LEVEL 1

WRITING PROJECT 2Quarter 1, FALL 2015

A Cultural Event

LANGUAGE FOCUS

NAME: ________________________________

STUDENT ID: ________________________________

SECTION : ________________________________

TEACHER: ________________________________

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2. There are three endings for the regular simple past:-d, -ed, and –ied.

arrive arrived e.g. I arrived late.land landed e.g. He landed in Dubai.try tried e.g. He tried to change his flight.

Regular simple past verbs end in three sounds: /d/, /t/ or /Id/

/d/ He arrived late /t/ They worked on a boat. /Id/ We waited for a long time.

THE SIMPLE PAST TENSE

We use the Simple Past Tense to talk about actions / things that happened in the past and that are now finished.

We divide Simple Past Tense verbs into Regular and Irregular verbs to make them easier to study.

Regular Verbs in the Simple Past Tense

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SIMPLE PAST TENSE VERBS

REGULAR VERBS IRREGULAR VERBS

1. Use the simple past tense to tell about things that are finished.e.g. We arrived last night.

X

We arrived last night.

NOW

Verb + ed

e.g. want+ed wanted work+ed worked call+ed called

Verb, ending in –e + d

e.g. dance+d danced live+d lived die+d died

Verb, ending in –y: change y to i + ed

e.g. cry crie d try tried

One vowel verb: double the consonant + ed

e.g. stop stopp ed beg begg ed

Task 1 Complete the sentences below. Use the correct regular verb endings for the simple past tense of the verbs in rounded brackets (…..):

a) The old women (dye) _________________________the cloth yellow.

b) My brother (want) ____________________ to ride on a camel

c) The old men (use) ________________ a rope to climb the palm trees.

d) We (try) __________________ to make bricks out of sand, shells and water.

e) We (learn) ___________________ how to make fish traps out of wire.

f) The policeman (stop) _______________ us from going inside the fort.

g) The camels (carry) _________________ heavy bags.

h) They (plant) ________________ date palms in the oasis.

i) They (bake) ___________________ their own bread on camp fires.

j) We saw an exhibition of photographs that (show) _____________ us the history

of the fort.

Task 2

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Read the text below. Highlight the 10 regular simple past tense verbs in the text. Each

box shows the number of regular past tense verbs in the paragraph next to it.

The Qasr Al Hosn Festival Regular Simple Past Tense Verbs

Festivals are important events in the UAE because they celebrate our culture

and heritage. This year I went to the Qasr Al Hosn Festival. I had a wonderful

time because there was so much to see and do there.

Last weekend I went to the Qasr Al Hosn Festival in Abu Dhabi with my family.

The festival was in the Qasr Al Hosn fort and in the four areas around it. These

areas demonstrated Emirati life in the desert, the oasis, the sea, and life on Abu

Dhabi Island. I was proud to be Emirati and to learn more about life in the UAE

in the past.

There was a lot to see and my brothers and sisters enjoyed themselves. First

we explored inside the fort. Then we went to the desert area because my little

brother wanted to ride on the camels. Men told Bedouin stories around a

campfire. After that we went to the marine area. A fisherman showed us how to

make fish traps out of wire. Finally we explored the Abu Dhabi Island area. Old

ladies taught us how to make traditional dyes from herbs and plants. We tried to

see everything but we didn’t have enough time.

I loved the Qasr Al Hosn festival because we saw so many things and learned

about Emirati traditions and our heritage. We watched demonstrations and did

many craft activities. Next year I want to go to the festival again.

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0

3

7

1

Irregular Verbs in the Simple Past Tense Here are some useful Simple Past tense Irregular Verbs

INFINITIVE

PASTSIMPLE

INFINITIVE

PASTSIMPLE

INFINITIVE

PASTSIMPLE

be was/were go went say saidbecome became grow grew see sawbegin began have had sell soldbreak broke hear heard send sentbring brought hit hit shoot shotbuild built hold held sing sangbuy bought hurt hurt sit satcatch caught keep kept sleep sleptcome came know knew speak spokecut cut leave left spend spentdo did let let stand stooddrink drank lie lay swim swamdrive drove light lit take tookeat ate make made teach taughtfall fell meet met tell toldfight fought pay paid think thoughtfind found put put throw threwfly flew read read* understa

ndunderstood

get got ride rode wear woregive gave run ran own owned

Task 3Read through the Qasr Al Hosn Festival again. Highlight the irregular past tense verbs

in the text.

Introduction:

Body 1:

Body 2:

Conclusion:

These verbs are irregular verbs. There is no rule for the formation of irregular verbs. You have to memorize them!

Three of the most important irregular verbs are

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3

3

4

2

to be to have to do

The simple past tense of the verb to be:

Is the following statement true or false?

We put ‘was’ or ‘were’ before the subject in a sentence. ___________________

Write 2 sentences using to show how we use was and were.

1. (was) _________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

2. (were) _________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________

4. Linking Ideas

You can make your writing better by using link words to connect two ideas.

We can use a link word to make the two sentences below, (a) and (b) into one longer

sentence.

(a) I didn’t see everything.

(b) I did spend some time in each of the four areas with the themes of life in the desert,

the oasis, the sea, and life on Abu Dhabi Island.

Which word do we use, ‘and’ or ‘but’? ____________

Why? _________________________________________________________

I didn’t see everything ______________________ I did spend some time in each of

the four areas with the themes of life in the desert, the oasis, the sea, and life on Abu

Dhabi Island

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First we went to look inside the fort and we saw an exhibition of photographs that showed us the history of the fort. We watched the special police as they marched around the fort. Then we went to the desert area because my little brother wanted to ride on the camels.

