Using Present Tense Verb Worksheets

Teaching the Simple Present tense, or any other tense, to ESL or EFL students involves teaching the following three components:

(1) verb conjugation,

(2) the forms of the verb (affirmative, negative, yes/no questions, short answers, and wh- questions), and

(3) the functions of the tense.

Practice handouts can be used to help reinforce any of these three components of verb tenses.

A particular kind of worksheet that is very helpful and often used by ESL and EFL teachers is the "cloze exercise." This is essentially a "fill-in-the-blanks" handout.

Student Benefits of Using Present Tense Verb Worksheets

Cloze exercises are great for English language learners. They're great because they help to focus on the particular grammar point being taught.

Even though students may not know all the vocabulary in the cloze sentences or cloze passages in the worksheet, they will still be able to focus on the main topic; in this case, the Simple Present verb tense.

Teacher Benefits

Verb worksheets with cloze sentences are great for teachers because they are easy to correct, and take very little time to correct. They also help to highlight problem areas students may be having.

These types of exercises can be used to focus on Present Simple negatives, wh- questions and general verb conjugation.

The one danger is that teachers may come to rely too much on this particular teaching tool. Even if students are able to score 100% on worksheets, it does not necessarily mean that they have learned the target language. The real test is whether the student can produce the target language in speaking or writing.

These worksheets can be used in class or for homework, and also can be used as quizzes and Present Simple tense tests.

Check out my Free ESL Worksheets page for more cloze exercises.

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