Tell us what has happened in the PAST: A Grammar lesson

Wrapping up our Verb tense grammar study, we looked at the last tense last week - PAST TENSE. This is definitely the easiest for kids to pick out in reading as well as write independently. The biggest reason for this is I believe that it is the chosen writing tense for stories - much of what they (and most of us) are reading everyday. 




We looked at regular vs. irregular past tense verbs. How regular verbs add an -ed at the end to make it past and irregular verbs do not follow a distinct rule (thank you English language-ha), they simply must be recognized. We worked together to create a simple past and past participle chart of common verbs to help us recognize them.

 Again, like we did with the last two tenses, I encouraged them to look for past tense sentences during their independent reading. This proved to be a MUCH easier task for them and some kids really went wild with it :) 

For our quick assessment, students wrote three past tense sentences using a verb given (to grab, to have, to sing).  

 To wrap up our verb tense study, and in honor of the LOADS of snow we have been enjoying, we had an indoor snowball fight! First, we separated into three different groups - past, present, and future. Then, I had them write a large sentence on a piece of scrap paper in accordance to their group's tense. Afterward, we balled them up into "snowballs" which we then used in a lively winter "fight". 

After lots of "fighting", laughter, and obnoxious screeching, the adjoining teachers to my room are amazing - they put up with a LOT! we grabbed a snowball, sat down, and identified which tense the sentence was sharing. After writing which we believed it was, we balled them up and resumed the friendly winter rivalry - followed by another check of verb tenses and a carpet share time.  

During small group/guided reading, we also focused on verb tenses. Students who have been struggling during the quick assessments were pulled and identified which tense the sentence written on their snow flake belonged.