Week 23 – Past weekends & holidays

Week 23 – Past weekends & holidays (A2)

Theme: Talking about past weekends, trips, and holidays in more detail.

Main grammar & functions:

• Past Simple (regular & irregular) for short narratives (what you did, where you went, who you met).
• Sequencing words: first, then, after that, later, finally.
• Time expressions for stories: in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, at night, last weekend, last summer, two years ago.

CEFR link:

A2: Can describe a short series of past events (weekend, holiday, trip) in simple connected sentences (CEFR: “Can describe past activities and personal experiences in a simple, linear sequence.”)

1. Lesson objectives (for students)

By the end of the week, students can:

1. Use Past Simple to describe what they did last weekend or on a holiday.
2. Use sequencing words to link sentences into a simple story.
3. Use basic holiday and travel vocabulary to add detail (place, people, activities).
4. Ask and answer past‑time questions about weekends and holidays.

2. Grammar focus (with Ukrainian‑speaker notes)

a) Past Simple – review & extension

Review forms:

• Positive: verb + -ed / irregular form:
  • We visited my grandparents.
  • I went to the sea.
• Negative: didn’t + verb (base):
  • We didn’t stay at home.
  • I didn’t go to work.
• Questions: Did + subject + verb?
  • Did you have a good weekend?
  • Where did you go?
  • Who did you meet?

Core irregulars to recycle and extend:

• go → went, have → had, do → did, get up → got up, see → saw, buy → bought, come → came, make → made, eat → ate, drink → drank, meet → met, take → took, leave → left

Ukrainian issues (same as Week 22 but in freer speech):

• Double Past: I didn’t went → I didn’t go.
• Mixing Present and Past in the same story.

b) Sequencing words for simple stories

Teach as fixed chunks to organise a story:

• first, then, after that, later, finally / in the end

Examples:

• First, we got up very early.
• Then, we took the train to Lviv.
• After that, we walked around the old town.
• Later, we had dinner in a restaurant.
• Finally, we went back to the hotel.

Ukrainian issues:

• Overusing "and" for everything. Sequencers make stories clearer and closer to CEFR A2 goals.

c) Time expressions for weekend / holiday narratives

Typical:

• last weekend, last holiday, last summer, last winter, last year
• two years ago, a month ago
• in the morning / afternoon / evening, at night

Examples:

• Last weekend, I went to the mountains.
• In the morning, we walked in the forest.
• In the evening, we watched a film.

Encourage students to put time expression at the beginning of some sentences for variety.

3. Vocabulary sets

Weekend/holiday activities:

• stay at home, relax, sleep late, watch TV / films, play games, read a book
• visit friends / family, go to a restaurant / café, go for a walk
• travel, go to the sea / beach / mountains / another city
• swim, sunbathe, take photos, go sightseeing

Places & people:

• at home, in a hotel, in a guesthouse, at a campsite
• in the city centre, in the old town, in the park
• with my friends, with my family, with my husband / wife / children

Reactions & opinions:

• It was great / fun / interesting / fantastic / boring / terrible.

4. Lesson skeleton (60–90 minutes)

1) Warm‑up – Last weekend (10–15 min)

• Quick pair chat: "What did you do last weekend?"
  • Students talk freely for 3–4 minutes.
• Get 2–3 answers and write a couple of sentences on the board in correct Past.
• Highlight irregular forms you want this group to focus on.

2) Presentation – Model weekend story (15–20 min)

1. Present a short text on the board / slide:

Example text:

Last weekend I went to the mountains with my friends. First, we got up very early and took a bus to the mountains. Then, we walked in the forest and took a lot of photos. After that, we had lunch in a small café. Later, we came back home and watched a film. In the end, we were very tired but happy.

2. Underline:
   • Past verbs: went, got up, took, walked, had, came, watched, were.
   • Sequencing words: First, Then, After that, Later, In the end.
3. Quick comprehension questions:
   • Where did they go?
   • How did they go there?
   • What did they do?
4. Elicit structure of a simple story:
   • start (where, who, when),
   • activities in order,
   • short opinion at the end.

3) Controlled practice – Past verb work (10–15 min)

• Give a gap‑fill version of the story with verbs in base form in brackets.
  • Students put them into the correct Past form.
• Or give a Past verbs table and ask students to find the verbs in the story and match to infinitives.

Focus on correcting didn’t + base form and irregular spellings.

4) Guided writing – My last weekend (15–20 min)

• Provide a simple writing frame using sequencers:

• • Last weekend I …
  • First, I …
  • Then, I …
  • After that, I …
  • Finally, I … It was …

• Students write 5–7 sentences about their real last weekend (or a typical weekend if nothing special happened).
• Encourage them to use:
  • 2–3 irregular verbs (went, had, saw, etc.),
  • at least 2 sequencing words.
• Pair check, then a few volunteers read their stories.

5) Freer speaking – Holiday interview (15–20 min)

Students interview each other about a past holiday or trip.

1. On the board, write question prompts:
   • Where did you go?
   • When did you go?
   • Who did you go with?
   • How did you travel?
   • What did you do there?
   • Did you like it? Why / why not?
2. Students interview a partner and take notes (not full sentences).
3. Then each student tells the group/class about their partner’s holiday:
   • "Last summer, Oksana went to Turkey with her family. First, they flew to Antalya…"

Encourage use of sequencing words in the report.

5. Homework / revision ideas

Choose 1–2:

1. Writing – My favourite holiday
   • Students write 8–10 sentences about their best/favourite holiday or trip.
   • They should use:
     • Past Simple (mix of regular/irregular verbs),
     • at least 3 sequencing words,
     • time expressions (last year, in the summer, two years ago, etc.).

2. Story cards
   • Students create 3–4 simple picture cards (or choose photos from their phone) from one trip/weekend.
   • Next lesson, they use them to tell a short story in Past Simple.

3. Verb review list
   • Students build/extend their personal irregular verb list from Week 22:
     • add 5 new verbs from this week (met, took, left, flew, etc.) with Ukrainian translation.