Past continuous sentence scramble

Chalkplay teamESLGrades 9–12CEFR A2–B17 itemsSentence scramble makerEnglish
Copy & edit
Sentence scramble
Theywereinplayingbasketballpark.the

Options

Theme Saved per activity

Questions and answers

· 7 itemsShow answers
  1. They were playing basketball in the park.
  2. My dad wasn't wearing his glasses.
  3. What were you doing at nine last night?
  4. I was taking a shower when the phone rang.
  5. We were walking home when it started to rain.
  6. While I was cooking, the lights went out.
  7. She was reading while her brother was sleeping.

Teaching notes

Seven past continuous sentences with was and were + -ing to rebuild: statements, a negative with wasn't, a "What were you doing…?" question, and longer sentences with when and while, where one action interrupts another in the past simple or two actions are in progress at the same time. It suits A2–B1 learners moving from single sentences to telling a story.

For the sentences where one action interrupts another, ask the class which action was in progress and which one happened in the middle of it. Then learners answer "What were you doing at nine last night?" in pairs, and write a short story that starts with one of the sentences. Play it live so each learner builds the sentences on their own phone, or print it as a worksheet with an answer key.

Leaderboard

No scores yet. Play it live and the class's scores appear here.