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Could you be a camp counselor? Present perfect simple vs continuous: how many and how long

This B1 ESL lesson plan teaches present perfect simple vs continuous through a camp counselor job interview and American summer camps, a tradition often traced to 1861.

Grammar
The simple for how many and results (I've led three hikes.), the continuous for how long and the activity (I've been teaching all summer.), and state verbs in the simple.
Topic
Summer camps from Frederick Gunn's 1861 trip to counselors-in-training and young counselors from abroad, with words such as supervise, crafts, canoe and archery.
Activities
Episode notes to read, a camp job interview and a counselor's message to hear, five self-checking drills, an interview chat, a question sort and a wheel of interview questions.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Pack your bags for camp!

    • PictureUnlock
    • Open a box and answerOpen the boxUnlock
    • Study the words: life at summer campVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and chooseChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: ten days at Camp Comfort

    • Look at the photo: camping by the waterPictureUnlock
    • Read the episode notes: ten days at Camp ComfortArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Let's listen: Jade's big interview

    • Listen to Jade and BennettListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Listener's TakeListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: I've led three hikes!

    • Study the scheme: I've led or I've been leading?Grammar schemeTry it
    • Choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: present perfect simple or continuousFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: how many and how longFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Let's talk: the camp interview

    • Choose the right replies: a camp counselor interviewChatTry it
    • Sort the questions into the correct columns: How many…? or How long…?Sort into columnsUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answer: your camp interviewSpin the wheelUnlock

  6. Chapter 6Homework

    • Match the words and the meaningsMatchUnlock
    • Unscramble the wordsAnagramUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps with the lesson's wordsFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Find the matching pairs: words and cluesMemory gameUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: use the present perfect simple or continuousFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: ask and answerQuizUnlock
    • Fill in the table: questions for a counselorFill in the tableUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct order: Jade's applicationUnjumbleUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: Madison's applicationDrag and dropUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Jade's answer to VaughnChoose the optionUnlock

33 exercises in 6 chapters. Start a 7-day free trial to open all of them, copy any part into your own lessons, and teach the lesson live.

Camping vocabulary

12 words and phrases from the lesson, each with a picture and audio in edio.

+9 more with pictures and audio in the lessonMore words

  • counselor
  • camper
  • counselor-in-training
  • first aid
  • crafts
  • canoe
  • archery
  • talent show
  • certificate

Grammar: present perfect simple vs continuous

Both forms connect the past to now, but they answer different questions. The simple counts and shows results: How many hikes have you led? – Three. The continuous measures time and shows the activity, often unfinished: How long have you been working with kids? At a camp job interview, learners pick the form by the question and keep state verbs simple.

I've led three hikes. I've been teaching all summer.

The present perfect simple tells how many and what's finished. The present perfect continuous tells how long, shows an activity that isn't finished or explains what you see now.

How many and the result, or how long and the activity?

I've led three hikes counts finished events, and I've written the plan shows a result. The continuous shows the activity, maybe not finished: I've been painting the canoe, but it isn't finished yet. It also explains what you see: Your hands are blue! Have you been painting?

have / has + past participle: how many? the result

  • I've led three hikes.
  • She's taught fifty kids to swim.
  • I've written the plan. Here it is!
  • How many groups have you led?

have / has been + -ing: how long? the activity, maybe not finished

  • I've been teaching swimming all summer.
  • How long have you been working here?
  • I've been reading about trails all week.
  • I've been painting the canoe, but it isn't finished yet.
  • Your hands are blue! Have you been painting?

Every person, both forms

Both forms use have or has: the simple adds the past participle, the continuous been + -ing. The same person can need both: We've lost two paddles. We've been looking for them all afternoon. They've finished the bracelets. They've been doing crafts all day.

WhoSimple: how many? the resultContinuous: how long? the activity
II've (I have) taken two first-aid courses.I've (I have) been working here since June.
youYou've answered every question.You've been practicing all morning.
heHe's (he has) hired six counselors.He's (he has) been running the camp for twelve years.
sheShe's written three pages.She's been reading about trails all week.
itIt's (it has) rained twice this week.It's been raining since lunch.
weWe've lost two paddles.We've been looking for them all afternoon.
theyThey've finished the bracelets.They've been doing crafts all day.

