Does or Do… Which to Use?

Have a quick read of the following sentences:

My mother do ballroom dancing lessons.
The children does their homework every afternoon. 

Don’t they sound awful? This is because the words “does” and “do” have been used incorrectly! When subjects and verbs don’t agree, the result is a very unhappy sentence!

This set of 24 task cards has been designed by our team to help your students learn when to use “do” or “does” in a sentence so that the subject and verb agree. Students read each sentence, decide whether “do” or “does” should be used to make the subject and verb agree, then record their answer on the recording sheet. No more terrible-sounding sentences!

This set of does or do task cards downloads as a full-color PDF or editable Google Slides file. Both files contain:

• Instruction page
• 24 x task cards
• Student recording sheet
• Answer sheet

Multiple Uses for These Do Versus Does Task Cards

While these task cards make a great independent learning activity, they can be used in lots of other ways, too! Read on for some suggestions from our teacher team:

• Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down – Read the sentences from the task cards aloud to the students, using either the correct or incorrect version of the verb “to do.” Have the students indicate with a thumbs-up gesture if they believe the sentence to be grammatically correct, or a thumbs-down gesture if incorrect.
• Around the World – One student stands behind another. The teacher reads a sentence from one of the task cards aloud, leaving a gap where the verb should be. The first student to answer correctly with either “do” or “does” moves on to challenge the next student.
• Sorting Game –Use the do or does task cards as a sorting game. Individually, in pairs or in small groups, have the students read each of the sentences, then place them into two groups: the “do” sentences and the “does” sentences. 

Download and Prepare These Do vs Does Task Cards

Use the Download button above to access your preferred version of this resource. (Note: You will be prompted to make a copy of the Google Slides template before accessing it.)

We recommend that you print these do vs does task cards on cardstock for increased durability. Place them together in a large envelope or ziplock bag for safekeeping.

This resource was created by Kirstin Sowers, a teacher in Illinois and a Teach Starter collaborator.

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