Progressive and Continuous Tenses
PROCEDURALForm and use the progressive (continuous) verb tenses — past progressive (was walking), present progressive (am walking), and future progressive (will be walking) — to convey ongoing actions at different times
Mastery Evidence
- Write sentences using past progressive to describe an action that was ongoing at a particular time, e.g. 'She was reading when the phone rang'
- Distinguish present progressive from simple present, e.g. 'I am eating lunch' (right now) vs 'I eat lunch at noon' (habitual)
- Form the future progressive using 'will be' + present participle to describe an action that will be ongoing, e.g. 'Tomorrow at 3pm I will be travelling'
Assessment Prompt
“If [child] wants to describe an action that was happening over a period of time in the past — like "I was reading when the phone rang" — can they write the verb in the right ongoing-past form?”
Curriculum Standards1 alignment
L.4.1bCommon Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical SubjectsForm and use the progressive (e.g., I was walking; I am walking; I will be walking) verb tenses.
Prerequisites2
- Past, Present and Progressive TensesoftAges 6—9
- Simple Past, Present and FuturehardAges 8—9
Show full prerequisite tree
- Past, Present and Progressive Tense soft
Year 2 progressive forms (is drumming, was shouting) introduced the concept; G4 extends to all three progressive tenses
- Writing Process Vocabulary hard
Proof-reading and revising requires 'draft', 'edit', 'revise', and 'proofread' as named steps in the writing process
- Checking Your Own Work soft
Re-reading own writing to check it makes sense is the writing-domain form of the universal self-checking habit
- Feeling of not understanding soft
Noticing when your own writing doesn't make sense requires the universal comprehension-monitoring habit applied to one's own text
- Asking for Help hard
Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Rote counting to 100 soft
Sequencing events in narrative writing draws on the ordinal/sequential thinking developed through counting
- Writing Process Vocabulary hard
Writing simple narratives requires 'narrative', 'sequence', 'beginning', 'middle', 'ending' as shared vocabulary
- Expressing & Justifying Opinions soft
Oral expression skills support understanding formality in speech
- Exploring Ideas Through Talk soft
Conversational skills provide foundation for evaluating viewpoints
- Feeling of not understanding soft
Using talk to explore ideas and speculate requires noticing what you don't yet understand — the comprehension-monitoring habit in a spoken register
- Asking for Help hard
Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Writing Process Vocabulary hard
Oral composition requires vocabulary like 'compose', 'sentence', and 'sequence' to participate meaningfully in the exercise
- Writing Process Vocabulary soft
Re-reading and responding to feedback is more effective when pupils know terms like 'revise', 'edit', and 'meaning'
- Reviewing Own Writing soft
Re-reading your own writing to check it makes sense and has the intended effect is the practical application of the writing self-evaluation habit
- Author's word choices hard
Evaluating whether your own writing creates an intended effect requires first understanding how authors' choices create effects on readers — reading like a writer before writing like a reader
- Connecting New & Old Ideas soft
Recognising how authorial choices create effects requires connecting your reading experience to existing knowledge of how language and texts work
- Thinking Before Starting hard
Making connections between new and old ideas requires the habit of activating prior knowledge first
- Persisting When It's Hard hard
Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
- Monitoring Comprehension hard
Recognising authorial effects requires reading for meaning rather than just decoding — you can only notice the effect of a word choice if you are genuinely engaging with meaning
- Feeling of not understanding soft
Noticing the decoding/understanding gap is the English-specific form of the universal comprehension-monitoring habit
- Asking for Help hard
Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Reading for Meaning hard
Noticing the gap between decoding and understanding requires first having the foundational idea that reading means making meaning
- Feeling of not understanding soft
Understanding that reading means making meaning is the English-domain grounding of the universal habit of noticing when you don't understand
- Asking for Help hard
Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Understanding Why soft
Evaluating whether your writing works requires asking 'why does this passage succeed or fail?' — the elaborative-interrogation habit applied to your own text
- Teaching It Back hard
Asking 'why does this work?' requires first being able to explain what you know — interrogation builds on explanation
- Explaining Mathematical Reasoning soft
The universal self-explanation habit (LtL 7-8) builds on the maths-specific practice of explaining reasoning when prompted (MT 6-7)
- Showing Your Working hard
Age 6-7 explaining with diagrams/logic builds on age 5-6 showing and telling with objects
- Numbers up to 10 into pairs soft
Explaining part-part-whole decompositions exercises showing and telling
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Decomposing numbers into pairs requires understanding addition as combining