How many…? or How long…?

How many asks for a number, so it takes the simple: How many campfires has he organized? – He's organized two. How long asks about the activity's time, and the lesson pairs it with the continuous: How long has she been teaching archery? – Since June.

QuestionAnswer
How many hikes have you led?I've led three. / None yet!
How many campfires has he organized?He's organized two.
How long have you been working with kids?For two years.
How long has she been teaching archery?Since June.
Have you been swimming? Your hair is wet!Yes, I have.

State verbs stay simple

Know, have (= own), be, like, love, understand and belong describe states, so they keep the simple form even with for and since: I've known Bennett for years. How long have you been a counselor? Never I've been knowing.

State verbs: only the simple

Some verbs are states, not actions: know, have (own), be, like, love, understand, belong. Use them in the simple, even with how long, for and since: I've known Bennett for years. She's had her certificate since March. How long have you been a counselor? Not: I've been knowing. Not: She's been having her certificate.

How long? Sometimes both

With how long, for and since, action verbs such as work, live, teach and lead often work in both forms: I've worked here for two years = I've been working here for two years. A number of things or times takes only the simple: three hikes, twice.

How long? Sometimes both!

With how long, for and since, action verbs like work, live, teach and lead often work in both forms: I've worked here for two years = I've been working here for two years. The continuous puts the focus on the activity. But with a number of things or times (three hikes, two campfires, twice), use only the simple.

At Jade's interview

  • How long have you been working with kids?
  • I've been working at a planetarium for two years.
  • How many groups have you led? – About forty!
  • I've had my first-aid certificate since March.
  • I've been reading about trails all week.
  • I've hired more than two hundred counselors.

Common mistakes

  • I've been leading three hikes.

    I've led three hikes.

    a number of things: the simple

  • I've been knowing her for years.

    I've known her for years.

    know is a state verb

  • How many hikes have you been leading?

    How many hikes have you led?

    How many…? + the simple

  • I've written the plan, but it isn't finished.

    I've been writing the plan, but it isn't finished.

    not finished: the continuous

More lessons on this grammar: Present perfect continuous lessons and exercises · Present perfect lessons and exercises

Try the present perfect simple vs continuous exercises

Try them yourself: these are the same exercises your students do in edio.

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 18 auto-checked exercises
  • 6 games
  • 1 article
  • 1 grammar scheme
  • 1 set of word cards
  • 2 audio clips
  • 2 pictures
  • 2 transcripts

The main objectives of this lesson are to:

  • count finished things with the present perfect simple: I've led three hikes. Bennett has hired more than two hundred counselors.
  • describe an activity and how long it has lasted with the continuous: I've been teaching archery all summer. How long have you been working with kids?
  • keep state verbs such as know, have and love in the simple: I've had my first-aid certificate since March, not I've been having
  • choose the continuous for unfinished work: I've been painting the canoe, but it isn't finished yet.
  • answer camp interview questions with How many…? and How long…?: How many hikes have you led? – I've led two.

Lesson 7 is the third lesson of Dream jobs, new jobs, unit 2 of English B1.1 · Stories That Travel. It sets the present perfect simple of lessons 1 and 2 next to the continuous of lesson 6, and lesson 8 closes the unit with would and used to for past routines. A job interview asks both How many…? and How long…?, so a camp counselor's interview is a natural place to choose between the forms.

Open boxes about camps and the outdoors start the lesson, then twelve words, from lead and supervise to archery and talent show, with pictures and audio. Students read the episode notes on how summer camps began, with true-or-false statements and a quiz, then hear Jade's interview with Bennett, a camp director, and a message from Vaughn, a counselor in Maine; both are AI-voiced. Five self-checking drills follow the scheme, among them a how-many and how-long table for every person. The interview task has three steps: a chat with Bennett, a question sort and a wheel of interview questions.

All ten homework tasks check themselves: a word match, an anagram, a word gap-fill and a memory game, then gaps for the simple or the continuous, a quiz of questions and answers, a table of questions for a counselor, Jade's application to put in order, Madison's application with gaps and Jade's answer to Vaughn.

