What are Past Actions?

Past actions are things we did or that happened before now. They are actions that are already finished.

Words that show Past Actions (Past Tense Verbs)

1. Walked (from walk)
2. Played (from play)
3. Ate (from eat)
4. Slept (from sleep)
5. Went (from go)
6. Saw (from see)
7. Drank (from drink)

Time Markers for Past Actions

We use special words to show when a past action happened. These are called time markers:

1. Yesterday
2. Last night
3. Last week
4. Last month
5. Last year
6. A long time ago

Examples of Sentences Expressing Past Actions

1. I walked to school yesterday.
2. He went to market last Saturday.
3. She played with her friends last Sunday.
4. We ate rice and beans yesterday.
5. They slept early last night.
6. My mother cooked soup this morning.

Teaching Methods/Instructional Techniques

Discussion, Demonstration, Guided Practice, Question and Answer, Explanation, Pair Work, Group Work

Instructional Procedures

Step 1: Introduction

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Review/Engagement

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher greets the pupils and asks them what they did before coming to school today. The teacher then introduces the topic: “Expressing Past Actions”.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils respond to the teacher’s greeting and share some activities they did before school. They listen attentively to the new topic.

Learning Point: Introduction to past actions

Step 2: Explanation of Past Actions

Time: 8 minutes

Teaching Skill: Explanation

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher explains what past actions are, using simple language and examples. The teacher emphasizes that past actions are things that have already happened. The teacher shows flashcards of verbs in their past tense forms.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils listen to the explanation and observe the flashcards. They repeat the past tense verbs after the teacher.

Learning Point: Meaning of past actions

Step 3: Examples of Past Actions

Time: 7 minutes

Teaching Skill: Demonstration

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher writes simple sentences on the board or uses a chart to show examples of past actions, such as “I walked to school yesterday” and “He went to market last Saturday”. The teacher highlights the past tense verbs and time markers.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils read the examples on the board/chart and identify the past tense verbs and time markers with the teacher’s guidance.

Learning Point: Identifying past action examples

Step 4: Identifying Past Action Verbs

Time: 6 minutes

Teaching Skill: Questioning

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher asks pupils to identify the verbs that show past actions in the example sentences. The teacher also asks pupils to suggest other verbs they know and convert them to past tense (e.g., play – played, eat – ate).

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils identify past tense verbs and attempt to convert present tense verbs to past tense with teacher’s help.

Learning Point: Recognizing past tense verbs

Step 5: Practice with Sentences

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Guided Practice

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher guides pupils to form their own simple sentences using past tense verbs and time markers. For example, “What did you eat last night?” or “Where did you go yesterday?”

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils orally formulate simple sentences expressing past actions.

Learning Point: Forming past action sentences

Step 6: Group/Pair Work

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Collaborative Learning

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher divides pupils into groups or pairs and instructs them to ask and answer questions about past actions with each other, using the examples provided.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils ask and answer questions about past actions in their groups or pairs.

Learning Point: Collaborative past action practice

Step 7: Evaluation/Review

Time: 5 minutes

Teaching Skill: Questioning/Assessment

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher evaluates the learning by asking the following questions:

1. What are past actions?
2. Give two examples of past action verbs.
3. Make a sentence using a past action verb and a time marker like “yesterday”.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils answer orally and in writing.

Learning Point: Assessment of past actions

Step 8: Note-Taking

Time: 4 minutes

Teaching Skill: Guided Writing

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher guides pupils to copy the essential Board Summary notes on expressing past actions into their notebooks.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils copy the notes carefully into their notebooks.

Learning Point: Recording lesson notes

Step 9: Conclusion

Time: 2 minutes

Teaching Skill: Reinforcement

Teacher’s Activity: The teacher briefly reinforces the main idea of expressing past actions and encourages pupils to practice using past tense verbs in their daily conversations.

Pupils’ Activity: Pupils listen and acknowledge the importance of the lesson.

Learning Point: Consolidation of past actions

Continuous Assessment/Further Study

Type: Homework

Instruction: Complete the following sentences by filling in the correct past tense verb from the bracket and a suitable time marker.

1. I _________ (eat) bread _________.
2. My sister _________ (play) football _________.
3. They _________ (go) to the park _________.
4. We _________ (see) a bird _________.
5. He _________ (drink) water _________.

Lesson Keywords

• Past Actions – Things that happened before now.
• Verbs – Doing words.
• Walked – The past action of walking.
• Yesterday – The day before today.
• Last Saturday – The Saturday before this one.

Differentiation

Support: Provide sentence starters and a list of past tense verbs for pupils who are struggling. Use more visual aids like pictures to represent past actions. Encourage simple one-word answers initially.

Extension: Challenge advanced pupils to create short stories using multiple past action sentences. Ask them to identify irregular past tense verbs (e.g., go-went, eat-ate).

Suggested Lesson Videos

For further understanding, search on YouTube for: Primary 2 English past actions