Grade 8 ESL Unit Test: Present Perfect — Experiences (28 Marks)

Question Types & Suggested Use

Exit tickets in each lesson. Teacher observation during "Find someone who…". Worksheet Parts A–E with the answer key. Quick Quiz (9 marks) after lesson 2. Unit Test (28 marks) at the end. Performance task (rubric): "Experience Interview" — interview a partner and write a short report.

Skills Assessed

• 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 Administer

• Give at the end of the unit (or as a pre-test before teaching).
• Allow about 40 minutes. Students work alone.
• Mark with the answer key; use the score guide to decide who needs re-teaching or a challenge.

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.

Follow-Up Activities

• 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.

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

• 28-mark unit test (PDF + editable DOCX)
• Part A: Past Participles (8 marks)
• Part B: Complete (6 marks)
• Part C: Choose the Tense (4 marks)
• Part D: Correct the Mistakes (6 marks)
• Part E: Explain and Write (4 marks)
• Answer key with marking notes and a score guide (PDF)

Additional Files

• Grade 8 ESL Unit Test: Present Perfect — Experiences (28 Marks) (DOCX)
• Answer Key (PDF)

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