This KS1 grammar resource provides everything you need to teach five 15-minute lessons on the past and present tense.
As well as using examples to establish what the past and present tense should look like, there are card sorting activities and sentences with errors to correct – all of which leads to a piece of creative writing about being shipwrecked on a desert island.
The five SPaG lessons are designed to be taught across one week. Alternatively, you may wish to teach the sessions in larger chunks, spread over a longer period of time or intersperse them with different grammar, punctuation and spelling lessons.
This primary resource pack includes:
- Past and present tense PowerPoint
With explanations, examples and activities to introduce this topic to your class
- Cut-out verb cards PDF
A selection of verb cards to print out and use
- Past and present tense challenge sheet
Present and past tense worksheets where pupils tick whether a sentence is in past or present tense, change the verb to change sentences from past to present tense, escape the past tense game board, then use the image provided to write a five-sentence story in the past tense
- Past and present tense uplevelling sheet
Rewrite the sentences to make them more interesting. Make sure to using various writing techniques without changing the tense
- Irregular verbs past tense worksheet
This PDF features a large selection of irregular verbs for children to write the past tense version in the spaces provided
- Writing plan
Includes an image and writing prompts to plan a short story
- Teacher’s notes
What is tense?
The tense shows when the action in a piece of writing is taking place.
- The past tense is about things that have already happened.
- The present tense is about things that are happening now.
- The future tense is about things that are yet to happen.
What is present tense?
The simple present tense can also show things that usually happen or are generally true. Examples of the simple present tense include she works, he writes, the sun rises.
The present progressive tense is about things that are still going on now. Examples of the present progressive tense include she is working, he is writing, the sun is rising.
The present perfect tense is used to show when something has happened but is still relevant now, or, when something started happening in the past and is still happening now. It is formed by using the simple present tense of have (have/has) + a past tense verb. Examples of the present perfect tense include she has worked, he has written, the sun has risen.
What is past tense?
The simple past tense is about things that were finished before now. Examples include she worked, he wrote, the sun rose. Many simple past tense verbs add the suffix -ed to the basic verb (eg worked), but some don’t follow the -ed rule (eg wrote, rose).
The past progressive tense is about things that were happening in the past. Examples include: she was working, he was writing, the sun was rising.
The past perfect tense is used to show when something happened before something else in the past, or, when something started happening in the past and was still happening at a later time. It is formed by using the simple past tense of have (had) + a past tense verb. Examples of the past perfect tense include she had worked, he had written, the sun had risen.
National Curriculum English programme of study links
Learn how to use the present and past tenses correctly and consistently including the progressive form
Use the present perfect form of verbs in contrast to the past tense
Evaluate and edit by ensuring the consistent and correct use of tense throughout a piece of writing