Teach English in Huangyang Zhen - Wuwei Shi

UNIT 6 REFLECTION: PAST TENSES Through the Unit 6 lesson I began to understand that there is pattern that can be seen developing within each of the 4 forms whether they are used in the Present, Past, or Future. Being able to recognize this reoccurring pattern was very helpful to me as I am endeavoring to process a great deal of new information. For example: I found out that ?All Continuous forms feature some form to the verb ?to be,? ?plus the ?ing? form of the verb.? Moreover, ?All Perfect sentences feature some form to the verb ?to have,? and the Present Participle form of the verb.? And lastly ?All Perfect Continuous sentences feature some form to the verb ?to have,? plus ?been,? plus the ?ing? form of the verb.? Helpful teaching ideas that were suggested for the Activate stage of the Past Simple language point included having the more advanced students to work on their own CV?s or Resumes (incorporating interviews and role playing) or possibly to have them discuss talk past holidays or past major events. Examples given teaching the Past Continuous in the Activate stage of an ESA lesson would be the ?Detective Game? (e.g. asking where the student was yesterday and what they were doing) and also using diaries/journals to talk about things the student had done/experienced in their own lives. Sample teaching ideas for the Past Perfect Activate stage were: 1.) to allow the students to see a story through pictures and then ask them to tell the story backwards using the Past Perfect form. 2). Give students a final scenario and ask them to describe how they thought that situation it had come about. It was stated that common mistakes made by students while speaking/writing in the Past Perfect Continuous often had to do with accidentally leaving out one of the two auxiliary verbs (?had? or ?been?) or forgetting to add the ?ing? to the main form of the verb. These are components that should always be included when using the Past Perfect Continuous tense. USAGE a) Past Simple usages include: ?For past action when the time is given? (p.4). ?When the time is asked about? (p.4). ?When the past action clearly took place at a definite time even though the time is not given? (p.4). ?Sometimes the time becomes definite as a result of the question and the answer in the Present Perfect? (p.4). b) Past Continuous usages include: ?Interrupted past actions? (p.5). ?Used without a time expression, it can indicate a development that took place in the past? (p.5). ?It can express action that began before that time and will probably continue after it? (p.5). ?We use the continuous tense in descriptions? (p.5). c) Past Perfect usage includes: ?Completely finished past actions? (p. 6). d) Past Perfect Continuous usage. ?To talk about longer actions or situations that had been going on continuously up to the past moment that we are thinking about? (p.7). Form: a) Past Simple sentences are formed grammatically: In the Affirmative by adding ??ed? or ?d? to the base form of the verb? (p.3). In the Negative by adding ??did not? or ?didn?t? before the base form of the verb? (p.3). As a Question by adding ??did? before the base form of the verb? (p.3). b) Past Continuous sentences are formed grammatically: In the Affirmative by including the ?(Subject + was/were + verb + ing)? (p.5). In the Negative by including the ?(Subject + was/were + not= verb + ing)? (p.5). As a Question by including the ?(was/were + subject + ing)? (p.5). c) Past Perfect sentences are formed grammatically: In the Affirmative by including the ?(Subject + had + past participle)? (p.6). In the Negative by including the ?(Subject + had + not + past participle)? (p.6). As a Question by including ?(had + Subject + been + verb + ing)? (p.6). d) Past Perfect Continuous sentences are formed grammatically: In the Affirmative by including the ?(Subject + had + been + verb + ing)? (p.7). In the Negative by including the ?(Subject + had + not + been + verb + ing)? (p.7). As a Question by including ?(had + Subject + been + verb +ing)? (p.7).