Grammar:
present perfect simple · present perfect continuous · How many…? vs How long…? · state verbs
Topic:
summer camps · camp counselors · Frederick Gunn · Connecticut · counselors-in-training · job interviews · Stories That Travel

Teaching tips

  • Write two questions on the board, How many…? and How long…?, and let students answer both about one hobby: I've played ten games. I've been playing chess for a year.
  • Ask when summer camps began before the episode notes. Students guess a year, then read to find 1861, Camp Comfort and why the notes say camping is “traced to” that trip.
  • Pause the interview after each of Bennett's questions and let students guess whether Jade's answer will use the simple or the continuous. Then play her reply and check.
  • Turn the wheel into a mock interview: one student is the camp director, the other spins and answers, then they swap. The director listens for a number with the simple and a time with the continuous.

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The whole course: English B1.1 · Stories That Travel

32 lessons for adults at B1 in American English, each built around a true story. Riley, Jade and Darius make a podcast in Kansas City about true American stories, and each lesson tells one, from a seaplane airport in Alaska to the Marfa Lights of West Texas. Learners compare the present perfect with the past simple, use future forms, modals and quantifiers, and give their own opinions. The practice exercises check themselves.See the course

  1. Unit 1 Travel smart

    the present perfect vs the past simple, for and since, indirect questions, be used to and get used to

    1. Lesson 1Would you visit an airport just for fun?Present perfect vs past simple
    2. Lesson 2Would you sleep in a 300-year-old inn?For and since with the present perfect
    3. Lesson 3My suitcase has gone to Honolulu!Indirect questions for polite requests
    4. Lesson 4Can you practice a flight?Be used to and get used to

  2. Unit 2 Dream jobs, new jobs

    will have to and won't be allowed to, the present perfect continuous, simple vs continuous, would vs used to

    1. Lesson 5Would you jump off a moving boat for a job?Will have to, will be able to and will be allowed to
    2. Lesson 6Working from anywherePresent perfect continuous
    3. Lesson 7 · you're hereCould you be a camp counselor?Present perfect simple vs continuous
    4. Lesson 8Would you live in a lighthouse?Would vs used to for the past

  3. Unit 3 Space and discovery

    it's + adjective + to, What's it like to…?, future forms compared, future time clauses, too and enough + to

    1. Lesson 9What's it like to work in space?It's + adjective + to and What's it like to…?
    2. Lesson 10Who will walk on the Moon next?Future forms compared by meaning
    3. Lesson 11A message for the starsFuture time clauses
    4. Lesson 12A helicopter on Mars?Too and enough + to-infinitive

  4. Unit 4 Life online

    the more…, the more…, be supposed to, ought to and had better, let, make and allow

    1. Lesson 13The internet's first word was “LO”Comparative and comparative; the more…, the more…
    2. Lesson 14Who sent the first spam?Be supposed to for rules, expectations and plans
    3. Lesson 15Is your password really safe?Ought to and had better for advice and warnings
    4. Lesson 16Who writes Wikipedia?Let, make and allow + someone

  5. Unit 5 Screen and page

    -ed and -ing adjectives, gradable and extreme adjectives, present tenses for a plot, articles for things in general

    1. Lesson 17Why do readers still love Nancy Drew?-ed and -ing adjectives for feelings
    2. Lesson 18Movie night in your carGradable and extreme adjectives
    3. Lesson 19Would you review a book on TV?Present tenses to tell a plot
    4. Lesson 20Where are the books about girls like me?Articles for things in general and specific things

  6. Unit 6 Green living

    few and a few, little and a little, all, most, some and none, each and every, fewer and less

    1. Lesson 21A year's trash in one jar?Few, a few, little and a little
    2. Lesson 22No food in the trash!All, most, some and none (of)
    3. Lesson 23A farm in the middle of DetroitEach and every
    4. Lesson 24A trash collector with googly eyesFewer and less

  7. Unit 7 Sporting moments

    could, was able to and managed to, for, during and while, present tenses for live commentary, question tags

    1. Lesson 25From a leg brace to three goldsCould, was able to and managed to
    2. Lesson 26A doctor and an Olympic champion?For, during and while
    3. Lesson 27Who's that runner coming from behind?Present simple and continuous for live commentary
    4. Lesson 28Why do high jumpers go backward?Question tags

  8. Unit 8 Mysteries and lost worlds

    both… and, either… or and neither… nor, uncountable nouns, how sure we are about the future, unless, as long as and in case

