Crazy wrong-order stories
Objective: Learn how to use the Past Perfect and Past Simple to explain what happened first.
Look at this list of crazy events:
win the lottery
lose your pants
kiss a frog
eat a pizza
meet Beyoncé
fall into the swimming pool
Put the events in a logical order using the Past Simple.
Example: Last Friday, I kissed a frog and I won the lottery. Then, I ate a pizza…
Now, change the order to make a funny, wrong story.
Example: I went to jail before I robbed the bank.
Fix your crazy story using the Past Perfect to show what happened first.
Example: I went to jail before I had robbed the bank.
Work with a partner and create your own short story (3–4 sentences). Try to make it as funny and crazy as possible.
Share your story with the class! 🎤
Objective: Notice when Past Perfect is needed to explain what really happened.
Write jumbled events on the board (make them silly):
win the lottery
lose your pants
kiss a frog
eat a pizza
meet Beyoncé
fall into the swimming pool
Ask students to put them in order with Past Simple.
Example:
“I kissed a frog, I won the lottery, I met Beyoncé, I ate a pizza, I lost my pants, I fell into the swimming pool.”
Now mix the order to create nonsense:
“I met Beyoncé after I fell into the swimming pool.”
“I ate the pizza before I won the lottery.”
“I lost my pants before I kissed the frog.”
Then pause and ask: Wait… what happened first? How can we make this clearer?
Introduce Past Perfect to fix the chaos:
“I met Beyoncé after I had fallen into the swimming pool.”
“I ate the pizza after I had won the lottery.”
“I lost my pants after I had kissed the frog.”
Pair activity (2–3 minutes):
Each pair gets a list of random silly events (you can give them cards or just write them on the board).
They must invent a 3–4 sentence “wrong order” story and then correct it using Past Perfect.
Example:
“I went to jail before I had robbed the bank. I married Shakira after I had eaten 20 hamburgers.”
Share & Laugh: A few volunteers read their “crazy corrected stories.”