Past Continuous Tense
S.P.Choi
Topic:
The Past Continuous Tense
Aims:
Students learn the past continuous tense in affirmative, negative
and interrogative forms and are able to make use of it in real life
situation.
Targets:
S.2 class
Background
Students have not learnt the past continuous tense so far but they
knowledge:
have learnt the past tense in S.1.
Language focused:
 the past continuous tense is used to express an event
which was in progress (going on) around a particular past
time.
e.g. Tom was having dinner at 8 o'clock last night.
 the forms of the past continuous tense.
Affirmative: Subject + was/were + verb-ing.
Subject + was/were + not +verb-ing.
Negative:
Interrogative: Was/Were + subject + verb-ing?

use 'while' to link two events happening at the same time
in the past.
Power point Presentation Source:
http://www.english-at-home.com
http://www.englishpage.co
http://www.telenex.hku.hk
Oxford English CD-Rom2, Longman English Express 1A
Procedure
Time Steps
4
mins



6
mins



5
mins



Functions
teacher asks
students what
they were doing
at that time on
Sunday morning.
invite Ss to
introduce the
forms of the past
continuous tense.
a time line is
drawn to help
clarify the
concept.


Ss imagine they
went for an
outing yesterday.
Activity 1: Ss
point out the 5
differences
between Picture
A and B. (things
they saw when
they were
traveling on the
coach)
choral repetition

introduce the use
of 'while' to link
two events
happening at the
same time in the
past.
Activity 2 (pair
work): What
were your friends
and family doing
while you went
for an outing?
make sentences
by referring to the
pictures.

introduce the topic.
encourage
engagement
Aids




help to build up
confidence to
speak up.
practise using the
past continuous
tense

consolidate their
use of the past
continuous tense.



blackboard
computer,
projector, screen
power point
presentation
(Slide 1, 2 & 3)
computer,
projector, screen
power point
presentation(Slid
e 4, 5 & 6)
computer,
projector, screen
power point
presentation
(Slide 7, 8, 9 &
10)
(Pictures
downloaded from
Longman English
Express Power
Point
Presentation 1A)
10
mins

read out the
sentences to your
partner.


Ss are paired off.
Activity 3(pair
work) : Ss A and
Ss b get a
different schedule
of activities done
for yesterday's
outing.
Ss ask each other
questions to fill in
the table.
after getting the
answer, Ss are
encouraged to
give own
response to end
the conversation.
invite students to
report their
answers.

Ss choose their
favourite activity
and make a
sentence by using
'while I ..., my
classmates ....'.
invite Ss to read
out their work.

practise linking 2
events happening
at the same time in
the past by using
'while' in a
contextualized
situation.
Access to
resources in the
Internet

encourage selflearning



3
mins


12
mins



consolidate their
use of different
forms of the past
continuous tense in
a contextualized
situation.
reinforce Ss to
make natural
conversation in
daily life.
encourage
interaction




computer,
projector, screen
power point
presentation
(Slide 11, 12
&13)
a worksheet with
a table about the
outing for Ss A
and Ss B.
power point
presentation
(Slide 14)
Web links



ask students to do a revision exercise by linking to:
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/exercises/exercise3.htm
recommend useful websites and softwares:
http:// www.english-at-home.com/tenses_and_verbs/past_tenses.html
http://www.englishpage.com/verbpage/past continuous.html
Tense Buster at MMLC
PowerPoint presentation: Past Continuous Tense