English Language Arts · 2nd Grade

Active learning ideas

Past Tense Irregular Verbs

Active learning works because irregular past tense verbs are frequent in both speech and writing, so students need repeated practice in meaningful contexts rather than isolated drills. When students use these verbs in stories, conversations, and visual timelines, they build automaticity and confidence with forms like went, saw, and made.

• Common Core State Standards
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.1.d

• 15–25 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Think-Pair-Share
• 15 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Tense Transformation

Read aloud three sentences written in present tense that include irregular verbs (e.g., "She goes to school." "He makes a sandwich."). Students think about the past tense form, share with a partner, then the pair writes one transformed sentence. Pairs share out and the class verifies each form together.

How can changing the verb tense change when a story takes place?

Facilitation Tip

During Tense Transformation, give students time to process the verb change individually before pairing, so quieter students have space to think.

What to look for

Provide students with a sentence frame: 'Yesterday, I ______ (verb).' Offer a word bank of irregular past tense verbs (e.g., went, saw, ate, made, said). Ask students to choose one verb and complete the sentence correctly. Collect and check for accurate verb usage.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Hundred Languages
• 20 min · Pairs

Act It Out: Story Retell with Past Tense

Pairs choose a familiar short story and retell it in the past tense, taking turns saying sentences. The listening partner holds a card that says "past tense?" and gives a thumbs up or thumbs down after each sentence. Partners switch roles after two minutes. Debrief by collecting examples of irregular verbs used correctly.

Construct sentences using irregular past tense verbs correctly.

Facilitation Tip

In Act It Out, model the past tense verbs with exaggerated gestures first to help students connect meaning to form.

What to look for

Present students with pairs of sentences, one using a regular past tense verb and one using an irregular past tense verb (e.g., 'She walked to the park.' vs. 'She ran to the park.'). Ask students to circle the irregular verb in the second sentence and then write a new sentence using a different irregular verb from a provided list.

• Understand
• Apply
• Create
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

Activity 03

• Gallery Walk
• 25 min · Small Groups

Gallery Walk: Irregular Verb Timeline

Post six large cards around the room, each showing a present-tense sentence with a blank for the irregular past tense verb. Small groups rotate, writing the correct past tense form on a sticky note at each station. Reconvene and review as a class, discussing any stations where groups disagreed.

Compare the regular and irregular forms of past tense verbs.

Facilitation Tip

For the Gallery Walk, post the timeline at student height and include images next to verbs to support visual learners.

What to look for

Ask students: 'Imagine you are telling a friend about your favorite book. What is one thing that happened in the story? Use a past tense verb to tell me.' Listen for correct use of irregular past tense verbs. Prompt further by asking: 'How would you say that differently if it happened today?'

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Create
• Relationship Skills
• Social Awareness

Activity 04

• Hundred Languages
• 20 min · Whole Class

Collaborative Writing: Yesterday Story

The whole class co-writes a short narrative about what happened "yesterday," with each student contributing one sentence. Project a verb bank of irregular verbs on the board. Each sentence must use at least one verb from the bank in the past tense. The teacher acts as scribe and pauses when the class needs to decide on a form together.

How can changing the verb tense change when a story takes place?

Facilitation Tip

During Collaborative Writing, provide a word bank with irregular verbs already in past tense to reduce cognitive load.

What to look for

Provide students with a sentence frame: 'Yesterday, I ______ (verb).' Offer a word bank of irregular past tense verbs (e.g., went, saw, ate, made, said). Ask students to choose one verb and complete the sentence correctly. Collect and check for accurate verb usage.

• Understand
• Apply
• Create
• Self-Awareness
• Self-Management
• Social Awareness

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teach irregular past tense verbs in clusters of high-frequency words (go/went, see/saw, come/came) rather than random lists, so students see patterns in usage. Avoid correcting errors immediately in speaking activities; instead, model the correct form naturally in your responses. Research shows that repeated exposure in context builds memory better than rote practice.

Successful learning looks like students using irregular past tense verbs correctly in both speaking and writing, with minimal hesitation or errors. Students should recognize these verbs in context, produce them naturally in sentences, and connect their spoken forms to written spelling.

---

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Think-Pair-Share, watch for students who add -ed to irregular verbs like 'goed' or 'comed' because they overgeneralize the regular past tense rule.

  Use the paired discussion to gently model the correct form: 'I heard you say 'goed,' but the correct past tense is 'went.' Let’s try that together.'

• During Act It Out, watch for students who believe knowing the verb in speech means they know its written form, leading to errors like 'sawed' instead of 'saw.'

  After the retell, have students write one sentence about their acting using the correct irregular verb, linking the oral and written forms.

• During Gallery Walk, watch for students who think past tense only matters for writing and ignore the spoken forms on the timeline.

  During the walk, ask students to read the verbs aloud as they find them, reinforcing the connection between spoken and written forms.

---

Methods used in this brief

• Think-Pair-Share
• Hundred Languages
• Gallery Walk