Lesson Plan | Active Learning | Verbs: Past Perfect

Assumptions: This Active Lesson Plan assumes: a 100-minute class, prior student study with both the Book and the start of Project development, and that only one activity (among the three suggested) will be chosen to be conducted during the class, as each activity is designed to take up a significant portion of the available time.

Objectives

Duration: (5 - 10 minutes)

This stage of the lesson plan is crucial to establish the foundations of student learning, ensuring they clearly understand what is expected of them in terms of knowledge and skills. By defining the main objectives, the teacher guides students by focusing on the fundamental aspects of using the past perfect, guaranteeing that they are prepared for subsequent activities that will consolidate their learning.

Main Objectives:

1. Empower students to correctly write verbs in the past perfect tense, identifying and differentiating them from other verb tenses.

2. Develop the ability to recognize and apply the past perfect in diverse contexts through practical and interactive activities.

Side Objectives:

1. Encourage active participation from students in identifying and correcting errors related to the past perfect in provided texts.

Introduction

Duration: (15 - 20 minutes)

The introduction serves to activate students' prior knowledge about the past perfect, using problem situations that encourage reasoning and review of the studied content. Furthermore, the contextualization of the theme through practical, everyday examples helps students understand the importance of the past perfect in daily use and in formal contexts, increasing engagement and application of knowledge.

Problem-Based Situations

1. Imagine that you are telling a story about your last vacation and want to talk about an action that occurred before another action already in the past. How would you construct this sentence using the past perfect?

2. Think of a dialogue between two characters where one of them arrives late to an appointment and needs to justify themselves by mentioning the actions that prevented them from arriving on time. How would they use the past perfect to describe these actions prior to their tardiness?

Contextualization

The past perfect is an essential verb tense in English, often used to express the sequence of events in the past and to describe actions completed before a specific point in the past. For instance, in narratives, when telling a story, the use of the past perfect helps clarify the chronological order of events. Additionally, in social situations, such as problem-solving or apologies, understanding and correctly applying the past perfect can prevent misunderstandings and promote more effective communication.

Development

Duration: (70 - 75 minutes)

The Development stage is designed to allow students to practically and interactively apply the prior knowledge acquired about the past perfect. Through playful and contextualized activities, students will have the opportunity to consolidate their understanding, work collaboratively, and develop critical thinking and communication skills. Each proposed activity aims to engage students in challenging scenarios that require creative and precise use of the past perfect, preparing them for real-life situations involving the English language.

Activity Suggestions

It is recommended to carry out only one of the suggested activities

Activity 1 - The Race Against Time

> Duration: (60 - 70 minutes)

- Objective: Practice forming sentences in the past perfect and develop teamwork and logical reasoning skills.

- Description: In this activity, students will be divided into groups of up to 5 people and will receive a set of cards with incomplete sentences describing events in a story. Each sentence must be completed using the past perfect so that the sequence of events makes chronological sense. The groups will compete to see who can correctly assemble the complete story in the shortest time, using the past perfect grammatically correct.

- Instructions:

• Divide the class into groups of a maximum of 5 students.

• Distribute the cards with incomplete sentences to each group.

• Explain that all sentences must be completed using the past perfect.

• The groups must organize the sentences in the correct order to form a logical and complete story.

• The first team to finish and present the story correctly wins.

Activity 2 - Past Perfect Detectives

> Duration: (60 - 70 minutes)

- Objective: Stimulate creativity and understanding of the past perfect in complex narrative contexts, as well as promote communication and collaboration skills.

- Description: Students, organized in groups, will receive different scenarios involving the resolution of a mystery. They will need to create dialogues using the past perfect to describe the events that led to the resolution of the mystery. Each group will receive information that others do not have, and they will need to interact to uncover the complete solution, using the past perfect to narrate the sequence of events.

- Instructions:

• Organize students into groups of up to 5 people.

• Distribute scenarios and specific information to each group.

• Groups must create dialogues using the past perfect to describe the sequence of events that led to the resolution of the mystery.

• Hold a 'mystery fair' where each group presents their dialogue and the other groups try to guess the solution.

• Discuss the correct solutions and the use of the past perfect in each dialogue.

Activity 3 - Chronological Story Builders

> Duration: (60 - 70 minutes)

- Objective: Develop temporal organization skills and understanding of the past perfect in a narrative context, as well as improve public presentation skills.

- Description: In this activity, each group will receive a series of events and actions that must be organized into a logical timeline, using the past perfect to describe actions that occurred before a specific moment. Each group will build their own timeline and present it to the class, explaining the use of the past perfect in each event.

- Instructions:

• Divide the class into groups of up to 5 students.

• Give each group a list of events and actions that must be organized into a timeline.

• Groups must use the past perfect to describe the actions that occurred before a specific point.

• Each group will build their timeline on large paper.

• Finally, groups will present their timelines and explain their choice of events and the use of the past perfect.

Feedback

Duration: (15 - 20 minutes)

The purpose of this stage is to consolidate students' practical learning, allowing them to reflect on the application of the past perfect in different contexts and identify areas that may still require clarification. The group discussion helps to promote the exchange of ideas and deepen understanding of the topic, while the key questions encourage students to think critically about the importance of the past perfect in structuring events and effective communication in English.

Group Discussion

To start the group discussion, the teacher should gather all the students and then form circles with each group of students. Each group will have the opportunity to share their discoveries and the results of their activities. The teacher should begin by introducing the topic and encourage each group to explain how they applied the past perfect in the proposed activities and what challenges they encountered. Then, others should be encouraged to ask questions and provide feedback on their peers' use of the past perfect.

Key Questions

1. What were the main challenges your group faced when using the past perfect in the activities?

2. How does the use of the past perfect alter the understanding of events in a narrative or dialogue?

3. Was there any moment during the activities where understanding the past perfect was crucial for the unfolding of the proposed scenario?

Conclusion

Duration: (5 - 10 minutes)

The purpose of this stage of the lesson plan is to ensure that students have a clear and consolidated understanding of the content learned during the lesson, as well as recognizing the applicability of the past perfect in different contexts. The conclusion serves to reinforce the connection between theory and practice, highlighting the importance of the past perfect in effective communication in English and motivating students to continue exploring and using this verb tense in their daily and academic lives.

Summary

In this final stage, the teacher will summarize the main points addressed, reinforcing the structure and use of the past perfect. The affirmative, negative, and interrogative forms will be recapped, as well as examples of how the past perfect is applied in narratives, dialogues, and everyday situations to describe events prior to a specific moment in the past.

Theory Connection

Today's lesson was meticulously designed to connect theory with practice. Through interactive activities such as 'The Race Against Time,' 'Past Perfect Detectives,' and 'Chronological Story Builders,' students were able to apply their theoretical knowledge of the past perfect in practical contexts, reinforcing learning and understanding of the correct use of this verb tense.

Closing

Finally, it is essential to highlight the relevance of the past perfect in everyday life. Understanding and appropriately using this verb tense in conversations, writing, and reading is crucial for clear and effective communication in English. This skill not only enriches students' vocabulary but also enhances their ability to tell stories and describe events accurately and engagingly.