English lesson plan · 6th grade (Year 7 in England) · 45 minutes
Irregular past tense and past participles (swam/swum, began/begun)
Grammar
CCSS L.6.1CCSS L.5.1.CEngland: KS3 English (Standard English)England: GCSE English Language (AO6 accuracy)
Objective and success criteria
Students will: Irregular past tense and past participles (swam/swum, began/begun).
- I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
- I can explain each step and say why it works.
- I can check my answer and spot a mistake.
Before and after
Needs first: Perfect tenses (past, present, future)
Leads to: lie/lay, rise/raise, sit/set; Past perfect for the earlier of two past events
Materials: Sentence strips, Highlighters, Mini whiteboards, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).
Warm-up · 5 min
- Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Perfect tenses (past, present, future)). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
- Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
- Choose the correct perfect tense. Scientists ___ (discover) a new kind of frog. (had discovered / will have discovered / discovering / have discovered) → have discoveredPrompt: Is the action finished before a past time, before now, or before a future time?
- Choose the correct perfect tense. I ___ (live) here for six years. (have lived / will have lived / am living / had lived) → have livedPrompt: Is the action finished before a past time, before now, or before a future time?
- Choose the correct perfect tense. When I got to the station, the train ___ (leave). (will have left / has left / leaves / had left) → had leftPrompt: Is the action finished before a past time, before now, or before a future time?
Hook · 5 min
- Show a sentence with the grammar point used wrongly and ask what sounds odd.
- Share the objective: Irregular past tense and past participles (swam/swum, began/begun). Read the success criteria together.
I do: model it · 10 min
- Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
- Example: Choose the correct form of the verb in brackets. The pond has ___ solid. (freeze)
- Step 1: Irregular verbs have special past forms. Use the simple past alone and the past participle after has, have or had.
- Step 2: Past participle of freeze = frozen.
- Step 3: Put it back into the sentence and read it aloud: "The pond has frozen solid."
- Step 4: So the answer is: frozen
- Answer: frozen
- Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.
We do: guided practice · 10 min
- Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
- Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
- Choose the correct form of the verb in brackets. Last winter the temperature ___ to minus ten. (fall) (fell / falled / fallen / felled) → fellPrompt: Is there a helping verb (has, have, had) before the gap?
- Type the form of the verb that completes the phrase. sing → yesterday I ___ → sangPrompt: Say the phrase in brackets aloud with each possible form.
You do: independent practice · 10 min
- Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
- Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.
The 8 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.
Exit ticket · 5 min
- Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
- Type the form of the verb that completes the phrase. swim → has ___ → swumPrompt: Say the phrase in brackets aloud with each possible form.
- Choose the correct form of the verb in brackets. Yesterday Ana ___ across the whole lake. (swim) (swam / swimmed / swum / swims) → swamPrompt: Is there a helping verb (has, have, had) before the gap?
Watch out for
- Naming the feature but not using it in their own sentences.
- Thinking a sentence is right because it sounds right when spoken casually.
Support and stretch
Support
- Review first: Perfect tenses (past, present, future).
- Use concrete materials: sentence strips.
- Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
- Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.
Stretch
- Move on to: lie/lay, rise/raise, sit/set; Past perfect for the earlier of two past events.
- Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
- Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.
Homework and more practice
Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-6.
Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder