My students' most egregious grammatical errors concern verbs--mistakes in subject-verb agreement, tense confusion, and parallel sentence construction. While teaching honors English in 8th grade last year, I decided that the best antidote to this widespread problem was intensive consideration of verbs. The following is a 5 day sequence of lessons that takes up each property--not necessarily one each day, but in an order and time frame appropriate for secondary school--especially early high school--students around the country. Not all ancillary materials have been included, but I've provided templates for the worksheets, and virtually all of the transparencies that you will need to delineate each of the 5 properties. You will have to make up worksheets for each of the properties, especially if you want your students to reinforce classroom learning with homework assignments; there is ample room, and need, for more extended classroom reinforcement as well.The five properties of verbs--a 5-day lesson plan
Subject: The five properties of verbs--person, number, tense, voice, and mood
Unit: English grammar (ongoing throughout year)
Objectives: 1. Distinguish between first, second, and third person. 2. Differentiate singular and plural-numbered verbs. 3. Learn to identify the twelve tenses of verbs in English--simple, perfect, and progressive among them. 4. Distinguish between active and passive voice in verbs. 5. Learn to identify and distinguish the indicative, subjunctive, and imperative moods of verbs. 6. Determine the 5 properties of any verb.
Warmup: Decide if subjects in the sentences on the overhead are about one or more than one person/place/thing; if the subject acts or is acted upon; and if the sentence is a statement of fact, a statement which depends on a something else happening, or a command. (5 minutes)
Vocabulary: person, number, tense, voice, and mood; singular and plural; past, present, and future; perfect; progressive; active and passive; indicative, subjunctive, and imperative.
Developmental activities I: [Day #1] 1. Go over warm-up and point out that three of the five properties have already been delineated--number, voice, and mood--leaving only person and tense to discuss during the remainder of the lessons. [Day #2 and Day #3] 2. Define active and passive voice; then, define indicative, subjunctive, and imperative mood. Compare and contrast organizers will be used throughout. (15 minutes each day)
Guided Practice: Do practice exercises #1-3 on overhead, omitting only tenses. (10 minutes after the 3th day)
Developmental activities II: Teach tenses--on Day #4, simple past, present, and future; and the three perfect tenses that correspond to these; then, on Day #5, the progressive forms of these six--12 altogether. Compare and contrast organizers, a modified cause-effect graphic organizer, and a sequence chain will be used. (15 minutes each day)
Independent Practice: Students will break into groups of four and complete the 5 exercises on their worksheets. Teacher and class will go over exercises. (25 minutes each day) A sample worksheet is provided.
Assessment: Teacher will monitor students' mastery of factual and procedural information and correct orally.
Closure: Class will be told that, even though the purpose of a lesson like this may not be immediately evident, the clarity gained from secure knowledge of the properties of verbs will eventually help elucidate and expand ALL thinking that occurs using language. (5 minutes)
Social skills goal: Cooperation and collaboration among students and between students and teacher.
Dimension of Learning focus area(s): 2, 3
Resources/Materials needed: Overhead projector, handouts, writing utensils.
Key question for students: How can any verb be identified by 5 properties (and its infinitive)? How can graphic organizers simplify and facilitate my learning?
Group Strategy: Learning groups of four students will meet to complete practice exercises.
WARM-UP EXERCISEDirections: determine (a) whether the relationship between the speaker of the following sentences and the sentence's subject is I/we-I/we, I/we-you, or I/we-he/she/it/they; (b) whether the subject is acting or being acted upon; and, (c) whether the statement is factual, dependent on a condition of some sort, or a command.
1. All of the spectators crowded through the exits at halftime.2. We would have covered more material had we had more time.
3. Barney, go to the store and buy us some chicken and slaw for dinner!
EVERY VERB HAS 5 PROPERTIES:
1. PERSON
2. NUMBER
3. TENSE
4. VOICE
5. MOODPEANUTS TASTE VERY MARVELOUS!
I. PERSONIf speaker/writer's relationship to the subject is "I or we" to "I or we"="1st PERSON"
If "I or we" to "you (singular or plural)"="2nd PERSON"
If "I or we" to "he", "she", "it", or "they"="3rd PERSON"
II. NUMBERIf subject represents one person, place, or thing (the subject of the sentence)--"SINGULAR".
If subject represents more than one persons, places, or things--"PLURAL".
IV. VOICE
If the subject is acting--"ACTIVE".
If the subject is being acted upon--"PASSIVE".
Practice #1: Identify 3 of 5 properties:
"The Egyptians enclosed instructions for the treatment of their dead in the burial chamber."
Ö PERSON:
Ö NUMBER:
TENSE:
Ö VOICE:
MOOD:
V. MOOD
1. If sentence is a simple statement of fact=INDICATIVE
2. If it depends on something else to happen (i.e., a condition)=SUBJUNCTIVE
3. If a command=IMPERATIVEPractice #2: Identify 4 of 5 properties:
"Many books would have been written by Papa had he not committed suicide in 1960."
