6th Grade • Secondary School

Talking about past experiences and events

Secondary School • 6th Grade

Talking about past experiences and events
(Narrar acontecimientos y experiencias de forma detallada)

Posible situación en la que se puede utilizar lo aprendido:

Es fin de año y te reúnes con un grupo de amigos de habla inglesa para compartir sus historias y anécdotas preferidas
del año que ya termina, incluyendo detalles tales como quiénes estaban, y qué, cuándo, cómo, por qué y dónde sucedieron
los hechos. Para esto es necesario saber cómo narrar acontecimientos y experiencias de forma detallada.

Introduction to the Unit

Welcome to this new unit! This time, you will work with vocabulary, grammar, reading comprehension and writing
related to talking about past experiences and events. In this sense, the focus will be on natural disasters. You will
have an opportunity to assess your knowledge before and after you complete this unit. Before starting with the
exercises, use the flashcards on page 12 to learn this unit’s vocabulary. You can also access
www.bit.ly/SEC6_CARDS_4 to study this unit’s vocabulary and expressions.
We hope you enjoy this learning experience!

Introducción a la Unidad

¡Bienvenido/a a esta nueva unidad! Esta vez, aprenderás sobre vocabulario, gramática, lectura y escritura relativas
a narrar acontecimientos y experiencias de forma detallada. En ese sentido, se hará énfasis en el tema de desastres
naturales. Además, podrás evaluar tus conocimientos antes y después de completar la unidad. Antes de hacer los
ejercicios, utiliza las tarjetas que se incluyen en la página 12, para aprender el vocabulario de esta unidad. También
puedes ingresar al sitio www.bit.ly/SEC6_CARDS_4 para practicar el vocabulario y expresiones de esta unidad.
¡Esperamos que disfrutes esta experiencia de aprendizaje!

Initial Self-Assessment

Complete the following table with an emoji based on your current knowledge.

STATEMENT
YES! SO-SO… NO

I can write a sentence using at least 4 words that refer to natural

disasters, such as earthquake, tropical storm, wildfire, flooding, etc.

I can write at least 3 sentences to narrate a short story in detail using

Past Simple, Past Continuous, and linked ideas with “when”.

I can answer questions to demonstrate specific understanding of a

written text about a local news report.

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6th Grade • Secondary School
Talking about past experiences and events

Learning New Vocabulary!

Exercise #1
What do you imagine when you read the phrase NATURAL DISASTERS? Do you have any in your city?
In your country? Write words, phrases and images you associate with this phrase.

NATURAL
DISASTERS

Exercise #2
Take a look at the following natural disasters. Have you ever experienced one or more? If the answer
is “Yes”, write a check ( ) in the small circle. If the answer is “No”, write an X ( ).

A B C D

E F G H

Exercise #3
Match the letters corresponding to the images in Exercise #2 with the names of the natural disasters.

______ TROPICAL STORM ______ THUNDERSTORM ______ WILDFIRE

______ EARTHQUAKE ______ HURRICANE ______ HEAT WAVE

______ FLOODING ______ LANDSLIDE

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Talking about past experiences and events

Exercise #4
Look at the elements of nature below. Which elements are connected to each natural disaster? Draw
or write them in each case.

WATER AIR/WIND TEMPERATURE ELECTRICITY GROUND

HURRICANE: EARTHQUAKE:

WILDFIRE: LANDSLIDE:

FLOODING: TROPICAL STORM:

THUNDERSTORM: HEAT WAVE:

Exercise #5
Read the following short news reports. Complete each one with a natural disaster from Exercise #3.

1. There was too much rain this weekend. There was a big ________________________ in the north of the
country. Many trees and some houses on a mountain fell to a little town and destroyed it.

2. Last week, ___________________________ “Lucia” affected some areas of Florida and the Caribbean.
Only some small cities suffered damages, but fortunately no people died.

3. It rained for 5 days last week, so there was a ____________________________ in the central part of the
city. Even today, many houses and stores have a lot of water inside.

4. Experts announced a ________________________ that will affect the entire country for some days. The
temperatures are expected to reach 40°C and, in some areas, 42°C. Get prepared!

5. Yesterday there was a 6.4 __________________________ in the east area of the country. Small houses
suffered damages and around 10 were destroyed. It was 1-minute long and it caused lots of movement.

6. The high temperatures and no rain in weeks caused an important __________________________ in the
forests and mountains of this area. Firefighters and other experts are doing their best to combat it.

Exercise #6
We use “there was/there were” to talk about the existence of something in the past. Choose 3 different
natural disasters and write when and where they happened (could be in your country or abroad).

EXAMPLE: • In California there was a(n) wildfire in 2020 .

• In _______________________________ there was a(n) _________________________________ in ________________.

• In _______________________________ there was a(n) ________________________________ in ________________.

• In _______________________________ there was a(n) ________________________________ in ________________.

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Talking about past experiences and events

Practicing Grammar!

