Have You Ever Survey

Overview

Students explore the present perfect tense through a familiar “Have you ever…?” class survey. They listen to short model answers, practise asking and answering questions, interview classmates, and write a brief report comparing experiences. The lesson builds on prior learning about past-tense verbs and simple information reports.

Learning intentions

Students will:

• understand and use present perfect questions and answers about life experiences
• choose have or has correctly with different subjects
• use common past participles, including irregular forms
• listen for key information and record survey results
• present and write a short report using grouped ideas and consistent tense

Success criteria

• I can ask, “Have you ever…?” and answer, “Yes, I have” or “No, I haven’t.”
• I can use have/has + past participle, such as “She has eaten” or “They have visited”.
• I can listen carefully and record a classmate’s experience.
• I can write a clear report comparing what people have and have not done.

Curriculum links

• English as an Additional Language — maintaining appropriate tense throughout a text, including present perfect forms and negatives.
• English — creating informative texts with ideas grouped in simple paragraphs and using precise, topic-specific vocabulary.
• English as an Additional Language — presenting a simple prepared talk on a familiar topic.
• English as an Additional Language — using short supported utterances, visuals and gestures to communicate.

Lesson structure (180 minutes)

1. 0–15 min · Hook and activate prior learning. Teacher displays a photograph collage and asks, “What have these people done?” Open with the question hook and photo collage and elicit familiar past participles such as eaten, seen, visited and played. Students discuss one experience with a partner, first using any language they need and then sharing an English sentence.

2. 15–40 min · Listen to model answers. Teacher introduces the target question and answer patterns: “Have you ever ridden a horse?” “Yes, I have.” / “No, I haven’t.” Play or read six short model exchanges from the listening model slides twice. On the first listening, students identify whether each speaker says yes or no; on the second, they record the activity they hear on the listening and survey worksheet. Check answers together and clarify meaning with gestures or pictures.

3. 40–65 min · Teach the language pattern. Teacher models a substitution table on the grammar teaching slides: I/you/we/they have + past participle and he/she has + past participle. Contrast “I have visited” with “She has visited”, and model negatives: “I haven’t visited” and “He hasn’t visited”. Highlight that the present perfect connects a past experience to life until now; it does not name a finished time. Students practise orally, then complete a short gap-fill and matching activity on the present perfect practice section. Review answers using choral repetition and individual volunteers.

4. 65–80 min · Guided speaking rehearsal. Teacher demonstrates an interview with a confident student, including eye contact, listening, recording the answer and asking one follow-up question: “When?” is not required; use “What was it like?” only if students are ready. Students rehearse in pairs using four questions from the interview rehearsal section, changing roles after each question. Teacher circulates, prompting complete forms and correcting have/has and participles through recasts.

5. 80–90 min · Movement and break. Teacher explains safe movement and assigns each student a starting partner. Students take a short break, then return with their worksheet and pencil ready for the survey.

6. 90–125 min · Class survey interviews. Teacher displays the survey routine on the interview instructions and speaking prompts and forms 15 pairs, with a clear signal to change partners. Students interview at least six classmates using questions such as “Have you ever cooked a meal?”, “Have you ever seen snow?”, “Have you ever travelled on a train?”, “Have you ever lost something important?” and “Have you ever helped an animal?” They record names and Yes, has/have or No, hasn’t/haven’t, not long answers. After three interviews, pause for a quick check: students compare one entry with a partner and correct the verb form. Continue until each student has sufficient data.

7. 125–155 min · Write a comparison report. Teacher models a three-part report on the report model and writing prompts: opening sentence, findings, and comparison. Example: “Our class has had many different experiences. Six students have seen snow, but twelve students have cooked a meal. Most students have travelled on a train. Four students have not helped an animal.” Students use their survey data to write 6–8 sentences on the report planning and writing page. They group related findings into one or two paragraphs and maintain present perfect forms. Early finishers add a sentence beginning “More students have… than…”.

8. 155–172 min · Peer check and prepared talk. Teacher pairs students with a different partner and displays the checking prompts on the peer-checking and presentation slides. Students read their reports aloud while partners check: Have/has? Past participle? Clear comparison? Consistent tense? Partners underline one accurate sentence and suggest one correction respectfully. Students revise, then rehearse a 30-second talk using their report.

9. 172–180 min · Share and exit check. Invite four to six students to present their findings; classmates listen for one present perfect sentence. Students complete the exit task on the final self-check: write one “Have you ever…?” question, one positive answer and one negative answer about a named person. Collect worksheets to assess accuracy and understanding.

Resources

• the complete Have You Ever? teaching deck
• the listening, grammar, survey and report worksheet
• Board and markers
• Pencils and erasers
• Timer or classroom signal
• Optional audio recording or teacher-read model exchanges
• Seating plan or partner list

Assessment

• During listening and grammar practice, check whether students identify the experience and select have/has plus the correct past participle.
• During interviews, use a checklist for asking complete questions, recording answers and using affirmative and negative forms.
• Assess the report and exit task for grouped ideas, accurate present perfect forms, correct negatives and consistent tense; note students needing further support with irregular participles.

Differentiation

• Provide a visual word bank with verbs and participles such as eat/eaten, see/seen, ride/ridden, visit/visited, play/played; allow students to point, gesture or rehearse before speaking.
• Give emerging English learners sentence frames: “Have you ever ?” “Yes, I have.” “No, I haven’t.” “ students have ___, but ___ students haven’t.”
• Pair students strategically and reduce the number of interview questions while maintaining repeated speaking practice. Read model answers slowly, replay them and allow extra processing time.
• Extend confident writers by requiring a second paragraph with two comparisons and a prepared talk using a clear opening, volume and pace.