Lesson aim
Evidence to collect
The learner follows a narrative from problem to turning point to result and uses past perfect, used to, and past continuous to order events and describe past habits.
Language lens
Show what happened earlier and what used to be true
Past perfect (had + past participle) shows that one past event happened before another past moment. Used to describes old habits or situations that are no longer true. Past continuous shows an action in progress when something else happened.
Suggested sequence
Timing
- 3 min · Discuss neighbors and power outages.
- 5 min · Read once for the problem and once for the turning point.
- 4 min · Complete comprehension and point to evidence.
- 5 min · Notice past perfect, used to, and past continuous.
- 4 min · Analyze the clue and the changed ending.
- 4–6 min · Tell or write a new problem story.
Anticipated problems
Watch and respond
- The learner may use past perfect for every past event instead of only for the earlier event.
- The learner may say is used to or use to when describing past habits.
- The learner may retell the events but miss that the turning point is Lena’s realization, not the power returning.
Short lesson
If time is limited
Read the first four paragraphs and the lobby list, answer questions two to four, practice two past perfect examples, and give a one-minute retelling.
Extended lesson
If the learner needs more
Retell the story from Mr. Abara’s point of view, starting with what he had done before Lena knocked and what he used to do in his old job.
Controlled practice
Answer key and teaching evidence
- rarely-home · Lena left early, came home late, and visited her sister on weekends, so she knew very few neighbors.
- newspaper · The newspaper was still on the mat, but Mr. Abara usually picked it up before eight.
- bother · He said, “I didn’t want to bother people. Everyone is busy.”
- nobody-knew · She realized the real problem was that nobody knew who needed help or who could offer it.
- phones · He had worked as an electrician, so he showed people how to charge their phones safely in their cars.
- had-run-out · Say When Lena knocked, he had run out of water.
- used-to-leave · Say Lena used to leave for work before seven.
- was-climbing · Say Lena was climbing the stairs when she noticed the newspaper.
- had-stopped · Say By Wednesday afternoon, the elevator had stopped.
Review status
Tutor review required
This original reading and its generated pedagogy require tutor review and learner piloting before they can be described as formally reviewed.