Category: DETERMINERS

An article is a word used to modify a noun, basically, it’s an adjective. English has two types of articles: the (definite article) and a/an (indefinite articles). They’re used very often  and are very important for using English accurately.
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Indefinite articles
A and an are indefinite articles used to refer to a singular countable noun. These articles are used to refer to any member of a group or class. The speaker doesn’t tell us exactly which one he or she is referring to.

Use a/an for naming a member of a group:
EXAMPLES

• Mrs. Doudtfire is a nanny / Oscar works as an engineer (Jobs).
• Diego Armando Maradona is an Argentine (Nationalities).
• Barbara is a Jewish (Religions).

THE USE OF THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE “A”
 1) “A” is used before a consonant (b, c, d, etc.)
EXAMPLES

• a car.
• a dog.
• a Friday.
• a tiny nose.
• a 15 year-old boy.
• a year / week (time).
• a kilo / mile (measurements). Also using “one” instead of “a” is correct.

2) “A” is used before a vowel but consonant sound 

EXAMPLES

• a university. [juː]
• a unit. [juː]
• a European. [jʊ]
• a one (1). [w]

3) “A” is used before a pronounced “h”

EXAMPLE

• a horse.

THE USE OF THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE “AN”
 1) “An” is used before a vowel (a, e, i, etc.)
EXAMPLES

• an orange.
• an eye.
• an alligator.

2) “An” is used before an unpronounced (mute) “h”
EXAMPLE

• an hour [a].
• an honest [ˈɑ] (N. Amer.) - [ˈɒ] (Brit.)
• an honor [ˈɑ] (N. Amer.) - [ˈɒ] (Brit.)
• an heir [ɛ] (N. Amer.) - [e] (Brit.)
• an herb  [ɜ] (N. Amer.)

3) “An” is used before a consonant but vowel sound
EXAMPLES

• an “F”. [ε]
• an MBA. [ε]

Definite article
The is a definite article used to refer to something specific (singular or plural nouns). The speaker talks about a particular (or known) member of a group.
EXAMPLES

• The book on the table is about horror stories.
• Could you pass me the sugar, please?
• The movie was great.

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​THE USE OF THE DEFINITE ARTICLE “THE”
1) “The” is used before a noun which has already been previously mentioned

EXAMPLES

• I lost the wallet you gave me yesterday.
• They have a dog and two cats. The dog is Siberian husky.

2) “The” is used to indicate a noun that is unique or there is only one
EXAMPLES

• The President of United States lives in the White House.
• The Eiffel tower was built in 1889 to commemorate the French Revolution.
• The Nile is a river in Africa.
• Where is the bathroom?

​3) “The” is used before superlative adjectives
EXAMPLES

• It’s the largest river in the world.
• She is the most beautiful lady of all time.

4) “The” is used to talk about the whole population of a country or region
EXAMPLES

• The British drink too much tea.
• The Romans invaded Britain in AD 43.
• The Mayans were famous for their architecture and astronomical knowledge.

HOWEVER: When generalizing about nationalities or a group of people, “the” is not usually used: “Americans eat a lot of hamburgers”
5) “The” is used to indicate all the members of a family
EXAMPLE

• The Simpsons live in Springfield.

6) “The” is used to talk about musical instruments
 EXAMPLE

• She plays the piano every day.

7) “The” is used to talk about directions (cardinal points)​
EXAMPLES

• the north.
• the south-east.

Worksheets

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Category: VERB TENSES

THE FORMS OF SIMPLE PAST TENSE
Affirmative: SUBJECT + [VERB + ed] or IRREGULAR VERB
Examples:

• I played football yesterday. (regular verb)
• Leonardo da Vinci lived from 1452 to 1519. (regular verb)
• She bought some fruits last night. (irregular verb)
• They saw him in the park. (irregular verb)

Negative: SUBJECT + did not + [VERB]
Examples:

• I did not wash the dishes.
• You did not play the piano.
• She didn’t sleep well last night.
• Sharon didn’t put the book on the table.

Negative contraction:

• did not = didn’t

Interrogative: Did + SUBJECT + [VERB] 
Examples:

• Did you have your breakfast? Yes, I did / No I didn’t.
• Did she work yesterday? Yes, she did / No, she didn't.

