Lesson 2B: Parted but united

A Words, words, words

A1 Australian animals

B Listen and read

WHEN I WAS A PUPIL

My teacher didn’t have a blackboard,
She didn’t use chalk.
Instead she held a microphone
And talked and talked and talked.


She didn’t see her pupils,
She didn’t know if they were there
Or whether maybe one of them
Was running outside to catch a hare.


I didn’t sit in a classroom;
I sent my homework by plane.
I listened to the radio
And tried hard to use my brain.


So, dear teacher and dear friends,
You were my lucky clover.
Thanks a lot for the time we shared.
This is Jack. Over.

Which words from the poem can you see in the photos? Say then flip the card to check.

C Grammar

Past simple: negative form
Look, think and discuss.

How do we form negative sentences in the past simple?
My teacher used a microphone. She didn’t use chalk. 
My teacher had a radio. She didn’t have a blackboard.

C1 Past Simple - positive and negative sentences.

C2 Look at the photos and fill in the sentences with the positive and negative past simple form of the given verbs.

C3 Past Simple: negative sentences

Growing up on a cattle station in the Outback was a unique and exciting experience. The closest town was more than 200 kilometres away! That’s why my father owned a small plane. 

I didn’t have many friends. There just weren’t any children to play with! The trip to my closest friends lasted two hours – in one direction! But I didn’t feel lonely all the time. I made friends with the animals on the station.

I got my own horse when I was only four, a cute little pony. My family had other horses, too, ten of them. And five herding dogs. 

They worked on the station, but I thought of them as my pets. This huge open space, the Outback, was my playground! I saw kangaroos and other wildlife on a daily basis. I had to be careful, though.

There were also dangerous animals, for example all sorts of snakes. I learnt early enough what to do when I saw them. But that didn’t stop me from exploring the world around me. When I was seven, I started collecting rocks. This love for rocks later turned into a profession: I’m a geologist. I was sad when I left the Outback to study geology. I still go back whenever I have the chance. 

C4 Choose the correct verb and fill in the sentences with its positive or negative past simple form.

Lesson 2B: Parted but united

A Words, words, words

A1 Australian animals

B Listen and read

WHEN I WAS A PUPIL

My teacher didn’t have a blackboard,
She didn’t use chalk.
Instead she held a microphone
And talked and talked and talked.


She didn’t see her pupils,
She didn’t know if they were there
Or whether maybe one of them
Was running outside to catch a hare.

I didn’t sit in a classroom;
I sent my homework by plane.
I listened to the radio
And tried hard to use my brain.


So, dear teacher and dear friends,
You were my lucky clover.
Thanks a lot for the time we shared.
This is Jack. Over.

B1 Which words from the poem can you see in the photos? Say, then flip the card to check.

C Grammar

Past simple: negative form
Look, think and discuss.

How do we form negative sentences in the past simple?
My teacher used a microphone. She didn’t use chalk. 
My teacher had a radio. She didn’t have a blackboard.