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English lesson plan · 10th grade (Year 11 in England) · 60 minutes

Past perfect for the earlier of two past events

Grammar

CCSS L.9-10.1CCSS L.5.1.BEngland: GCSE English Language (AO6)England: SAT Standard English Conventions (Form, Structure, and Sense)

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Past perfect for the earlier of two past events.

  • 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: Irregular past tense and past participles (swam/swum, began/begun); Perfect tenses (past, present, future); Verb tense and form in context

Leads to: Choosing verb tense from context clues (SAT)

Materials: Sentence strips, Highlighters, Mini whiteboards, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 6 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Irregular past tense and past participles (swam/swum, began/begun); Perfect tenses (past, present, future); Verb tense and form in context). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Choose the correct form of the verb in brackets. The concert had already ___ when we arrived. (begin) (began / beginned / begun / begin) → begunPrompt: Is there a helping verb (has, have, had) before the gap?
  2. Choose the correct perfect tense. When I got to the station, the train ___ (leave). (has left / leaves / will have left / had left) → had leftPrompt: Is the action finished before a past time, before now, or before a future time?
  3. Choose the verb form that fits the context. By the time the firefighters arrived, the fire ___ out. (had burned / will burn / burns / has burned) → had burnedPrompt: Look for time clues (in 1969, since, by the time, next month).

Hook · 6 min

  • Show a sentence with the grammar point used wrongly and ask what sounds odd.
  • Share the objective: Past perfect for the earlier of two past events. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 12 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Choose the verb form that shows the order of events correctly. By 2010, the company ___ over a million phones.
  • Step 1: Use the past perfect (had + past participle) for an action completed before another past action or time.
  • Step 2: 'By 2010' marks a past deadline: past perfect.
  • Step 3: Put it back into the sentence and read it aloud: "By 2010, the company had sold over a million phones."
  • Step 4: So the answer is: had sold
  • Answer: had sold
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 12 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Is this sentence correct in formal written English? Nobody told me that the meeting has been cancelled. (correct / incorrect) → incorrectPrompt: Put the two past events in order on a timeline. Which happened first?
  2. Choose the verb form that shows the order of events correctly. After she ___ her homework, she went for a run. (will finish / has finished / had finished / finishes) → had finishedPrompt: Put the two past events in order on a timeline. Which happened first?

You do: independent practice · 17 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 · 7 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Is this sentence correct in formal written English? I realised I had left my keys at the café. (correct / incorrect) → correctPrompt: Put the two past events in order on a timeline. Which happened first?
  2. Choose the verb form that shows the order of events correctly. I realised I ___ my keys at the café. (leave / have left / am leaving / had left) → had leftPrompt: Put the two past events in order on a timeline. Which happened first?

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: Irregular past tense and past participles (swam/swum, began/begun).
  • 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: Choosing verb tense from context clues (SAT).
  • 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-10.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Past perfect for the earlier of two past events

Name

Date

Score/ 8

  1. Question 1

    Choose the verb form that shows the order of events correctly. When I got to the station, the train ___.

    • A. leaves
    • B. had left
    • C. is leaving
    • D. has left

  2. Question 2

    Is this sentence correct in formal written English? Nobody told me that the meeting had been cancelled.

    • A. correct
    • B. incorrect

  3. Question 3

    Choose the verb form that shows the order of events correctly. After she ___ her homework, she went for a run.

    • A. had finished
    • B. finishes
    • C. will finish
    • D. has finished

  4. Question 4

    Is this sentence correct in formal written English? Nobody told me that the meeting is cancelled.

    • A. correct
    • B. incorrect

  5. Question 5

    Is this sentence correct in formal written English? Nobody told me that the meeting will be cancelled.

    • A. correct
    • B. incorrect

  6. Question 6

    Is this sentence correct in formal written English? She has read the book twice before she saw the film.

    • A. correct
    • B. incorrect

  7. Question 7

    Choose the verb form that shows the order of events correctly. The scientists announced that they ___ a new species.

    • A. discover
    • B. will discover
    • C. had discovered
    • D. have discovered

  8. Question 8

    Is this sentence correct in formal written English? When I got to the station, the train had left.

    • A. correct
    • B. incorrect

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Answer key: Past perfect for the earlier of two past events

  1. 1. B. had left

  2. 2. A. correct

  3. 3. A. had finished

  4. 4. B. incorrect

  5. 5. B. incorrect

  6. 6. B. incorrect

  7. 7. C. had discovered

  8. 8. A. correct