Why Teach Verbs?

Verbs are the action words that describe what a person is doing, such as eating, sleeping and drinking. They are crucial for the formation of sentences. In fact, every sentence has at least one verb.

Many students find it difficult to learn and use verbs. One of the reasons is that verbs are more abstract that nouns (objects and people). Another is that they differ depending on the tense, be it past, present and future (such as drank, drinking and drink). A sound understanding and use of verbs is a vital part of early learning and language development.

Verbs Flashcards

We’ve chosen 80 commonly used verbs. These are sold as 2 sets.

What’s included in each set

  • 40 clear and captivating images
    To keep your student engaged

  • Each card is a different verb
    So there’s plenty of action words to teach

  • A clear label on the reverse side of each card
    To keep you on track with your teaching

  • A step by step activity guide that’s easy to use
    That encourages you to use the cards in many ways

Teaching Targets

Each set contains 40 real life images of people engaging in a range of actions that are relevant to everyday life.

Verbs Volume 1:
Bouncing, brushing teeth, building, carrying, climbing, crawling, crying, cutting, dancing, digging, drawing, drinking, driving, drying, eating, hugging, jumping, kicking, kissing, laughing, mowing, painting, playing, pushing, reading, riding, running, singing, sitting, skipping, sleeping, sliding, sneezing, sweeping, swimming, throwing, waving, whispering and yawning.

Verbs Volume 2:
Blowing, brushing, catching, cheering, chopping, clapping, cooking, diving, dressing, falling, fishing, gardening, gliding, hammering, hitting, hopping, hurdling, ice skating, knitting, listening, pulling, raking, rollerblading, rowing, sawing, sewing, shopping, skiing, skydiving, slicing, snorkelling, stretching, sucking, surfing, threading, typing, washing, watering, wiping and writing.

Teaching Support

  • A step by step activities guide is included
    That gives direction and focus to your lessons

  • The activities are listed in order of complexity
    Be sure to start with the easier tasks, to foster a feeling of success

  • Suitable for early through to more advanced learners
    So the way you use the cards can evolve as your student progresses

  • There are a variety of touching, sorting, saying and acting activities
    This variety adds interest and serves to deepen your student’s understanding of verbs

  • There are suggestions for how to generalise to everyday life
    The greatest success comes with integrating the lessons learned into day to day living

Activity Examples

Two activity examples are shown below.

  • Touching

  • Saying

About
This is a simple activity that requires the student to touch a verb flashcard when asked to do so.

How to
Place 4 verb cards on the table.
Example: Carrying, eating, playing and sliding.
Ask the student to “Touch (verb).”
Example: “Touch eating.”
The student is expected to touch the ‘eating’ card.

Prompting for success
If the student is struggling, gently guide their hand to touch the correct card and state the name of the verb (Say “Eating”)

About
This is a simple activity that requires the student to say the name of the verb.

How to
Show a series of cards to the student (one by one).
Example: Running, singing, eating and carrying. .
Ask the student “What is the person doing?”
The student is expected the name the verb (eg “Running”)

Prompting for success
If the student is struggling to name the cards, place 4 cards on the table, point to each one and name them. Then point to the cards again and have the student name them.,

Free Download: Flashcard Activity Guides

Take the guess work out of how to use the cards by following our activity guides. With simple, step-by-step advice and helpful pictures, they’ve been designed so that you get the most out of the cards and out of each lesson with your student. Feel purposeful, organised and confident whilst you teach.

Verbs buying options

Purchase the Verbs flashcards separately or as part of a larger language pack.

Verbs Vol 1
Our single set option with 40 different verbs cards. You can find our complete list of actions for Verbs Vol 1 here.

Verbs Vol 2
Our second single set option. Also with 40 action cards in a single box. Click here for the complete list of actions in Verbs Vol 2.

Verbs Bundle
Offering great value, here are our two Verbs Sets sold together. There are 80 verbs cards in total. Each card is a different action.

Language Flashcard Set
Our five sets in one box option. Consisting of Verbs Vol 1, Categories, Go Togethers, Emotions Vol 1 and Prepositions. With dividers that carefully separate each set and help you to stay organised.

Language Flashcard Library
Our eight sets in one box option. Consisting of Verbs Vol 1 and 2, Emotions Vol 1 and 2, Categories, Go Togethers, Opposites and Prepositions. Purchase this product and our Nouns Set to buy our entire range.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Verbs are the action words that describe what a person is doing, such as eating, sleeping and drinking. They are crucial for the formation of sentences. In fact, every sentence has at least one verb. Verbs are also fundamentally important for how a student learns and uses the rules of grammar.

Students may struggle with learning verbs because verbs are more abstract than nouns, which are the names given to people and objects. Further to that, verbs often relate to passing events in time which are more difficult to grasp than those things which are permanent. Another reason that students have difficulty learning verbs is because of their changing nature according to tense, be it past, present or future.

Here are a few examples:

Receptive language (understanding language that is spoken):

  • Increasing vocabulary – the number of words that a student knows
  • Following directions (such as drawing, painting and pasting)
  • Answering questions (such as touching an item on request or pointing to an answer)

Expressive language (speaking):

  • Increasing vocabulary – the number of words that a student says
  • Improving syntax – the rules of word order to form sentences (such as “The sleeping child” rather than “The child sleeping”)
  • Correct use of past, present and future tenses (such as slept, sleeping and sleep)

Yes, these cards are ideal for teaching ESL. Each image has been carefully chosen to ensure the action being shown is clear and therefore easy for a student to understand. The label for the action (eg the word ‘running’) is on the reverse side of each card, which the teacher can easily refer to at any time. We have received lots of positive feedback from ESL teachers who have successfully used these cards with their students.