1.2.4 Stative Verbs Lesson Plan


In the BrainPOP ESL movie, I Love the Poppers! (L1U2L4), Ben and Moby make a big mess while dancing around and  listening to music. When they see Ben’s mom coming home, only Moby can save the day!  In this lesson plan adaptable for grades K-8, students distinguish stative from regular verbs, and create a book illustrating the two types of verbs.

Lesson Plan Common Core State Standards Alignments

Students will:

  1. Sort sentences into categories that they determine, and explain their reasoning.
  2. Compare and contrast stative verbs and verbs in the present progressive.
  3. Create a book of regular and stative verbs, with illustrations and sentences.


  • BrainPOP ESL
  • Paper and materials to create a picture book.


see, hear, smell, like, love, look, listen


Make enough sets of the sentence strips for each pair of students, of the following sentences from the movie I Love The Poppers! (L1U2L4): I’m listening to cool music. / I’m looking out of the window. / Are you coming here now? / She’s coming home. / I love The Poppers. / I see you now. / I see you really like The Poppers, too. / I see Mom! / Now I hear the music.

Lesson Procedure:

  1. Sentences Sort. Ask students to work with a partner, and sort the sentences in whatever way that makes sense to them. Discuss their reasons. Some students will sort the sentences according to the stative and regular verbs, which will be a good way for them to begin thinking about the differences between the two kinds of verbs, and also prepare them for the movie and lesson, I Love The Poppers! (L1U2L4). See the Word Sort learning strategy for more information about using sorts.
  2. Stative Verbs Picture Book. Write the following stative verbs on the board: see, look, hear, listen, smell, like, love. Distribute paper and materials for students to create picture books. Tell the students to create pictures featuring a verb pair on each two-page spread. The first page is the book cover with a title and their name as the author.

    At the top of one page, students write the word see and illustrate the page with anything they see. They can draw pictures, cut pictures from magazines, or print out pictures from the computer. Next, have students write a complete sentence using the verb see. On the opposing page, have them write and illustrate the word look, and then use it in a complete sentence.
    On the next two pages, students do the same thing with the verbs hear and listen. Have students label the next pair of opposing pages with the verb smell on both sides.

    Smell can be both a stative and a regular verb. For example: I smell the flowers. / I am smelling the flowers. Demonstrate the difference to the class, showing them how “I am smelling” means an action – you are actually sniffing the flowers. The last pair of verbs on opposing pages is like and love, both stative verbs. Remember, students label each page with the verb, illustrate it, and then write a complete sentence. Encourage students to share and compare their completed books.
  3. Differences. Divide students into small groups, and assign each group one of the following pairs of words: see and look, hear and listen, like and love. Have students discuss the difference between the two words, and be prepared to present their words to the class. They must use examples of the words in sentences as part of their explanations.