Unit 7: T.G.I.F.

week 1

🎯goal: Learn how to talk about the past using regular verbs

Let's talk:

What is the meaning of TGIF?
What do you usually do on friday nights?

Now that we've talked about our Friday nights, let's read a little story about a party that got a little out of control... 🎉

Listen and learn.

💬

Let's talk

What do you think "ended up online"?

📸 Was it a photo, a video, or something even more embarrassing?

They got kicked out of the bar... what do you think they did?

🤔 Start a fight? Sing too loud? Spill a drink on someone?

What happens when you take too many shots?

🥃 Do you think the group had a good time or a disaster?

Read the story and describe what happened last Friday night.

Last Friday night started like any other weekend. After a long, exhausting week, my friends and I just wanted to relax, so we decided to go out and celebrated the end of it together. We arrived at our favorite bar around nine, and at first everything seemed perfect.

Little by little, the party turned into pure chaos. We ordered way too many shots, danced on the tabletops, and screamed the lyrics of every single song. At one point I even kissed someone on the dance floor — but honestly, I never remembered the name! Then my best friend maxed her credit cards buying drinks for everyone, the manager looked absolutely furious, and a few minutes later he kicked us out of the bar.

Instead of going home, we walked down the boulevard, still laughing about the whole disaster. On the way, we jumped into the park fountain, splashed water everywhere, and enjoyed every crazy second of it.

The next morning, reality finally arrived. I checked my phone and realized that the pictures had already ended up online. My friends tagged me in every embarrassing one, and of course I panicked! We always promised ourselves that we would stop, but somehow every Friday looked exactly the same. TGIF, right? 😅

You probably noticed that the story is full of verbs like "danced," "kissed," and "maxed." These are all in the past tense. Let's understand how this works!

What is the Simple Past?

The simple past tense is used to talk about actions that happened and finished in the past. It's the go-to tense for stories, memories, and anything that already happened. In our story, the narrator tells us everything that happened on a wild night out — so it's full of simple past verbs!

🧩 How to Form the Simple Past – Regular Verbs

For regular verbs, the rule is simple:

Add -ed to the base form of the verb.

Examples from the story (and similar ones):

dance → we danced on tabletops
kiss → we kissed someone at the party
max → we maxed our credit cards

These are regular past forms because they follow the -ed rule.

✏️ Spelling Rules for Regular Verbs

Here are some important patterns to watch out for:

Verbs ending in -e → just add d

like → liked
live → lived

Consonant–Vowel–Consonant (CVC) → double the last consonant (for short, stressed verbs)

stop → stopped
plan → planned

Verbs ending in a consonant + -y → change y to ied

study → studied
try → tried

Now that you know how to form regular verbs in the past, let's see how to use them in different types of sentences! ✏️

Affirmative:

Subject + Past Form of Verb + Object

Example:
She played tennis yesterday.
They finished their homework last night.

Negative:
Subject + Did not (didn't) + Base Form of Verb + Object

Example:
She didn't play tennis yesterday.
They didn't finish their homework last night.

Interrogative:
Did + Subject + Base Form of Verb + Object + ?

Example:
Did she play tennis yesterday?
Did they finish their homework last night?

Let's practice

You've learned the rules. Now it's time to put them into practice! Choose the correct icon for each verb transformation. 💪

end up → ended up

dance → danced

kiss → kissed

max → maxed

stop → stopped

kick → kicked

week 2

🎯goal: Learn how to pronounce correctly the ed sounds in the past

In the simple past tense, regular verbs form their past tense by adding "-ed" to the base form of the verb. The "-ed" ending can be pronounced in three different ways depending on the sound of the last letter of the base form of the verb:

If the base form of the verb ends in a voiceless consonant sound (such as /p/, /t/, /k/, /f/, /s/, /ʃ/, etc.), the "-ed" ending is pronounced as /t/. For example:

walked (/wɔːkt/)
stopped (/stɒpt/)
kissed (/kɪst/)

If the base form of the verb ends in a voiced consonant sound (such as /b/, /d/, /g/, /v/, /z/, /ʒ/, etc.) or a vowel sound, the "-ed" ending is pronounced as /d/. For example:

loved (/lʌvd/)
played (/pleɪd/)
called (/kɔːld/)

If the base form of the verb ends in a /t/ or /d/ sound, the "-ed" ending is pronounced as /ɪd/. For example:

wanted (/ˈwɒntɪd/)
needed (/ˈniːdɪd/)
decided (/dɪˈsaɪdɪd/)

🔊

Audio placeholder — record the three example groups above (/t/, /d/, /ɪd/) and add the audio files here.