Ö PERSON:
Ö NUMBER:
TENSE
Ö VOICE:
Ö MOOD:
III. TENSETHERE ARE 12 TENSES IN ENGLISH, OF 3 TYPES--SIMPLE, PERFECT, AND PROGRESSIVE.
SIMPLE--AT A POINT IN TIME:
SIMPLE PAST, SIMPLE PRESENT, SIMPLE FUTUREPERFECT--OVER A PERIOD OF TIME:
PAST PERFECT, PRESENT PERFECT, AND FUTURE PERFECTPROGRESSIVE--ONE FOR EACH OF THE 6 ABOVE--IN PROGRESS:
PAST PROGRESSIVE
PRESENT PROGRESSIVE
FUTURE PROGRESSIVE
PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
A. SIMPLE--can be regular or irregular:If happened at a point of time in the past--
"He wrote."--SIMPLE PASTIf at current point of time--
"He writes."--SIMPLE PRESENTIf will happen at point of time in future--
"He will write."--SIMPLE FUTURE
B. PERFECT--used with form of verb "to have":If it happened over period of time in past and stopped--
"He had written."--PAST PERFECTIf it is happening over period of time in past and present and continues--
"He has written."--PRESENT PERFECTIf it will be happening in future over a period of time and then stop--"He will have written."--FUTURE PERFECT
C. PROGRESSIVEThere are 6 progressive tenses--one for each of the simple tenses and one for each of the perfect tenses. They suggest that an action was, is, or will be "in progress". The "-ing" suffix indicates progression and requires an auxiliary verb "to be". Thus:
SIMPLE PAST TO
PAST PROGRESSIVE:
"He wrote." becomes
"He was writing."
SIMPLE PRESENT TO
PRESENT PROGRESSIVE:
"He writes." becomes
"He is writing."
SIMPLE FUTURE TO
FUTURE PROGRESSIVE:
"He will write." becomes
"He will be writing."And . . .
PAST PERFECT TO
PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE:
"He had written." becomes
"He had been writing."
PRESENT PERFECT TO
PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE:
"He has written." becomes
"He has been writing."
FUTURE PERFECT TO
FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE:
"He will have written." becomes
"He will have been writing."AUXILIARY VERBS/ TENSE
SUFFIXÖWILL SOME KIND OF FUTURE TENSE
Ö"TO BE" (AUX.) + -ING SOME KIND OF PROGRESSIVE TENSE
ÖHAD, HAS, HAVE (AUX.) SOME KIND OF PERFECT TENSE
HAD _____ PAST PERFECT
HAVE/HAS _____ PRESENT PERFECT
WILL HAVE _____ FUTURE PERFECT
WAS/WERE ___-ING SIMPLE PAST PROGRESSIVE
AM/ARE/IS ___-ING SIMPLE PRESENT PROGRESSIVE
WILL BE ___-ING SIMPLE FUTURE PROGRESSIVE
HAD BEEN ___-ING PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
HAS/HAVE BEEN ___-ING PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
WILL HAVE BEEN ___-ING FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE
COMPARE AND CONTRAST
PERSON
Speaker/Writer to:"I or we" "You" "He, she, it, or they"
FIRST SECOND THIRD
COMPARE AND CONTRASTNUMBER
SINGULAR PLURAL
Subject is one person, place, or thing:I, you, he, she, it Subject is two or more people, places, or things:We, you, they
COMPARE AND CONTRASTVOICE
ACTIVE PASSIVE
Subject of sentence acts: She took the course at CUA. Subject of sentence is acted upon: The course was taken at CUA last year.COMPARE AND CONTRAST
MOOD
INDICATIVE SUBJUNCTIVE IMPERATIVEStatement of fact: The course was taught well. Statement depends on a condition: The course could have been taught better. A command: Teach the course!
COMPARE AND CONTRAST
SIMPLE TENSES
PAST PRESENT FUTURE
She slept. She sleeps. She will sleep.COMPARE AND CONTRAST
PERFECT TENSES
PAST PERFECT PRESENT PERFECT FUTURE PERFECT
He had scored more points than anyone ever at Central High by the time he entered his third year of school there. He has scored more points than anyone who's ever played at Central High, and he's only a junior! (have) He will have scored more points than any player at Central High by the time he enters his senior year.COMPARE AND CONTRAST
PROGRESSIVE
SIMPLE PAST PROGRESSIVE: He was writing to his aunt when he fell ill. SIMPLE PRESENT PROGRESSIVE:He is writing to his son at college. SIMPLE FUTURE PROGRESSIVE:He will be calling his children from the hotel.
PAST PERFECT PROGRESSIVE:He had been sharpening his tools when his son called from school. PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE:He has been practicing on his tuba every night this week. FUTURE PERFECT PROGRESSIVE:In September, she will have been singing with our choir for 45 years.
SEQUENCE CHAIN FOR DETERMINING THE 5 PROPERTIES OF VERBSWhat is the Is the subject What is the
person of the singular or tense of the
Subject? plural? verb?
Is the subject Is the sentence
acting or being a factual statement,
acted upon? a conditional statement,
or a command?Practice exercises:
1. He had been riding over to Jimmy's house on his bike since he'd been in kindergarten.
__________________________________________________________
2. We would have covered more material had we had more time.
3. After the football game, let's go bowling!
English/Humanities 10--Mr. Bloom Central High School, Capitol Heights, Maryland Name ___________________________________ Date ___________________2002 Period _____IDENTIFYING THE FIVE PROPERTIES OF VERBS: Group exercise
Directions: Read the following sentences with your group. Then, determine the (1) person, (2) number, (3) tense, (4) voice, and (5) mood of the underlined verb.
1. "I would have been happier if you had brought me a CD for Valentine's Day rather than candy," she said to her boyfriend.
2. We will be leaving the house before sunrise so we can get there before the crowds do.
3. The restaurant had been shuttered since a fire swept through two of its floors last winter.
4. "Stay away from that grill!" I yelled at my son. "It's hot!"
5. He should have expected the reading courses to be interesting, but he'd been wrong.
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