Simple Past Tense Was and Were Games Activities for Elementary ESL Students

 Link to the complete resource: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Simple-Past-Tense-Was-Were-Activities-House-and-Family-ESL-Grammar-Unit-Flas-16778768

This Guess: Who Was Where Yesterday? board game is a fun and interactive way for students to practice was/were, rooms of the house, family members, and WH questions through speaking. As students move around the board, they observe the room illustrations, answer questions, describe locations, and use complete sentences in the simple past. The game encourages meaningful communication while reinforcing grammar and vocabulary in an enjoyable, hands-on activity. It is perfect for small groups, literacy centers, fast finishers, or whole-class review, giving learners plenty of opportunities to build confidence using was and were in real conversations.

A Detective Game for Practicing Was and Were

Objective: Be the first detective to discover:

Who was there?, Where were they?, Which item was with them?

Print all the materials

Game Setup

1. Shuffle the Suspect Cards.
2. Shuffle the Room Cards.
3. Shuffle the Item Cards.

Without looking, place: ONE Suspect card, ONE Room card, ONE Item card inside an envelope. These cards are the secret solution.

The remaining cards are shuffled together and dealt completely out to all players.

Mark your own cards off on your detective note slip since they cannot be in the envelope. 

All players begin at the START space.

Roll: Roll the dice and move your token into a room.

Suggest: Name a suspect, a weapon, and the room you are currently standing in. Use the small token cards.

ask questions in simple past, Examples: Was Sister in the bathroom with a clock?

Disprove: The player to your left must secretly show you one card from your suggestion if they have it.

Pass: If they cannot help, the next player must try to disprove your theory.

Log: Write down what you learned on your detective note slip.

Winning the Game is by Making an Accusation

When you think you know the answer, wait until your turn.

Say: "I think Grandma was in the bathroom with the lamp."

Open the envelope.

If correct...

🎉 You win!

If incorrect... Return the cards to the envelope. Continue playing, but you may no longer make another accusation. You can still answer questions from the other players.

 

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Simple Past Tense Was and Were Small cards Activities for Elementary ESL Students

 Link to the complete resource: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Simple-Past-Tense-Was-Were-Activities-House-and-Family-ESL-Grammar-Unit-Flas-16778768

These printable ESL House and Family Small Cards are perfect for teaching the Simple Past with was and were. Students can practice speaking, listening, reading, and writing while describing where family members, pets, and objects were in the house. The small cards are ideal for pair work, grammar practice, vocabulary review, dictation activities, games, and sentence-building tasks for elementary English language learners.

Who Was Where? Writing

Provide a meaningful writing activity for practicing the simple past tense with was and were. Students observe the pictures and write sentences about where family members were in the house. For example, they can write: Father was in the bathroom or Brother was in the tub. This activity helps reinforce sentence structure, room vocabulary, family member vocabulary, and the use of was/were in context while developing writing skills.

 

Write Two Sentences

Using the small cards, students write one affirmative sentence and one negative sentence about the picture. This activity helps reinforce the use of was, were, wasn't, and weren't while developing writing skills. For example, students can write: My sister was on the bed and My cousin wasn't on the bed.

Describe the Picture

Using the small cards, students carefully observe the picture and write as many sentences as possible using was and were. They can describe family members, pets, furniture, objects, and locations in the house.

This writing activity helps ESL and EFL learners expand vocabulary.

WH-Question Writing

Using the small cards, students practice writing WH-questions in the simple past with was and were. Learners observe the picture and create questions about the people, objects, and locations shown in the house.

This writing activity helps ESL and EFL students develop question formation skills.

Label What You See

This vocabulary-building activity helps students identify and label the people, rooms, and objects shown on the small cards. As they label the images, they strengthen vocabulary recognition.

Dictation Draw or Write: Where Was It?

One student receives the house image or the separate small cards, while the other student writes a short text describing where family members, pets, and objects were in the house.

The student with the text reads the sentences aloud, and the other student listens carefully and draws or writes the people and objects in the correct rooms of the house. For example: Mother was in the kitchen. The dog was in the living room. Brother and Sister were in the bedroom.

