Grade 4 Fall — Persuasive/Argument Writing, Compound-Complex Sentences, Relative Clauses, and Modal Auxiliaries
Lesson 11 45 min eng.g4.f.lesson_11.progressive_tenses

Progressive Verb Tenses — Was Walking, Am Walking, Will Be Walking

Skills targeted
Objectives
  • Students form past, present, and future progressive tenses with the correct BE-auxiliary + -ing.
  • Students maintain progressive-vs-simple consistency within a paragraph.
Vocabulary
progressive tensepast progressivepresent progressivefuture progressiveauxiliary verb

Lesson plan

Warm-up

5 min

Children describe what's happening right now in the classroom using present-progressive. 'I am writing.' 'She is reading.'

Teacher moves
  • Affirm AM/IS/ARE + -ing
  • Add WAS/WERE for past prog: 'A moment ago I was talking.'
  • Add WILL BE for future: 'Tomorrow we will be presenting.'

Direct instruction

13 min

Today you meet PROGRESSIVE verb tenses — the form that names ACTION IN PROGRESS. Simple past says 'I walked.' (action as fact). Past progressive says 'I was walking.' (action in progress at a moment). Form: BE-auxiliary (am/is/are/was/were/will be) + verb-ing. PRESENT PROGRESSIVE: AM/IS/ARE + -ing ('I am writing'). PAST PROGRESSIVE: WAS/WERE + -ing ('I was writing'). FUTURE PROGRESSIVE: WILL BE + -ing ('I will be writing'). Use progressive when you want to emphasize that an action is/was/will be IN PROGRESS at a specific moment. Use simple when you want to state the action as a fact. Watch teacher swap a simple past sentence for past progressive: 'When my teacher walked in, I wrote my essay.' becomes 'When my teacher walked in, I was writing my essay.' The progressive emphasizes the IN-PROGRESS action.

Key examples
  • Progressive answers 'in progress when?' Simple answers 'happened, period.'
    model 'I walk to school.' (simple) vs. 'I am walking to school right now.' (present progressive) / 'Yesterday I walked to school.' (simple past) vs. 'Yesterday at 8am I was walking to school when it started raining.' (past progressive) / 'Tomorrow I will walk to school.' (simple future) vs. 'Tomorrow at 8am I will be walking to school.' (future progressive)
    prompt Teacher shows simple/progressive pairs.
Checks for understanding
  • What is the BE-auxiliary for past progressive plural? (were)
  • Why might a persuasive writer use past progressive in evidence?
Media
M-4-F-GR-11-A Chart Physical / non-image

Reproduction of MG-9 at 11x17: 3 rows (past prog, present prog, future prog) and 3 columns (BE-form + sample subject + sample sentence). Color-coded by tense (red past, blue present, green future). Print-ready, dyslexic-friendly font.

MG-9 Chart Physical / non-image

Progressive-tense anchor: three rows (PAST PROGRESSIVE, PRESENT PROGRESSIVE, FUTURE PROGRESSIVE). PAST PROG: WAS/WERE + verb-ing — 'Yesterday at 3pm, I was walking home when it began to rain.' PRESENT PROG: AM/IS/ARE + verb-ing — 'Right now I am writing my argument essay.' FUTURE PROG: WILL BE + verb-ing — 'Tomorrow at this time we will be presenting at the Argument Forum.' Bottom rule: 'Progressive = action in progress. Use AM/IS/ARE/WAS/WERE/WILL BE + the -ing form. Maintain progressive-vs-simple consistency within a paragraph.' Print-ready 11x17.

Guided practice

13 min
Tasks
  • Convert 6 simple-tense sentences to progressive (2 past, 2 present, 2 future).
    scaffold MG-9 anchor; BE-form card
  • Take a paragraph from your essay. Find verbs. Decide which (if any) would land better as progressive. Revise.
    scaffold Tense-flag stickers; partner check
Media
M-4-F-GR-11-B Illustration
Reference image of a Grade-4 paragraph with progressive verbs underlined and color-flagged by tense (red past, blue pres

Reference image of a Grade-4 paragraph with progressive verbs underlined and color-flagged by tense (red past, blue present, green future). Three simple verbs are also marked in grey for contrast. Print-ready 8.5x11.

Formative assessment

4 min
Exit ticket
  • Write 3 sentences — one in each progressive tense — about your essay-writing process today.
scoring All 3 correct = mastery; 2 = practicing; 0-1 = reteach.

Closure

Moves
  • Star your strongest progressive sentence.

Homework

8 min
Tasks
  • Listen at home tonight for one progressive verb. Write the sentence on a sticky note. Bring tomorrow.

Exercises in this lesson

eng.g4.f.ex_21
Convert these 6 simple-tense sentences to progressive. (1) Yesterday I walked home. → past progressive. (2) Right now I write my essay....
 convert to progressive · diff 2
eng.g4.f.ex_22
Read this mixed-tense paragraph. Revise so progressive vs. simple is consistent. 'Yesterday during recess, I was running on the...
 progressive consistency revision · diff 3

Differentiation

Scaffolds
  • BE-form card always at desk
  • Pre-built simple sentence; child swaps to progressive
  • Tense-flag stickers as kinesthetic anchor
Extensions
  • Find one progressive verb in Sofia Valdez or Martin Rising and name its purpose.
  • Write a paragraph entirely in past progressive describing a memory.
English Learners
  • Bilingual MG-9
  • BE-conjugation chart in home language
  • Audio examples
Ieps 504s
  • Reduced target: 2 tenses (present + past prog)
  • Adult scribe
  • Stickers only — no writing required

Teacher notes

Progressive tenses are L.4.1.b explicitly. Watch for two errors: (1) dropping the BE-auxiliary ('I walking') — a common EL pattern; (2) mixing progressive and simple within a paragraph without a time-change reason. The 'when ___, I was ___ing' pattern is the most natural entry. Refer to MG-9 daily until automatic. Lesson 18 brings tense-consistency revision routine.