Miss Marvel and the Past Simple Tense Miss Marvel walked into her classroom and opened her school bag The worksheets she needed were not there! No problem She had put an exercise on the computer She logged on, but, disaster – her computer crashed! The topic was the past simple tense She found a book, opened it and started reading the story – well, it was in the past tense! However, the class didn’t settle First, Peter threw a pen at Julia Mick swung back and forward on his chair Jenny barked like a dog and Saima meowed like a cat They all started messing about! Just at that moment, the door opened and the head teacher walked in! He went to the back of the class and sat down He decided to observe the lesson! Poor Miss Marvel froze Her heart sank and she almost cried Suddenly, a cat walked to the front of the class! He must have climbed in through the window He jumped onto Miss Marvel’s desk, sat down and licked his paws Then, he rolled onto his back, put his legs in the air and he purred He wanted Miss Marvel to pet him Now, the students were very interested and they paid full attention ‘Right, class!’ said Miss Marvel ‘What did the cat first?’ They all put their hands up and Miss Marvel asked Jim ‘He walking to the front, Miss’, Jim answered ‘He walking or he walk … ?’ Miss Marvel asked ‘He walked to the front!’ Eventually Jim remembered the correct ending Miss Marvel asked lots of questions and soon, they described all the things the cat did ‘OK class, open your books and in minutes, write down what the cat did Please use: first, then, next, after that and finally,’ she instructed They all opened their books and started to write Miss Marvel heaved a sigh of relief and the head teacher smiled Just then, she noticed that her computer was back on! Correct the following sentences: 1) Miss Marvel ran into the classroom and closed her bag 2) She had the worksheets that she needed 3) When she logged on, her computer was fine 4) The lesson was about the history of chair legs 5) Jenny neighed like a horse and Saima mooed like a cow Peter threw a ruler at Julia 6) The door closed and the head walked out 7) The head went to the front of the class and took the lesson for Miss Marvel 8) Slowly, a dog hopped to the back of the class and sat on Miss Marvel’s chair 9) When Miss Marvel asked what the cat did, none of the class put their hands up 10) First, the cat skipped to the back, then he stood up and started licking his tail 11) Miss Marvel asked a few questions 12) She told the class to close their books 13) She gave them eight minutes to write down the things the cat did 14) The class all put their books in their bags and refused to write 15) The head teacher frowned 16) She noticed that her computer had blown up in a massive explosion! Here are some endings for the story Put the verbs into the past A B C After the lesson, the cat …………… (get) down from the desk and he …………… (squeeze) out of the open window Then, he …………… (jump) through the next classroom window In that class, Mrs Parveen was the teacher The cat ………… (hide) under a student’s desk When the student ………… (move) his foot, the cat ………… (jump) on it and …………… (try) to bite it! The students was shocked and …………… (scream) Mrs Parveen …………… (love) cats She ……………… (believe) the cat was a stray, so she …………… (take) him home and ……………… (give) him to her little boy She ……………… (call) him Pliny Pliny …………… (have) a really good life with Mrs Parveen and her family The head teacher ………… (go) up to Miss Marvel and he …………… (shake) her hand ‘Well done!’ he ……………… (say) ‘That was a marvellous lesson! Miss Marvel – marvellous!’ He …………… (laugh) out loud at his own joke They ……………… (walk) to the staffroom to discuss the lesson ‘You know, if I had a pound for every time I heard that joke about my name, I would be a wealthy woman,’ Miss Marvel ……………… (think) to herself ‘Well done, my Grey Malkin!’ Miss Marvel ………………… (remark) to the cat You …………… (save) me there! I …………… (get) a really good report from the head master Then she ……………… (take) her broomstick, ………… (get) on it and …………… (fly) up into the sky Grey Malkin, her trusty cat …………… (sit) behind her You see, Miss Marvel is a witch who does a bit of teaching in her spare time Beware! Many teachers have got hidden powers and can cast spells, so naughty students really need to watch out! ;-) Which ending you like best and why? Now, write a different ending By the way The real Pliny was a Roman who lived many centuries ago He came from a rich family, and studied in Rome When he was 23, he began a military career by serving in Germany and he rose to the rank of cavalry commander Eventually, he returned to Rome, where he studied law (probably…) Pliny was a writer and he loved to study His nephew, Pliny the Younger wrote about his uncle Pliny’s last job was commanding a fleet of ships in the Bay of Naples His job was to stop pirates and capture them One day, he noticed some very strange clouds over a town called Pompeii Pliny went there to find out what was happening He realised that Mount Vesuvius had erupted Sadly, the strong fumes overcame him and he died on Aug 24, 79, according to his nephew’s report Pliny never married and had one sister Highlight the past simple verbs