Greenberg: Simple Past x Past Continuous

Although this movie is not a master piece, it has great moments and the story is appealing. Stiller has one of his best dramatic roles in his career, though. I used this beautiful scene to practice contrasting the use of the simple past x past continuous.



I. Watch the movie segment and then fill in the blanks with the simple past or the past continuous form of the verbs in parentheses:









1. When Roger _________ (enter) the bar, Florence ________ (sing) a song in the bar.


2. Roger ________ (listen) to Florence singing when Gina _________ (order) four beers.


3. Gina ___________ (introduce) herself while she ____________ (wait) for the bartender to bring beer.


4. They ___________ (talk) to each other when Gina _________ (invited) him to sit with her friends.


5. Florence ___________ (talk) to with her friends when she _________ (wave) to Roger.

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MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD - GREENBERG

Answer key:

1. entered / was singing
2. was listening / ordered
3. introduced / was waiting
4. were talking / invited
5. was talking / waved

Sex and the City: Past Continuous x Simple Past

Activity provided by Carina Fragoso. Visit her handy site teachercarinafragozo.blogspot.com for really great ideas.
ENGLISH IN BRAZIL.
Thanks Karina for sharing such an effective activity.

Movie Activity

Before watching the video:


1. Fill in the blanks using words from the Box:

her - affected - examined - their - American - focused

Sex and the City is an _________ cable television series. Set in New York City, the show _______ on four women (Carrie, Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda), three in ______ mid-thirties and one in _____ forties. The series specifically ________ the lives of big-city professional women in the late 1990s/early 2000s and how changing roles and expectations for women ________ the characters.


Watching the video:



2. Carrie is a writer and her boyfriend Big has bought an apartment for them. She is thinking about selling her apartment to help him pay the new one. Based on the following scene, write T for true and F for false (10min-14min):





a) ( ) Big doesn’t want to get married to Carrie.


b) ( ) Carrie is surprised because he asked her to get married.


c) ( ) Carrie got Botox.


d) ( ) Samantha is disappointed because Carry is getting married.



3. Carrie’s boyfriend didn’t get married with her because he didn’t feel ready. He left her at the church. Based on the following scene, answer the questions (51min-55min):







a) Why did Big stop the car?
_______________________________

b) What was Carrie feeling?
_______________________________

c) Why didn’t Carrie say she felt he was strange?
_______________________________

d) Where were they going on honeymoon?
_______________________________



4. The girls decide to take the honeymoon that Carrie had booked. Based on the following scene, write T for true and F for false (57min-1h):






a) ( ) The receptionist was waiting for the girls.


b) ( ) Carrie thinks everything was a bad dream


c) ( ) Carrie didn’t sleep a lot.


d) ( ) Charlotte was afraid to eat the food because they were in Mexico.



After watching the video:


Based on the scenes we watched in class, write an ending for the story using the Simple Past and the Past Continuous.


Ex: Carrie found another boyfriend and she decided to travel to Brazil. When she was going to the airport, ...


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Adapted from Wikipedia.

The Lovely Bones: Simple Past x Past Continuous

You can't miss this film. A great story, great acting, and amazing ending. Although the movie is suitable for adults only, this scene can be used with students of all ages.



I. Work in groups. Read the activities below and guess which activities the character in the movie did NOT do while smoking cigarettes BEFORE VIEWING THE SEGMENT. You have to choose 4 activities. The winner is the group who guesses most activities.

1. ( ) Vacuum the house
2. ( ) Drink whiskey
3. ( ) Water the plants
4. ( ) Sweep the flo0r
5. ( ) Put a mask on someone's face
6. ( ) Break some eggs on someone's hair.
7. ( ) Do the laundry
8. ( ) Sleep
9. ( ) Kick the dog
10. ( ) Read a book
11. ( ) Dance
12. ( ) Talk on the phone
13. ( ) Kiss the children



II. Watch the segment now and check your guesses. Which group is the winner?


III. Now write affirmative and negative sentences about the activities in exercise I. What did she do while she was smoking?

Ex:

1. She vaccumed the house.
2 ................................................
3 ................................................

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MOVIE SEGMENT DOWNLOAD


Answer Key:

The incorrect items in exercise I are 9, 10, 12, 13

X 2 - X-Men Reunited: Past Continuous x Simple Past

The X-Men series of movies is one of the best cartoon adaptations I know. The mutants have very appealing powers and the story is really clever. I enjoyed it a lot. I used the scenes in which one of the mutants use his power to stop the time to practice both the past continuous tense and the simple past tense in a contextualized, fun way. My students loved it. I hope you do too.




