Author: Sinafke Solomon | Published on 1 March 2024
Read what Sinafke says about this activity:
The present simple is a tense all learners struggle with, particularly the third person -s. One way to help learners with this is to use a dialogue in a context they can relate to so it is more memorable.
Stage 1: Preparation
Before the class select or write a dialogue with the simple present tense in which students can easily understand. For instance, the first day at school can be a good scenario.
Stage 2: Introduction
Ask the learners if they like the first day of school. Then elicit and board ideas for things the learners do on the first day of school.
Stage 3: Exposure and Comprehension
Tell learners to read a conversation between two students on the first day of school and decide whether the students like the first day or not. Then ask them to read again and answer the comprehension questions.
Stage 4: Noticing
To focus on the grammar, ask the learners to underline the subjects and circle the verbs. Elicit when -s is added to the verbs, then get the learners to complete the form using the examples as a guide.
Example
Positive sentences
I read historical books.
My sister also reads historical books
Form: ______+_____________
Questions
Do you like reading?
Does your sister study here?
Form: ____/_____ +_______+ _____
Negative Sentences
She doesn’t learn in this school.
I don’t read historical books
Form: ______+______/_______+____
Stage 5: Practice
Play a grammar transformation game to practise the form. Select five positive sentences from the dialogue and ask the learners to change them to negative or question forms as fast as they can. The one who finishes first is the winner.
NB This can be done in teams, or you can get the learners to write the answers in their notebooks and run and show you.
Stage 6: Further Practice
Ask students to write their own dialogue using the simple present tense, so that they can internalise the forms of simple present tense. The topic can be their first day of school, too.