5 Ways to Help Your Third Grader Master Verb Tense

Verb tenses might be the most difficult of all English grammar skills to master. And for good reason – there are so many rules to learn and so many guidelines to follow. Do you know that Chinese language doesn’t have any tenses? Seems incredible, right? But English grammar doesn’t offer that luxury. Kids are generally terrified of the topic, but it doesn’t have to be like that every time. Parents and teachers can work together to make verb tenses easy to comprehend. Adding a little bit of fun will also work to make the kid comfortable while learning the topic.

Why are they important?

The verb tense signifies the time of any action, telling us when it took place. If the tenses are switched, it can cause confusion and might even change the meaning of the whole context. The concept of time is not new to the third graders, but measuring time in words instead of numbers might seem a bit alien to their young minds.

Verb Tense Worksheets

Turtle Diary has specially designed verb tense worksheets that provide compatible content for the third graders to learn Verb tenses. The worksheets also include helping verbs worksheets that will help the kids in learning how time is conveyed in a sentence. The three basic helping verbs are be, have and do. Once the kids understand how to use these verbs, the overall concept of verb tenses will become much clearer to them.

Action verbs are, as the name implies, verbs that tell about the action in context with the time. Action verbs worksheet mainly concentrates on telling what action is taking place, took place, or will take place. Having kids complete these worksheets will introduce them to different tenses of verb. The concept might be difficult for the kids to comprehend at first, but if you work on the elements slowly, giving them time to understand each new topic, it won’t be long before they would have mastered the concept.

5 Ways to Help Kids Master Verb Tense

There might be numerous ways to teach verb tenses to the kids, but nothing can beat the effectiveness of verb tense activities. When the kids are having fun, they forget that they are learning. Below are 5 methods to teach verb tenses, and in time, the kids will know the tenses instinctively.

1) Role play

This activity will help kids converse about real life situations. You can vary the rules – ask kids to use just one kind of verb tense or all the senses in the same conversation. Have some fun with it! Ask them to pretend to be one of their favorite movie characters.

2) Sing a song

Music can lighten any mood and is always a fun activity to do. Take a song of one of the kid’s favorite artists and get them to recognize repetitive tenses. You can also give them fill in the blank sheets to incorporate their own tenses in the lyrics.

3) Say the Tense

Make the kids stand in a circle while you pass them a ball. Whoever catches it would have to tell the past tense of a verb. You can try this activity with different tenses too. Yell a future verb and ask the kids to change it into past or vice versa. If anyone is unable to answer, they will leave the circle until the last kid remains. The physical movement will keep the kids active and their minds alert.

4) Use Flashcards

The easiest yet the most effective way – flashcards. These cards can be used for a number of activities such as matching games. Just remember to have lots of fun while you teach and reward the kids for doing well.

5) Celebrity Grammar

Ask each kid to select a celebrity on whom they must get some information. Have them write the biographies in their own words, emphasizing on the use of tenses. Let them read their work to the other kids and ask them to identify few tenses.

Incorporate verb tense worksheets as your teaching aid and get kids to learn effortlessly by making the activity fun. Have a great day!