Unscramble the questions. Unscramble the questions.

1. you / are / What / doing / rigth / now / ? 1. you / are / What / doing / rigth / now / ?
___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

2. learning / english / Are / you / ? 2. learning / english / Are / you / ?

___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

3. What / your father/ watching / on / TV / is / ? 3. What / your father/ watching / on / TV / is / ?

___________________________________________ ___________________________________________

4. is / Why / Kevin / talking / so much / ? 4. is / Why / Kevin / talking / so much / ?

___________________________________________

5. Are / listening to / Jhon and David/ music / ? 5. Are / listening to / Jhon and David/ music / ?

___________________________________________ ___________________________________________
Fill in the blanks with “am” “is” or “are” Fill in the blanks with “am” “is” or “are”

1. Kate ______ cooking a chicken for dinner. 6. Kate ______ cooking a chicken for dinner.

2. My father ______ watching TV. 7. My father ______ watching TV.

3. They ______ celebrating Christmas. 8. They ______ celebrating Christmas.

4. John ______ drinking coffee. 9. John ______ drinking coffee.

5. I _____ listening to rock music. 10. I _____ listening to rock music.

Fill in the blanks with “am” “is” or “are” Fill in the blanks with “am” “is” or “are”

1. Kate ______ cooking a chicken for dinner. 6. Kate ______ cooking a chicken for dinner.

2. My father ______ watching TV. 7. My father ______ watching TV.

3. They ______ celebrating Christmas. 8. They ______ celebrating Christmas.

4. John ______ drinking coffee. 9. John ______ drinking coffee.

5. I _____ listening to rock music. 10. I _____ listening to rock music.

Choose a verb from the list and complete the text. Choose a verb from the list and complete the text.

Laura 1) is sitting under a sunshade. Two boys 2) __________ Laura 1) is sitting under a sunshade. Two boys 2) __________
around a sandcastle while their father 3) __________ a around a sandcastle while their father 3) __________ a
newspaper. Two girls 4) __________ ice cream while their newspaper. Two girls 4) __________ ice cream while their
mother 5) __________ along with the radio. Some boys 6) mother 5) __________ along with the radio. Some boys 6)
__________ football near a man who 7) __________ . Jim 8) __________ football near a man who 7) __________ . Jim 8)
__________ on beach towel. On his right, a baby __________ __________ on beach towel. On his right, a baby __________
. .
Answer the questions with your own information. Answer the questions with your own information.

1. Are you taking English classes? 1. Are you taking English classes?
___________________________ ___________________________

2. Is your father working now? 2. Is your father working now?

___________________________ ___________________________

3. Are you and your friends taking classes together? 3. Are you and your friends taking classes together?
___________________________ ___________________________

4. Is your best friend studying right now? 4. Is your best friend studying right now?
___________________________ ___________________________
Complete the sentences so that they are true about you. Complete the sentences so that they are true about you.
1. I ____________________ these days. 1. I ____________________ these days.

2. My cousin ____________________ now. 2. My cousin ____________________ now.

3. My best friend and I always __________________ 3. My best friend and I always __________________

4. My parents ____________________ at the moment. 4. My parents ____________________ at the moment.

Complete the sentences so that they are true about you. Complete the sentences so that they are true about you.
1. I ____________________ these days. 1. I ____________________ these days.

2. My cousin ____________________ now. 2. My cousin ____________________ now.

3. My best friend and I always __________________ 3. My best friend and I always __________________

4. My parents ____________________ at the moment. 4. My parents ____________________ at the moment.

Put the verbs in brackets into the present continuous. Put the verbs in brackets into the present continuous.
A. Are _______________ (you/do) exercise these days? E. Are _______________ (you/do) exercise these days?
B. No ____________ (I/be) not. F. No ____________ (I/be) not.

A. What _______________ (Carlos/study) this semester? E. What _______________ (Carlos/study) this semester?
B. He _______________ english and math. F. He _______________ english and math.

A. Is ________________ (your teacher/eat) pizza now? E. Is ________________ (your teacher/eat) pizza now?
B. No. She _______________ pozole. F. No. She _______________ pozole.

Put the verbs in brackets into the present continuous. Put the verbs in brackets into the present continuous.
C. Are _______________ (you/do) exercise these days? G. Are _______________ (you/do) exercise these days?
D. No ____________ (I/be) not. H. No ____________ (I/be) not.

C. What _______________ (Carlos/study) this semester? G. What _______________ (Carlos/study) this semester?
D. He _______________ english and math. H. He _______________ english and math.

