Board Race: Used to and Would

(TESOL Materials--Used to, Would+base form)
Google: slides, pub
[Note: The first 4 slides in this presentation were designed from a co-worker, and not originally mine.  She, in turn, had taken them from Close-Up C1. The next 3 slides are my own addition, although they were also taken from grammar exercises in Close-Up C1.  Then the rest of the slides are self-plagiarized from a previous board race I had made with used to. In some of these later slides, the distinction between past action and past state gets a little bit ambiguous.  (e.g.  technically "sell" is an action verb, but I almost feel like "he used to sell cars" is describing a state of employment rather than a repeated action).  Nevertheless, for the purposes of this slideshow, I've gone with a broad interpretation of action verbs.
The set-up is a standard board-race: The students are put into 4 teams.  The teacher gives the students prompts (either visually, or written, or oral).  And the students race to the whiteboard to write the correct sentence.  The first team to write the correct sentence gets 4 points, the next student gets 3 points, etc.]

Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves by Cher: "used to" and "would" for repeated actions in the past

(TESOL Worksheets--Used to, Would+base form)
Worksheet: docs, pub
Slideshow (for pre-listening): slides, pub
[Notes: I had previously used Son of a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield for would + base form for repeated actions in the past.  But upon reflection, I've decided that I actually like Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves better.  It has a story-line that's easier to identify, and thus easier to talk about the difference between repeated actions and single actions.  And it has instances of both "used to" and "would" so it works good for introducing both grammar points.  It's a melodramatic song, admittedly, but sometimes over-the-top is good for the EFL classroom.  (Subtlety is not good for EFL students).  Although there is teenage pregnancy in this song, so use with caution in conservative environments.
In my lesson, I first used the slides to elicit from students what they knew about gypsies.  In my class, the Vietnamese students didn't know much, so I used the pictures to help guide them, and also supplied relevant vocabulary from the pictures (e.g. wagon, travelling show).
(I felt a bit worried that I was playing too much into stereo-types here, but the song relies on these stereo-types, so what are you going to do?  I believe in its day, this song was regarded as a sympathetic portrayal of Gypsies.  I'm not sure--is this song politically incorrect nowadays, or is it still okay to use? )
Then, I told the students that the song was a story about a girl born in one of the Gypsy wagons.  I told the students the song was going to be the story of what happened to her when she grew up, and  asked the students to talk about what they thought was going to happen with a partner.  Predictions are then elicited onto the board.  Then we played the song, and checked the predictions.  Then I handed out the lyrics sheet, the students listened again and sorted out the verbs into past actions that happened once, and past actions that happened repeatedly.  They checked with a partner, I gave them the answer sheet, and then I elicited from them which structures are used to talk about repeated past actions in English.]

Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves by Cher

I was born in the wagon of a travelling show

My mama used to dance for the money they'd throw

Papa would do whatever he could: preach a little gospel, sell a couple bottles of doctor good

Gypsies, tramps, and thieves

We'd hear it from the people of the town

They'd call us gypsies, tramps, and thieves

But every night all the men would come around and lay their money down

Picked up a boy just south of Mobile

Gave him a ride, filled him with a hot meal

I was sixteen, he was twenty-one

Rode with us to Memphis

And papa would’ve shot him if he knew what he'd done

Gypsies, tramps, and thieves

We'd hear it from the people of the town

They'd call us gypsies, tramps, and thieves

But every night all the men would come around

And lay their money down

I never had schooling but he taught me well

With his smooth southern style

Three months later I'm a gal in trouble

And I haven't seen him for a while, uh-huh

I haven't seen him for a while, uh-huh

She was born in the wagon of a travelling show

Her mama had to dance for the money they'd throw

Grandpa'd do whatever he could: Preach a little gospel, sell a couple bottles of doctor good

Gypsies, tramps, and thieves

We'd hear it from the people of the town

They'd call us gypsies, tramps, and thieves

But every night all the men would come around

And lay their money down

Gypsies, tramps, and thieves

We'd hear it from the people of the town

They'd call us gypsies, tramps, and thieves

But every night all the men would come around

And lay their money down

Verbs for a single action in the past

Verbs for a repeated action in the past

Answers:

Single Action in the past	Repeated action in the past
I was born [We] Picked up a boy [We] Gave him a ride [We] Filled him with a hot meal [He] Rode with us to Memphis She was born	My mama used to dance they’d throw Papa would do whatever he could: Preach… sell… We’d hear it They’d call us all the men would come around and lay their money down Her mama had to dance Grandpa’d do whatever he could

Other Structures

State verbs (past)	Mixed Conditional	Historic Present
I was sixteen, he was twenty-one I never had schooling	Papa would’ve shot him if he knew what he’d done.	I’m a gal in trouble I haven’t seen him (present perfect)

Son of a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield--Use for "would + base form"

(TESOL Worksheets--Would + base form for repeated actions in the past)

This is recycled from my TESOL Songsheets, but I'm re-posting it here because I've used it to teach "would+base form" for repeated actions in the past.  (I help students to notice that the contracted form ('d) is also an example of the target language.)

Google: drive, docs, pub

Son of a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield

along, easy, eyes, eyes, grown, knowing, me, mine, remember, sly, son, surprise, talking, time, tonight, try, walking, walking

Billy-Ray was a preacher's ________
And when his daddy would visit he'd come ________
When they gathered round and started ________
That's when Billy would take me ________
A-through the backyard we'd go ________
Then he'd look into my ________
Lord knows to my ________

The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes he was, he was
Ooh, yes he was

Being good isn't always ________
No matter how hard I ________
When he started sweet-talking to ________
He'd come and tell me everything is all right
He'd kiss and tell me everything is all right
Can I get away again ________?

The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes he was, he was
(Ooh...) Lord knows he was

Yes he was

How well I ________
The look that was in his ________
Stealing kisses from me on the ________
Taking time to make ________
Telling me that he's all ________
Learning from each other's ________
Looking to see how much we've ________

And the only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes he was, he was
Ooh, yes he was

The only one who could ever reach me
He was the sweet-talking son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
I kissed the son of a preacher man
The only one who could ever move me
The sweet-loving son of a preacher man
The only one who could ever groove me
Ahh, ooh, ahh....

Answers:

Billy-Ray was a preacher's sonAnd when his daddy would visit he'd come along
When they gathered round and started talking
That's when Billy would take me walking
A-through the backyard we'd go walkingThen he'd look into my eyes
Lord knows to my surprise

The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes he was, he was
Ooh, yes he was

Being good isn't always easy
No matter how hard I tryWhen he started sweet-talking to me
He'd come and tell me everything is all right
He'd kiss and tell me everything is all right
Can I get away again tonight?

The only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes he was, he was
(Ooh...) Lord knows he was

Yes he was

How well I remember
The look that was in his eyes
Stealing kisses from me on the sly
Taking time to make time
Telling me that he's all mine
Learning from each other's knowing
Looking to see how much we've grown

And the only one who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
Yes he was, he was
Ooh, yes he was

The only one who could ever reach me
He was the sweet-talking son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
I kissed the son of a preacher man
The only one who could ever move me
The sweet-loving son of a preacher man
The only one who could ever groove me
Ahh, ooh, ahh....

Would + Base Form for repeated actions in the past

(TESOL Ideas and Worksheets and Subdivisions)

* Son of a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield--Use for "would + base form"

Used to and Would
* Board Race: Used to and Would
* Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves by Cher: "used to" and "would" for repeated actions in the past