These are the things to prepare to teach students about the participle.

 Copies of the lesson, What is a Participle Phrase? - Definition & Examples, one for each
student
 Participles written on index cards; one set of six per group
 Prepared sentences with improper punctuation and dangling participles
 Blank bingo sheets and covers
 Prepared sentences to use with the activity: Half of the sentences contain gerunds while
the other half contain present participles. Don't use the same word more than once. If the
word is used as a gerund it should not appear in another sentence that uses it as a
participle.

Some grammar concepts are easier for students to comprehend when they're incorporated into a
fun activity. This lesson includes some activities and games a teacher can use in class when
teaching participles and participle phrases.

This preparations focused on participle activities and games and not on detailing all of the ins
and outs of participles. If we feel our students need more foundational or in-depth knowledge
about participles, we make sure to provide them with a comprehensive participle lesson before
using these activities.
Chances are our students will be happy to learn that a participle is simply a type of verb. To
prepare our students for the activities that follow, ask them to give us some examples of verbs
and nouns and write their responses on the blackboard. As we do so, explain the following points
as a way to review and summarize their current knowledge of this topic.

 Participles are either in the past or present tense.

 All present participles end with ''-ing'', like:
o trying
o doing
o feeling
 Past participles formed from regular verbs end with ''-ed'', but past participles formed
from irregular verbs can have different endings, such as:
o tried
o did
o felt
 A phrase is two or more words. A participle phrase is two or more words that include a
participle, like:
o washed the car
o buying new shoes

Once you've reviewed how to identify and use participles and participle phrases, it's time to
reinforce that knowledge with some fun!
One of the activities or games is the

Participle Partners
 Instruct all students to take out a sheet of paper and then organize students into pairs.
 Ask all students to number their papers from 1-6, and have them write one participle each
on lines 1-3 and one participle phrase each on lines 4-6. For example:

1. swimming
2. doing
3. expressing
4. buying groceries
5. winning the game
6. eating the pizza

 Have the partners exchange papers, after which each student must use the participles and
participle phrases his or her partner wrote to create a complete sentence. For instance:
o I like swimming on Saturdays.
o Eating the pizza gave Jane a stomachache because she's allergic to cheese.
 When students have completed all six sentences, have them return their papers to their
partners.
 Ask for volunteers to write some of their sentences on the board.
 Once the board is full of sentences, identify the participle or participle phrase in each
sentence as a class.