CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.1.1e

ELA1st GradeConventions of Standard English

The Standard

Use verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future (e.g., Yesterday I walked home; Today I walk home; Tomorrow I will walk home).

Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts

What This Standard Means

Students need to choose verb forms that show when something happens. They should connect time words like yesterday, today, and tomorrow with verbs such as walked, walk, and will walk. Keep the focus on meaning first, not grammar labels.

Mastery looks like a student saying and writing simple sentences that match the time. They can fix a sentence like “Yesterday I jump” to “Yesterday I jumped.” Students often get stuck with irregular verbs, like went, ate, and saw, or they overuse will for every future sentence.

Ways to Teach It

  • Give students three cards labeled yesterday, today, and tomorrow, then have them sort action picture cards and say matching sentences aloud.
  • Ask students to finish: Yesterday I ___, today I ___, and tomorrow I will ___, using the same action if possible.
  • Read three sentences aloud, and have students hold up past, present, or future cards to show the verb time.
  • Use the class schedule to write: We ate snack, we read now, and we will go to recess.

Plan a Lesson for CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.1.1e

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Related Standards

Standard text verified against corestandards.org on July 10, 2026.

Page updated July 10, 2026.

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