Students can switch roles and complete the activity again with a different text for additional grammar practice.

Sentence Association Game

These printable sentence strips provide meaningful reading and grammar practice with the was/were simple past. Students read each sentence and match it to the correct small picture card by identifying the people, animals, objects, and locations in the house. This engaging ESL activity strengthens reading comprehension, vocabulary, sentence recognition, and understanding of affirmative was/were sentences, making it perfect for literacy centers, partner work, and grammar review.

 

Join thousands of ESL, ELL, EFL, and EAL teachers and receive  free teaching resources. Click follow at my Tpt store: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Holistic-English-Resources-By-Rosa-Amelia

Routines ESL Activities and Games | Present Simple, Time, Adverbs of Frequency

 This EAL resource is included here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Routine-Verbs-for-Elementary-ELL-3088833

Make teaching daily routines fun and interactive with this ESL resource pack for elementary English language learners! Students practice daily routine vocabulary, telling time, present simple sentences, adverbs of frequency, sequence words, speaking, reading, and writing through engaging worksheets, games, sentence strips, matching activities, board games, and hands-on tasks. This resource is perfect for centers, small groups, morning work, homework, and classroom games while helping students build confidence using everyday English.

The flashcard activities in this Daily Routines resource help students practice speaking, reading, listening, and sentence building in a fun and interactive way.

 sentence building activity

 First, the routine verb flashcard is placed on the board. Next, the time flashcard is added, and finally, the part of the day flashcard completes the sentence. For example: He wakes up + at 6:00 + in the morning.

Students learn that we use at with exact times: at 6:00.

They also practice using in the with parts of the day:  in the morning.

There is a flashcard to complete with the hands as needed. The time flashcards used in the examples belong to a complete separate Time Unit resource available in my store. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-time-for-Elementary-ESL-EXPLORE-4532035

 
Students grab the flashcards and place them in order on the board to create complete sentences using routine verbs and time expressions.

Activity: Students select a routine verb flashcard, add a time expression, and complete the sentence with a part of the day. After organizing the flashcards, students write the complete sentence on the board.

 adverbs of frequency flashcards: always, usually, and never

By combining the adverb flashcards with routine verb cards, students can easily understand how frequency words are used in everyday English.

 

Students place the routine flashcards under the correct adverb of frequency category such as always, usually, or never. As students organize the flashcards, they talk about their own habits, routines, chores, and free time activities. This helps learners connect grammar with real-life experiences.

Sentence building with the sequencing words before and after.  These words help students describe the order of events in their daily routines using flashcards.

 Routine Timeline Game

Students place flashcards on the board in chronological order from morning to night. Then they add sequence words such as before and after.

This helps students understand sequence and time order.

The small cards provide students with additional practice of the vocabulary and grammar structures that were first introduced with the flashcards.

 Daily Routine Sentence

Place the routine verb flashcards, time cards, adverbs of frequency cards, and sequence word small cards in separate piles. Students grab cards and create a complete sentence.

 

True or False About Me

The teacher will choose small cards to create sentences about herself. Classmates decide if the sentence is true or false.

This activity encourages conversation and personal connections with the vocabulary.

 
Find Someone Who…

The teacher cuts the small cards in half and gives one half to each student. Students walk around the classroom asking questions and searching for the classmate with the matching half card.

This interactive activity encourages speaking.

Writing Activity

Students can create meaningful sentences by choosing cards from different piles and writing about routines, chores, and daily activities.

The teacher places the small cards in separate piles on the desk. Students choose cards to build complete sentences such as “I always ride my scooter in the afternoon.” or “I usually run before I take out the trash.” Then, students write their sentences in their notebooks and share them with the class.

Morning vs Night Sorting

Students can practice sequencing daily routines by placing the small cards in chronological order for each part of the day. Then, they orally describe the sequence using simple sentences and transition words. Students can also compare their routines with classmates and create their own daily schedule conversations.

The worksheets in this resource give students meaningful practice with daily routine vocabulary, telling time, adverbs of frequency, sequence words, and present simple sentences.

