Mystery Movements: An activity to practice the present progressive

How have you practiced the present progressive with basic level students? Over the years, I’ve relied on some old favorites, for instance, talking about who’s wearing what today, having students pantomime actions for others to describe, and describing actions seen in photos and film. In a post back in 2009, I suggested that photos from cell phones could even be used in this manner.

Today, in preparation for my next lesson with Natasha, I was thinking of pulling photos together with a theme or a narrative. I came up with a short activity that could easily work one-on-one or in a classroom setting. Please take a look at my Mystery Movements_handout.

Film Plots and Teasers: An activity to practice the present progressive

In my latest YouTube series, my goal is to help intermediate and advanced students rid themselves of confusion over verb tenses. By reviewing the uses and examining the differences, hopefully learners will feel more confident in their choices of verb tenses when speaking or writing. Practice, of course, is key. Watching an instructional video alone cannot lead to miracles.

One activity that I posted three years ago can offer a context for practice with verb tenses. My Prequel-Sequel Activity encourages use of multiple tenses, but students can primarily stay in the simple present, especially if they write a plot summary for a sequel. One variation is to have students themselves write plot summaries for movies they’ve seen, exchange texts, and write a plot summary for a sequel to the movie they just read about. Both texts can be short (4-6 lines), and both texts can mostly be written in the simple present.

If students respond well to this kind of creative writing and are ready to contrast the simple present with the present progressive, consider the Film Plots and Teasers_handout. This group activity can serve as follow-up to Lesson 3.

Naming Names: A pair activity to practice yes-no questions with beginners

I’ve shared activities in the past to practice question formation. However, I’d like to offer one more in case you have a group of beginners who are still limited to the simple present tense. Please view my Naming Names_handout. You may find that the activity is similar to games you’ve either heard about or played before. The idea is simple. It’s a guessing game to discover who the mystery person is. Hopefully, this handout will prove to be a time-saver for you. Enjoy and recycle it as many times as you can!

Constant Categories: An activity to practice the simple present

Little by little, I’ll be developing a series of videos for upper levels students in need of a review of all the verb tenses in English. Lesson 1 has been posted, and it gives an overview. Leson 2 will focus on the simple present. At the upper levels, I expect students to have more questions about use than form, so I would like to offer a classroom activity that prompts communication using the simple present in order to express facts, general truths, and present habits. If your students enjoy constructive games, they should appreciate this one. Please view my Constant Categories_handout.