CEFR C1 · 60 minutes · Teenagers and adults
Procedure: Historic Present, step by step
Warm-up5 minutes · Pairs, then whole class
Aim: To engage interest and raise the question of why present forms are used for past events.
Give out Handout 1. Say: "Here are six newspaper headlines. With a partner, guess the full story behind each one." (3 minutes.)
Take some guesses. Ask: "Did these events happen in the past or are they happening now?" (Past.) "So why are the verbs in the present?" Don't explain yet: "Let's find out."
Presentation20 minutes · Whole class, groups
Aim: To present present forms used for past and general reference in four genres, and to clarify their form, function and effect.
Part A: Teacher's anecdote (3 minutes)
Tell a short anecdote yourself (about 1 minute), switching into the historic present at the dramatic moment: "Last week I was at the market. It was busy. So I'm standing at the fish stall, and this man comes up behind me and grabs my bag ..."
Ask: "Did you notice anything about how I told the story? When did I change tense?"
Part B: Text analysis (9 minutes)
Give out Handout 2 (four extracts: anecdote, commentary, headlines, film synopsis). Say: "In groups, read the four extracts and answer the questions." (7 minutes.)
ICQs: "How many extracts?" (Four.) "Alone or in groups?" (Groups.)
Monitor and help with the questions about effect.
Part C: Clarification (8 minutes)
Feedback on the questions. Build the centre of the board: which forms appear in each genre and why.
Highlight: the switch from past to present at the climax of an anecdote; present continuous for background, present simple for events; what headlines leave out (articles, auxiliaries) and the meaning of to + infinitive (future) and past participle (passive) in headlines; the present simple convention for plot summaries.
Highlight the anecdote language on the right of the board and its informal register (goes = says).
Model the pace of commentary: fast, rising at the climax. Students repeat one line from Extract 2.
Controlled practice10 minutes · Individual, then pairs, then whole class
Aim: To practise the forms accurately.
Give out Handout 3. Say: "Exercise A: rewrite the story in the historic present from the word So. Exercise B: rewrite each sentence in the style given. Seven minutes."
Pairs compare. Check answers as a class.
Exercise C: pairs write three headlines about recent school or local events and read them out. The class guesses the full story.
Freer practice18 minutes · Pairs, then groups of four, then whole class
Aim: To use present forms fluently and for effect in spoken anecdotes and live commentary.
Give out Handout 4. Part A, anecdote (8 minutes). Each student chooses a prompt (a lost item, a surprise, an embarrassing moment, a near miss), thinks for one minute and tells the story to a partner in about two minutes, switching to the present at the dramatic moment. The partner asks two questions.
ICQs: "When do you switch to the present?" (At the exciting moment.) "What does your partner do?" (Listens and asks two questions.)
Part B, commentary (6 minutes). Play the silent video (or show the images). In groups of four, students take turns to give a 60-second live commentary while it plays again. Record it on a phone if possible.
Share (4 minutes). Each group plays or performs one commentary or story for the class. The class votes for the most dramatic.
Monitor throughout and note good examples and errors.
Feedback and wrap-up7 minutes · Whole class
Aim: To give feedback and consolidate.
Board two or three sentences you heard that used present forms effectively, and one that switched tense confusingly. Discuss the effect.
Ask: "Where would you use these forms? Where would you avoid them?" (Speech, journalism, summaries: yes. Formal written narrative: less often.)
Set the homework.
Homework Write a 200-word synopsis of a film or book using the present tense, and three headlines about real events from this week.
PPP (presentation, practice, production). Stage times add up to 60 minutes.