Verb Tenses through All Senses

Welcome to my classroom. It’s an exciting place. Recently, I have been teaching verb tenses to my fourth and fifth grade students. During my teacher training in the United States, I learned about different learning styles. While some students learn best auditorally, others learn best kenesthetically, musically, pictorially, or in other ways. In Nepal, most teachers teach straight from the textbook lecture-style. Students do not get many opportunities to get up and active in class. So, when teaching my students about verb tenses, I decided to do it from a multi-sensory approach.

Games: Kinesthetic and Auditory 

I created two different games for teaching verb tenses. The first game is good as a pre-assessment or introductory game, and the second game is good for review after tenses have been studied in class. 

Game #1: Verb Tense Hot Lava 

 My classroom has a concrete floor, so I can draw on it with chalk. Don't worry, I erase it      afterwards. On the floor, I drew three rows, past, present, and future like below. Then I would say a sentence like "Yesterday, I ran to school," Today, I run to school," or "Tomorrow I will run to school." I would have all of the students stand below the first line of the chart. Then, they would jump into the correct tense. The last student to jump into the correct tense was out. The students enjoyed this game very much. The winner got a free pencil, which increased motivation to learn. This game was also helpful because students got to see other students jump into the correct tense.

Future

Present

Past

Game #2:  Ring the Bell 

I had my students in both class four and five play this game. First, I split the students into two even heterogeneous groups and had them stand in two lines, across from a student of the same ability level. I stood at the front of the lines holding a bell, and a verb flashcard. I then would say a full sentence like "past tense...Yesterday, I                 to school." while I held up the verb flashcard "to run."The first student to ring the bell and say the sentence correctly won a point for his or her team. The students enjoyed this game very much. 

Verb Tenses Comics 
 I had my students create verb tense comics. Check out the pictures below!

The Verb Tense Song 

Last but not least, I brought my guitar to school, and taught my class the verb tense song. Check it out below. 

In addition to writing sentences, reading explanations from the textbook, and listening to stories in the past tense, my students have made so much progress this week! I am very proud of their hard work.