Methodology Module
UNIT 12
Past Continuous with interrupted action
Lead in: S-S 5 mins.
In pairs, students share with each other what they did last night.
Students should respond using the past simple to revise the tense e.g., one could say 'I
watched a movie '.
Presentation: T-S 20 mins
Meaning:
Ask students to discuss and share their experiences last night. Encourage them to think about
what happened during time.
Draw a timeline on the board and using one of the student’s responses, ask students to mark
“last night” on the timeline, representing the time frame of the movie.
Ask the student to recall the specific time they started and finished the movie.
Ask them to mark these times on the timeline – elicit the past continuous…. So, if the movie
started at 5pm and finished at 7pm…you were still watching at 6 pm.
Elicit that we use past continuous to talk about an action that took place over an amount of
time in the past.
Ask student if something happen while they were watching that interrupted the movie – e.g.,
did they go to the bathroom, or did the phone ring?
Take an example from students and ask them where on the timeline this action happened.
Ask students to say the two sentences – I was watching a movie at 6 pm…. Power went out at
6:30pm
Elicit which is the interrupting action by asking "what happened that disturbed you from
watching?"
Now elicit how to combine the two sentences – I was watching a movie when the power went
out.
Pronunciation:
Elicit a few more examples from students and write these on the board as examples in a
drilling exercise to practice pronunciation.
Repeat the process with multiple examples of the TL and provide students enough time to
practice.
Form:
Elicit the form and write it on the board was/were + present participle + when + past simple.
Concept questions:
1. Do we know which action happened first? (Yes).
UNIT 12
Past Continuous with interrupted action
Lead in: S-S 5 mins.
In pairs, students share with each other what they did last night.
Students should respond using the past simple to revise the tense e.g., one could say 'I
watched a movie '.
Presentation: T-S 20 mins
Meaning:
Ask students to discuss and share their experiences last night. Encourage them to think about
what happened during time.
Draw a timeline on the board and using one of the student’s responses, ask students to mark
“last night” on the timeline, representing the time frame of the movie.
Ask the student to recall the specific time they started and finished the movie.
Ask them to mark these times on the timeline – elicit the past continuous…. So, if the movie
started at 5pm and finished at 7pm…you were still watching at 6 pm.
Elicit that we use past continuous to talk about an action that took place over an amount of
time in the past.
Ask student if something happen while they were watching that interrupted the movie – e.g.,
did they go to the bathroom, or did the phone ring?
Take an example from students and ask them where on the timeline this action happened.
Ask students to say the two sentences – I was watching a movie at 6 pm…. Power went out at
6:30pm
Elicit which is the interrupting action by asking "what happened that disturbed you from
watching?"
Now elicit how to combine the two sentences – I was watching a movie when the power went
out.
Pronunciation:
Elicit a few more examples from students and write these on the board as examples in a
drilling exercise to practice pronunciation.
Repeat the process with multiple examples of the TL and provide students enough time to
practice.
Form:
Elicit the form and write it on the board was/were + present participle + when + past simple.
Concept questions:
1. Do we know which action happened first? (Yes).