 “What Do You Do?” worksheet

Students look at each picture and write the answer in the speech bubble.

“Write the Questions” worksheet

Students read the answer sentence, look at the picture clue, and write the matching question on the line. This activity gives learners meaningful practice with WH- questions, auxiliary verbs, word order, adverbs of frequency, time expressions, and sequence words such as before and after.

This worksheet helps students practice changing negative sentences into affirmative sentences using daily routine vocabulary. Students read each sentence carefully and rewrite it in the affirmative form on the lines provided.

Write and talk about their own daily routines using simple present tense questions and answers. Students read each question carefully and write personal answers about their habits, routines, and activities during the day.

Students use the answers from their “Talk About Your Daily Routines” worksheet to complete a class survey activity. As students share their personal answers aloud, the teacher records the information on the board using tally marks for each question. Together, the class analyzes the results and talks about the most common daily routines in the classroom.

This matching worksheet helps students practice reading. Students read each sentence carefully and draw lines to match the correct sentence to the corresponding picture. This activity is perfect for reinforcing simple present tense, time expressions, and routine actions.

Writing the correct verbs

Students review common routine actions while strengthening spelling.

 

Hands-on cut and paste parts of the day

students use the action pictures from the previous worksheet and sort them according to the correct part of the day. First, students cut out the routine action cards. Then, they glue each picture under the correct category: morning, noon, afternoon, evening, night, or midnight.

 

This worksheet helps students practice adverbs of frequency such as never, usually, and always while reviewing daily routine vocabulary. Students complete each sentence by choosing the correct adverb of frequency according to their personal habits or the teacher’s instructions.

These routine worksheets can be used many times by placing them inside clear plastic sheets or dry-erase sleeves. Students can complete the activities using dry-erase markers and easily wipe the answers away to practice again. This is a great way to save paper, reuse worksheets throughout the school year.

 This sequence words worksheet helps students practice using before and after while talking about daily routines. Students read each sentence carefully and complete the blank with the correct sequence word. The activities encourage learners to think about the order of actions during the day while reinforcing routine vocabulary and sentence structure.

 

Interview worksheet

Students work in pairs and take turns interviewing each other using the question prompts on the clipboard worksheet. They listen carefully to their partner’s answers and write the information on the lines provided.

Draw the Clock Hands

Students look at each sentence and draw the clock hands or arrows to show the correct time for each daily activity.

 

The games in this resource help students practice daily routine vocabulary and grammar in a motivating and hands-on way. Through interactive play, students develop speaking, listening, reading, teamwork, and sentence-building skills while gaining confidence using English in meaningful everyday situations.

Routine Game

The game board includes different colored spaces that match the colors of the question cards. Students roll the dice, move along the path, and pick up a card that matches the color of the space where they land.

Each card contains a question related to daily routines and time. Students must answer the question correctly in order to stay on the space and continue moving toward the finish point. If they cannot answer, they can move back one space or miss a turn depending on the classroom rules.

Routine Sentence Strips
Students read the sentence strips and place them on the correct person doing the action. The house can be enlarged in a printer to make it this big or use the normal size paper for the game. Teachers can also turn this resource into a speaking game by asking students to read the sentence aloud and explain why they placed it in that room. The large printable format makes it perfect for table work, centers, pocket charts, or small group ESL activities.

 

Spinners and Speak

These two printable spinners make sentence building fun. Students spin the daily routine spinner and the sequence word spinner to create original sentences using before and after.

Students spin both spinners, the adverbs of frequency and the verbs. Then, use the results to create complete sentences about routines and habits.

For example: I usually swing.

 

Students spin the verb spinners and the time spinner to create original sentences. The teacher or students can draw the hands on the clocks to create different times before using the spinner. After spinning, students make complete sentences such as: I eat at 7:00.

 

Students spin the action and the part of the day spinners.

For example: I brush my teeth in the morning. The activity also reinforces the use of the preposition in with parts of the day such as in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, and at night.

 

Join thousands of ESL, ELL, EFL, and EAL teachers and receive free teaching resources. Click follow at my Tpt store,LINK: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Holistic-English-Resources-By-Rosa-Amelia

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