I was prompted to make list by seeing a wonderful video at Michelle Henry’s site (I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — I think it’s one of the best, if not the best, ESL/EFL sites on the Web) about teaching irregular verbs (you’ll see it below).
I thought it would be a good excuse to get a list started and solicit additional suggestions.
Here are my picks for The Best Tools For Teaching Irregular Verbs & Verb Tenses:
Here’s the video I saw on Michelle’s site — it’s from YouTube Channel called Fluency MC. The songs there are so good I’m adding it to The Best YouTube Channels For Learning English list. Here it is, with the lyrics pasted below it:
STICKSTUCKSTUCK LYRICS
The microphone I
TAKE (took, TAKen). You SHAKE (shook, SHAken).
WAKE (woke, WOken) to the STYLE Im creAting.
THINK (thought, THOUGHT). SEEK (sought, SOUGHT).
LISten to the LESson that I TEACH (taught, TAUGHT).
Dont SLEEP (slept, SLEPT). I CREEP (crept, CREPT).
I SNEAK (snuck, SNUCK UP). You LEAP (leapt, LEAPT).
I KEEP (kept, KEPT) HAVing FUN.
Im never BEAT (beat, BEAten); I WIN (won, WON).
DO (did, DONE). BeGIN (began, beGUN).
SHOOT (shot, SHOT)—no, I DONT own a GUN.
I LEAD (led, LED) so I can FEED (fed, FED).
the KNOWledge you NEED, STRAIGHT to your HEAD.
When I BRING (brought, BROUGHT) it, you CATCH (caught, CAUGHT) it.
Sit BACKreLAX. Dont FIGHT (fought, FOUGHT) it.
Please don’t
FREEZE (froze, FROzen) when I SPEAK (spoke, SPOken).
Its REAL. You can FEEL I dont STEAL (stole, STOlen).
I CHOOSE (chose, CHOsen) the VERy best RHYMES and
WRITE (wrote, WRITten) them INto my LINES and
INto your MIND. When we MEET (met, MET)
Ill BET (bet, BET) I wont LET you forGET
(forGOTforGOTten). I GET (got, GOTten)
EVery head NODding. Dont THINK about STOPping
just COME (came, COME).
is hip hop. I dont SING (sang, SUNG).
I STING (stung, STUNG). I CLING (clung, CLUNG).
On EACH and every WORD, you HANG (hung, HUNG).
Its not enough to
DREAM (dreamt, DREAMT); youve got to SPEND (spent, SPENT)
TIME on your GOALS. Please LEND (lent, LENT) me your
EAR. Come NEAR and Ill LAY (laid, LAID)
DOWN new SOUND that I MAKE (made, MADE).
I HOPE you dont SAY that you THINK its JUNK.
I HOPE you dont THINK that I STINK (stank, STUNK).
If youre THIRSty for ENGlish, come DRINK (drank, DRUNK).
because I SINK (sank, SUNK) ALL compeTItion when they
HEAR (heard, HEARD) that I GIVE (gave, GIVen)
encouragement when I SPIT (spat, SPAT).
Never QUIT (quit, QUIT); dont SIT (sat, SAT).
Yeah, I LIKE it like THAT. Ill even KNEEL (knelt, KNELT).
and BEG you to exPRESS what you FEEL (felt, FELT).
I RISE (rose, RISen) when I DRIVE (drove, DRIVen) through
the BEAT; tap your FEET as you RIDE (rode, RIDden).
Those that HIDE (hid, HIDden) I FIND (found, FOUND).
If you FLEE (fled, FLED) then Ill TRACK you DOWN.
Now you SEE (saw, SEEN) that I MEAN (meant, MEANT)
every WORD of the MESsage that I SEND (sent, SENT).
I SHOW (showed, SHOWN) I can FLY (flew, FLOWN).
Now you KNOW (knew, KNOWN) I SHINE (shone, SHONE).
Ill THROW (threw, THROWN) you the BALL. Its your TURN.
GROW (grew, GROWN) with the VERBS that youve LEARNED.
GRAMmar through LYRics I DRAW (drew, DRAWN).
PEACE to elLS, now I GO (went, GONE)!
I’d also recommend Top 10 Teaching Tenses Do’s and Dont’s.
3 fun online activities for practicing verb tenses is by Adam Simpson.
Check out The English Verb Conjugator.
This is a nice slide tutorial on verb tenses, and was created by Eli Hinkel.
3 fun online activities for practicing verb tenses is by Adam Simpson.
How Many Tenses do Students Really Need to Learn? is from Cambridge English.
I also have a number of verb-related links at our class blog.
MAKE IT PERSONAL: VERB TENSE REVIEW is from ELT-Cation.
Find out how to revise irregular verbs with a classic game! https://t.co/svJ4zDJTI7 #ESL #EFL #TESOL pic.twitter.com/mycac1bs1e
— TeachingEnglish (@TeachingEnglish) June 28, 2016
I’m adding this new TED-Ed lesson and video to this list:
Irregular Verbs? Yes,Please! is from Blog de Cristina.
Great ideas here! I’d add: Ss each hunt for favorite sentence in a piece of writing (usually from their Quick Writes). They identify verb tense. Then, share at table & table groups choose 1 of the sentences to jointly write in past/present/future versions. Share aloud.
— Alycia Owen (@alycia_owen) August 26, 2019
Past tenses… do you really know how to use them? is from Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
A Cool Game to Revise the Irregular Past of Verbs is from Cristina Cabal.
When helping #ELs to master ✍️ it's important to 🎯 their attention on tenses. Knowledge of English tenses allows students to communicate effectively & express themselves accurately. To make a copy of the infographic, go to the #ELL2point0 site
⬇️
📌https://t.co/lLw0eXa5s4 pic.twitter.com/yshJf5uxvU— Irina McGrath, Ph.D. (@irina_mcgrath) March 21, 2023
Please offer other suggestions…
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Great share by you Larry, I learned here so many verbs for how to use them and also what not to use. I am just going to include this to my post 5 Most Entertaining Ways to Improve Your Writing Skills , hope you wont mind.
Cheers!
Useful post, thank you!
Tereza
http://www.localang.eu