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Grammar Lesson for: Past Participles of commonly misused verbs (Grade 5)
Essential Question: How can editing for the correct use of past participles of commonly misused verbs help
students create written works that have a clear focus, sufficient detail, coherent organization, effective use of
voice, and exhibit correct use of the conventions of written Standard American English?
Definition: A past participle indicates past or completed action or time. It is usually the “ed” form of a verb
unless it is an irregular verb. Ex. “The gas station has closed. The mayor has spoken.”
Prerequisites (background knowledge needed): Beginning in first grade students are expected to use simple
sentences and as they progress in the grade levels, so should the complexity of their sentences, so they will
already be utilizing past participles. However, it is not until fourth grade, according to the grammar matrix,
that verb tense and subject verb agreement is introduced.
Teacher Resources:
Mechanically Inclined by Jeff Anderson, participles: pages 41, 49, 81, 185
PowerPoints/Websites:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Olympus/7583/pastpart.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/participle
http://www.myenglishteacher.net/irregularverbsprintable.html
http://www.english-test.net/esl/learn/english/grammar/ei083/esl-test.php
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/2e/72/13.
pdf (pages 9-15 list researched verbs for grades 3-6; pages 16-20 list irregular verbs; pages 2123 define irregular verb spelling patterns; pages 45-49 give recommended practice for correct
verb tense usage)
Essential Skill or Concept:
5.4-4 Use grammatical conventions of written Standard American English, including: irregular comparative and
superlative adjectives, irregular adverbs, interjections, past participles of commonly misused verbs, and subjectverb agreement with collective nouns.
Pre-assessment: Display on smart board or with document camera text from a picture book, previously read
novel, or teacher created that shows correct usage of past participles.
Suggested Mentor Text: The True Story of the Three Little Pigs! as told by Jon Scieszka; The Frog Prince
Continued by Jon Scieszka; Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky
Mini-Lesson Outline:
READ ALOUD/Mini Lesson
How will I introduce and explain this skill so that students will understand the how and why?
Say : List and describe at least three fairy tales or nursery rhymes you remember hearing or reading. It’s okay
if you don’t remember all of the story or rhyme-just tell what you remember about it. Display on overhead or
smartboard no more than 10 sentences-including both simple past tense and past participles- from a fairy tale or
one of the mentioned mentor texts. Underline past tense in one color, past participle in another ; or simply
write them in different colors (rest of text black). Explain that this story is familiar, so it allows us to focus on
how each word is used, with no difficulty in understanding the meaning of the words. Say : Today we will
focus on correctly using two kinds of verbs : past tense and past participle...and that these are commonly
misused and mixed up with each other. We will see both types of verb in the story we’re about to read. Next,
read the text aloud.
SHARED READING/WRITING
How will I model this skill for my students?
Emphasize each past participle. Point out that the word « had « before a verb signals that the action has
already happened, as in this example : By the time we started class, Mr. Jones HAD WRITTEN a whole story on
the overhead transparency. Explain that verbs preceded by had are called past participle verbs. Have
students write down the term past participle, your example, and the explanaion of past participle use. Display
on overhead or smartboard four short (1-2 sentences long) excerpts from nursery rhymes or fairy tales. In each
excerpt, change the verb tense so that either the simple past or past participle is INCORRECTLY included
where it should not be, e.g. The wolf had huffed and had puffed and had blown the house in, instead of the
correct The wolf huffed, and he puffed, and he blew the house in. Ask volunteers to read each one and to
say where it sounds wrong. Then ask, or point out, depending on how readily students seem to grasp the
problem, what the correct wording should be, and why it should be that way. Ask Has the action already
happened, before this point in the story ? If so, and only if so, past participle is appropriate. Have four more
back-up examples to work on, in case the class needs more guideance in acquiring the concept of past
participle.
GUIDED READING/WRITING
How will I provide opportunities for guided practice?
Have students reread excerpts from their writer’s notebooks specifically looking for correct or incorrect usage
of past participles of commonly misused verbs then confer with students individually or in small groups.
How will I monitor/gauge students’ understanding of the skill? (formative assessment)
Assess students’ sentences in writer’s notebook as you confer with writers.
PASS Format: See samples at
http://www.ed.sc.gov/agency/Accountability/Assessment/NewAssessmentProgramGr3-8.html
Use these question stems as you ask questions or provide practice:

What is the correct way to write/edit sentence ___?
INDEPENDENT READING/WRITING
How will students independently practice using the skill in their writing?
Have students write their own stories with the following requirements: It should be based on a familiar story,
but should change the characters, the setting, and/or minor dialogue and plot details. It should adhere to the
PASS Extended Response rubric requirements. It should include both simple past tense and past participle verb
forms, appropriately used. It will be graded on using verbs correctly. (Comments and feedback, however,
should of course respond to students’ creativity. Allow time for students to share and peer-edit stories.
Have students highlight each verb tense in a different color. For example, present tense verbs are circled, past
tense verbs highlighted in pink and past participles highlighted in yellow.
GUIDED READING/WRITING or INDEPENDENT READING/WRITING
How will I adapt or differentiate this lesson for grade and skill level?
Use practice sheets or powerpoints from websites provided. Give students nursery rhymes or short texts and
challenge them to alter the tense of the verbs to practice correct usage. Invite students to find past participles in
sentences in their independent reading and copy those sentences down and alter them into different tenses with
correct form.
How will I engage students in a reflection of how this skill has developed and how it has helped each of
them become a more effective writer?
Share writing before and after the correct use of past participles of commonly misused verbs.