Progressive Forms of Verbs – Descriptive and Narrative Writing

Grade 10 · English Grammer

Semester 1 | Period 2 | Week 11

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Subject: English Grammer

Semester: 1

Period: 2

Week: 11


School Name:
Teacher’s Name:
Subject: English Grammar
Grade Level: Grade 10
Period: II
Week & Period: Week 11, Period II

Topic: Progressive Forms of Verbs – Descriptive and Narrative Writing

Specific Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, learners should be able to:

  1. Define the progressive tense and its forms.
  2. Use present, past, and future progressive tenses in writing.
  3. Apply progressive verbs in descriptive and narrative writing.
  4. Construct descriptive and narrative paragraphs using progressive forms.

 

A – Anticipation (Engage learners)

Starter Questions:

  • What are you doing right now?
  • What were you doing before you came to school?
  • What will you be doing at 7 p.m. tonight?

Think-Pair-Share:

  • Think: Write three sentences using "-ing" verbs to describe ongoing actions.
  • Pair: Compare with a partner and determine the tense.
  • Share: Volunteers read their sentences aloud; class identifies tense.

Mini Activity:

  • Teacher performs an action (e.g., walking while talking) and writes “The teacher is walking and talking.”
  • Students describe other classmates using similar progressive forms.

 

B – Building Knowledge (Core Content)

  1. What is the Progressive Tense?
  • A verb form that shows an action that is or was in progress at a specific time.
  1. Forms of Progressive Tense:
  • Present Progressive: am/is/are + present participle (e.g., She is dancing.)
  • Past Progressive: was/were + present participle (e.g., They were singing.)
  • Future Progressive: will be + present participle (e.g., He will be traveling.)
  1. Tense Table:

Tense

Example Sentence

Present Progressive

I am reading a book.

Past Progressive

He was cleaning the room.

Future Progressive

They will be arriving soon.

  1. Descriptive Writing:
  • Focus on describing scenes or actions in progress.
  • Example: “The sun is setting slowly over the hills.”
  1. Narrative Writing:
  • Tell a story using progressive verbs to show ongoing action.
  • Example: “While I was walking to school, I saw a beautiful bird.”

 

C – Consolidation (Application and Reflection)

Class Activities:

  1. Tense Transformation: Convert simple sentences into progressive forms.
  2. Scene Description: Learners describe a scene using progressive tenses.
  3. Narrative Prompt: “Describe what happened while you were walking to the market.”
  4. Verb Hunt: Underline progressive verbs in a given paragraph.

Assignments:

  1. Write 5 sentences each using present, past, and future progressive tense.
  2. Write a descriptive paragraph about your classroom using present progressive verbs.
  3. Write a short narrative story (5–7 sentences) about something that happened this morning using past progressive verbs.

Assessment (In-class):

  1. Fill in the blanks with the correct progressive tense form of the verb in brackets:
  2. She ________ (study) for the exam right now.
  3. They ________ (play) football when it started to rain.
  4. I ________ (travel) to Gbarnga tomorrow.
  5. The teacher ________ (write) on the board as we entered.
  6. We ________ (wait) for the bus at 6 a.m.
  7. Identify the tense and underline the progressive verb:
  8. He is washing the car.
  9. She was listening to the radio.
  10. They will be singing at the event.
  11. I am drawing a picture.
  12. We were watching a movie.
  13. Rewrite the following in the appropriate progressive tense:
  14. He eats rice. → (present progressive)
  15. They danced. → (past progressive)
  16. I will travel to Monrovia. → (future progressive)
  17. She reads a book. → (present progressive)
  18. We go to the field. → (past progressive)

Teacher’s Reflection:

  • Could learners form and use progressive verbs correctly?
  • Were they able to apply progressive forms in both descriptive and narrative writing?
  • Who needs additional practice with tense formation or usage?