Thinking Out Loud with Tenses

In a comment to an earlier post, my friend Jennifer asked me what is after past tense. That is a good question. From this point on, the plans in the manual are not a well-laid as before because you tailor some of it to the needs of the student. One reader of my blog privately asked about my emphasis on grammar because it sounds like I am teaching Pamela these abstract concepts. Focusing on grammar helps me frame and understand the next step in the process. All Pamela sees are the new forms of syntax modeled and practiced. In my mind, it will be a long time before we address formal grammar ala parts of speech if ever.

Today, I sat down and roughly outlined the next couple of months:

• Simple Past for one more week to let me determine what irregular verbs she has mastered
• "Did" Questions for syntax she has already mastered
• Simple Present (repeated actions such as hobbies, habits, routines, schedules, etc.) contrasted with Present Progressive (what is happening right now in the moment) => "I sew animals" versus "I am sewing a duck"
• Simple Present (facts and generalizations) contrasted with Present Progressive (what is happening right now in the moment) => "Dogs bark" versus "My dog is barking"
• Transition to stories in a paragraph format
• Infinitives versus prepositional phrases with to => "I wanted to buy some bananas" versus "I went to the store"
• Double prepositional phrases => "The dog is under the tree in the back yard"
• Uncountable nouns => "some cheese" or "a slice of cheese" not "a cheese"
• Past Tense stories
• Transition words in Past Tense Stories => First, Then, Next, After
• Past Tense stories based on a single picture (assumed information in past tense, action happening in the picture in the present tense)
• Past Tense stories based on a series of pictures