Was and were

Objective & content

This grammar sheet teaches was and were: wasn't and weren't, questions (Was he...? Were they...?) and short answers (Yes, it was. No, they weren't.), with yesterday, last night and last week. Pupils read a conversation between Maya and Jack, find the missing words and complete the rule themselves. By the end, they can say where people were and what things were like, and ask about it.

Pedagogical guide

Page 1 is the conversation, with a picture of Maya and of Jack: Pip, the class hamster, isn't in his cage, and the two friends look for clues in the classroom. Pupils find seven missing words in sentences from the text, then complete a rule of five gaps with a word box that holds one extra word. Page 2 has seven sentences where the subject decides between was and were, five false sentences about the text to make negative, five questions to answer with short answers, and five sentences to turn into questions. Page 3 is a detective task: their teacher's birthday cake has disappeared, four pupils say where they were at quarter to four, and some facts check what they say. Pupils answer yes or no questions to find who was in the classroom, complete the detective's report with was, wasn't, were or weren't, then write three sentences about where they and their family were yesterday at five o'clock. Every exercise opens with a worked example. The only past forms on the sheet are was and were.

Suggested procedure

1. (5 min) Say "Yesterday at five o'clock, I was at home." Then ask a few pupils "Where were you yesterday at five o'clock?"
2. (10 min) Read the conversation aloud; pupils find the missing words.
3. (5 min) Pupils complete the rule alone, then check it together.
4. (12 min) Page 2: was or were, the negatives, the short answers, then the questions.
5. (10 min) Page 3: pupils read the mystery, answer the questions, find who it was and complete the detective's report.
6. (5 min) Pupils write their three sentences about yesterday.
7. (5 min) Check with the answer key on pages 4 and 5.

Adaptations

[S] Pupils read the conversation aloud in pairs, one as Maya and one as Jack, before the tasks.

[A] Pupils write three sentences about where they were last Saturday.

Materials & prerequisites

One copy of pages 1 to 3 per pupil. Pages 4 and 5 are the answer key and teacher notes: keep them, as the key gives the answer to the mystery. Pupils need am, is and are, in and at with places, and the school words. To take it further, groups write their own classroom mystery with three suspects and swap it with another group.