Was or Were? That Is the Question!

Have you ever read a sentence and thought to yourself, “That doesn’t sound quite right?” Chances are, there could be an issue with the sentence’s subject-verb agreement (or lack thereof)!

This set of 24 task cards has been designed by our team to help your students learn when to use ‘was’ or ‘were’ in a sentence so that the subject and verb agree. Perfect for elementary school classrooms, this resource reinforces grammar rules through contextual practice. Students read each sentence, decide whether “was” or “were” fits best, then record their answer on the recording sheet.

This set of was or were 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 Was Versus Were 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:

• Head-to-Head Challenge – Two students compete to answer a task card first. The teacher (or another student) reads the sentence aloud, and the first player to call out the correct answer wins the round.
• Movement Game –  Label each side of the room as “was” and “were.” Read one of the cards aloud, then have students move to the corner that corresponds with the correct answer. Discuss the correct choice before moving on.
• Board Game Adaptation – Pair the task cards with a simple game board. Students roll a dice, move spaces, and pick a card to answer. If they get the question correct, then can move forward again on their next turn.

Download and Prepare These Were and Was 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 were and was 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.

Complement This Were or Was Resource

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Is or Are? Subject Verb Agreement Task Cards

Download these is or are task cards, designed to help students confidently choose the correct verb form while improving their grammar skills.