Sunrise Readers Book 5 – Past Tense Activities
The past tense is introduced in Sunrise Readers Book 5 – We Come and Go.
First language speakers will use the past tense without thinking about it. For second language speakers, attention may need to be given to using the past tense.
Ideas for teaching the past tense:
1.NEWS:
Grades One and Two teachers frequently ask learners to tell their “news” after the weekend.
Question: What did you do this past weekend?
- Teacher writes the sentences that the learners use on the board, with the past tense verbs in a different colour. e.g.:
I played with my brother. played
I visited my Granny. visited
I swam in the pool. swam
I washed my clothes. washed
I cleaned the house. cleaned
I rode my bicycle. rode
I was sick so I stayed in bed. Was sick … stayed
- Read the sentences aloud with the children.
- Point at the past tense words. Ask what same letters they see in many of the words.
- Circle ed in the words.
- Say, “When we talk about what we DID yesterday or over the weekend, we usually put ed on the words. “Yesterday I cleaned my room.”
(Sometimes, we have to change the word. e.g. ride – rode)
2. Read a story
Read a story EXPRESSIVELY to the learners. e.g. The little brown hen (Pages 7 – 11)
- Have the learners follow look at the pictures as you read the story to them.
- Ask them to tell you what happened in the story.
- If necessary, ask questions to prompt the children.
- Write the past tense words on the board:
Q: What did the little red hen want to do?
A: She wanted to make bread.
Q: Who did she first ask for help?
A: She asked the duck.
Q What did the duck say?
A: The duck said “No!”
3. Act it out!
Have the learners work in groups of four or five. They choose one of the stories in Book Five to act out.
Once they are finished acting the story out, discuss with the class what they did.
Q: What story is this? At the Farm (Pages 4 – 6)
Q: Where were the Sunrise children in this story?
A: They were at Grandfather’s farm.
Q: What did they help Grandfather to do first?
A: They helped Grandfather to feed the hens, ducks and geese.
Q: What did the geese do?
A: The geese chased the children.
Q: What did the children do then?
A: The children ran away fast. Etc.
4. A time line
Draw a timeline on the board and talk about this:
Yesterday Today
______________________________⬇︎_______________________________
Now
- I played at home. I play at school.
- I jumped over a box. I jump up and down.
- I helped Mom. I help the teacher
- I was sick. I am well.
5. Time-line Rope Game
Put a rope on the ground, stretched out in a straight line.
- Tell the children to stand on one side of the rope. Say.
- This is YESTERDAY – (Sunday! Or whichever day it was.)
- Jump onto the rope. This is NOW! Today! Monday!
- Jump off the rope to the other side. This is TOMORROW. Tuesday.
With the children and the rope, write a sentence on the board, or simply say it. The children have to move to the correct position on (or beside) the rope: e.g.
- Today we are at school. (Present – on the rope).
- Yesterday we walked to town. (Past)
- Tomorrow we will visit Granny. (Future).
There are LOTS of other ways to teach the simple past tense; research online for ideas.
How to use the Book 5 Past and Present Practice Games
What you need:
- Sunrise Readers Book 5
- Past and Present flashcards – printed, laminated and cut out.
- Past and present sentence template – printed and laminated.
- Past and present list template – printed and laminated.
- Counters (coloured bottle tops)
Past and Present List Game:
- Learners may work as individuals, in pairs, or in groups of three or four.
- The past and present flashcards are set out in any order, text facing up.
- The learners take turns to select the past and present form of the same word, and place the words correctly on the list.
Today I Yesterday I
sing sang
say said
like liked
Past and Present Tense Sentence Game:
- Learners may work as individuals, in pairs, or in groups of three or four.
- The past and present flashcards are set out in any order, text facing up.
- The learners take turns to select the past and present form of the same word, and place the words correctly on the sentence template. e.g.
- Today we ask.
- Yesterday we asked.
- The learner then completes the sentence in her own words:
- Let us ask our teacher if we can play outside.
- Yesterday we asked Mother if we could have an ice-cream.
- Final check – the learner (or the another learner in the pair/group) places a green counter (bottle top) beside the present tense and a red counter (bottle top) beside the past tense.