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Activity Overview

After becoming familiar with the conjugations for the imperfect tense, both regular and irregular forms, students should then practice the common uses. One of these uses is for descriptions. When stating the time, weather, mental or physical states of characters, or the ongoing or background activities before any main action occurs, a student would use the imperfect tense.

In this activity, students will create a spider map that focuses solely on the description of a narrative. The cells should work together as part of the same narrative, but each cell will isolate the most common descriptive tasks the imperfect tense performs: time, age, weather, and character's mental states. You may choose to provide a scenario for students to work with, or allow them to get creative!

Lesson Plan Reference

Grade Level 9-12

Difficulty Level 3 (Developing to Mastery)

Type of Assignment Individual

Template and Class Instructions


Student Instructions

Create a spider map that uses the imperfect tense to describe the time, weather, mental or physical states of characters, or the ongoing or background activities for a narrative. Your descriptions should work together as part of the narrative, but will be isolated.

  1. Click "Start Assignment".
  2. In the center, label the use of the imperfect tense (Descriptions.)
  3. In the titles for each cell, identify the thing that is being described (age, time, weather, etc.)
  4. Write a sentence for each using the imperfect tense properly.
  5. Create an illustration using appropriate scenes, characters, and items.
  6. Save and submit your storyboard.

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