Used to - discontinued past habit/state
 

I will be using Harmer's ESA for the lesson plan but I have no idea how to start, particularly the Engaged stage.. Are there any good coursebooks to refer to for this tense?

Re: Used to - discontinued past habit/state
 

Lead in (Engage): Pair work - Ask the students to talk about the games they played when they were children - they'll be able to do this using the simple past. Get them to report back and list the games on the board

Presentation (Study) : tell them about the games you played as a child, using used to and didn't used to, pre-setting the gist comprehension question :Were the games I played the same as yours or different? Check their comprehension, and then ask them to listen to exactly what you said. Go through your anecdote again, a sentence at a time and focus first on "used to" affirmative. Write the sentence on the board Concept check : Is this something I do now? Is it something I did once, or often? Then continue the story and focus on the form of the negative - add to board. Finally ask them what they think the interrogative will be.

Controlled Practice (Activate): a) repetition of your target sentences b) textbook activities

Freer Practice (Activate) : Pair work - change partners and ask them to tell their new partners both about themselves and their old partner and the games they each used to play.

Re: Used to - discontinued past habit/state
 

Lesson Structure

1. The ESA lesson

A complete lesson may be planned on the ESA model where the 50-60 minutes are divided into three different segments. It is very unlikely that these segments will be equal in duration. Activate will probably be the longest phase but Study will probably be longer than Engage.

2. The ESA lesson

Teachers of children and younger teenagers know that their students cannot concentrate for long periods. They can still use the ESA model but the model may be used repeatedly, producing a larger number of shorter phases.

It would be wrong to give the impression that Engage, Study and Activate are each single activities. They are phases of the teaching/learning process which may contain one or more activities.