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- Number bonds to 9 soft
Explaining how to find number bonds to 10 exercises showing thinking with objects
- Numbers up to 10 into pairs hard
Making 10 is a specific application of decomposing numbers into pairs
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Decomposing numbers into pairs requires understanding addition as combining
- Listening and responding soft
Explaining mathematical reasoning orally requires basic listening and responding skills
- What the equals sign means soft
Determining whether equations are true/false exercises evaluating and justifying
- Reading +, −, and = symbols hard
Deep understanding of = requires already being able to read and write number sentences
- Reading and writing numbers to 20 hard
Writing number sentences requires reading and writing numerals
- How Many in Total? hard
Reading/writing numerals 0–20 requires understanding that numerals represent quantities (cardinality)
- Writing digits 0-9 hard
Writing numerals requires the motor skill of forming digits 0-9 (taught in English handwriting)
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Reading/writing the + symbol requires understanding what addition means
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- Subtraction as taking away or separating hard
Reading/writing the − symbol requires understanding what subtraction means
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding subtraction as taking away requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Understanding commutativity of addition requires understanding addition
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Thinking Before Starting hard
Explaining in your own words requires connecting new learning to existing knowledge already held in mind
- Persisting When It's Hard hard
Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
- Alternative Spellings for Sounds soft
Knowledge of spelling alternatives needed to proofread spelling
- Segmenting words into sounds hard
Must be able to encode CVC words before learning alternative spellings
- Phonics Vocabulary hard
Segmenting words into phonemes and spelling CVC words requires knowing 'phoneme', 'segment', and 'CVC' as defined terms
- Phonics Vocabulary hard
Alternative grapheme choices for phonemes requires knowing 'grapheme', 'phoneme', 'homophone', and 'GPC'
- Alternative Spellings for Known Sounds soft
Knowledge of alternative GPCs for reading supports choosing correct spellings
- Grammar Terms: Nouns, Verbs and Tense soft
Progressive forms concept extends from earlier verb knowledge
- Defining Words soft
Defining words by attributes supports choosing descriptive adjectives for noun phrases
- How Many in Total? soft
Sorting and categorising objects uses the same counting/cardinality skills from maths
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Phonics Vocabulary hard
Segmenting words into phonemes and spelling CVC words requires knowing 'phoneme', 'segment', and 'CVC' as defined terms
- Spelling Contracted Forms soft
Understanding apostrophe in contractions helps understand its use in possession
- Phonics Vocabulary hard
Segmenting words into phonemes and spelling CVC words requires knowing 'phoneme', 'segment', and 'CVC' as defined terms
- Four Types of Sentences soft
Must understand sentence types to use terms statement/question/exclamation/command
- Simple Past, Present and Future hard
Progressive tenses build on simple tenses; learners must control simple past/present/future before forming progressive (was walking, am walking, will be walking)
- Past, Present and Progressive Tense hard
Simple tenses including future extend past/present tense and progressive form knowledge
- Writing Process Vocabulary hard
Proof-reading and revising requires 'draft', 'edit', 'revise', and 'proofread' as named steps in the writing process
- Checking Your Own Work soft
Re-reading own writing to check it makes sense is the writing-domain form of the universal self-checking habit
- Feeling of not understanding soft
Noticing when your own writing doesn't make sense requires the universal comprehension-monitoring habit applied to one's own text
- Asking for Help hard
Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Rote counting to 100 soft
Sequencing events in narrative writing draws on the ordinal/sequential thinking developed through counting
- Writing Process Vocabulary hard
Writing simple narratives requires 'narrative', 'sequence', 'beginning', 'middle', 'ending' as shared vocabulary
- Expressing & Justifying Opinions soft
Oral expression skills support understanding formality in speech
- Exploring Ideas Through Talk soft
Conversational skills provide foundation for evaluating viewpoints
- Feeling of not understanding soft
Using talk to explore ideas and speculate requires noticing what you don't yet understand — the comprehension-monitoring habit in a spoken register
- Asking for Help hard
Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Writing Process Vocabulary hard
Oral composition requires vocabulary like 'compose', 'sentence', and 'sequence' to participate meaningfully in the exercise
- Writing Process Vocabulary soft
Re-reading and responding to feedback is more effective when pupils know terms like 'revise', 'edit', and 'meaning'
- Reviewing Own Writing soft
Re-reading your own writing to check it makes sense and has the intended effect is the practical application of the writing self-evaluation habit
