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English language teaching · Lesson design

When something interrupted.

A 60-minute lesson using stories to connect the past continuous and past simple.

Adapted from my lesson plan, “Past Continuous Interrupted”. It follows a presentation, practice and production sequence, moving from a model and guided practice to learners telling their own stories.

The teaching aim

Help learners describe an action already in progress in the past and a shorter event that happened during it: “I was walking home when I dropped my bag.”

Length
60 minutes
Starting point
Learners already know the past simple.
Approach
Stories, a timeline, paired practice and group speaking.

By the end of the lesson, learners will have practised choosing the two forms, explaining the sequence of events and using the language in a short spoken story.

The lesson sequence

  1. Lead-in

    7 minutes

    The teacher tells a short story using mime, gesture and the past simple: “Yesterday I walked home. I saw a dog. It leapt up at me. I dropped my shopping.” Learners decide whether it was a good or bad day, then tell a partner about something strange or funny that happened to them. A short class feedback stage gathers their ideas.

  2. Presentation

    15 minutes

    Pictures and a timeline show the longer action and the shorter event. The teacher introduces “I was walking home when I dropped my bag” and asks which action began first and which took less time.

    Past continuous: subject + was/were + verb ending in -ing.

    Past simple: subject + past form of the verb, for example “dropped” or “saw”.

    Learners practise the sentence together and individually, paying attention to sentence stress and the weak form of “was”. Concept questions check the meaning: did the walking start before the bag fell? Was the bag falling the shorter event? Did both happen in the past?

  3. Practice

    20 minutes

    In pairs, learners match sentence beginnings with plausible endings and discuss their choices. A gap-fill activity then asks them to choose and form the past continuous or past simple. They compare answers with a new partner before class feedback. The teacher monitors and uses questions to help learners correct errors.

  4. Production

    15 minutes

    In groups of three, learners create a story beginning “Something unexpected happened…” and include at least three examples of an action in progress and a shorter event. They share their stories with the class. The teacher saves language correction for feedback after the speaking task.

  5. Homework

    3 minutes to explain

    Learners write five sentences about events from their own past, using the language from the lesson.

Learner material

A short practice extract

Complete the sentences with the appropriate past forms of the verbs in brackets.

  1. I __________ (walk) home when I __________ (see) an accident.
  2. She __________ (study) when the lights __________ (go) out.
  3. They __________ (play) football when it __________ (start) raining.
Teacher’s answer key
  1. I was walking home when I saw an accident.
  2. She was studying when the lights went out.
  3. They were playing football when it started raining.

The intended reading is an action in progress followed by a shorter event. Ask learners to explain their choices, rather than simply read the completed sentences.

The thinking behind the lesson

  • Meaning before terminology. A story and a timeline make the relationship between the actions visible before learners practise the forms.
  • Practice that leads somewhere. Matching and gap-fill work prepare learners for the freer storytelling task.
  • Time for learners to speak. Pair and group work give learners opportunities to try the language, with correction timed to support accuracy and fluency.

Materials with a teaching purpose.

I create course outlines, lesson plans and activities around the learners, their starting point and what they need to do with English.

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