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

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students use verbs to show whether an action happened before, is happening now, or will happen later. They match verb forms with time words such as yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
What Mastery Looks Like: Students choose verb forms that match when an action happens. They can say or write clear sentences such as “I played,” “I play,” and “I will play.”
Common Misconceptions: Students may use the same verb form for every time, such as “Yesterday I jump.” They may also add -ed to irregular verbs, producing forms like “goed” or “runned.”
How to Assess It: Give students the sentence “Today I play outside.” Ask them to rewrite it for yesterday and tomorrow, changing the verb as needed.

Lesson moves

Make a three-column time mat labeled yesterday, today, and tomorrow, then have students place action sentence cards under the matching heading.
Ask students to complete and share three sentences: “Yesterday I...,” “Today I...,” and “Tomorrow I will....”
Play verb charades, then have classmates describe each action as something that happened yesterday, happens today, or will happen tomorrow.
Use a weekly class calendar to write one sentence about a past event, today’s activity, and a future event.

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