talking about PAST IN PROGRESS

The title of this post is rather technical but in fact it's quite easy to understand - it actually means using PAST CONTINUOUS. It's usually taught right after PAST SIMPLE and is not the easiest English grammar structure to understand. But here's a nice example how to practice it in a less conventional way. I've found this exercise somewhere on the web but modified it to my own fashion - I'm also using this activity to teach some interesting body language verbs. Enjoy!

VOCABULARY
Can you do those things? Repeat the words after the teacher and do the actions.

blink *  breathe * cough * roll * rub * scratch * sneeze * sniff * stretch * tap * touch * yawn 

SPEAKING
Answer the questions below in full sentences.

• What were you doing when the teacher came in?
• What were you doing before you came to lesson today?
• What was she doing while the teacher was checking the attendance?
• What was he doing while you were answering the teacher's question?

Now it's time for a game. One student is observing his/her classmates for 1-2 minutes. During this time the rest of the class performs one of the actions previously learnt (yawn, blink, rub...). The observer or anybody else isn't allowed to speak. After a minute or two the teacher says STOP and asks the observer the question: What were you fellow students doing when I said STOP?

The observer must then name all the actions his classmates were performing using PAST CONTINUOUS, e.g She was tapping her finger. He was rubbing his neck. The more correct answers he/she gets, the more points he/she earns. The game is repeated with few more students. It's a good idea for the teacher to take part in the miming too.