Hiya, i wasn �t around. Was taking a nap. And now hubby has asked me to clean the car so he can put the new seat-covers and it �s already getting dark, so i �ll try to be short.

When i first introduced past simple to my 6th graders this year, i started with a quiz.
1) I made it clear what �yesterday � meant using a calender , as opposed to today, or every day. I use sign language a LOT in class, so to show �yesterday �, i showed my back, and to show �today/now � i pointed in front of me, like �here �.
2) I divided the ss into 4 groups of 5 and gave them T and F cards to hold up when the time comes.
3) I read some sentences about me. Yesterday, I watched Ninja warriors. True or false? Srki, my hubby, listened to Celine Dion last night. True or false?
4) After each sentence, the ss voted within the groups whether it was T or F. They cheered when they were correct. I wrote points on the board.
5) After pronouncing the winners and giving them a big applause, i asked them to remember the activities that  i did yesterday/last night. What the ss do is only give you infinitive forms, probably because they �re used to the present simple.
6) I write the infinitives on the whiteboard but leave space to add the endings. The whiteboard is magnetic as well, so i had prepared the -ED  endings and smiley magnets to put right next to the verbs.
7) The ss copy my sentences (which are actually in the present simple). Once i do example 1, by adding the -ED ending and YESTERDAY at the end of the sentence, they do the rest of their sentences in their notebooks. One by one, they come out to add the -ed. No real practise being done there, but they love playing with the magnets.
8) We practise reading the verbs first, with the endings, exaggerating the /t/ or /d/ at the end. When i choose examples, i make them rhyme, so that when we read the sentences, they sound like a rhyme/poem.
9) I do the negatives as well in the same class. I ask them how they think they would make it. They suggest �isn �t �, �don �t � ... but then i show them a "didn �t" slip ...
10) I insert the �didn´t� between the subject and the verb, and ask them, Do you think -ED will stay here? No. And i remove it. They transform the rest of the sentences themselves in their notebooks.

i will provide the video links later. hubby is starting to growl ... lol

Heya, lovely Mariethe,
here �s your answer: http://www.eslprintables.com/forum/topic.asp?id=4763