Teaching Verbs

[chiangrai]

Hi,

I teach elementary school aged kids in small after school classes of ten.

I've come to the past tense.

They've got it but they don't know the past participle of each verb.

So reluctantly I started making them learn them off by heart.This feels really

like the old script and wrote method that went out with the horse and cart.

Are there any new upbeat ways of getting them to say-go-went

say-said

talk-talked.....etc.

I feel like a dinosaur.

[clinique]

If you speak Thai, maybe try teaching them by using both the Thai and english !

Although frankly English with its complex arrangements is more difficult than Thai. [eg; how do we get from go to went??] [err,, go, going, gone!] so maybe the wrote system works for them,, but i would try the Thai translations so they get the gist..

good luck.

edit: go-went

Edited June 10, 2014 by clinique

[Rupert2]

Pai doi

? I'd like to go too ?

not sure

[KhaoNiaw]

There is nothing wrong with learning by memorizing in its right place. It's just one technique that needs to be combined with others such as using and recognizing the forms in phrases and situations. You should be using a variety of exercises for both output and input. Don't be afraid to use old methods when they can be of obvious benefit. Just make sure it's followed up with a variety of practice opportunities.

(And it doesn't seem like you're talking about the past participle forms?)

[Rupert2]

I'm not a teacher.

speaking some thai - like -- pai doi -- makes every thai person smile.

[chiangrai]

Thanks all,

I teach English through Thai.That's why I don't the English terms,in Thai it's much more simple.

They explain it like this. VERB 1----VERB 2----VERB 3.

go went gone

do did done

So I'm teaching VERB 2 which can be said as "verb two","werb song" or "kham-gill-ee-yaah beuh song" in spoken Thai.

Just out of interest does anyone know what they are called in English.

VERB 1----VERB 2----VERB 3.

simple ----???? ----????

form

KhaoNiaw has eased my mind a little.I have started with the 26 most common verbs used in the English language according to the Oxford dictionary and I will break this up with spoken and written practice to make it interesting.

[inutil]

Dyou know, ive never understood this one thing about thailand...

the kids at school LOVELY as they were (and they really were, absolute angels), couldnt speak a lick of English well into M3 and would easy fail any test of English in Japan or Korea. Yet, in mainstream society, English is pretty much everywhere. And i mean outside Bangkok in the relative boonies. I mean its not fluency levels, but its functional and useful (is there a mandatory tourism english class after middle school or something?). Go to Japan or China for example and the whole thing is ass backward... students will nail any test you put before them. But ask them a question outside the classroom (even in the school corridors after class) and blam "whats he saying?"

Its a weird weird world

Anyways...

three staples of japanese english elementary school drilling (you literally cannot drill verbs enough!):

Bingo.

Key word game

Karuta.

The first one needs no introduction, youre a teacher you can apply this and no matter what, no 6-12 year old kid is going to find this game boring unless youve used it in EVERY CLASS EVER. Hell, if you have the recources (hello MES-English), you can give EVERY STUDENT their own set of verbs. They can cut them out and choose their favorites and organise them into 3*3, 4*4 or 5*5 grids - your choice). Its easy as hell. Plus verb cards are an ETERNAL investment applicable to every grammar point involving tenses. And since that accounts for a LOT of grammar lessons, well you know, its worth the bother. Bingo is easy the kids love it and you get LOTS AND LOTS of drilling practice if you work it right. So long as theyre playing bingo, even drilling conjugation is effortless: say the word, students turn over their personal (mini) flashcard (or cross their word off for higher grade levels) and say the three words. Voila! well done Great teacher Onizuka! Drill drill drill and they dont even care!

Number 2: key word game.

You can play this in a thousand ways... but heres a couple...

one: jazz chants.

Once youve done the whole flashcards thing (mandatory of course - this is p1-p6!!!) circle one of them in chalk and call it the "key word". Teach them a rhythm of your choosing (but keep it simple), then introduce a special different rhythin for the key word).

Verb <students repeat> (clap clap) Verb <students repeat> (clap clap) <pre agreed and HIGHLIGHTED!!!!> KEY WORD VERB <students repeat> (stamp stamp) verb <students repeat> (clap clap) etc... kids get a kick out of getting it wrong to be honest. Theyll play it until they puke!

You dont need to keep it simple to claps and stamps, any gesture will do. Kids love to move. Its just rhythmic drilling. At middle school its less effective of course but grades 1-5 (to a lesser extent 6) its pretty effective. Good for introducing the words and having the students ENJOY repeating them. I once saw a demonstration class by a japanese teacher that was awesome. And what made it awesome was this exact iteration of the key word game.

Key word game application 2 (pair version). Have students pair. Select a key word (went), Students have an item between them (usually an eraser - but you can use anything they want) Say sentences, students repeat - voila, drilling), when you say the key word sentence (i went shopping, or i like to go shopping), students race to grab the eraser first. This, amazingly is a game. I know its drilling all the sentences you want them to say, you know its drilling, they play the game with gusto (at least the first few times. After that youll need to start graduating to groups rather than pairs for a bit of excitement.

