Learning Activities: Present Tenses
Activity 1: Daily Routines Chart
Objective: To practise the Present Simple tense by describing daily routines and habits.
Instructions:
Provide students with a blank timetable divided into hourly slots for a day (e.g., 8:00 am, 9:00
am, etc.).
Ask students to fill in the timetable with their usual daily activities, such as "I wake up at 7:00
am" or "I go to school at 8:30 am".
Students then work in pairs and take turns asking each other about their routines using
questions like, "What do you do at 10:00 am?"
Encourage students to compare their routines, using phrases like "I usually..." or "I never...".
Activity 2: What Are They Doing Now?
Objective: To practise the Present Continuous tense by describing actions happening at the
moment of speaking.
Instructions:
Show students pictures of people performing different activities, such as running, reading, or
cooking.
Ask students to describe what the people in the pictures are doing using sentences like, "The
boy is running in the park" or "She is reading a book at the library".
Students can also work in pairs, with one student describing a picture and the other guessing
what it is.
Finish by asking students to describe what they themselves are doing at that moment, for
example, "I am sitting in class and learning English".
Activity 3: My Week Planner
Objective: To practise using the Present Continuous tense for future arrangements.
Instructions:
Give students a blank weekly planner (Monday to Sunday) with time slots for morning,
afternoon, and evening.
Ask students to fill in their plans for the week, using sentences like, "I am meeting my friend
on Tuesday afternoon" or "We are having a family dinner on Friday evening".
Once completed, students work in pairs to share their plans and find similarities or
differences, for example, "We are both going to the cinema on Saturday".
Encourage students to discuss their arrangements using phrases like, "I am not doing
anything on Wednesday evening. What about you?"
Activity 4: Spot the Mistake
Objective: To revise and reinforce the correct use of Present Simple and Present Continuous
tenses.
Instructions:
Give students a worksheet with sentences containing deliberate mistakes in the use of
Present Simple and Present Continuous, such as:
"He is liking pizza" (correct: "He likes pizza").
"She go to work every day" (correct: "She goes to work every day").
Ask students to identify and correct the mistakes individually or in pairs.
Review the answers as a class and discuss why the corrections are necessary.
Activity 5: Compare and Contrast
Objective: To practise distinguishing between the Present Simple and Present Continuous tenses.
Instructions:
Write pairs of sentences on the board or on a worksheet, such as:
"I read books every evening" (Present Simple - habit).
"I am reading a book now" (Present Continuous - action happening now).
Ask students to explain the difference in meaning between each pair of sentences.
Next, give students a list of verbs and ask them to write their own pairs of sentences, one
using the Present Simple and one using the Present Continuous.
Students can share their sentences with the class or in small groups, discussing the
differences in meaning.
These activities will help students strengthen their understanding of Present tenses in an engaging
and practical way.
