English Speaking Skills

Lesson 11: The Past

Lesson objectives:
- Describe an experience in the past
- Discuss some recent activities
In today’s 1. Thinking back
2. Story station
lesson… 3. Role-play
4. Tell a story in the past
 I felt (sad / surprised / strange /…)
Thinking back The next thing that happened was…

Look to the following situations

and check the situations that
have happened to you. Share
with a friend:
• How did you feel in each
situation?
• What happened next?
Story station Dance >
fall down
Dance >
• Look at the picture: What happened in get kicked

that party?
Listen to
• Work in groups, each student acts as a music > Hear
a loud sound
circled character in the picture and
describes the situation. Walk >
Slam into
• Example: “Once I was dancing at the the table

party when, unfortunately, I fell down!”

Remember to use:
1) Story-telling adverbs Drink >
2) Past continuous + Past simple tenses Find a
new flavor
Story station Dance >
fall down
Dance >
get kicked
Sample answers:
• “Once I was dancing at the party when, Listen to
music > Hear
suddenly, I got kicked in my leg by a man a loud sound
falling down!”
• “When I was listening to the music, I Walk >
suddenly heard a loud sound from behind.” Slam into
the table
• “I was walking around the dance floor when,
mysteriously, I slammed into the table and
made everything fall to the floor.”
• “Once I was drinking some soda at the
party, and surprisingly, I found a new flavor Drink >
Find a
that I haven’t tried before.” new flavor
Story station • One more time!
• Look at the picture: What happened? Use
your imagination!
• Each student acts as a circled character in
the picture and describes the situation.
• Example: “I was watching two people
arguing on the street when, mysteriously,
many scientists appeared!”

Remember to use:
1) Story-telling adverbs
2) Past continuous + Past simple tenses
Story station
Sample answers:
• “I was arguing with the man who drove the
yellow car when, strangely, many scientists
appeared.”
• “Sadly, we found two broken cars in an
accident when we (the scientists) were
going out for lunch. (We checked the
damage for them :D).”
• “Once I was driving when a blue car
slammed into my car. I immediately walked
out to argue with the female driver.
Fortunately, there was no serious damage
(the scientists checked and told me).”
Story station

Remember this list? Work in groups, each

students tells a short story based on each
situation with:
1. Usage of storytelling adverbs
2. Your feelings in that situation
3. What happened next.
Example: “I was having lunch when, sadly
(1), I spilled coffee on my clothes. I felt so
embarrassed (2) that I ran out of the
room. Luckily, a friend gave me another
shirt (3).”
Role-play: In a class reunion…

• Read the
conversation
between two old
friends, Steve and
Luiza.
• Notice what verb
tense they use?
• Listen and practice
the conversation.
 Present perfect continuous is a good
tense to use when talking about your
Role-play recent activities/experiences.

Work in pairs, imagine that you meet Have you been ………… lately?
another old classmate in a class reunion
• Traveling
party.
• Watching any good movies
● Make a conversation to catch-up,
• Taking any lessons
● Ask and answer about 3 activities
• Working out
from the list,
• Working long hours
● Remember to:
• Going out a lot
1. ask for further information, • Staying up late
2. share a story related to each
activity,
3. use storytelling adverbs too.
 Read two samples. Choose sentences
that you can use for your conversation,
Sample conversation then add your own stories.

A: Hey B, I haven’t seen you in ages! What have you been

doing lately?
B: Not much, I have been the same.
A: Have you been traveling to anywhere lately?
B: Actually, yes. I have travelled to HCM city recently for a
work trip. How about you, have you been working long
hours lately?
A: Fortunately, no. My work hasn’t been busy, so I have
time to relax.
B: Nice. Good to see you again!
A: Same to you.
Tell a story in the past
Tell a story about an unexpected
experience at school/work in the past.
You should say:
● when you experienced it,
● what the experiences was,
● who was involved in the experience,
● and explain why it was unexpected to
you.