Background and Basics

Introduction

The Rod Tense System was created in 1990 by me--Dynnelle Fields (at that time it was Dynnelle Kozlowski). This system was created to help deaf students understand the verb system in English in a more visual manner. For the first twelve years, I used this system with the rods only and focused on color patterns to make the patterns in the verb tense system clearer to students (note: the rod chart can be seen below). In 2001, I began experimenting with viewing the rods as characters with distinct personalities. I developed stories to teach students about the idiosyncrasies of each verb character. As I am not a good artist, I used colored paper to cut out the characters and then scanned the cutouts into the computer to use with the stories.

The workbook that originally accompanied the Rod Tense System has now been placed on these web pages with stories. (The Cusinaire rods are still used as well.) Mr. Orange is the main character, as he represents the verb or action. The other color rods are his friends and helpers. They not only teach Mr. Orange how to express himself in different verb tenses, but help him do it. Notebook documents to use for the Smartboard (and pdf versions of the documents for those who don't have Notebook software) are also used to help the stories come to life and deepen the Rod Tense experience.

Along with the verb stories, the workbook includes some practice activities and ideas. These activities and ideas are not meant to be enough to provide enough practice and teaching opportunities for the students to fully grasp the tenses. They are only starting points.

Here is the original article written when I first explained the basic system in the TESOL Journal in 1991. The system has since evolved.

Journal Citation: Kozlowski, Dynelle. "The Rod Tense System." TESOL Journal. 1.1 (1991): 33-34. Print.

Note: My name was misspelled in the original article. There are actually 2 n's in Dynnelle.

This is the original Rod Tense chart that the system was started with. Each line represents a different tense. The order is: Simple Present, Present Continuous, Present Perfect, Present Perfect Continuous, Simple Past, Past Continuous, Past Perfect, Past Perfect Continuous, Simple Future, Future Continuous, Future Perfect, Future Perfect Continuous. This is not the teaching order, but rather the order in which the patterns can be best recognized. The groupings are: lines 1-4 are in the present, lines 5-8 are in the past, and lines 9-12 are in the future. An explanation of the individual rods and patterns is given after the chart.

An overview of the Rod Tense System:

Part One:

Without words--focus on the patterns

An Overview Animation

Part Two:

The overview with words on the rods with the verb "walk" as a sample

The rods system with words

Additional Resources:

Attached below you will find several articles to help you in preparing to teach verbs. The Rod Tense System Workbook is also attached here.

ICED Conference Presentation:

Background and Basics