 
You can add a question word (what, where, when, etc.) before did to ask for more information.
Examples:

• What did you do the last weekend? I studied Science.
• Where did she go? She went to the school.
• When did you play baseball? I played baseball last night.
• Why didn’t you tell me about the accident?
• How did you do that?

NOTE: The auxiliary did is used to form the negative and interrogative forms.
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Spelling rules for [VERB + ed]
Here are the spelling rules:

Worksheets

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Category: TEACHING

1. Word chains
First, T divides the class into boys and girls. Then, T writes a word on the board and asks Ss to take it in turns to add/say a word starting with the last letter of the previous word. Once a word has been given, it cannot be repeated. T asks Ss to stand up when they participate. Only the Ss who are seated can participate. If a S cannot give a word, the game stops and T counts the number of words given. The winners are who have more words in 3 rounds. 
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Example:
sky - yellow - water - red - dinner – rain – night – take – egg – get – travel
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2. Odd-one-out
T writes words in groups of four on the board. In each group, include an odd-one-out word which is different from the others. Then, T asks Ss to tell which one is the odd-one-out in each group and explain why.

Here are some groups of words:

1. father – sister – friend – grandmother
2. peach – potato – cherry – apple
3. banana – peach – apple – tomato
4. donkey – dragon -  cat – dog
5. rabbit – dog – fox – cat
6. tiger – wolf – cow - eagle
7. sugar – river – pencil – bottle
8. camera – fax-machine - computer – television
9. anger – fear – love – disappointment
10. table – chair – fridge – stool
11. bookshelf – table – mirror – chair
12. female – boy – woman – girl
13. shoe – boot – glove – sandal
14. pork – rice – chicken – beef
15. eye – star – level – radar
16. respiratory – intestine – digestive – nervous
17. rectangle – square – triangle – cuboid
18. whale – fish – snake – crocodile

Possible answers:

1. friend – not family member
2. potato – not a fruit
3. banana – shape
4. cat – beings c / dragon - mythological
5. fox – not a pet
6. cow – herbivore / eagle – has wings
7. sugar – uncountable noun
8. camera – doesn’t need electricity / television – 4 syllables
9. love – positive
10. fridge – the others have legs
11. mirror – the others are made of wood
12. boy – different gender
13. glove – worn on hands
14. rice – not a meat
15. star – not a palindrome (word that reads the same backward as forward)
16. intestine – not a body system
17. cuboid – 3-dimensional figure
18. whale – doesn’t lay eggs

3. All the words you know
T helps Ss to brainstorm a list of words about a topic. T writes on the board one by one of the words.
Next, T challenges Ss to remember all the words by erasing them one by one. Each time, T erases a word invites Ss to reconstruct the list of words together orally from the beginning to the end of it. Eight or ten words is quite enough for the game at the beginning. 
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Here are some word lists:
Colors: white, black, blue, yellow, red, green, brown, purple, gray, orange, pink, cherry, fuchsia, cyan, beige, magenta, turquoise, violet, silver, gold, bronze, navy, olive, aquamarine, coral, khaki, mint, etc.
Adjectives: good, new, first, last, long, great, high, little, old, big, small, large, next, young, false, important, bad, easy, weak, early, expensive, cheap, full, empty, hard, late, low, other, strong, true, whole, best, right, free, special, clear, single, wrong, private, public, hot, cold, dead, happy, etc.
Feelings and emotions: happy, angry, sad, surprised, excited, interested, curious, anxious, upset, depressed, bored, confused, furious, bad, afraid, scared, worried, quiet, love, brave, confident, nervous, disgusting, shy, unhappy, frustrated,  reliable, sympathetic, interested, kind, great, lucky, overjoyed, thankful, glad, miserable, optimistic, calm, pleased, inspired,  enthusiastic, annoyed, aggressive, disappointed, guilty, fatigued, dull, anxious, frightened, cowardly, rejected, etc.
Body parts: head, back, shoulder, waist, chest, abdomen, hip, foot, face, eye, eyebrow, eyelid, eyelash, nose, mouth, chin, cheek, hair, ear, lips, teeth, tooth, tongue, throat, neck, hand, finger, nail, thumb, wrist, arm, forearm, palm, upper arm, elbow, armpit, leg, knee, thigh, shin, calf, ankle, heel, toe, etc.
Clothing: shirt, polo shirt, blouse, turtleneck, pants, jeans, skirt, dress, shorts, sweater, overalls, uniform, jacket, coat, blazer, suit, vest, tie, gown, pajamas, bathrobe, bra, underwear, socks, etc.

