About this activity
Twelve sentences arranged in pairs: she walks and they walk; he plays and we play; the dog barks and the dogs bark; my sister likes and my sisters like; the baby cries and the babies cry. The pairing is the whole design — only the subject changes, so the verb ending is the only thing that can carry the difference.
How to use it in a session
Read the pairs back to back and ask what changed. She walks against they walk makes the rule audible in two seconds, which is faster than any explanation of third person singular. Then give the subject and ask for the sentence, so the student produces the agreement rather than repeating it. Eight minutes covers the twelve.
What to listen for
Listen for the -s being omitted, which is far more common than it being added wrongly. She walk is a normal early stage and also a feature of some dialects, so knowing how the family speaks matters before calling it an error. Watch the babies cry and the baby cries, where the plural marker and the verb marker move in opposite directions — that pair confuses more students than any other.
Carrying it home
Recasting works better than correcting here. When a child says she walk, saying yes, she walks to school supplies the form in a real sentence and does not stop the conversation.
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- First through fourth, and older students learning English as an additional language.
- Do I need to sign in?
- No, all twelve sentences play free.
- Is dropping the -s always an error?
- Not always. It is a normal developmental stage and a regular feature of several English dialects, so it is worth knowing how the family and community speak before deciding it needs work.