    1. Lesson 29A calendar made of posts?Both… and, either… or, neither… nor
    2. Lesson 30What was the Great House for?Uncountable abstract nouns
    3. Lesson 31What does Newspaper Rock say?Certainty about the future
    4. Lesson 32What are the Marfa Lights?Unless, as long as and in case

Questions about this lesson

What's the difference between the present perfect simple and continuous?
The simple counts, the continuous measures time: I've led three hikes answers How many?, while I've been teaching archery all summer answers How long? and puts the activity in focus, often unfinished. State verbs such as know and have stay simple. The B1 lesson Could you be a camp counselor? on edio.ai practices both through a camp job interview.
When do you use the present perfect continuous instead of the simple?
Use the continuous for an activity in progress or just stopped: We've been cooking dinner for an hour, and it still isn't ready. Your hands are blue! Have you been painting? Use the simple for a number of things or times and for finished results: Our team has won four games this season. With how long, action verbs such as work can take either form.
What are some examples of the present perfect simple and continuous?
These pairs come from Could you be a camp counselor?, a B1 lesson on edio.ai: Vaughn has led twelve hikes and He's been teaching archery all summer; Madison has made about a hundred bracelets and She's been teaching archery since last fall; We've lost two paddles and We've been looking for them all afternoon. A state verb takes only the simple: I've known her for years.
Is it "I've been leading three hikes" or "I've led three hikes"?
It's I've led three hikes: a number of finished events takes the present perfect simple. Questions follow suit: How many hikes have you led?, not How many hikes have you been leading? Another slip comes with state verbs: I've known her for years, not I've been knowing her. The sentence quiz in Could you be a camp counselor? on edio.ai sets both traps.
What does a camp counselor do?
A counselor looks after kids at a summer camp: counselors supervise campers, lead hikes, organize campfires and talent shows, and teach skills such as swimming, crafts or archery. Older teens can start as counselors-in-training, or CITs, and learn the job. American camps can also hire young counselors from other countries through the State Department's J-1 camp counselor program, and those counselors work mainly with campers.
When did American summer camps begin?
They are often traced to 1861, when Frederick Gunn, a Connecticut teacher, led his students on a long walk to Welch's Point in Milford, on Long Island Sound, and they camped there for about 10 days. The students called it Camp Comfort. In 2011, the American Camp Association recognized that camp as the start of organized camping in the United States, though other histories point to camps of the 1880s.
What camping vocabulary should B1 students know?
Start with the words of a day at camp: campers paddle a canoe, make crafts such as bracelets, try archery and sing at a talent show, while a counselor and a counselor-in-training supervise them. Counselors should know first aid, and a certificate shows they passed the course. These ten, plus lead and organize, come with pictures and audio in Could you be a camp counselor?
How do I teach the present perfect simple vs continuous to B1 students?
Let the question choose the form: How many…? gets the simple and a number, How long…? gets the continuous and a time. Practice both about one real activity, such as a sport or a job, then add state verbs, which stay simple. Could you be a camp counselor? on edio.ai follows a job interview with a scheme, five drills and a sort of the two question types.
What's a good game for practicing the present perfect simple and continuous?
A spin-the-wheel interview keeps both forms coming: each slice holds a question such as How long have you been learning English? or How many books have you read this year?, and the student who spins answers aloud, then asks a partner one How many…? and one How long…? question.
What's good homework for the present perfect simple vs continuous?
Good homework mixes single choices with a real application: gaps where the clue decides the form, such as Tobias has had the same bike since he was ten, a table of How many…? and How long…? questions, and a job application with gaps. All ten homework tasks in Could you be a camp counselor? on edio.ai check themselves.
How do you practice the present perfect simple and continuous one-to-one?
Interview the student about one hobby in depth: How long have you been playing?, How many games have you won?, How long have you had your racket? Then swap roles. The interview chat in Could you be a camp counselor?, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, works alone: Bennett asks about the student's experience, and each reply has one right form.
Are there interactive exercises for the present perfect simple and continuous?
Yes. This page plays three parts of Could you be a camp counselor?, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, with no account: Jade's interview with Bennett, a camp director, a gap-fill where students choose the simple or the continuous, and a chat in which Bennett interviews the student for a counselor job. Each gap and reply is checked instantly. The other exercises need an account.
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