[nittanyjo]

My class is having trouble telling a main verb and helping verb apart. Any ideas or lesson on how to help? Thanks

[allie]

We memorize the list of helping verbs. Then they are able to quickly label them. The main verbs we focus on are action verbs...which we describe as something that can be done--either by a human, an animal, a machine, the weather, etc. We generally have very little trouble with the students distinguishing between the two. Hope this helps a bit.

[LECGA]

I usually teach helping verbs through a song (it also has linking verbs). My kids usually love it and we often sing it while transitioning.

It is sung to the tune of "The Stars and Stripes Forever"

am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been (clap, clap)
have, has, had, do, does, did, shall, would, should, could
may, might, must, can, will, that's the end (clap, clap)
and we will/won't sing it over again...

(they usually look up at me on the last line whether or not we'll sing it again).

I hope that helps!

[lareader]

I don't have anything as clever as the song above (why can't I remember the tune to Stars and Stripes Forever?) but I taught this concept last week. We made a word wall with helping verbs on cards. When I put sentences on the board, they could just look at the cards to see what word in the sentence was a helping verb. They can find action verbs pretty well.

Not very high-tech, but they all got it.