C. Is ________________ (your teacher/eat) pizza now? G. Is ________________ (your teacher/eat) pizza now?
D. No. She _______________ pozole. H. No. She _______________ pozole.
Presentation (10-15 min.)
Point out the rule: We form the present continuous
tense with the verb “be” and an active verb with an “-
ing” ending. (Write on the board: “Present continuous
tense: be + ing.”) We use the present continuous tense
to talk about what’s happening right now. Show
sentences from the Introduction as examples.
Ask comprehension questions: What am I doing? (Write
the correct answers students give on the board.) What
is ____ doing? (a student who is taking notes.) Is this in
the present continuous tense? (Write a gerund on the
board.) (No) That’s right. Is this better? (Add “he is.”)
Have students open Side by Side 1 to pg. 17, or pass
out similar picture sheets (or hold up big pictures, or
draw on the board and mime the actions) to pre-teach
any new vocabulary for the pictures you will use.
Ask comprehension questions (“In picture 2, is she
sleeping?” [No] “What IS she doing?” etc.)
Practice and Evaluation
Guided Practice 1 (5 min.)
After demonstrating with a student, have students mime
various activities to their partners and ask, “What am I
doing?” (During demo write this on the board). The
partners guess, then take their turns at miming.
Practice 2 (15-25 min.)
Students hear, read, and tell or read aloud one or two
simple stories to become more familiar with the present
continuous tense.
1. Have students open Side by Side 1 to pg.22 or pass
out the picture story/stories you will use. Elicit the
location of each story from students, then ask
comprehension questions to make sure they
understand ‘in the park,’ ‘at home,’ ‘at the beach, or
wherever the story takes place.’
2. Read the (first) story out loud while students read
along. Ask what various people in the story are doing.
3. Students in pairs read the story to each other.
4. Ask for a volunteer to model looking at the picture
and telling the story (describing the picture) without
reading it.
5. Partners take turns telling the story to each other
(with the speaker covering the text.)
When you give instructions, point out that the student
telling the story does not need to tell it exactly as
written, but should try to correctly describe character
actions.
Ask: if your partner says “the boy is paying the guitar,”
is that OK? [yes.] If your partner says “the girls
studying,” is that right? [no.] What’s the right way to say
it? [“The girls ARE studying” or “Sally & Patty ARE
studying.” Partner should correct if the tense isn’t
formed correctly— as in the reading.
6. If using pg.22, repeat steps 1-5 with the 2nd story.
Practice 3 (15-20 min.)
Have student pairs write a short story about activities in
a different picture (i.e. Side by Side 1pg.23 picture “At
the beach” or similar picture using pre-taught
vocabulary.) Circulate to help and to check tense use.
Evaluation (25 min.)
Group Competition: writing present continuous tense
sentences describing a picture with lots of activity.
1. Divide students into groups of 3 or 4. (If the class has
different levels, choose groups so each group will have
some more and some less proficient students, and be
more or less evenly matched).
2. Pass out copies of a picture with many different
activities to each group or have students open their
texts or picture dictionaries to an appropriate picture. If
students are using the New Oxford Picture
Dictionary (for example), try pg.90-91 to describe
actions at the beach.
You can also suggest they can refer to pg. 96-97 for
more action verbs they can use with ‘’to be’ by adding
‘ing’ to the end of the verb. Demo with #6 ‘run’, #12
‘surf’, & # 13 “ride” (note we drop a final ‘e’ before
adding ing) , but tell them they don’t need to worry
about exact spelling yet—we’ll do spelling rules in a
later lesson.
3. After a demo, each group makes a list of sentences
describing what people are doing in the picture. (During
demo point out that students should take turns making
up the sentences, but one may write them all if the
group prefers.) The group with the most correct present
continuous tense sentences “wins.”
Circulate to observe, then call ‘time’ and collect and
check the sentences. All sentences count if they have
the correct present continuous form. Note spelling and
other errors for later but for now only announce the
winning group.
If competition is a problem for your students, have each
group make as many sentences as they can, then
compile them into a class list, with groups taking turns
adding new statements to the list.
___________________________
If your students enjoy working in groups, check out
the Clothing Vocabulary lesson too. It’s also a lot of fun,
and may work even better if competition is a problem
where you teach. See also Grammar
Worksheets and ESL Classroom Games for
inexpensive lessons and games to practice past tense
irregular verbs.
Home> ESL Lesson Plans> Introducing the Present
Continuous Tense.
Look at the picture. Ask and answer questions as in the
examples.