How to teach Past Simple to Iranian Students

Hey teachers,

We are often told to put the past behind us, but as a teacher we have to dwell in it for some sessions. I have always loved teaching grammar and whenever it comes to tenses, I feel like I can be very creative. However, Sometimes you may think the way you have been teaching grammar is getting old and you need to come up with some new ideas.

We’re going to share some tips with you guys today to have better classes.

How To Teach Past Simple

Go to your class with an album:

Show the pictures to your students and ask them to describe the photos for you. Help them with words they need. Then try to correct them whenever they used  present simple, but do it indirectly. Emphasize the fact that the photo is connected to the past and the actions had happened before.

You can also ask your students to bring a photo to the class next session. (Go with something happy like a birthday or wedding )

Go back in time

You can start from Present Simple and then go back like one day. I usually draw two or three squares on the ground and then I stand on the one in the middle. I tell them a sentence like : I see my sister today. And then I go one step back to the other square and then say : I saw my sister yesterday.

Practice Makes Perfect

Go around the class and make statements in Present and ask Your students to change it to Past . You can also put them in pairs and ask them to tell each other about yesterday and all the activities they did. Then ask them to retell the story in the class.

Homework is your students’ friend

Ask them to write about their last vacation or summer trip. One good way is to exchange their writing pieces with their classmates and ask them to retell the story of that writing.

You can download the PDF here :

Teaching Past Simple