4. Word finder
T writes on the board a list of letters and T invites Ss to form as many words as possible in 2 minutes.

For example, using these words: T-I-S-O-V-E-L-T
7 Letters: violets & toilets.
6 Letters: olives, soviet, violet, titles & toilet.
5 Letters: loves, olive, solve, stove, volts, votes, stole & title.
4 Letters: evil, live, love, vest, vets, vile, volt, vote, isle, lets, lies, list, lite, lose, lost, lots, oils, site, slot, soil, sole, test, ties & tile.
3 Letters: vet, its, let, lie, lit, lot, oil, set, sit, tie, tit & toe.
2 Letters: is, it, so & to.
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You can use this word finder: ​https://word.tips/

5. Unscramble the letters
T writes a sentence on the board and asks Ss to unscramble the letters of each word to figure out the sentence.

For example:

1. hse si ym steb dfneri
2. hewre rea oyu romf?
3. uyo velo gineta clahoteco
4. ni seca fo frei seu satris
5. tawh idd yuo od tals nedkewe?
6. cone puno a mite, rethe reew rethe tlelit gisp

Answers:

1. She is my best friend
2. Where are you from?
3. You love eating chocolate
4. In case of fire use stairs
5. What did you do last weekend?
6. Once upon a time, there were three little pigs

6. Big strips of paper
T chooses a complex sentence and writes each word on strips of papers, big enough to see the words from a distance. T randomly picks Ss and gives them one strip of paper per S. Then, T invites Ss to take it in turns to come to the front of the class and stand facing the class showing their word card. T encourages Ss to make up a sentence. Ss can move further along or further back in the sentence.

Here some sentences:

1. I like spaghetti for dinner.
2. The black cat is jumping on the table.
3. If you want to speak to me, then learn English.
4. We visited the zoo before it closed.
5. I wash my hands before I ate breakfast.
6. When she was younger, she believed in fairy tales.
7. Polar bears are in danger of becoming extinct.
8. When people tell you what to do, it is annoying.
9. The football match was cancelled, because it was raining.
10. Trixie wanted to go for walk even though it was getting dark.

7. Anagrams
T writes a word or words and asks Ss to rearrange the letters to make other words.

1. Change there into a number = three
2. Change tea into a verb = eat
3. Change melon into another fruit = lemon
4. Change god into an animal = dog
5. Change cheater into a job = teacher
6. Change are into a body part = ear
7. Change flow into an animal = wolf
8. Change raptor into a talkative animal = parrot
9. Change break into a job = baker
10. Change danger into a place where you grow flowers = garden

Leave your comments and let me know what warm-up activities you use in your class. I look forward to reading your ideas. 

Category: TEACHING

Inclusion is a term that refers to involving children or teenagers with disabilities and their families in all activities that are typical for them of that age. One way to adapt materials is to rewrite reading texts and grade the language accordingly for different levels. 

If you are interested for the the full collection, click here to get more info.

Full collection:

1. Community service
2. Classic tales
3. Bilingual dictionary
4. Silent films
5. Forecasts
6. Human body
7. Likes and dislikes
8. Comic strips
9. Oral presentation
10. Travel

Category: VERB TENSES

FORM

Affirmative form: Subject + was/were
I was
You were
He / She /It was
We were
You were
They were

Examples:

• I was in Hawaii in 2015.
• You were sick.
• He was in the park.
• She was my girlfriend.
• It was cloudy.
• We were friends.
• You were married.
• They were tired this morning.

Negative form: Subject + was not /were not

I was not
You were not
He / She /It was not
We were not
You were not
They were not
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Contractions

• was not - wasn't
• were not - weren't

Examples:

• I wasn’t invited.
• Mary was not at home.
• Susan and Leo weren’t married.
• We were not tired.
  

Interrogative form: Was / Were + Subject

The question form of simple past tense with “To be” can be made by putting the verb (was or were) before the subject.

Examples:

• Was I late? Yes, you were. / No, you were not.
• Were you happy? Yes, I was. / No, I wasn’t.

You can add a question word (why, where, when, who, how, etc.) before was or were to ask for more information.

Examples:

• Why was I hungry?
• Where were you?
• When was he sick?
• Who was she?
• How was the trip?
• Where were we?
• How long were you together before you were engaged?
• Why were they abandoned?

Worksheets

What to read next