Simple Past

Click on the link to watch an animated version of the story:

Simple Past story

The next day Mr. Orange went back to the park. He was thinking about his day yesterday. He realized he did not know how to talk about yesterday. He could only talk about his habits and now. He sighed.

An old man with wild read hair passed by. He saw how sad Mr. Orange looked. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I need help. I don’t know how to talk about yesterday.”

“I can help you. I am very old. I love to talk about the past. That is my favorite topic.”

“Who are you?”

“I am Red Ed.”

“How can you help me talk about the past?”

“Just use my name—ED. Add it to the end of your verb.”

“That’s it?”

“For many words, it’s that easy, but I have to tell you that there are two kinds of past verbs. One group is new—they belong to the Red Ed club, and just add ED to the end to show the past. The other group is really old. They don’t believe in the Red Ed club. They follow old-fashioned spelling rules that you have to memorize. I just respect their old spellings because they are too old to change.”

“Can I try to make some sentences with your Red Ed club verbs?”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“I walked in the park yesterday. I talked to Ingrid and Beatrice. I learned about now.”

“Very good. That’s right.”

“Which verbs don’t belong to the Red Ed club?”

“Look at this list. It tells you the old-fashioned verbs and how they show past. If you want to use them, you should memorize them.”

“Thanks. I will!”

Simple Past Irregular Verbs

Let’s Practice Finding Red Ed

Read these sentences from the story. Draw boxes around the verb and the Red Ed ending. Color the verb orange. Color the ED ending red. If it is an old-fashioned spelling, you can decide how much of the word to make orange and how much to make red (maybe half and half).

I walked in the park yesterday.

I talked to Ingrid and Beatrice.

I learned about now.

Write your own sentences about you did yesterday. Use your imagination.

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Simple Past Lesson Plans, Worksheets, and Activities

(Attached below)

Animation for lesson 4 (click on link):

Simple Past negatives and questions

Game for practicing WAS and WERE

WAS or WERE?