Helping Verbs: Quick Mastery

For years my students have quickly memorized the helping verbs by singing the list to the tune of "Yankee Doodle Dandy." Once they've learned the song, students confidently recognize the 23 helping verbs and easily identify verb phrases in most any sentence.

This packet includes:

1) A song handout with a place to write in the due date at the top and a brief introductory lesson at the bottom.

2) A practice worksheet with a second mini-lesson on top and ten (10) sentences at the bottom for practice.

3) An assessment sheet where students fill in as many of the 23 helping verbs as they know. This can be used as a pre-assessment or during the memorization process to identify students who may need additional review. It can also be used as summative assessment in conjunction with singing "The Helping Verb" song or, in special circumstances, in lieu of singing the song.

Since I started using this method to teach the helping verbs, students seem to learn it more quickly. Even more exciting, each year there are more and more students who enter fourth grade eager to sing me the song during the first week of school. This is the effect of students from prior years robustly singing the song on the school busses and at home.

You'll be surprised how quickly your students will learn this difficult skill. Give it a try. It's easy. It's fun. Really.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This resource has been saved in a format that allows for printing in high resolution. However, file contents may NOT be changed, copied, or extracted. This file is NOT editable.

The CCSS incorporates the teaching of helping verbs (modal auxiliaries), into many lessons involving verb tense. Please note that this list may represent only a partial list of all standards and/or strands that apply.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.1e Form and use the simple (e.g., I walked; I walk; I will walk) verb tenses.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.1b Form and use the progressive (e.g., I was walking; I am walking; I will be walking) verb tenses.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.1c Use modal auxiliaries (e.g., can, may, must) to convey various conditions.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.5.1b Form and use the perfect (e.g., I had walked; I have walked; I will have walked) verb tenses.

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