Old men told Bedouin stories around a campfire and we listened to music played on the rababa and oud. We drank coffee brewed in a traditional pot on a fire. We also saw falcons and salukis. We watched old men climb tall palm trees and learned how to make ropes.

Look

at the

essay below and highlight the words that the writer used to connect her ideas.

How many sentences have one idea? _________

How many sentences have two ideas? _________

How many sentences have three ideas? _________

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Task 5: Connecting ideas - Practice Underline the simple past tense verbs in the text

below.

Use the conjunctions from the box below to join some of these ideas together.

a) I had a hard life when I was young. It was a simple and good life________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

b) My parents were poor farmers. They did not have a lot of money.

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

c) I looked after the camels and goats. I collected firewood three times a

day. I loved being outside.

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

d) At night we sat around an open fire. I played the oud.

________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________

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I had a hard life when I was

young. It was a simple and

good life. My parents were

poor farmers. They did not

have a lot of money. I looked

after the camels and goats. I

collected firewood three times

a day. I loved being outside.

At night we sat around an

open fire. I played the oud.

Tell me about life in the desert.

and but so because

Subject Verb Object

Finding the Subject or the Object of a Sentence

The verb is the most important word in a sentence . To find the subject of the sentence,

first find the verb. Look at the sentence below.

The old man climbed the date palm.

Put a rectangle around the verb, like this:

The old man climbed the date palm.

Now ask yourself ‘Who’ or ‘’What’ did the action?

Who climbed? the tree or the old man ________________

What was climbed? the tree or the old man ________________

‘The old man’ is the subject of the sentence. He does the action – he climbs.

The old man climbed the date palm.

What did the old man (the subject ) climb? _______________________________

The answer is the object of the sentence.

The old man climbed the date palm.

The old man climbed the date palm. ‘The date palm is the object of the sentence. Put

a circle around the object.

The old man climbed the date palm.

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Subject Verb

What was climbed?

Subject Object Subject Object

Task 6: Find the verb in each sentence. Draw a box around it. Find the subject of each sentence. Underline it. Find the object of each sentence. Draw a circle around it.

a) They old lay dyed the cloth.

b) We tried to open the oysters.

c) The fishermen missed their families.

d) In the old days the women collected water from the well.

e) Old men told Bedouin stories around a campfire.

f) She made dresses for herself and her sisters.

g) She wove baskets and mats.

Note: Every sentence has a main verb. Every sentence has a subject. Not every

sentence has an object. Look at the following examples:

The policemen marched around. His family was poor.

Using Pronouns

Be careful! If you use too many pronouns, or use them incorrectly you will confuse your reader.

e.g. She dyed it.

But if we write like this then it is clear what we are talking about:

The old lady had a white cloth . She dyed it .

The second sentence is clear because the first sentence told us that we are talking

about the old lady (subject) and the white cloth (object).

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ObjectSubject

Task 7: Gap-Fill[adapted from http://www.thenational.ae/uae/heritage/children-learn-traditional-emirati-crafts-at-qasr-al-hosn-festival]

Fill in the gaps in the text below. Use the Simple Past Tense form of the verbs in brackets.

This year at the Qasr Al Hosn Festival two sisters from Khor Fakkan, Halima and

Mariam Al Naqbi, [1] (demonstrate) ___________________ how to dye materials. The

two sisters [2] (hold) _______________ a workshop in the in the Abu Dhabi Island zone

of the festival.

The sisters [3] (say) _____________ that in the past, people [4] (import) ____________

plain white textiles from India, Iran and other neighbouring countries. Then there came a

point when people [5] (get) _________________ bored with wearing the same colour.

The Emiratis came up with effective ways of using natural materials on most types of

textiles, including silk and cotton, [6] (explain) ___________ Mariam.

Like many Emiratis, the sisters are also storytellers. Halima [7] (tell) _______________

us about the tradition of painting textiles using turmeric, pomegranates, blue indigo,

saffron, henna, and the leaves of almond trees,

al waras and al yas plants. She said, “Most natural

ingredients we [8] (use) ____________ in the past

might not be familiar to the new generation.”

“Our ancestors may not have been educated, but

they [9] (be) ____________ wise, and life

[10] (teach) ____________ them many lessons,”

said Mariam.

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The Structure of an Essay

The Qasr Al Hosn Festival

Festivals are important events in the UAE because

they celebrate our culture and heritage. This year I

went to the Qasr Al Hosn Festival. I had a wonderful

time because there was so much to see and do there.

Last weekend I went to the Qasr Al Hosn Festival in

Abu Dhabi with my family. The festival was in the Qasr

Al Hosn fort and in the four areas around it. These

areas demonstrated Emirati life in the desert, the oasis,

the sea, and life on Abu Dhabi Island. I was proud to

be Emirati and to learn more about life in the UAE in

the past.

There was a lot to see and my brothers and sisters

enjoyed themselves. First we explored inside the fort.

Then we went to the desert area because my little

brother wanted to ride on the camels. Men told

Bedouin stories around a campfire. After that we went

to the marine area. A fisherman showed us how to

make fish traps out of wire. Finally we explored the

Abu Dhabi Island area. Old ladies taught us how to

make traditional dyes from herbs and plants. We tried

to see everything but we didn’t have enough time.

I loved the Qasr Al Hosn festival because we saw so many

things and learned about Emirati traditions and our heritage.

We watched demonstrations and did many craft activities. Next

year I want to go to the festival again.

Introduction:General background

Name event

Thesis statement

Body 1:What?

When?

Where?

Why?

Body 2:Describe what you

saw and did.

Say what other people

did

Describe events in

chronological (time )

order.

Conclusion:Summary of B1 & B2

Opinions / Feelings

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