Yesterday’s Keys

This worksheet helps students in Grades 4 and 5 strengthen their understanding of the simple past tense through an engaging, story-based escape puzzle. As learners move through a continuous narrative, they fill in each blank with the correct past-tense verb-unlocking each “key” that allows the story to progress. This format encourages careful reading, attention to context clues, and accurate grammar choices while keeping motivation high.

Learning Goals

• Simple Past Tense Usage (Grades 4-5): Apply correct past-tense forms of regular and irregular verbs.
• Context Clues for Word Choice: Use surrounding details in the story to determine the correct verb form.
• Narrative Reading Comprehension: Follow a storyline closely to maintain meaning and sequence.
• Grammar in Complete Sentences: Ensure verb choices fit logically and grammatically within each sentence.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource: Designed to turn grammar practice into an engaging problem-solving experience.
• Story-Based Motivation: The “escape puzzle” structure encourages persistence and careful thinking.
• Meaningful Grammar Practice: Verbs are chosen based on narrative context, not isolated drills.
• Flexible Use: Ideal for grammar lessons, review days, centers, early finishers, or independent practice.

This printable worksheet helps students build confidence with past-tense verbs while staying actively engaged in a story. By unlocking the narrative through correct verb choices, learners strengthen grammar accuracy, reading comprehension, and attention to detail. It is a no-prep resource that works well in both classroom and homeschool language arts settings, supporting meaningful, memorable grammar learning.

This worksheet is part of our simple past tense worksheets collection.