Produce pictures of Dr Who’s Tardis in three colours representing present, future and past. Give pupils a set each and tell them a story, asking them to hold up the appropriate card every time you switch tense.

Alternatively, issue strips of paper containing sentences which pupils classify under the relevant picture. Or play a game where they draw an infinitive out of one bag, a Tardis out of another and produce the required verb form.

KS4

Using a text in the present tense as a framework, brainstorm ideas to be listed under the headings 2105 and 1905. For example, pupils might decide that daily routine in the future would include an automatic shower, breakfast prepared by a robot and school lessons delivered online. In 1905 on the other hand they might share their bedroom with several brothers and sisters, wash in cold water and set off to work in a factory. The approach could be applied to different topics culminating in a collection of vignettes of daily life over three centuries.

Alison Thomas