Verb Tense

FOURTH GRADE WRITING LESSON

OverviewThis lesson will be taught to fourth grade

students who need exposure to verb tense. The students in this class should a beginner concept of verbs and their importance. This lesson will utilize a variety of graphic organizers, visual support and a extensive vocabulary practice. In addition, this lesson will take place over a series of class session instead of one period. There will be a lot of scaffolding and one to one interactions.

Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.1Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard

English grammar and usage when writing or speaking CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.4.1.B

Form and use the progressive (e.g., I was walking; I am walking; I will be walking) verb tenses.

Theme: Vocabulary Building Lesson Topic:

Objectives

Language

Students will recognize verb tenses: present continuous tense

Students will differentiate use between present tense and present continuous tense

Content

Students will understand that verbs change form depending on their relationship to time.

Students will be able to recognize the past, present, and future tenses of regular and irregular verbs.

Materials

Writing NotebookPencilsHighlighter

Building Background

When students have inconsistent verb tense, they have a "time warp" in their stories.

In this lesson, students learn that verbs tell not only what action takes place, but also when the action takes place.

They will learn to identify past, present and future verb tenses and to check sentences and paragraphs for inconsistent verb tense.

Mini LessonVERB TENSE

1. Using the Past, Present, Future chart transparency, ask the students to place the following events in the correct column. Write the events on the chart as the students suggest where they should go. Students may suggest that some of the events may belong in more than one column (e.g., baseball season):

o My birth

o December of 2008

o Barack Obama presidency

o First manned space flight to Venus

o George Washington’s presidency

o First woman president

o School Year

o College graduation

o Baseball season

Past Present Future

My Birth Baseball season First manned space flight to Venus

George Washington’s Presidency

School Year College Graduation

December of 2008 Barack Obama First woman president

1. When the students have placed all the events on the chart, ask the students to choose one of the events from one of the columns and compose a sentence about it on the paper you have asked them to place on their desks.

A. Allow time for the students to choose an event and compose a sentence. Ask students to share some of their sentences.

B. As the students read their sentences, write the verbs from the sentences on the board.

2. When a variety of verbs (past, present, and future) have been listed on the board, ask the students to point out the verbs that tell that something happened in the past, the ones that tell that something is happening in the present, and those that tell something will happen in the future.

A. Point out that the verb(s) in a sentence tell, not only what happens, but also when.

1. Ask the students to consider the verb run. Today I run around the field.

“Yesterday, I ran around the field. Tomorrow, I will run around the field.”

2. Point out that past, present, and future are not the only verb tenses. For example, if players want to let the coach know that they have been following his advice about running around the field each day, they can say:

“We have been running around the field every day for a month.”

3. Explain that the verb (have been running) indicates an on-going process. The words have and been are parts of the verb that help to make the meaning clear. There are many other tenses. For today, focus on past, present, and future.

Explain that, writers sometimes confuse their readers by changing verb tenses when they should be consistent (keep the same verb tense). For example, write the following sentence on the board:

“I work on my math homework as I talked on the phone.”

Ask the students whether the verb work is past, present, or future. (Present)

Ask the student whether the verb talked is past, present, or future.(Past)

Point out the fact that the verb tenses in this sentence are not consistent (the same), and readers will likely become confused. Did the writer do his/her homework while they were on the phone, before they got on the phone, or after they got off the phone?

Show students two versions of the above sentence with consistent verb tense:

“I worked on my math homework as I talked on the phone.”

“I work on my math homework as I talk on the phone.”

Discuss how the different verb tenses change the meaning of the sentence.

Guided PracticeConsider this paragraph:

The dog saw the cat, and he will bark. He runs down the driveway and jumped on the cat’s back. The cat howls and slapped at the dog. The poor old dog gets a big scratch on his nose and will race back home.

a.Ask the students what is the trouble with this paragraph. Ask them to look at all the verbs in this paragraph. (List the verbs on the board.)

saw will bark

runs jumped

howls slapped

gets will race

Point out that some of the verbs are present, some past, and some future. Ask the students to work in pairs or small groups to re-write the paragraph so that all the verbs are in the same tense. (Have one student in each group take the role of scribe.)

Assign some groups to write paragraphs in the past tense, some present, and some future. Allow about 10 minutes for students to complete the task.

Allow students to share what they have written. Note the differences in the way each paragraphs sound in the past, the present, and the future tense.

Independent Application

Independently have students check their own writing for “time warp” inconsistencies, have them highlight the verbs in their writing and check that the verb tenses are consistent.

Closure

For a second time, allow students to share what they have written. Note the differences in the way each paragraphs sound in the past, the present, and the future tense.

Remind Students that when they are writing they want to avoid using time wraps.

Assessment Can students identify the tense of verbs in a sentences and

paragraphs? Can students correct inconsistent verb tenses.

Are students able to identify inconsistent verb tenses in their own writing?

Extension Have students compare verb tenses in

different narrative and expository genres: narrative picture books

chapter books

biographies

expository science books

magazine articles

science reports

recipes