English Language Arts9-12+
Justification Verbs and Verb Tense Practice for ELL Students
By Cintia A.
A practice set for 9th-grade English language learners that builds justification vocabulary such as agree, believe, conclude, maintain, and stresses, alongside first- and third-person present tense conjugation. Students compare first-person claims with third-person reports of what authors and sources say, using a reference table of verb forms and definitions.
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Teacher Guide & Tips
- Use this as a focused grammar and vocabulary block of roughly 30 to 45 minutes, either as a warm-up before a claim-and-evidence writing task or as independent practice after a mini-lesson on -s and -es endings.
- Discussion question: When would you write "I believe" versus "The author believes," and how does the choice change the reader's understanding of whose opinion is being presented?
- Scaffold for struggling readers: Provide the conjugation table during all activities, have students read each verb's definition aloud, and model one sentence per verb before they write their own.
- Extension for advanced students: Ask them to write a short paragraph that uses at least four justification verbs in both first and third person, and to identify where an author's claim would be best supported with a quotation.
- Estimated time: About 30 to 45 minutes for the full set, depending on how many practice items students complete in class.
English Language Arts9-12+
Justification Verbs and Verb Tense Practice for ELL Students
By Cintia A.
A practice set for 9th-grade English language learners that builds justification vocabulary such as agree, believe, conclude, maintain, and stresses, alongside first- and third-person present tense conjugation. Students compare first-person claims with third-person reports of what authors and sources say, using a reference table of verb forms and definitions.
Customize for your classroom
Teacher Guide & Tips
- Use this as a focused grammar and vocabulary block of roughly 30 to 45 minutes, either as a warm-up before a claim-and-evidence writing task or as independent practice after a mini-lesson on -s and -es endings.
- Discussion question: When would you write "I believe" versus "The author believes," and how does the choice change the reader's understanding of whose opinion is being presented?
- Scaffold for struggling readers: Provide the conjugation table during all activities, have students read each verb's definition aloud, and model one sentence per verb before they write their own.
- Extension for advanced students: Ask them to write a short paragraph that uses at least four justification verbs in both first and third person, and to identify where an author's claim would be best supported with a quotation.
- Estimated time: About 30 to 45 minutes for the full set, depending on how many practice items students complete in class.