The simple present tense is one of the first things English language learners learn. Later on, grammar textbooks introduce the present progressive (also known as the present continuous), and students learn how to describe actions that are happening at that time. The problem is that most textbooks don’t compare these two present tenses together, so young learners don’t often realize which one to use in different situations.
When I was teaching TOEIC test prep classes to beginner and intermediate students, I would compare and contrast the two tenses side by side, and my students would tell me that this method really helped them understand the differences. Try the method outlined below with your young learners as an introduction to the present progressive or as a review of these two essential tenses. 
Notes:
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Remind students that a simple present verb will end in -s for all of the following subjects: he, she, it, singular count noun, and non-count noun.
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Remind students that the BE verb in the present progressive will be conjugated in the following ways: I am, you (singular) / you (plural) / they / plural count noun are, he / she / it / singular count noun / non-count noun is.
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Remind students that time markers (words in the sentence that indicate the tense) are very helpful for figuring out which verb tense should be used. (See chart for examples.)
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Remind higher-level students that there is a second use of the present progressive. It can be used to indicate a future time. Students can use time markers to help them figure out if it’s happening now or later. (E.g., I am going to my friend’s birthday party next Friday.) This will be discussed in a later post, so stay tuned!
Our Lesson of the Week is Are You…? in the Are section of the Grammar School. It has three exercises that use the simple present and the present progressive, and could be a good lesson to use after you’ve presented the tenses using the method above. Find over 250 other lessons and worksheets on the simple present and the present progressive in Sprout English’s Grammar School, Library, and Conversation Station sections.
For a look at these two tenses in more detail and ideas for activities, check out Teaching the Simple Present and Teaching the Present Progressive.
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material sobre el pasado simple y el pasado perfecto por favor
Hi Monik,
I plan to blog about the simple past in two weeks. We also have many lessons on the simple past in our Grammar School, Library, and Conversation Station sections. I plan to blog about the past perfect soon on our sister site, ESL-Library, and I’ll post the link here when it’s ready. Sorry I can’t reply to you in Spanish! I studied Spanish for a year in university, but that was a while ago! No recuerdo mucho.
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