Looking for a fun and engaging grammar game to teach or revisit tenses with pupils in KS2?
This pack contains a loop card game that is perfect for a whole class or small groups to revisit their understanding of different verb forms when writing in the simple, progressive and perfect tenses. This simple game asks pupils to find the sentence written in another tense. There are 32 cards, allowing the game to be played by the whole class as a starter activity to revisit previous learning or groups could create the loop as part of a main teaching activity on the past and present tense.
Once the resource is created, it can be used time and time again to revisit this area of learning as part of whole class teaching or an intervention for pupils who may need further support.
What does ‘tense’ mean?
The tense shows when the actions happen in the sentence. The verb shows whether the sentence is written in the present tense (happens now), the past tense (happened in the past) or the future tense (will happen).
What is the simple tense?
The simple present tense states things that are true or happening now. The simple present tense is formed by adding -s to the verb or using the root form of the verb. The verb ending in the suffix -ing can also indicate that the present tense is used (present progressive).
She walks to school.
The simple past tense is used when writing about things that have happened in the past. Most verbs have the suffix -ed added to them to form the past tense. Some past tense verbs are irregular and don’t follow this rule, for example teach and taught, go and went.
She walked to school.
What is the progressive tense?
The progressive tense is used to show when an action or state is continuing to happen and can either be present or past. The verbs in this verb form end with the suffix -ing.
The present progressive tense (sometimes called the present continuous tense) is used to show things happening now that may continue for a longer period of time.It is formed using the verb is/are/am and the verb ending in the suffix -ing (present participle).
She is walking.
The past progressive tense (sometimes called the past continuous tense) is used to show that something (an action or event) continued for some time or that something was not finished before something else happened. In this resource pack, the activities focus on actions that continue for some time.
The past progressive tense is formed using the verbs was / were and the verb ending in the suffix -ing (present participle).
She was walking.
What is the perfect tense?
The perfect tense is used to show how events or actions are related in time or cause.
The present perfect tense is used to show that things happened in the past but are still happening, or are still relevant and important now. It uses the words has/have + the past tense verb.
She has walked to school.
The past perfect tense is used to show something that happened before something else. It is formed using had and the past tense.
She had walked to school.
National Curriculum programme of study links
Year 3/4 and 5/6
- Pupils should be taught to use and understand the grammatical terminology in English Appendix 2 accurately and appropriately in discussing and writing their work