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Elementary (A2 Low) General Reading CEFR A2

The Silly Wizard's Lost Wand

Once there was a wizard named Wally. He lived in a shiny magical kingdom. Wally had a big blue hat and a funny nose. One day, he lost his magic wand. He looked in his room, but it was not there.Wally...

Duration

5 min read

Length

164 words

Story

4 paragraphs

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Story Excerpt

Sample preview reading passage

Paragraphs 1–2 of 4

Once there was a wizard named Wally. He lived in a shiny magical kingdom. Wally had a big blue hat and a funny nose. One day, he lost his magic wand. He looked in his room, but it was not there.

Wally went to his friend, Zippy the elf. Zippy gave him a big golden wand. 'This wand is very strong,' said Zippy. Wally tried to use it, but the wand made a silly noise and turned a chair into a banana.

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Educational Objectives

Story Details

Grammar focus and learning objectives covered in this story.

Grammar Level

A2 · Past Simple, prepositions of place, past negative

Learning Outcomes

Read and understand a short story about a wizard using the past simple.
Recognise and use regular and irregular past simple verbs like lived, had, went, gave, tried, made, fell.
Use prepositions of place such as in, under, inside, and from to describe locations.
Form negative past simple sentences with did not + base verb.
Answer simple comprehension questions about the story's events and characters.

Grammar Focus

Past Simple: regular and irregular verbs (e.g., lived, had, went, gave, tried, made, fell)

Use the past simple to talk about finished actions in the past. Regular verbs add -ed (lived, looked, tried). Irregular verbs change form (had, went, gave, made, fell).

“ Once there was a wizard named Wally. He lived in a shiny magical kingdom.

Tip: Learn irregular past forms by heart, and remember that the past simple is the same for all persons (I lived, he lived).

Prepositions of place: in, under, inside, from

Use prepositions of place to say where something is or where an action happens. Common ones are in, under, inside, and from.

“ He looked everywhere: under the bed, inside a boot, and even in a flower pot.

Tip: Visualise the position: under means below, inside means within, in means inside a space, and from shows the starting point.

Past Simple negative: did not + base verb

To make a negative sentence in the past simple, use did not (didn't) + the base form of the verb. Do not change the main verb to past.

“ He did not find it.

Tip: Remember: after did not, always use the base verb (find, not found).

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