Exercise #1
Choose one natural disaster you or a friend/family member has experienced. What did you (or this
person) do in that moment? Write a short narration with 2-3 ideas.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Exercise #2
Read the following short conversation with stories about a recent earthquake. Then, underline and re-
write 1 example of the following structures in the box below.

1 IDEA IN PAST SIMPLE + 1 IDEA IN PAST CONTINOUS +

1 QUESTION IN PAST SIMPLE
WHEN+ PAST SIMPLE WHEN + PAST SIMPLE

“EARTHQUAKE RUINED MY BREAKFAST!”

I did! I was sleeping in my room

Hey, Diego, did you feel the
earthquake yesterday morning? when my mom screamed and
told me and my sister about it.

I was absolutely afraid! When the WOW! My aunt was cooking breakfast
earthquake started, I ran to the when it started. She went outside the
kitchen and hid under a strong table… house and left the bread in the toaster!

She returned to the house when the

Oh my God! What happened earthquake finished. And the bread
after that? What did she do? was completely black!

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Talking about past experiences and events

Keep in mind!

We use different expressions in Past to narrate stories and events. Two very common tenses are
Past Simple and Past Continuous. Observe the following examples and their meaning:
EXAMPLE: I was cooking when the earthquake started. [The 2 actions happen at the same time.]
EXAMPLE: My mom ran outside when the earthquake started. [The action after “when” happens first.]

To know more information about a story, we ask questions in Past and usually use did.
In this case, the other verb goes in Present.
EXAMPLE: Did you feel the earthquake? • What did you do? • Where did you run?

Exercise #3
Combine the following ideas to write sentences using Past Simple + Past Simple.

1. [We go to a different region / heat wave start]

_________________________________________________________________________________________
2. [I call my brother / I see the news about the flooding]

_________________________________________________________________________________________
3. [I finally return to school / the terrible rain stop]

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Exercise #4
Combine the following ideas to write sentences using Past Simple + Past Continuous.

1. [My family have lunch / landslide happen]

_________________________________________________________________________________________
2. [Mary travel in the Caribbean / tropical storm hit]

_________________________________________________________________________________________
3. [We play baseball / thunderstorm start]

_________________________________________________________________________________________

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Talking about past experiences and events

Exercise #5
Order the words to create questions in Past. These questions are directly connected to the sentences
in Exercise #3 (Question 1 is connected to sentence 1, question 2 to sentence 2, and so on).

1. everybody / Did / landslide / escape / the ?

_________________________________________________________________________________________
2. stay / did / the / storm / Where / she / during ?

_________________________________________________________________________________________
3. you / How / return / did / home ?

_________________________________________________________________________________________
4. receive / Did / any / you / recommendations / about it ?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Reading Practice: News Reports

Exercise #1
Do you know any heroes? Write the names of 2-3 heroes, and explain why they are special.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Exercise #2
Do you admire anyone in your family? Do you admire any friend? Mention 1-2 special things they did.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

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6th Grade • Secondary School
Talking about past experiences and events

Read the following news report and complete the exercises below.

(You can find the audio file for this reading here: www.bit.ly/SEC6_AUDIO_04)

Tuesday, October 14th

Miracles in the middle of disaster

Stories with one thing in common: the desire to survive

Last week, weather was extremely unusual in the Octavio, a 5-year-old dog from Ramadita, is the
province of Uvita. There was a strong heat wave protagonist of our second story. Tito, Octavio’s
on Monday and Tuesday, and thunderstorms and owner, told us: “On Monday, one of the thunders
heavy rain on Wednesday and Thursday. It rained sparked a big fire very close to our house.
so much, that the water caused landslides in 3 Everybody was transporting water to put out the
different small towns. fire, when Octavio started to bark. He never barks!
He is a very silent dog. We knew there was a
One of those towns was Ramadita, where 2000 problem. When Octavio entered one of the
people live. Dayana, protagonist of the first story, houses, we followed him and saw a small fire. We
told us: “It was Thursday. I was sleeping when I put it out and prevented a tragedy, thanks to him!”
heard a horrible sound. My house started to move.
I went to my baby’s room, took him, and ran away. The people of Ramadita are now organizing a
My house was located on a small mountain, but it variety of activities to collect money for the
was destroyed in the landslide. My baby and I are affected families, like selling food and clothes.
OK, that’s the most important thing”. Dayana and Octavio are local heroes.

Exercise #3
Read the text and answer True or False to the following statements. If the answer is False, write the
correct information below.

TRUE FALSE A) This news report talks about events that occurred in October.

__________________________________________________________________.

TRUE FALSE B) This news report includes three different stories.

__________________________________________________________________.

TRUE FALSE C) The stories happened in different provinces.

__________________________________________________________________.

TRUE FALSE D) The news report finishes talking about the present.

__________________________________________________________________.

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Talking about past experiences and events

Exercise #4
Read the text again. Then, look at the pictures that represent different ideas. In what order were the
ideas mentioned in the text? Write 1-5. Pay attention! You will not need 1 idea.

