Update to Happy Families present and past progressive card game

Apologies to those of you who have downloaded the Happy Families game already.  I realised overnight that the singular past progressive cards needed to include 'I' as well as 'he/she/it'.  The cards are now revised.

Also, the final column should contain the words 'past progressive', not 'present progressive'.  I was a little over-enthusiastic with my copy and paste buttons when putting these together and will endeavour to proof read a little more carefully in future!

What are the present progressive and past progressive forms of verbs?

Progressive forms of verbs (sometimes referred to as ‘continuous’ forms) are used to indicate continuation of an action or state of being.

The present progressive shows that the action or state of being is continuing at the present time, e.g. He is running; she is getting stronger.

The past progressive shows that the action or state of being was continuing at the time being referred to, e.g. He was crossing the bridge; she was feeling sad.

Progressive forms are constructed by using a form of the verb ‘be’ + the present participle of a verb, which ends in –ing. 

The present progressive is detailed below, giving some examples of use with proper nouns (names), common nouns (the robot/the children) and pronouns:

• I am writing
• Jack/he is writing
• Amy/she is writing
• The robot/it is writing
• You are writing
• We are writing
• The children/they are writing

You can see that the form of the verb ‘be’ is different for ‘I’ (am), ‘he/she/it’ (is) and ‘you/we/they’ (are) so, when using the present progressive, children need to choose the correct form of ‘be’ to match the person or pronoun.

The past progressive is formed using the past tense of the verb ‘be’:

• I was writing
• Jack/he was writing
• Amy/she was writing
• The robot/it was writing
• You were writing
• We were writing
• The children/they were writing

With this form of the progressive, only ‘was’ and ‘were’ are used.

If we just write the present participle (-ing verb) in a sentence, we cannot tell whether the action is in the past or the present and the sense will not be complete, so it is the verb ‘be’ (am/is/are/was/were) that indicates whether we are writing in the past or present.

The dragon flying.  (doesn’t make full sense; we cannot say present or past tense)

The dragon is flying. (present tense) 

The dragon was flying. (past tense)

To use Standard English, children need to match the correct form of ‘be’ to the pronoun, so it is important to know when to use am, is, are, was, were.  The ‘Happy Families’ game (link below) helps children get used to the different forms of ‘be’ and how they should be used to make the present and past progressive.  The verbs are all used in the context of a sentence.  

Happy Families: present and past progressive card game

Happy Families: present and past progressive verbs

The object of the game is to collect as many families of progressive verbs as possible (groups of 5 cards that belong together because they have the same –ing verb).

You can enlarge and print the cards and cut them into sets.  If you want to add pictures to make the cards more appealing, use clipart before you enlarge them, but make sure all cards are the same size when cut so they can be shuffled and dealt easily.

• Deal all the cards so that each player gets an equal number of cards.

• The dealer starts by asking another player for a card needed to complete a family. If the other player has the card he must give it to the player asking.

• The player continues asking for cards until someone does not have a card to hand over. When that happens, the player who was asked for his card takes his turn to request cards.

• The new player can retake the cards taken in the previous round.

• When a player successfully collects a family, he must put the 5 cards on the table in front of him. The player who collects the most sets is the winner.  When laying the cards on the table, encourage your children to choose one of the pronouns and say a full sentence for their set, e.g. 'We were feeling happy.'

Using the template cards, children could make their own card games, with verbs and pictures selected to reflect their interests.

