At a Glance

Grades:4
Subject:ELA (English Language Arts)
Topic:Progressive Verb Tenses
Lesson Length:30 - 45 mins

Standards / Framework:

Brief Description

What will students learn in this activity?

Students will learn about progressive verb tenses and create a comic to demonstrate their understanding of progressive verb tenses.

Know Before You Start

What should students know before this activity?

This is an introductory lesson for progressive verb tenses. Students will recognize that progressive verb tenses indicate a continuing action or action in progress.

Hook

How can teachers introduce this lesson?

  • Read and discuss the sample comic.
    • What is taking place?
    • When is the action taking place? 
  • Discuss that even though the character is performing the same action, there is a progression from a past event, to a current action, and finally to a future activity. 
  • Discuss that we use progressive verb tenses to show continuing action or action in progress. 
  • The past progressive describes actions that lasted for an ongoing period of time in the past.
  • The present progressive describes actions that are happening right now and that are still in progress.
  • The future progressive describes actions that will be ongoing in the future. 
  • Have students brainstorm other examples of progressive verb tenses using common verbs such as eating, talking, reading, etc. For example, "I was eating pancakes yesterday. I am eating waffles today. I will be eating muffins tomorrow."

Activity

What will students do?

  • Using the sample comic as a guide, have students create a three-panel comic showing progressive verb tenses. 

Closure

How can teachers wrap up the lesson?

  • Allow students to share their comics with others. 
  • Discuss how students can use progressive verb tenses in their writing.

Differentiation

How can teachers differentiate this activity?

  • Allow students to use the speech-to-text feature.
  • Allow students to use the voiceover feature to read their comics aloud.
  • Allow students to work in pairs or groups as needed.
  • Provide a list of progressive verb tenses for learners that need it.
  • Enrichment: Some students may elect to write an entire comic story using progressive verb tenses.

Related Resources:

  • Comic to print or display