Exercise #5
Read the text again. Complete the following chart with information from the text.

Name of Natural disaster(s) When? What What was the

protagonist(s) mentioned day? protagonist’s action?

STORY #1

STORY #2

Exercise #6
Read the text one final time, and pay attention to the words underlined. Using the context of the story,
what do you believe they mean? Circle the correct option in each case.

1. …and heavy rain on Wednesday… a) intense b) relaxing c) silent

2. …I took him, and ran away. a) jumped b) escaped c) attacked

3. …one of the thunders sparked a big fire… a) caused b) finished c) saw

4. We put it out and prevented a tragedy! a) danced b) admired c) extinguished

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Talking about past experiences and events

Exercise #7
Imagine you are a reporter, and you have a chance to interview Dayana and Tito. What are 2 questions
you would ask them? Write those questions and imagine their answer.

FOR DAYANA
QUESTION: ___________________________________________________________________________________________?

ANSWER: _____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________.

FOR TITO
QUESTION: ___________________________________________________________________________________________?

ANSWER: _____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________.

Exercise #8
Newspapers normally include pictures of the stories they cover. Draw an image that could be included
in the reading article “Miracles in the middle of disaster”.

Final Self-Assessment

Complete the following table with an emoji based on your current knowledge.

STATEMENT
YES! SO-SO… NO

I can write a sentence using at least 4 words that refer to natural

disasters, such as earthquake, tropical storm, wildfire, flooding, etc.

I can write at least 3 sentences to narrate a short story in detail using

Past Simple, Past Continuous, and linked ideas with “when”.

I can answer questions to demonstrate specific understanding of a

written text about a local news report.

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6th Grade • Secondary School
Talking about past experiences and events

Learning Portfolio

Imagine you are talking with friends, including the topic of “extreme situations”. Each person narrates a
very short experience related to a natural disaster or any other extreme situation, including the
protagonists and the action. Write 2 short narrations, including a question and an answer for each one.

STORY #1

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

QUESTION for this person: ____________________________________________________________?

ANSWER: __________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________.

STORY #2

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________

QUESTION for this person: ____________________________________________________________?

ANSWER: __________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________.

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6th Grade • Secondary School
Talking about past experiences and events

Unit Flashcards

You can use the following flashcards in different ways:

(Puedes utilizar las siguientes tarjetas de vocabulario de diferentes formas:)

 To test your memory: cut the cards and fold the words. Then, check if you remember them.
(Para poner a prueba tu memoria: Recorta las tarjetas y dobla hacia atrás las palabras. Entonces, verifica si las
recuerdas.)

 To play a matching game: cut the cards and the names. Then, match the correct ones.
(Para un juego de correspondencia: Recorta cada tarjeta por la línea punteada. Luego, empareja cada figura con
su nombre)

 To play a memory game: cut the cards with pictures and the cards with the names. Put them face-
down, and turn around 1 picture card and 1 name card at a time. If they match, you get a point!
(Para un juego de memoria: Recorta cada tarjeta. Coloca boca abajo, en dos grupos separados, las ilustraciones y
los nombres, y voltea una de cada grupo al mismo tiempo. Si hay correspondencia entre la ilustración y el nombre,
ganas un punto.)

 To practice online: go to the Internet and access www.bit.ly/SEC6_CARDS_4 to study this

vocabulary.
(Para practicar en línea: En el Internet, entra al enlace www.bit.ly/SEC6_CARDS_4 para estudiar este
vocabulario.)

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6th Grade • Secondary School
Talking about past experiences and events

LANDSLIDE FLOOD

EARTHQUAKE THUNDERSTORM
WIND SPEED: WIND SPEED:
64 to 117 km/h 118 km/h & more

TROPICAL STORM HURRICANE

HEAT WAVE WILDFIRE

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Talking about past experiences and events

Past Simple & Past Participle Forms: Irregular Verbs

BASE PAST PAST BASE PAST PAST

FORM SIMPLE PARTICIPLE FORM SIMPLE PARTICIPLE
BE WAS /
BEEN PUT PUT PUT
(am, is, are) WERE

BUY BOUGHT BOUGHT READ READ READ

CHOOSE CHOSE CHOSEN RUN RAN RUN

COME CAME COME SAY SAID SAID

CUT CUT CUT SELL SOLD SOLD

DRINK DRANK DRUNK SEND SENT SENT

EAT ATE EATEN SING SANG SUNG

FEEL FELT FELT SLEEP SLEPT SLEPT

FIGHT FOUGHT FOUGHT SPEND SPENT SPENT

FLY FLEW FLOWN STAND STOOD STOOD

HIDE HID HIDDEN SWIM SWAM SWUM

KNOW KNEW KNOWN TEACH TAUGHT TAUGHT

LEAVE LEFT LEFT TELL TOLD TOLD

LOSE LOST LOST THINK THOUGHT THOUGHT

PAY PAID PAID WRITE WROTE WRITTEN

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