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Verb Tense Consistency Mini-Lesson by Deanna Farber!

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Rationale: This is an instruction on using consistent verb tenses and applying them to realistic
fiction stories.!

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Standards: !
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CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.3.D!
Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture
the action and convey experiences and events.!

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.5!
With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as
needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on how well
purpose and audience have been addressed. !

Objectives: To have the students understand verb tenses and how they relate to other words.
Then to have them apply what they have learned to their short story.!

Materials:!
Projector!
Short Stories!
Paper or Post-Its for Exit Slip!

Procedure (10-15 min):!


1. Students enter the room and prepare for the day (write down homework, words of the day,
etc.)!
2. Bring Attention to myself!
3. Introduce Verb tenses (Today Im going to be talking about verb tense consistency and
how we can incorporate that into your short stories. Can anyone come up with any
ideas with what I mean when I say Verb tense consistency?)!
4. Explain what I mean by consistent verbs, with definition on projector screen. (Keeping verb
tense consistent throughout the story is important because verb tense decides
whether we are in past or present tense. A sentence like, I start to jump. I was so
excited. would be inconsistent because start to jump is in present tense and was is
past tense.)!
5. Show examples of sentences with consistent verb tenses and then have the class try to fill
in consistent verbs into sentences with blanks. (Were going to try some examples. Here
is a a sentence. Are the verb tenses consistent?)!
6. I will then give them an example that includes dialogue within it that has different verb
tenses. I will explain to them why it is okay to have different tenses with dialogue. (What
about this example? Is this alright? It is. Does anyone know why?) !
7. Have them look for inconsistent verb tenses within their realistic fiction story. (Now were
going to apply this to your stories that you have been writing. Figure out if you wrote
your story in past or present tense and then see if your verb tenses match that.)!

Closure (10-15 min):!

Students will continue to apply this to their stories for the next 10 to 15 minutes depending on
the amount of time and then the other half of the lesson will begin !

Differentiation: The examples I use will be different kinds of verb tense examples that will allow
all the students to understand the concept depending on the kind of sentence is used as an
example.!

Assessment: I will have the students write an exit ticket on a piece of paper or post-its that
asks the questions: Do you think you will be able to identify inconsistent verb tenses in
the future? and Could you explain what a consistent verb tense is to someone else?

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