Printable Grade 1 Present Tense Verbs with -ing Worksheet

This Grade 1 ELA worksheet helps students master the present continuous tense by focusing on regular verbs with the "-ing" suffix. Students will learn how to show actions happening right now through structured verb conjugation and sentence completion. This resource ensures students can accurately use verbs to convey time, a foundational grammar skill for early writing.

At a Glance

• Grade: 1 · Subject: English Language Arts (ELA)
• Standard: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.1.E — Use verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future
• Skill Focus: Present Continuous Tense (-ing)
• Format: 4 pages · 10 problems · Answer key included · PDF
• Best For: Independent grammar practice and homework
• Time: 15–20 minutes

What's Inside

This 4-page PDF resource includes 2 pages of active student tasks and 2 pages of corresponding answer keys. The first section contains 8 verb transformation items where students convert base verbs like "walk" and "watch" into their present continuous forms using the "is ...ing" structure. The second section provides 2 sentence-level application problems requiring students to select and conjugate the correct verb in context.

Zero-Prep Workflow

Implementing this worksheet into your lesson plan takes less than two minutes. Step 1: Print the two task pages for each student or display them on a digital whiteboard for a whole-class activity. Step 2: Distribute the materials; students typically require only a pencil to complete the exercises. Step 3: Review the work using the included answer keys, which allow for immediate feedback or self-grading by students.

Standards Alignment

The primary focus of this worksheet is `CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.1.E`, which requires first-grade students to use verbs to convey a sense of past, present, and future. By isolating the present continuous form, students build the morphological awareness necessary for more complex sentence structures. Both standard codes can be copied directly into lesson plans, IEP goals, or district curriculum mapping tools.

How to Use It

This resource is best used as a follow-up to direct instruction on verb tenses or as a quick formative assessment. For a powerful instructional moment, observe students as they complete the second section to see if they can independently apply the suffix within a full sentence context. It also serves as an excellent printable sub plan activity given its clear instructions and included keys.

Who It's For

This worksheet is designed for first-grade students who are just beginning to explore verb conjugations beyond simple base forms. It is also suitable for second-grade students who require additional reinforcement or English Language Learners (ELLs) who need targeted practice with the "-ing" participle. Pair this resource with a visual anchor chart showing actions in progress for maximum impact.

According to research from RAND AIRS 2024, structured grammar practice using gradual release—moving from word-level tasks to sentence-level application—is significantly more effective for early elementary learners than unstructured writing. This worksheet adheres to those findings by providing 10 scaffolded problems that target CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.1.E. By practicing the addition of the "-ing" suffix to regular verbs, Grade 1 students develop the syntactic fluency required to describe ongoing events accurately. The inclusion of a clear answer key supports classroom efficiency and allows for immediate corrective feedback, a critical component of mastery learning. Educators can rely on this printable tool to provide consistent, standards-aligned evidence of student progress in language acquisition. This resource provides a reliable method for ensuring every learner meets foundational literacy benchmarks while minimizing teacher preparation time through a classroom-ready, zero-prep design.