I am feeling happy. present progressive

He/she/it is feeling happy. present progressive

You/we/they are feeling happy. present progressive

I/he/she/it was feeling happy. past progressive

You/we/they were feeling happy. past progressive

I am going to the shops. present progressive

He/she/it is going to the shops. present progressive

You/we/they are going to the shops. present progressive

I/he/she/it was going to the shops. past progressive

You/we/they were going to the shops. past progressive

I am skating on ice.    present progressive

He/she/it is skating on ice. present progressive

You/we/they are skating on ice. present progressive

I/he/she/it was skating on ice. past progressive

You/we/they were skating on ice. past progressive

I am driving the bright red tractor. present progressive

He/she/it is driving the bright red tractor. present progressive

You/we/they are driving the bright red tractor. present progressive

I/he/she/it was driving the bright red tractor. past progressive

You/we/they were driving the bright red tractor. past progressive

I am reading a book. present progressive

He/she/it is reading a book. present progressive

You/we/they are reading a book. present progressive

I/he/she/it was reading a book. past progressive

You/we/they were reading a book. present progressive

I am eating cake. present progressive

He/she/it is eating cake. present progressive

You/we/they are eating cake. present progressive

I/he/she/it was eating cake. past progressive

You/we/they were eating cake. past progressive

I am sleeping. present progressive

He/she/it is sleeping. present progressive

You/we/they are sleeping. present progressive

I/he/she/it was sleeping. past progressive

You/we/they were sleeping. present progressive

I am smiling. present progressive

He/she/it is smiling. present progressive

You/we/they are smiling. present progressive

I/he/she/it was smiling. past progressive

You/we/they were smiling. past progressive

I am singing in the choir. present progressive

He/she/it is singing in the choir. present progressive

You/we/they are singing in the choir. present progressive

I/he/she/it was singing in the choir. past progressive

You/we/they were singing in the choir. past progressive

I am playing football present progressive

He/she/it is playing football. present progressive

You/we/they are playing football. present progressive

I/he/she/it was playing football. past progressive

You/we/they were playing football. past progressive

I am swimming in the pool. present progressive

He/she/it is swimming in the pool. present progressive

You/we/they are swimming in the pool. present progressive

I/he/she/it was swimming in the pool. past progressive

You/we/they were swimming in the pool. past progressive

Tense (past and present) in Year 2

Children in Year 2 are required to make the ‘correct choice and consistent use of present tense and past tense throughout writing’.

From the time your children started talking, they will increasingly use the correct tense in their speech.  Children pick this up naturally from interaction with others and you will have been helping them make the right choices.

When children start school, they will generally be using the present tense when talking about things that are happening at that moment and past tense for things that have already happened.  They will be learning to read words written in the present and past tenses as well.  However, in order to write, children will have to make choices about which words they use, rather than reading what someone else has written. 

In year 1, they will be taught that the suffix –ed creates a past tense.  It is at this point that we often see children making strange choices in their speech and writing.  For example, a child who has previously used the past tense ‘went’, may now start using ‘goed’ or ‘wented’.  This phase doesn’t usually last very long: parents and teachers will help children understand that some verbs are irregular and have a different past tense (not formed with the -ed suffix).

When learning about the present tense, one tricky area for children is the way the verb changes when the third person singular (he, she or it) are used: we need to add –s. 

• I help                
• You help
• He/she/it helps  (This is the same whether we use a person’s name or a pronoun.)
• We help
• They help

In year 1, children will learn that, when the verb ends in sounds like /s/, /z/, /tch/, we need to add –es.

• I fuss                
• You fuss
• He/she/it fusses  (This is the same whether we use a person’s name or a pronoun.)
• We fuss
• They fuss

In year 2, children add to this knowledge: if a verb ends in a consonant + y, e.g. fly, the y changes to an i and we add -es

• I cry                
• You cry
• He/she/it cries  (This is the same whether we use a person’s name or a pronoun.)
• We cry
• They cry

The following activities will enable you to help your child develop their use of past and present tenses.

1. Talk about verbs and their tenses when you notice them, either in reading or in the environment.  When reading stories, these will usually be written in the past tense, but information books and notices often use the present tense.  For example, a recipe book will use present tense verbs: stir the mixture; plant the seed, draw the outline.  Discuss these tenses with your child to consolidate their understanding that the past tense is used for things that have already happened and the present tense is for things that are happening now.
2. Pronouns and verbs: sorting game
3. Past and present tense card games 

Past and present tense: sorting and matching games

The table below can be enlarged, printed and cut up for two different activities.  The present tense cards use some present tense third person singular verbs.  The second half of the table includes a mix of irregular verbs, where the past tenses are not formed by adding –ed.

Sorting game (separate cards into past and present.)

Use the past and present cards as headings.  Shuffle the verb cards and put them in a pile.  As each card is turned over, players should decide which heading to place them under and create an oral sentence.  Don't let children forget the full stop.  They can say it or use an action to signal they are putting it at the end of their sentence.

Matching game (find pairs of past and present tenses)

Shuffle the verb cards and lay them out, face down, on the table (if you feel there are too many cards, remove some of the pairs).  Turn a card over, then turn a second card over.  If they match as a past and present tense of the same verb, the player picks them up.  (An extension would be to ask the children to create a sentence using one of the verbs.)  If they do not match, turn them face down again.  The players should try to remember the positions of the cards and collect as many pairs as they can.  When a pair is collected, ask the player which is the past tense and which is the present.  

This game can be played by one player, with adult encouragement, or against the clock.  Alternatively more than one player can play, changing turns each time someone fails to find a match.

present	past
try	tried
cries	cried
sketch	sketched
walk	walked
talks	talked
knock	knocked
skips	skipped
change	changed
hope	hoped
push	pushed
drop	dropped
have	had
do	did
see	saw
goes	went
is	was
are	were
writes	wrote
say	said
know	knew