The simple past

Activity type: this is a memory / speaking / miming activity

Level: Post beginner

Teacher's notes:

Tell the students to stand in a circle in class.
Mime something to the class e.g. ‘sleep.’ Say to the students, “Last night I slept.”
Then indicate to another student to mime something for example, walk. Say, “Last night I slept and ‘Juan’ walked.” Note that ‘Juan’ is the name of the student who mimed the activity.
Then point to another student and prompt him/her to mime. The student could mime ‘talk.’ Say, “Last night I slept and Juan walked and ‘Marcin’ talked on the phone.”
Each time you say the sentences, tell the students to repeat after you.
Say the sentences a few times, if need be.
Keep going around the class adding sentences to the first one. In the end you will end up with sentences about all the students.
This should be a review of the verbs that they know and the simple past. Make sure that you help them if they pick out intransitive verbs/transitive verbs i.e. feed in an object for the sentence.
Help to jog their memories also as they are going around; there will be a lot to remember. It is good fun.