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English lesson plan · 5th grade (Year 6 in England) · 30 minutes

Perfect tenses (past, present, future)

Grammar

CCSS L.5.1.BCCSS L.5.1.CEngland: Y5 GPS (perfect form)England: KS2 SATs GPS

Objective and success criteria

Students will: Perfect tenses (past, present, future).

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Present perfect (has/have + past participle); Present and past progressive (-ing)

Leads to: Keeping tense consistent; Active and passive voice; Verb tense and form in context

Materials: Sentence strips, Highlighters, Mini whiteboards, Mini whiteboards, A short model text on the board, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 4 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Present perfect (has/have + past participle); Present and past progressive (-ing)). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Choose the correct present perfect form. My parents ___ me a new bike! (has bought / have bought / have buyed / have buy) → have boughtPrompt: Use has with he, she, it; use have with I, you, we, they.
  2. Choose the correct -ing form of the verb. Shh! Grandpa ___ (sleep). (sleep / is sleeping / sleeping / was sleeping) → is sleepingPrompt: Is it happening now or was it happening in the past?
  3. Choose the correct present perfect form. Tom ___ his arm, so he can't write. (has broke / has break / have broken / has broken) → has brokenPrompt: Use has with he, she, it; use have with I, you, we, they.

Hook · 3 min

  • Show a sentence with the grammar point used wrongly and ask what sounds odd.
  • Share the objective: Perfect tenses (past, present, future). Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 7 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: Choose the correct perfect tense. By the time we arrived, the film ___ (start).
  • Step 1: Perfect tenses show an action completed before another time.
  • Step 2: It happened before another past event, so we use the past perfect (had + participle).
  • Step 3: Put it back into the sentence and read it aloud: "By the time we arrived, the film had started."
  • Step 4: So the answer is: had started
  • Answer: had started
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 6 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. Choose the correct perfect tense. By tonight, I ___ (read) the whole book. (have read / had read / will have read / am reading) → will have readPrompt: Is the action finished before a past time, before now, or before a future time?
  2. Choose the correct perfect tense. By next June, she ___ (finish) school. (had finished / will have finished / has finished / finishes) → will have finishedPrompt: Is the action finished before a past time, before now, or before a future time?

You do: independent practice · 7 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 3 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. Choose the correct perfect tense. Scientists ___ (discover) a new kind of frog. (had discovered / have discovered / discovering / will have discovered) → have discoveredPrompt: Is the action finished before a past time, before now, or before a future time?
  2. Choose the correct perfect tense. Mia was tired because she ___ (run) all the way. (will have run / has run / had run / runs) → had runPrompt: Is the action finished before a past time, before now, or before a future time?

Watch out for

  • Naming the feature but not using it in their own sentences.
  • Thinking a sentence is right because it sounds right when spoken casually.

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Present perfect (has/have + past participle).
  • Use concrete materials: sentence strips.
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Move on to: Keeping tense consistent; Active and passive voice; Verb tense and form in context.
  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-5.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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Perfect tenses (past, present, future)

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    Choose the correct perfect tense. By tonight, I ___ (read) the whole book.

    • A. have read
    • B. will have read
    • C. had read
    • D. am reading
  2. Question 2

    Choose the correct perfect tense. We ___ (visit) the museum twice this year.

    • A. have visited
    • B. had visited
    • C. visiting
    • D. will have visited
  3. Question 3

    Choose the correct perfect tense. I ___ (live) here for six years.

    • A. have lived
    • B. will have lived
    • C. am living
    • D. had lived
  4. Question 4

    Choose the correct perfect tense. By the time we arrived, the film ___ (start).

    • A. will have started
    • B. has started
    • C. starts
    • D. had started
  5. Question 5

    Choose the correct perfect tense. When I got to the station, the train ___ (leave).

    • A. will have left
    • B. has left
    • C. leaves
    • D. had left
  6. Question 6

    Choose the correct perfect tense. Mia was tired because she ___ (run) all the way.

    • A. will have run
    • B. runs
    • C. had run
    • D. has run

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Answer key: Perfect tenses (past, present, future)

  1. 1. B. will have read

  2. 2. A. have visited

  3. 3. A. have lived

  4. 4. D. had started

  5. 5. D. had left

  6. 6. C. had run