Let's practice

Let's practice more

/t/

/d/

/id/

looked/t/
barked/t/
jumped/t/
stopped/t/
cooked/t/
thanked/t/
washed/t/
brushed/t/

enjoyed/d/
prepared/d/
crawled/d/
remembered/d/
played/d/

decided /id/
wanted /id/

🔊

Audio placeholder — record yourself reading the paragraph below so students can listen and check the -ed sounds.

Yesterday, I decided to go to the park and watch the birds. The sun shone brightly, and the sky looked clear. Suddenly, a dog barked loudly, and I jumped in surprise. Then, I laughed at my reaction and continued my walk. Later, I stopped by the store and bought some fruit. I picked up an apple and examined it carefully. It looked ripe and juicy, so I decided to buy it. In the evening, I cooked dinner for my family. I prepared pasta with tomato sauce. Everyone enjoyed the meal and thanked me for it. After dinner, we played board games together. When it was time for bed, I washed my face and brushed my teeth. I crawled into bed, feeling tired but satisfied. As I closed my eyes, I remembered all the things I had done and felt grateful for the simple pleasures of life.

week 3

🎯goal: Practice storytelling using only regular verbs in the Simple Past.

🎬

The Challenge:

Remember the party from our story? Well... someone posted everything on Instagram! 😱

Now the whole world knows what happened that crazy night. Your mission is to create a confession Reels (2-3 minutes) telling your side of the story.

💡 Think about:

What embarrassing things happened? (flirted with your boss, complained about work to the wrong person, danced on a table, called your ex, texted the wrong person...)
How did you feel now? (mortified, amused, proud, worried about Monday morning...)
What didn't happen? (I didn't want to talk about my personal life! I didn't plan to stay that late! I didn't mean to...)

📱 What is the Reels script?

✍️

🎯 Your script structure (6-8 sentences):

1. Introduction (what happened in general)

Example: "Last Friday night at the company happy hour will haunt me forever!"

2. The context (how it started)

Example: "I arrived at 6 PM planning to stay 'just one hour.'"

3. The embarrassing events (what went wrong - 2-3 sentences)

Example: "I complained about work to a stranger. Plot twist: he worked in HR!"

Example: "I danced on the bar counter and someone recorded it."

4. What you DIDN'T plan (negative sentence)

Example: "I didn't plan ANY of this!"

5. The consequences (what happened after)

Example: "Now my coworkers tagged me in 47 photos."

6. How you feel now (ending)

Example: "Monday will be fun." 😅

✨ More script examples:

Wedding disaster 🎂

"Last Saturday I attended my cousin's wedding and everything started perfectly. I danced with everyone and enjoyed the party so much! Then I tripped on my dress and dropped the entire wedding cake on the floor. 😱 I didn't mean to ruin the dessert! The bride laughed, but I cried. Now everyone calls me 'the cake destroyer.' #weddingfail #oops"

Networking gone wrong 💼

"Yesterday I attended a networking event and wanted to impress everyone. I talked to this important CEO and bragged about my 'amazing projects.' Then he asked details and I panicked... I invented everything! 😅 I didn't prepare for questions! Now he follows me on LinkedIn and I need to deliver. #fakeit #networkingnightmare"

💡

Remember: You're telling a funny/embarrassing story from the past using only regular verbs in the simple past. Be creative and have fun with it! 🎬

The Q&A Session – Audience Questions

After each student presents their confession Reels, it's time for the audience to get involved!

📋 How it works:

1. Listen carefully to each confession story.

2. Create at least ONE question in the simple past for the storyteller

Pay attention to the details — what happened? Where? With whom? What didn't happen?

3. The storyteller must answer

Remember: Both questions AND answers must use regular verbs only! This is your chance to practice interrogative AND affirmative/negative forms in a real conversation! 🗣️

Follow up: Time Card Challenge

🎲

How to play:

1.Choose a question

Look at the question list and choose ONE question to ask your partner

2. Insert the time expression

Add the time expression from your card into the blank space in the question

3. Your partner answers

They must answer using regular verbs in the simple past (affirmative or negative)

4. Switch roles!

Now your partner draws a card and asks you a question

Did you work ___?

Did you talk to your boss ___?

Who did you visit ___?

Did you cook dinner ___?

How many emails did you answer ___?

Did you clean your house ___?

Did you exercise ___?

What did you watch on TV ___?

How long did you study English ___?

Did you visit any friends ___?