8 Classroom Activities for Teaching Simple Present

Teaching the simple present tense, especially in the context of daily routines, is a fundamental aspect of English language instruction. By incorporating interactive and engaging classroom activities, educators can make the learning process more effective and enjoyable. This article presents eight creative ways to teach the simple present tense while focusing on daily routines.

1. Classmate Interviews

Interviews are an excellent way to practice forming questions and answers in the simple present tense.

Activity Setup:

• Pair students up.
• Provide question prompts about daily routines, such as “What time do you wake up?” or “How often do you exercise?”

Interview Process:

• Students take turns asking and answering questions about their daily routines.
• Encourage the use of simple present tense in both questions and answers.

Reporting Back:

• After the interviews, students share their partner’s routines with the class, practicing third-person singular forms.

This activity promotes speaking skills and helps students understand the difference between first and third-person usage in the simple present.

2. Picture Sequence Storytelling

Visual aids are powerful tools for language learning, especially when teaching daily routines.

Materials Needed:

• Sets of picture cards depicting various daily activities.

Activity Steps:

• Divide the class into small groups.
• Give each group a set of mixed-up picture cards.
• Groups arrange the pictures in a logical order to create a daily routine.
• Students describe the routine using the simple present tense.

Variations:

• Add a timed element for more advanced students.
• Use mixed-up sequences to encourage problem-solving and discussion.

This activity enhances vocabulary recall and helps students practice sentence structure in a meaningful context.

3. Daily Routine BINGO

BINGO is a classic game that can be easily adapted for language learning. Here’s how to use it for teaching daily routines:

How to Play:

• Create BINGO cards with various daily routine activities.
• Call out activities randomly.
• Students mark off the activities on their cards.
• The first student to complete a row wins.

Learning Outcomes:

• Reinforces vocabulary related to daily routines.
• Improves listening comprehension skills.

This activity is particularly effective for visual learners and helps students associate actions with their verbal descriptions.

4. Daily Routine Charades

Charades add a physical element to language learning, making it more engaging and memorable.

Game Preparation:

• Create cards with various daily activities written on them.

Gameplay:

• Students take turns acting out the activities.
• Classmates guess the action and describe it using the simple present tense.

Benefits:

• Encourages physical engagement with the language.
• Promotes vocabulary recall in a fun, interactive setting.

This activity is particularly beneficial for kinesthetic learners and helps reinforce the connection between actions and their verbal descriptions.

5. ‘A Day in the Life’ Writing Task

Writing activities help consolidate grammar knowledge and improve overall language skills.

Writing Prompt:

• Ask students to write a detailed description of their typical day using the simple present tense.

Peer Review:

• Have students exchange papers and provide feedback.
• Focus on the correct use of the simple present tense and appropriate time expressions.

Optional Extension:

• Students can create illustrated ‘Day in the Life’ posters to display in the classroom.

This activity improves writing skills and helps students internalize the use of simple present in describing habitual actions.

6. Simple Present Sentence Scramble

Sentence scrambles are excellent for reinforcing word order and subject-verb agreement.

Setup:

• Prepare sets of word cards that can form sentences in the simple present tense.

Activity:

• Divide the class into groups.
• Give each group a set of scrambled sentence cards.
• Groups unscramble the words to form correct sentences.
• Emphasize the importance of subject-verb agreement.

Competitive Element:

• Make it a race to see which team can correctly unscramble the most sentences in a given time.

This activity helps students understand sentence structure and reinforces the correct formation of simple present sentences.

7. Daily Routine Board Game

Board games provide a fun, interactive way to practice language skills.

Game Design:

• Create a board game with spaces representing different daily activities.
• Include question and action squares that prompt players to use the simple present tense.

How to Play:

• Students roll dice and move around the board.
• When landing on a square, they must perform tasks or answer questions about daily routines.

Learning Focus:

• Encourages spontaneous use of the simple present tense.
• Provides practice in forming questions and answers.

This activity combines multiple language skills and keeps students engaged through friendly competition.

8. ‘What Time Do You…?’ Clock Activity

Using clock faces helps students associate daily routines with specific times, reinforcing both vocabulary and time-telling skills.

Materials:

• A large classroom clock or individual clock faces for students.

Activity Steps:

• The teacher calls out daily activities.
• Students set their clocks to the appropriate time for each activity.
• Students then form sentences like “I [activity] at [time].”

Variation:

• Have students quiz each other in pairs, asking and answering questions about their daily schedules.

This activity helps students connect time expressions with daily routines, improving their ability to describe their days accurately.

Conclusion

These eight classroom activities offer diverse and engaging ways to teach the simple present tense in the context of daily routines.