Learn these 84 irregular verbs for Monday

If you were a 13-year-old kid, you might leave a rucksack full of irregular verbs on the Metro...!

My son Toni (13), who has English only as his third language, brought home a list of 84 irregular pasts and past participles that he had to learn by Monday.

"Ok, take this piece of paper away, and write me a story using some of them," I said.

"No, not like that -- just say 'eat', and I'll say 'ate, eaten' like at school," he said. "Test me!"

Is that any way to learn a language...? Is it fun, to begin with...?

Storytime
Eventually (he didn't get to watch the football, otherwise ,-), he did write a (true) story...

Last Friday I had left my bag in the Metro. I didn't realised until I had gone in the school. I thought that it was to late but still I ran to catch my dad. When I caught him I told him what had happened.

I went back to school hitting my head for being so stupid. I thought I would have to hold and hear all the nonsense of my mum about how much it cost and bla, bla, bla.

And on for another 18 lines, at the end of which "I had learnt a lesson"... and had enjoyed doing something with his irregular verbs.

Rules
Being a thirteen-year-old kid, Toni went for the easiest line of resistance. To combat that, the following rules got added in to the "activity":

• When you've finished one story, start another (up to three)
• All of the stories have to be coherent as stories, though not necessarily true
  
• Each story has to include some examples of the past perfect (otherwise we just got the past simple; including both involves thinking about and deciding when the former is required)
• 50 words minimum, no max.
• Only one of the stories can be about football!
  

What's all this got to do with technology?
You could obviously use the idea without ever going near a computer (you might consider pinning the stories on the wall, so that everyone can read them...)

But if you had a class blog (one on which all of your students can author), I'd suggest writing the stories there would make a great project...