- Author's word choices hard
Evaluating whether your own writing creates an intended effect requires first understanding how authors' choices create effects on readers — reading like a writer before writing like a reader
- Connecting New & Old Ideas soft
Recognising how authorial choices create effects requires connecting your reading experience to existing knowledge of how language and texts work
- Thinking Before Starting hard
Making connections between new and old ideas requires the habit of activating prior knowledge first
- Persisting When It's Hard hard
Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
- Monitoring Comprehension hard
Recognising authorial effects requires reading for meaning rather than just decoding — you can only notice the effect of a word choice if you are genuinely engaging with meaning
- Feeling of not understanding soft
Noticing the decoding/understanding gap is the English-specific form of the universal comprehension-monitoring habit
- Asking for Help hard
Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Reading for Meaning hard
Noticing the gap between decoding and understanding requires first having the foundational idea that reading means making meaning
- Feeling of not understanding soft
Understanding that reading means making meaning is the English-domain grounding of the universal habit of noticing when you don't understand
- Asking for Help hard
Noticing confusion and acting on it requires already knowing that asking for help is a valid response to being stuck
- Understanding Why soft
Evaluating whether your writing works requires asking 'why does this passage succeed or fail?' — the elaborative-interrogation habit applied to your own text
- Teaching It Back hard
Asking 'why does this work?' requires first being able to explain what you know — interrogation builds on explanation
- Explaining Mathematical Reasoning soft
The universal self-explanation habit (LtL 7-8) builds on the maths-specific practice of explaining reasoning when prompted (MT 6-7)
- Showing Your Working hard
Age 6-7 explaining with diagrams/logic builds on age 5-6 showing and telling with objects
- Numbers up to 10 into pairs soft
Explaining part-part-whole decompositions exercises showing and telling
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Decomposing numbers into pairs requires understanding addition as combining
- Number bonds to 9 soft
Explaining how to find number bonds to 10 exercises showing thinking with objects
- Numbers up to 10 into pairs hard
Making 10 is a specific application of decomposing numbers into pairs
- Listening and responding soft
Explaining mathematical reasoning orally requires basic listening and responding skills
- What the equals sign means soft
Determining whether equations are true/false exercises evaluating and justifying
- Reading +, −, and = symbols hard
Deep understanding of = requires already being able to read and write number sentences
- Reading and writing numbers to 20 hard
Writing number sentences requires reading and writing numerals
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Reading/writing the + symbol requires understanding what addition means
- Subtraction as taking away or separating hard
Reading/writing the − symbol requires understanding what subtraction means
- Addition as combining or putting together two hard
Understanding commutativity of addition requires understanding addition
- How Many in Total? hard
Understanding addition as combining groups requires knowing numbers represent quantities (cardinality)
- Thinking Before Starting hard
Explaining in your own words requires connecting new learning to existing knowledge already held in mind
- Persisting When It's Hard hard
Activating prior knowledge requires the foundational habit of persistent engagement with new material
- Alternative Spellings for Sounds soft
Knowledge of spelling alternatives needed to proofread spelling
- Segmenting words into sounds hard
Must be able to encode CVC words before learning alternative spellings
- Phonics Vocabulary hard
Segmenting words into phonemes and spelling CVC words requires knowing 'phoneme', 'segment', and 'CVC' as defined terms
- Phonics Vocabulary hard
Alternative grapheme choices for phonemes requires knowing 'grapheme', 'phoneme', 'homophone', and 'GPC'
- Alternative Spellings for Known Sounds soft
Knowledge of alternative GPCs for reading supports choosing correct spellings
- Grammar Terms: Nouns, Verbs and Tense soft
Progressive forms concept extends from earlier verb knowledge
- Defining Words soft
Defining words by attributes supports choosing descriptive adjectives for noun phrases
- How Many in Total? soft
Sorting and categorising objects uses the same counting/cardinality skills from maths
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Phonics Vocabulary hard
Segmenting words into phonemes and spelling CVC words requires knowing 'phoneme', 'segment', and 'CVC' as defined terms
- Spelling Contracted Forms soft
Understanding apostrophe in contractions helps understand its use in possession
- Phonics Vocabulary hard
Segmenting words into phonemes and spelling CVC words requires knowing 'phoneme', 'segment', and 'CVC' as defined terms
- Four Types of Sentences soft
Must understand sentence types to use terms statement/question/exclamation/command
Unlocks2
- Choosing Tenses for Precise MeaninghardAges 10—11
- Consistent verb tensesoftAges 10—11