Tense Detectives

Overview

This is lesson 3 of 4 in the Talk, Tense, and Tell unit. Students listen for clues that show whether an event is happening now, happened yesterday, or will happen tomorrow. They then correct mixed-up verb tenses and plan a clear three-part sequence through talk before writing.

Learning intentions

• WALT identify whether a sentence describes now, yesterday, or tomorrow.
• WALT explain the time-word and verb clues we notice.
• WALT correct verbs so they match the time of an event.
• WALT plan and write a clear three-part sequence.

Success criteria

• I can sort a sentence as now, yesterday, or tomorrow.
• I can explain how a time word or verb helped me decide.
• I can change a verb to make the tense clear.
• I can say and write three sentences in a sensible time order.

Curriculum links

• Writing Processes — Planning: planning a short series of sentences through talk and thinking carefully about each sentence before writing.
• Composition — Sentence structures, grammar, and punctuation: using appropriate sentence structures, grammar, and punctuation across the first two years.
• Writing Processes — Planning: working towards a specific writing goal to focus improvement.

Lesson structure (30 minutes)

1. 0–4 min · Hook: Tense detectives. Display three sentences in the introduction and mystery slides: “Today I walk to school,” “Yesterday I walked to school,” and “Tomorrow I will walk to school.” Students act out or point to now, yesterday, or tomorrow, then briefly share the clues they noticed.

2. 4–9 min · Direct teach: Find the clues. Use the tense clues slides to model that time words can tell us when, while verbs can change to match the time: walk/walked/will walk. Students repeat each sentence, identify the time word and verb, and help place the examples on a simple three-column class chart.

3. 9–15 min · Partner sort and explain. Give pairs the sentence examples from the tense detective worksheet and read the first few aloud together. Students decide whether each sentence describes now, yesterday, or tomorrow, circle the clue, and explain their choice to a partner using: “I think it is ___ because ___.” Check six examples as a class, inviting different students to justify their thinking.

4. 15–21 min · Correct the mixed-up verbs. Show the “tense mix-ups” on the correction activity slides. Model one correction, such as “Yesterday I play outside” becoming “Yesterday I played outside.” Students complete the remaining short examples on their worksheet, first saying the corrected sentence to a partner and then writing it. Confer with individuals, asking, “What tells you when it happened?”

5. 21–27 min · Plan and create a sequence. Present the sequence task on the three-part sequence slides: choose an everyday event such as getting ready, visiting a park, or making a snack. Students orally rehearse three sentences with a partner: one about yesterday, one about now, and one about tomorrow. They then write the sequence on the final part of the worksheet, including a time word and a matching verb in each sentence.

6. 27–30 min · Share and reflect. Display the review prompts on the plenary slides. Invite two students to read their sequences. The class listens for the three time words and matching verbs; each student completes the worksheet reflection: “My strongest tense clue was ___.”

Resources

• the Tense Detectives slide deck
• the tense detective worksheet
• Whiteboard and markers
• Three-column class chart labelled Now, Yesterday, Tomorrow
• Pencils and coloured pencils
• Optional mini whiteboards for oral rehearsal

Assessment

• Listen during sorting and partner talk for accurate identification of time words, verb forms, and explanations.
• Check the correction task for verbs that match the time word; note students who rely only on the time word and need further support with verb changes.
• Use the final three-sentence sequence and reflection as an exit check: students should include a clear time word, a matching verb, and a sensible sequence.

Differentiation

• Support learners with a visible verb bank: play/played/will play, walk/walked/will walk, eat/ate/will eat, and go/went/will go. Read sentences aloud and allow students to rehearse before writing.
• Provide sentence frames: “Yesterday I ___.” “Today I ___.” “Tomorrow I will ___.” Pair students thoughtfully so oral language can develop before independent writing.
• For learners needing additional support, reduce the number of sorting items and scribe their orally composed sentence while they identify the time word and verb.
• Extend confident writers by asking them to add a second detail to each sentence while keeping the tense consistent, then explain how the added detail improves the sequence.
• Support EAL learners with gestures, a timeline drawn on the board, repeated oral modelling, and familiar daily-life examples. Accept drawing or oral responses before written sentences.