Modified Lesson Plan for English Learners
Analee Leaverton and Isoke Fowler
Title: Past Tense Verbs
Grade: 2nd Grade
Content Area: Language Arts
Classroom Demographic: There are 20 students in this 2nd grade class. 18 students are
native English speakers, and 2 of them are ELs. The ELs are from Mexico, speak
Spanish, and are in the early intermediate stage in their English Language development.
Content Objective: The student will choose the correct past or present tensed verb to fill
in the blank, given a set of ten incomplete sentences.
Language Objective: The student will listen to the teacher say certain verbs in English
and will determine if the verb is past or present tense.
Materials:
-Photographs of students showing them at a younger age
-“Growing Up” (Book written by the teacher)
-This book should include: two photographs of the teacher on the cover.
One picture will be of the teacher as a child, and one will be a recent
picture. In the book, the teacher should include sentences that illustrate
his/her childhood that correspond with past tense verbs. Also included in
the book are sentences that illustrate his/her adult life using present tense
verbs. The book is written in the following pattern:
“When I was a little girl (boy), I __________.
“Now that I am older, I ___________.
-Chalkboard, chalk
-Several sheets of chart paper, markers
-Verb Cards – verbs written on index cards that are either present or past tense
-Two boxes – one labeled “past”, the other labeled “present”
Introduction
I will read a book to the students called “Growing Up”. This book consists of stories
about my life as a child and an adult, in the form of short sentences and pictures. All of
the verbs in the book about my childhood will be in the past tense, and all of the verbs
about my adulthood will be in the present tense. (1) These verbs will be presented in a
different color and displayed in a larger font. The pictures will correspond with the
verb for vocabulary reinforcement. (2) During my reading, I will emphasize the
relationship between the verbs and the pictures by pointing to one, then the other, to
make a visual connection.
Input
After reading the story, I will turn to each page in the book that illustrates the past tense
verb and ask the following question:
Teacher: “What did I do here?”
Student: “You played on the beach.”
Teacher: “I played?”
Student: “Yes.”
I will write “played” on the board. I will do this for all past tense verbs to create an
organized list that is visible to all of the students.
Then, I will turn to each page in the book that illustrates the present tense verb and ask
the following question:
Teacher: “What do I do now?”
Student: “You play at home.”
Teacher: “I play?”
Student: “Yes.”
I will write “play” on the board. I will do this for all present tense verbs to create an
organized list that is visible to all of the students.
(3) Then we will step over to the calendar, point to yesterday and say “Yesterday is
in the past. (By using exaggerated hand motions that portray past) Yesterday was
April 21st. Yesterday, I played.” As I say “played”, I will walk back over to the
board and point to the word played, making sure to underline the -ed ending. I will
step back over to the calendar, point to today and say “Today is the present. (Use
exaggerated hand motions by pointing to the ground as I say “today”) Today is
April 22nd. Today, I play.” As I say “play”, I will walk back over to the board and
point to the word play.
Following this, I will display the students’ baby pictures one at a time. Each student is
then asked to explain what he/she did in the picture. I am looking for the students to use
past tense verb forms. (4) As the answers are given, I will put these verbs on a T-chart
that uses Yesterday and Today as the headings. I will list these verbs under the column
labeled Yesterday. I will explain that all the verbs listed from their baby pictures tell
about the actions that happened in the past, or “yesterday”. I am also sure to explain that
past tense verbs end with –ed. To correlate –ed and yesterday I will put a square around
each –ed ending and use gestures to connect the two ideas. Next, I will give several (4-5)
examples comparing and contrasting present and past tense verbs. Example:
Teacher: “Nina said that she played outside. What if she wanted to talk about
playing outside today? How could she say this?
Student: “Nina would say, I play outside.”
Teacher: “Right. Nina would play.” (I would write play underneath the “Today”
column on the T-chart.
I will repeat the last step several times, until the students seem to understand the concepts
of –ed and the difference between past and present tense.
