Verb Tenses

In Arizona, according to House Bill 2064, we are required to provide grammar instruction to our English Language Learners for 60 minutes a day. This was a bit difficult for me at first because I was not sure how to fill an entire hour with grammar instruction. However, now I really enjoy teaching grammar, and I have found that in-depth and focused instruction in grammar has helped my students immensely.
Recently, we have focused on verb tenses. Last week we learned about present tense verbs and this week we will discuss past tense verbs.

These are a few resources that I found useful that pertain to verb tenses.


Esnips has an online board game where students must use the past tense verb to advance in the game. The game also assists in developing vocabulary by providing sentence starters that correspond with the number a person rolls on the dice. For example, if the player rolls a one they must begin their sentence with "yesterday" or if the player rolls a four they must begin their sentence with "last month". You may download the game, print it, or play from a web browser.

On Brainpop Jr. you will find many resources. They have a movie titled: Tenses that reviews several types of verb tenses. They also have activity pages, a game, word wall words, (which are vocabulary cards with definitions), and leveled pre-made quizzes about tenses. Full use of this site requires a paid subscription. However, you can sign up for a free trial.

School House Rock

On YouTube, I found the beloveded School House Rock song about verbs. The students love this song. We watch this movie periodically in class. It is a fun way to review what a verb is. Now when we watch it they point out the present tense verbs. :)
If YouTube is blocked at your school, you can download the movie using Zamzar. Zamzar will email the movie to you so you can view it at school. This link will explain how to use Zamzar to convert videos.