Teach pre-kindergarten students about past and present verbs by having them act out steps. Go outside, and have one student kick a ball after the group yells "Kick." Ask the group, "What did she do?," with the expectation they will respond, "She kicked the ball." Think of other verbs, including irregular ones, that are represented in the outdoor environment, such as stand, climb, swing, run, skip, turn, sit and hit.
Using a rhythmic cadence or rap to distinguish verb tenses is a good way to interact with your students. The Educational Rap website created a chorus that includes the phrase, "Do it, I’m doing it, I have done it," as a means to show the verb relationship. You can bring drums or tambourines to the exercise to make calling out the verb tenses more challenging, as students try to answer to the beat.
Ask a student to write on the chalkboard a sentence that reflects a present tense verb situation in the classroom, for example, "John jumps over the box on the floor." Then have another student go to the board and decide how to change the verb to the past tense, "jumped." You can do this activity in teams or reward individual students with prizes.
Gather your class in a circle and read from books appropriate for their grade level. In your copy of the book, highlight verbs so that you will be attuned to when your students should respond. As you read the book slowly, the goal is for the children to raise their hands whenever a verb is spoken. Another option is to separate the class into teams that will respond only for present or past tense verbs.