Simple Present Tense Activities for Grades 5–6: Routines, Do/Does and How Often

The simple present sticks best in Grades 5–6 when students use it for something real: describing their own routines and finding out about a partner's. Build the lessons in a clear order (routines, he/she/it endings, negatives, questions, frequency words) and end with a short routine text that a partner can check.

The activities below follow the six modules of the Simple Present: My Everyday Life grammar unit for Grades 5–6. Each module has a short learning text with a model box (I play, she plays, Does she play? She doesn't play.), two tasks, an explain task and extra practice. Plan on roughly 8–12 lessons, or use single modules as review.

Start with routines, not rules

Module 1 begins with Leo: "I get up at seven. I walk to school. We play football on Fridays." Students find the two time phrases (at seven, on Fridays), then write three routine sentences of their own with I or we. Ask why "We play football on Fridays" is not only about one Friday. The answer is the habit: the time phrase shows a pattern, not a single event.

A quick class activity: each student writes one routine on a sticky note without a time phrase. Swap notes, and the partner adds a time phrase that makes the pattern clear.

Verb cards for he, she and it

Module 2 sets out the spelling rules: most verbs add -s (reads), verbs ending in -sh, -ch, -ss, -x or -o often add -es (watches, goes), consonant plus y becomes -ies (studies), vowel plus y keeps the y (plays), and have becomes has.

Turn the verb pairs from the book (read/reads, watch/watches, study/studies, play/plays, have/has) into a card sort. Students sort base forms into five groups by ending rule, then write the he/she form on the back. The further-thinking task works well straight after: students rewrite their own I-routine as a profile of a friend and underline every verb that changed.

Negatives as true contrasts

In Module 3 students make "I like tea. Ben plays tennis. They walk to school." negative. The learning text adds a useful point: a negative sentence does not say what happens instead. So the explain task asks for a contrast, such as "I don't take the bus, but I walk with my brother." Have students write two of these about themselves. Then each writes two deliberately wrong sentences for a partner to fix and explain.

Partner interviews with do and does

Module 4 uses a short profile: Sam lives in York, Sam plays chess, the twins like music. Students write "Where does Sam live?" and a yes/no question about the twins with a short answer ("Do the twins like music? Yes, they do."). The further-thinking task is a partner interview with four do/does questions and two written findings. That last step matters, because reporting the findings forces the switch from "Do you swim?" to "She swims on Saturdays."

How often: a weekly routine chart

Module 5 introduces always, usually, often, sometimes and never. Students compare "Maya often reads" with "She swims once a week" and explain why the two give different kinds of information: often is approximate, once a week is counted. Then they draw a weekly routine chart and write four precise sentences from it.

A worked classroom moment: "Does Sam plays chess?"

This is the Module 4 explain task, and it is worth slowing down for. Write the sentence on the board and ask what is wrong. Most students sense a problem but cannot name it. Some suggest "Do Sam plays chess?"

Ask a student to underline the subject (Sam) and circle the helper verb (Does). Then point to the model box: Does she play? The -s already sits on does, so the main verb goes back to its base form. One student usually puts it as "you only need one s." Write the corrected question, "Does Sam play chess?", and have pairs check the extra practice item: ask about "Ana likes tea" and give a positive short answer. The expected answer is "Does Ana like tea? Yes, she does."

Finish with a routine text and a project

Module 6 gives a draft full of errors: "Ella get up at seven. She don't walk. Does she takes the bus? Yes, she do." Students correct every verb, add two sentences about Ella's afternoon, and build a three-point proofreading checklist (subject and verb, do/does, time order). The project then asks for an illustrated routine profile of 70–90 words with he/she forms, a negative, a question with a short answer and two time or frequency phrases.

Students who mix up he and she forms often need a pronoun refresher first, and the Pronouns and Possessive Determiners unit covers subject pronouns in the same format. The full module list is on the simple present unit page, and the Language and EAL Bundle groups this unit with parts of speech and an EAL town unit.