When I was a little girl, I played a lot this game called Pac-Man. Luckily, I am not the only one who did so. You might even be shocked, but even my younger students know the game quite well. This helps me a lot when I explain the form of the verb after the auxiliary DID.
You see, the very first time I had to explain Past Simple to my younger students I had a brainwave. I realised that DID "eats" all the "-ed" endings and irregular forms (extra points!!!) just like Pac-Man eats all the dots on its way.
Since then, I always refer to Pac-Man when I explain Past Simple, I do it to such an extent that my students use Pac-Man more often than DID, for example:
"Did Lisa go to the supermarket yesterday?"
When I ask my students why we don't say "Did Lisa went to the supermarket yesterday?" They simply answer "Because, Pac-Man!" It's all as simple as that. What I am glad about is the fact that they remember to use infinitive without to after DID.
I think using Pac-Man is an entertaining way of explaining how DID works. If your students don't know the game (Poor them!) you can always find an online game on the Internet and play it to show them or you can play it as a reward at the end of the grammar lesson.
I hope you'll enjoy your next grammar lesson with this trick!
P.S. Pac-Man/DID explanation is also compatible with adult learners - we're never too old for a little bit of fun!!!
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