Inappropriate shifts in verb tense

General

Help students learn that verb tenses should stay consistent in every sentence with this lesson. Students learn that inappropriate shifts can make writing awkward and confusing. They practice finding verb tenses that don’t match and correctly editing them.

Common core standards

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.1d

Learning Objective

Students will be able to identify inappropriate and unnecessary shifts in verb tense and be able to correct those tenses.

Introduction

Students review verbs and their functions as well as past, present, and future verb tenses. Students are presented with a passage with inappropriate verb shifts and they will practice identifying the verb tenses. Then, they will read a passage and determine which tense makes the most sense. Following this, they will make corrections.

Instruction

Students are presented with sentences and must underline and fix the incorrect verb tenses. They will also drag a checkmark to the correct verb for a sentence. Students are then presented with a longer passage and they must correct all verb tenses to make them all in the past tense. They will practice asking the questions, “What tense is the verb?” and “Does it match the tense of the other verbs?”

Quiz

Check student understanding with 10 questions in which students replace an incorrect sentence with a correct one. They also choose the correct verb tense for an underlined verb in a sentence.

Closing

Students look at an image and write a passage in the past tense, making sure that all verb tenses are consistent.

About Gynzy

Gynzy is an online teaching platform for interactive whiteboards and displays in schools.

With a focus on elementary education, Gynzy’s Whiteboard, digital tools, and activities make it easy for teachers to save time building lessons, increase student engagement, and make classroom management more efficient.