Any suggestions for "used to" activities, pls?
 

Please can anyone here help me.

I am currently a trainee, I was asked to plan a lesson on the past tenses to a Lower Intermediate group. I think I want to focus on saying "used to".

But I am not sure how to contextualise it, I was thinking about talking about childhood activities. What do you think? Also do you have any suggestions for activities, pls.

Any guidance is greatly appreciated,
tigerfly

Re: Trainee in need of help, I'm so confused!
 

What ages are your students?
I'd explain that "used to" can be used for a past habit or condition that is no longer true.
Examples: She used to eat desserts. (Implying that she doesn't do that anymore)
There used to be a Chinese restaurant on this street.
Amy used to date my brother.
Peter used to live in New York.

I'd write a lot of examples on the board and carefully explain the grammar. In my class, I like to have students write with the new grammar before they speak with it. You may find exercises for this grammar in a good grammar text.
I'd definitely try one or more speaking activities with this grammar. Choice of activities will depend on the ages of the students.

Re: Trainee in need of help, I'm so confused!
 

thanks Bread baker.

I am teaching an adult class in a community centre. I am being assessed so I have to keep to a very tight context throughout the 1 hour lesson. I am not allowed to plan any writing until the end production task.
My thinking has progressed to having the context of someone who won the lottery, and saying what they used to do, ie work, travel by bus, live in a small flat etc.
I need to teach the interrogative, positive and negative forms, and plan different practice activities for each. I am worried that my vocab will be too simple, but I am not sure how to extend it.
Can anyone suggest activities?

thanks,
tigerfly

Re: Trainee in need of help, I'm so confused!
 

Have you thought about making a board game? You can make custom board games on this website. You can put a prompt in each space, but not a complete question or statement. Then the student who lands on that space must produce a complete question or statement.

Re: Trainee in need of help, I'm so confused!
 

I would have them look at a bunch of activities. You could use flashcards if you have them or just write them out on little pieces of paper. Then, give each student a sheet of paper (landscape with 4 columns.

I would head the columns
"before" - "before and now" - "now" - "never regualrly"

Then have the students place the activities in the appropriate column. Once they have completed the task, you can tell them to get rid of "before and now", as well as "never regularly" We want to keep "now" because we want to contrast past habitual actions with current actions.

From there you can have the quiz each other about different items. They can try to find as many people as possible who used to do the same things.

Sorry, i have a class in ... 2 minutes. Hopefully this makes a little sense and gives you an idea to build on.

Re: Trainee in need of help, I'm so confused!
 

Thanks so much!
Loved the board game idea, Breadbaker. The one I made went down really well, though I confess I used it for a different lesson.
Mesmark I used your column suggestion too, it really made things clear for the students. I even made an example of he used to wear glasses but now he wears contact lenses, the students really understood.