Grade 8 ESL Quiz: Present Perfect — Experiences (9 Marks)

Learning Objectives

• Form the present perfect: have/has + past participle (positive, negative, questions, short answers).
• Use the present perfect to talk about life experiences, with ever and never.
• Use common irregular past participles correctly.
• Explain the difference between been to and gone to.
• Choose between the present perfect (no finished time) and the past simple (finished time) and use both in a conversation.

How to Use This Resource

• A short check after lesson 2 (form, participles, been/gone).
• Allow 10–15 minutes.
• Mark with the answer key and re-teach any part most students found hard.

Classroom Activity Ideas

• Two Truths and a Lie (12 minutes, Groups of 4): Each student writes 3 experience sentences (present perfect): two true, one false. They read them to the group.
• Participle Race (8 minutes, Two teams): Call out a base verb (e.g. "write"). One player per team runs to the board and writes the past participle.
• Experience Bingo (15 minutes, Whole class): Students walk around and ask "Have you ever…?" If the answer is "Yes, I have", they ask one follow-up and write the name.

Differentiation

Support: Give a list of past participles to use during all tasks. Challenge: Use "How many times have you…?" and "the best … I have ever …". English language learners: Use the time line drawing every time you explain the tense.

Assessment

9-mark quiz with an answer key and a score guide.

Teacher Tips

Tell real stories about your own experiences — students love them and it models the tense naturally. Always draw the time line: experiences are dots somewhere on the line from birth to NOW.

What's Included

• 9-mark quiz (PDF + editable DOCX)
• Part A: Past Participles (4 marks)
• Part B: Make Sentences (3 marks)
• Part C: Been or Gone? (2 marks)
• Answer key with score guide (PDF)

Additional Files

• Grade 8 ESL Quiz: Present Perfect — Experiences (9 Marks) (DOCX)
• Answer Key (PDF)

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