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Would you review a book on TV? Present tenses for telling a plot and reviewing a book

This B1 ESL lesson plan teaches the historical present for book and movie plots, with Reading Rainbow, the PBS show that ended each episode with children's book reviews.

Grammar
The present simple for main events (She opens the box.) and the present continuous for background (Her brother is sleeping.), with while, plus review phrases.
Topic
Reading Rainbow, a PBS book show with new episodes from 1983 to 2006, and a library story hour, with words such as narrator, spoiler and must-read.
Activities
A feature to read, a story hour and a listener's message to hear, self-checking drills, a chat that builds a review and a wheel of plots.

What's inside

  1. Chapter 1Warm-up: What are you reading?

    • PictureUnlock
    • Open a box and answerOpen the boxUnlock
    • Study the words: stories, shows and reviewsVocabularyTry it
    • Look at the pictures and choose the wordChoose by pictureUnlock

  2. Chapter 2Let's read: when kids were the critics

    • Look at the picture: books in the sunPictureUnlock
    • Read the story: kids review books on TVArticleUnlock
    • Read and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock
    • Read again and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock

  3. Chapter 3Story hour with Kirk

    • Listen to Riley and Kirk at story hourListeningTry it
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and choose the correct answerQuizUnlock
    • Listen to the Listener's Take: Hope's messageListeningUnlock
    • Transcript, for the teacherUnlock
    • Listen and mark true or falseTrue or falseUnlock

  4. Chapter 4Grammar: In chapter one, a girl finds a map

    • Study the scheme: telling a plot in the presentGrammar schemeTry it
    • Tell the plot in the present: choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: tell the plot in the presentFill in the gapsTry it
    • Fill in the table: main events and backgroundFill in the tableUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: which sentence is correct?QuizUnlock

  5. Chapter 5Your turn: no spoilers, please!

    • Choose the right replies: help Riley with her reviewChatTry it
    • Put the parts of Riley's review in the correct orderDrag and dropUnlock
    • Sort the phrases into the correct columns: plot, opinion or recommendationSort into columnsUnlock
    • Drag the words into the gaps: a review templateDrag and dropUnlock
    • Spin the wheel and answer: tell us the plot!Spin 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 pairsMemory gameUnlock
    • Tell the plot in the present: choose the correct optionChoose the optionUnlock
    • Fill in the gaps: tell the plot of a series in the presentFill in the gapsUnlock
    • Put the words in the correct orderUnjumbleUnlock
    • Choose the correct answer: find the correct sentenceQuizUnlock
    • Choose the correct option: Marshall's review in the presentChoose the optionUnlock
    • Put the plot in the correct order: today's book at story hourDrag and dropUnlock

34 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.

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

  • review
  • narrator
  • illustration
  • audience
  • spoiler
  • thumbs-up
  • must-read
  • attic
  • treasure

Grammar: present tenses to tell a plot

In a plot summary, English stays in the present, so the story feels like it's happening now. With Reading Rainbow's young reviewers and a library story hour, learners split every plot into main events and background, keep each verb in the present, handle while and close with a few review phrases.

Telling a plot in the present

Main events: present simple (she finds). Background actions: present continuous (he is sleeping).

Main events and background

The present simple moves the story on, one event after another: She opens the box and realizes the truth. The present continuous paints what's going on around them: Her brother is sleeping. It's raining outside. With he, she and it, the forms are finds and is sleeping.

Main event or background?

present simple = the main events, one after another

  • In the first chapter, a girl finds a map.
  • She opens the box and realizes the truth.
  • At the end, the kids solve the mystery.

present continuous = what is happening around them

  • Her brother is sleeping.
  • It's raining outside.
  • While her parents are cooking, she sneaks into the attic.

Every person

Whomain event: present simple (find)background: present continuous (sleep)
II find a map.I am sleeping.
youYou find a map.You are sleeping.
heHe finds a map.He is sleeping.
sheShe finds a map.She is sleeping.
it (the dog)It finds a bone.It is sleeping.
weWe find a map.We are sleeping.
theyThey find a map.They are sleeping.

Stay in the present

Once a summary starts in the present, every verb stays there: A girl finds a map, and she shows it to her brother, not found. Third-person verbs need their -s: she opens, he watches, she tries, he has. Then she open the box is a mistake.

Stay in the present

In a plot summary, keep every verb in the present: A girl finds a map, and she shows it to her brother. Not: A girl found a map. With he, she and it, add -s: she opens. After ch, sh, s or x, add -es: he watches. Consonant + y: -ies: she tries. have: he has. Not: she open.

Common mistakes

  • In chapter one, a girl found a map, and she shows it to her brother.

    In chapter one, a girl finds a map, and she shows it to her brother.

    don't mix the past and the present

  • Then she open the box.

    Then she opens the box.

    he, she, it + -s

  • Suddenly, he is finding a key.

    Suddenly, he finds a key.

    a quick event: present simple

  • While she sleeping, the cat runs away.

