1st Term Week 4 English lesson note: Simple Present and Past Tense of Common Verbs for primary 2

 

Term: First Term

Week: Week 10

Class: Primary 2

Subject: English Language (Grammar)

Topic: Simple Present and Past Tense of Common Verbs

Sub-Topics:

• Introduction to Action Words (Verbs)

• Simple Present Tense (Everyday Actions)

• Simple Past Tense (Finished Actions)

• Oral and Written Tense Drills

1. What is an Action Word?

An action word tells us what a person, animal, or thing is doing. Another name for an action word is a verb.

When we run, jump, eat, or sleep, we are using action words!

Let's Do the Action!

• Clap your hands 👏

• Sit on your chair 🪑

• Write in your book ✍️

2. Present Tense vs. Past Tense

When we talk, we need to show when an action happened. We use different tenses to do this:

• Simple Present Tense: This is used for actions we do every day or habits.

  • Example: I play football every afternoon. / She sings beautifully.

• Simple Past Tense: This is used for actions that are already finished (yesterday, last week, this morning).

  • Example: I played football yesterday. / She sang a song this morning.

Regular vs. Irregular Shifts

The "+ed" Rule: For most action words, we just add -ed at the end to make them tell about the past. These are called regular verbs.

The Changing Rule: Some special action words completely change their spelling when they move to the past! These are called irregular verbs.

Everyday Action (Present)	Finished Action (Past)	How it Changed
play	played	Added -ed
jump	jumped	Added -ed
cook	cooked	Added -ed
sing	sang	Changed spelling
eat	ate	Changed spelling
go	went	Changed spelling

3. Classroom Practice: Time Travel Game ⏳

Teachers should use this oral drill sequence to help pupils instantly switch between everyday actions and finished actions.

1.The Everyday Voice (Present):Step 1.

The teacher starts a sentence with "Every day, I..." and the class repeats it with a present tense action.

• Practice: "Every day, I jump." 🏃‍♂️

2.The Yesterday Voice (Past):Step 2.

The teacher rings a bell or claps to "go back in time" and says "Yesterday, I..." The class must switch the verb to past tense.

• Practice: "Yesterday, I jumped!"

3.The Irregular Challenge:Step 3.

Try it with the words that change completely.

• Teacher: "Every day, I eat rice."

• Pupils: "Yesterday, I ate rice!"

• Teacher: "Every day, we go to school."

• Pupils: "Yesterday, we went to school!"

Classwork / Evaluation Exercises

Part A: Choose the Right Word

Look at the hint word in brackets and choose the correct action word.

1. Every day, the birds ________ sweetly. (sing / sang)

2. Yesterday, my mother ________ delicious soup. (cook / cooked)

3. Tega ________ to the market last Tuesday. (go / went)

4. We ________ with our toys every evening. (play / played)

Part B: Time Travel Matching

Draw a line to match the everyday action to its finished past action.

Everyday Action (Present)	Finished Action (Past)
1. walk	* A. cooked
2. eat	* B. walked
3. cook	* C. ate
4. shout	* D. shouted