- Time
- 5-10 min
- Level
- A1-B1
- Grouping
- Whole class / circle
- Materials
- None
Chain Story is a listening-and-speaking warm-up: one student starts a sentence, the next repeats the whole chain so far and adds one more line, building a shared story out loud. It needs no materials and works best seated or standing in a circle.
What it practices
What tense you assign decides what the chain reviews:
- Present simple routines ("She wakes up... She eats breakfast...") — a day-in-the-life chain, good for A1.
- Past simple narrative ("She woke up early... Then she ate breakfast...") — sequencing a story, good for A2 once past tense forms are stable.
- Sequencing connectors (first, then, after that, finally) — layer these on top of either tense for A1-A2 discourse-marker practice.
How to run it
- Choose the tense and topic first a past-tense story, or a present-simple “a day in the life” — announce it before starting.
- Start the chain yourself with one simple sentence, so the pattern is modeled before students have to produce it.
- Require the full chain to be repeated each student says every line so far, then adds their own — this is what actually drills listening, not just the new line.
- Cap the chain at 8-10 students before starting a fresh one, so early sentences don't get too long to recall and the game keeps its pace.
- Write key vocabulary on the board as it comes up mid-chain, so weaker students have something to lean on for their turn.
- Close by retelling asking one volunteer to repeat the whole story in order from the start.
Classroom management tip: if a student blanks on the chain, let a neighbor whisper the earlier lines instead of stopping the game to “help correctly” — momentum matters more than perfect recall in a warm-up.
Level variations
- A1Use present simple only (“She wakes up... She eats breakfast...”) and let students add just one word or short phrase per turn.
- A2-B1Switch to past simple and require a full clause per turn, not just one word, once regular/irregular forms are stable.
- B1Ban repeating any connector once used (first, then, after that...) to push richer sequencing language.
Free worksheets for follow-up practice
Pair this warm-up with a full lesson on the tense you targeted:
- Regular Verbs in the Past Simple (A1) — isolates the -ed spelling and sound rules used in a past-tense chain.
- Past Simple – Grammar Focus (A1) — full reference combining regular and irregular forms.
- A Weekend Story – Past Simple Reading (A2) — a model narrative in the same sequencing style as the game.
Browse the full set of grammar worksheets or see the guide on how to teach past simple for a complete lesson plan.