Modeling
On a piece of chart paper, there will be two sentences that read:
“Yesterday, I ____________ at school.”
“Today, I ____________at school.”
Underneath the sentences, there will be a choice of one past and present tense verb. I will
determine which verb correctly fills the sentence. Before determining which word will
fill the sentence, I will begin by modeling how to recognize the important words
(yesterday and today). (5) I will teach the students to differentiate between the words
by using simple symbols. When you see “today”, you will draw an arrow pointing
downward, like this:
Today
When you see “yesterday”, you will underline it with a backwards arrow like this:
Yesterday
Also, when you see a word with an –ed ending, put a square around it like this:
played
Checking for Understanding
During modeling, I will stop and ask the students questions to make sure that they
comprehend the material. I might ask: “When I see the word yesterday, what do I do?”
“When I see a word with an –ed ending, what do I do?” “Would I put a word with an –ed
ending with today or yesterday?”
As extra practice, I will hand out the verb cards. Each student is then asked to come
forward and place their card in either the “Yesterday Box” or the “Today Box”. I will
check for understanding by observing the student’s decisions about where they place their
verb cards.
Guided Practice
I will divide the class into four groups of five. (6) My two EL students will be in the
same group so that they can use their L1. Each group will be given a worksheet with 5
fill-in-the-blank sentences. Underneath each sentence will be one past and present verb.
Each sentence will begin with either “Today” or “Yesterday”. I will instruct the students
to use appropriate markings for the important words and -ed endings. Then, they will fill
in the blank with the proper verb. I will walk around to each group to clarify any
misunderstanding.
Independent Practice
Still in the groups, one person from each group will randomly choose 2 past tense and 2
present tense verbs out of the boxes. With each word, the group will construct one
sentence, making a total of 4 sentences. The past tense sentences must begin with
“Yesterday” and the present tense sentences must begin with “Today”.
Closure
Each group will present one past tense sentence and one present tense sentence to the
class.
Rationale
(1) Having the verbs presented in a larger font and in a different color helps the
student visually differentiate between the two types of words. It is easier for the
students to see that the past and present tense verbs look similar, but are different.
This is a helpful way for the students to automatically tell that these words are
important. As a teacher, I am ensuring that my speech is comprehensible by using
the different colored words that serve as visual aides.
(2) Basic hand gestures (up, down, sideways, etc.) are universal, meaning that most
people understand what is being said without having to use speech. Using hand
gestures allows the students to understand what is being said without completely
knowing the vocabulary. When I point to the calendar, the words, and use hand
gestures for “yesterday” and “today”, I am allowing them to more meaningfully
participate in the lesson.
(3) The calendar is used as a visual aide presenting itself as something familiar to the
EL students. Because it is familiar, it reduces their anxiety and provides a
positive learning experience which causes the new material to seem less
intimidating. This is also a way to make the abstract concept of “the past” seem a
bit more concrete. This visual aide lowers the affective filter, making the lesson
more comprehensible.
(4) Using a T-Chart graphic organizer helps students organize new information in a
meaningful way. The students are able to understand how the abstract concept of
verb tense manifests itself in context. This allows the input to be more
comprehensible because the students are able to become more engaged in the
learning. This happens by having the opportunity to understand core content,
even if their reading and vocabulary skills are weak.
(5) The simple symbols will help the students determine which words are important
within each sentence. Marking symbols on the important words will narrow down
the vocabulary that the EL students are expected to know. It also connects all the
material that was learned during the input to the modeling portion of the lesson.
The markings make the input more comprehensible by reminding them what the
words mean and giving them a tool to use during Independent Practice.
(6) Placing my EL students in the same group promotes sharing information among
one another, and practice with speaking and listening in their L2 while still being
able to access L1 support from each other. It also builds positive interpersonal
relations between the students that raises the ELs’ self-confidence. The input
becomes comprehensible because they are able to speak in their L1 if they
become confused or need an extra resource.