A. Watch the movie segment and write down what the people in the shopping mall were doing when the mutant paused the time. Write down at least five sentences describing them. Make sure you use the past continuous tense.




Ex: A lot of people were walking around the mall.


1. _____________________


2. _____________________


3. _____________________


4. _____________________


5. _____________________





B. Work with a partner and share the sentences you have written. Are there any different activities?





C. Now watch the second segment from the same movie. Now write down at least 5 things that happened while the president was speaking live to the American citizens. Make sure you use the simple past tense.


Ex: The president asked the reporters a question about the incident.


1. _____________________


2. _____________________


3. _____________________


4. _____________________


5. _____________________




D. Now check your sentences with a partner. Did you write the same sentences? Can you think of other activities?


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Big Fish: Past Continuous x Simple Past

This is my favorite Tim Burton's movie. I love him as a director and most of his movies are full of resources for movie activities. Big Fish is full of them. This scene is perfect for the students to practice the past continuous and simple past tenses.



I. Watch the movie segment and write down 3 activities people were doing when time stopped.


Ex: A little boy was drinking soda.


1 ......................................................

2 .....................................................

3 ....................................................



II. Now write down 3 things that happened when time moved too fast to catch up while he was in the circus.

Ex:

The girl he fell in love with left without talking to him.

1 ...................................................................

2 ..................................................................

3 ..................................................................

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Hancock: Past Continuous x Simple Past

Check out this activity to practice simple past x past continuous. I recommend it for adults because of the language used. Tell me how you like it by adding a comment, please

Before watching the segment:

Discuss the following questions with a partner:

1) Would you like to be a Super Hero? Why (not)?

2) What super powers would you like to have?

3) Which of the super powers you mentioned would you consider the
most important one?

4) How different would your life be if you had this super power?

5) Would you keep your super powers a secret? Why (not)?

Watch the movie segment and fill in the blanks with the simple past or past continuous form of the verbs in parentheses.


1) Hancock _____________ (sleep) on the bench when a boy _________ (wake) him up.


2) A young lady ____________ (walk) on the street when Hancock ________ (touch) her back.


3) Several birds ________ (hit) him when he ____________ (fly) with a bottle of liquor in his hand.


4) Hancock __________ (fly) and ___________ (drink) when he _______ (hit) a traffic sign.


5) Hancock _________ (try) to persuade the foreigners to surrender when they _____ (shoot) him.


6) Hancock ___________ (throw) their car at the building when he _________ (fly) and _________ (carry) their car around the city.



After watching the segment:

Discuss the following questions about the segment:

1) What’s the matter with Hancock’s super powers?

2) Would you like to be Hancock? Why (not)?

3) What advice would you give him?


How to prepare your own video activity:





• Select a scene in which the characters’ actions are interrupted during the segment.


• Prepare an exercise in which the students have to identify when to use the target structures.

. Prepare pre and post viewing questions to activate schemata.






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The Pursuit of Happyness: Simple Past x Past Continuous

This movie has a great message and the story is touching. My opinion is that the film is too down in the mouth, but the last 5 minutes are uplifting. Not my cup of tea, but most people really enjoyed it. The scene, though, is perfect for practicing the contrast between the simple past and the past continuous tenses.







Watch the movie segment and fill in the blanks with the simple past or the past continuous form of the verbs in parentheses.

1) Chris _________________ (cook) burgers for breakfast when his landlord ________________ (knock) on his door.

2) The police ______________ (arrest) Chris when he ________________ (paint) the house.

3) Chris _______________ (pay) some parking tickets when the officer __________ (tell) him he was supposed to spend the night in jail.

4) When Chris __________ (call) his ex-wife, she _____________ (work) hard.

5) When he _______________ (enter) the elevator, he _____________ (try) to button up his jacket.

1) He __________________ (wait) in the waiting room when the secretary _________ (call) out his name.

2) When he ___________________ (walk) through the office, businesspeople _______________ (talk) on the phone, _______________ (speak) very loudly, and _______________ (work) a lot.

3) The Board _____________ (wait) for Chris when the secretary ___________ (announce) him.

Answer Key:

1. was cooking / knocked
2. arrested / was painting
3. was paying /told
4. called / was working
5. entered/ was trying
6. was waiting / called
7. walked / were talking - speaking - working
8. was waiting / announced

How to prepare your own video activity:

Grammar Goal: Simple Past x Past Continuous

• Select a scene in which the characters’ actions are interrupted during the segment.
• Prepare an exercise in which the students have to identify when to use the target structures.
• Make sure the students know when to use both verb tenses before they actually do the exercise.





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