About this activity
Twelve sentences in the present progressive: the boy is running, the girl is eating, they are jumping, the dog is barking, she is singing, we are playing, he is swimming, the baby is crying, the cat is sleeping, they are reading, Mom is cooking, the kids are dancing. Two parts have to be right — the auxiliary and the ending — and children usually get one before the other.
How to use it in a session
Point at the picture and ask what is happening, rather than reading the sentence aloud. The question produces the structure; reading it produces an imitation. Vary the subject so the auxiliary has to change — the boy is against they are — because an is that never becomes are has not been learned. Eight minutes covers the twelve.
What to listen for
Listen for which half is missing. The boy running has the -ing and not the auxiliary; the boy is run has the auxiliary and not the ending. The first is far more common and is a normal early stage. Watch for the auxiliary agreeing with the subject: they is jumping is agreement rather than tense, and it is a separate target.
Carrying it home
Narrating what is happening supplies this structure constantly. I'm cooking, the dog is barking, you're reading — a running commentary during ordinary activity gives more models than any card set.
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- Kindergarten through third grade, and older students learning English as an additional language.
- Do I need to sign in?
- No, all twelve sentences play free.
- My student says 'the boy running'. Is that a problem?
- It is a normal early stage — the -ing arrives before the auxiliary for most children. The target is adding the is or are, and recasting the sentence back in full is usually more effective than asking for a repetition.