Key word/bingo game 3. Fly swatter game.

This one requires flashcards with magnets (or blu-tack if you cant find decent board magnets).

Once youve drilled sentences and played key word game maybe...

Time to return to the main flash cards or pictures you (or the students) drew on the board you used in the first place.

get them into groups of about 6-8.

have them line up.

number one of each team gets a fly swatter. You should hopefully have 3-4 teams.

You say the sentence. First team to hit the right verb with their fly swatter gets a point for their team.

<variation: for a faster game, instead of points, winner passes to next person and sits down. Only winer sits, losers stay. First team to sit down all their players wins, honestly I prefer points since no one feels like a jerk for losing (though you can cheat a bit here by basically telling the slower student where youre going next and putting th rest of them 3 steps back or something). but some teachers prefer this method since its more straightforward>

Team with most points at the end is the winner. Yay!

Finally

Karuta.

You need a set of flash cards (small size - about 4*4 on a sheet of A4 or even smaller) for each group of students. Groups should be 5-7 id say. HAve them organise around 2 desks for best results.

Cards are spread out around the desk. All the group is sat around the desks in a circle.

Have students put their hands somewhere (great way to drill body parts - hands on heads, hands on shoulders, hands over eyes, hands in the air etc).

say a sentence with the past tense verb

Students then race to find the right word and grab the card first. Winner keeps card and you move to next word. (if its a tie, just rock-paper-scissors).

Winner is student with most words at the end.

Ways to add more mischief is to obviously say words that youve used before or that dont fit (i eat footballs!) In japan theyre called otestsuki (false) and usually mean the person sits out the next word). But if you cant be bothered with the high drama of people being excluded, just keep them playing.

Winner is the person with most cards at the end. Make sure to stop students just piling the remaining cards into the middle for a two hand gobble (keep remaining cards always well spaced), but other than that, fairly fun game for students at grade 5/6 and M1.

Anyways, those 4 or so games should keep you occupied. MES english has a wealth of resources you can apply and photocopy for your students at that age.

As for the actual question, well you really need to make sure your students understand the times first before you start teaching them about tenses. If they dont understand times then why would they understand that go is now went for the same verb or rtaher just one verb replacing the other? You need some direction to your students. If you dont have that, theyll be confused as hell. Just be consistent with the images you use. Even if its just a sunshine in the morning afternoon and evening (to represent past present and future) in the top corner of the board... so long as youve drilled this idea then they should pick up what youre asking of them. Remember, theyre tiny and dont understand what youre telling them. They realllllllly reallllllly want to though!

So make sure you have them understand verbs, then past present future. And only after that makes sense, THEN progress into tenses.

Edited June 11, 2014 by inutil

[DogNo1]

Chiangrai: FYI, the English terms for Verb 1, Verb 2 and Verb 3 are present, past and past participle. The participle is used to construct the perfect tenses: present perfect, past perfect and future perfect. When I was a kid, we used to drill on verbs by saying, for example: today I go, yesterday I went, many times I have gone. Drilling is usually necessary for the irregular verbs such as swim, swam, swum but once you know the pattern for regular verbs, you know them all (kiss, kissed, kissed or stop, stopped, stopped.) Using the verb swim as an example, the present perfect, past perfect and future perfect are have swum, had swum and will have swum. The meaning of the perfect tenses is difficult for many students to grasp at first but once students understand the pattern and principle, they can use the perfect tenses with accuracy and ease.

[chiangrai]

So is that........the present form,the past form and the present participle......

[Daffy D]

Talking as a parent it's interesting this subject has come up at this time.

My 10 year old is starting to ask about tenses and participle and such like for her homework.

My school days were to long ago for me to remember anything in that department so it will get a bit embarrassing if I can't give her the right answers, especially as I'm the only English parent in the whole school. My girl has just got to be the best in English

Any pointers how I can brush up on my verbs and stuff?

[DogNo1]

Hi,

Sorry to be incomplete. That is actually the past participle. The present participle is the -ing form of the verb. So the entire sequence of present, past, present participle and past participle using the verb swim as an example would be: swim, swam, swimming, swum. When I went to elementary school, we made no special effort to remember the present participle because it is always just the -ING form of the verb. The past tense and past participle of the irregular were the ones we had to remember.

Best regards.

[Daffy D]

Hi,

Sorry to be incomplete. That is actually the past participle. The present participle is the -ing form of the verb. So the entire sequence of present, past, present participle and past participle using the verb swim as an example would be: swim, swam, swimming, swum. When I went to elementary school, we made no special effort to remember the present participle because it is always just the -ING form of the verb. The past tense and past participle of the irregular were the ones we had to remember.

Best regards.

Ahaaaaaaaaaaa!

It's getting even more confusing