    While she is sleeping, the cat runs away.

    while + am / is / are + -ing

Quick events, while and order words

A quick event takes the present simple: Suddenly, he finds a key, not is finding. After while, use am, is or are + -ing: While she is sleeping, … (while her brother sleeps is fine too). Then and at the end keep the order clear.

Quick events and while

A quick event (find, open, hear, realize) takes the present simple: Suddenly, she finds a key. Not: she is finding a key. After while, use am / is / are + -ing: While she is sleeping, … Not: While she sleeping. You can also say: while her brother sleeps.

Words for the order of events

  • First, …
  • In the first chapter, …
  • Then …
  • After that, …
  • When she opens it, …
  • While he is sleeping, …
  • At the end, …

Phrases for a short review

After the plot come an opinion and a reader: The best part is the ending. It's perfect for a rainy weekend. Recommend takes it to + the person: I'd recommend it to anyone who loves puzzles, not I'd recommend it anyone.

Review phrases

PhraseExample
I'd recommend it to …I'd recommend it to anyone who loves puzzles.
It's perfect for …It's perfect for a rainy weekend.
The best part is …The best part is the ending.
It's a must-read.Read it now! It's a must-read.
It's a real page-turner.I can't stop reading. It's a real page-turner.

Riley's mystery book

  • In the first chapter, Cora finds a key in a library book.
  • While her family is sleeping, she sneaks into the attic.
  • Then she solves the first clue.
  • At the end, she realizes … No spoilers!
  • The best part is the ending.
  • I'd recommend it to anyone who loves puzzles.

More lessons on this grammar: Present simple vs present continuous lessons and exercises

Try the historical present exercises

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

More exercises

What's in the lesson

  • 20 auto-checked exercises
  • 5 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:

  • tell a plot's main events in the present simple: In the first chapter, a girl finds a map. At the end, the kids solve the mystery.
  • set the scene with the present continuous: While her family is sleeping, she sneaks into the attic. It's raining outside.
  • keep a whole summary in the present, with -s for he, she and it: Then she opens the box, not she open or she opened
  • use the present simple for a sudden event: Suddenly, the girl hears a noise in the attic, not is hearing
  • round off a short review: The best part is the ending. It's perfect for a rainy weekend. I'd recommend it to anyone who loves puzzles.

Lesson 19 is the third lesson of Screen and page, unit 5 of English B1.1 · Stories That Travel, a podcast course set in Kansas City. It builds on A1.2 lesson 25, which first set the present simple against the present continuous, and on A2.2 lesson 10, where while joined two past tenses. Lesson 20 moves on to articles. Children giving short reviews of books they liked call for a plot told in the present, then an opinion.

Students open boxes of questions about books, reviews and spoilers, then learn twelve words, from sneak and realize to must-read, with pictures and audio. They read Riley's feature on Reading Rainbow, then hear her tell a mystery's plot at Kirk's library story hour and Hope, 13, from Kansas, retell a favorite book, both AI-voiced. The grammar chapter adds four self-checking drills to the scheme, among them a table of main events and background. In the speaking chapter, students help Riley write a review in a chat, order its parts, sort its phrases, fill in a template and spin a wheel of plots.

The ten homework tasks all check themselves: a word match, an anagram, a gap-fill and a memory game for the words, then a choice of present forms, a series plot with gaps, word order, a quiz, Marshall's cartoon review with choices and the story-hour book's plot to put in order.

Grammar:
present simple for a plot · present continuous for background · while and when · review phrases
Topic:
Reading Rainbow · PBS · book reviews · libraries · story hour · telling a plot · Stories That Travel

Teaching tips

  • Start with spoilers: ask who hates them, then retell the start of a well-known movie in three present-tense sentences and stop. Students guess the ending in the same tense: At the end, he realizes…
  • Before the reading, ask about cartoons: how could a TV show bring a picture book to life without animation? Students read to check. The team couldn't pay for it, so the camera moved slowly across the illustrations.
  • Play the story hour twice: first for Riley's mystery, then for the verbs. Students sort what they hear into main events (finds, sneaks, solves) and background (is sleeping).
  • Keep a thumbs-up board: after each student tells a plot from the wheel, the class shows a thumbs-up if every verb stayed in the present, and the speaker adds one review phrase.

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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 7Could 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 19 · you're hereWould 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 is the historical present?
The historical present is telling a story in present tenses, as if it's happening now: So I'm sleeping, and my phone rings… English uses the same present for the plot of a book, movie or series, which makes it the normal tense for a summary or a review: In the first chapter, a girl finds a map. Would you review a book on TV?, a B1 lesson on edio.ai, teaches it with Reading Rainbow and a library story hour.
What tense do you use to summarize a plot?
Use the present simple for each main event: Cora finds a key in a library book. Then she solves the first clue. Actions already going on around those events take the present continuous: While her family is sleeping, she sneaks into the attic. Stay in the present to the last line: At the end, she realizes… The scheme in Would you review a book on TV? on edio.ai shows both forms for every person.
What are some examples of the historical present?
The clearest examples are plots retold with every verb in the present: In the first chapter, a boy finds a message in a bottle. While his family is having lunch, he shows it to his best friend. At the end, the boy realizes that the old man is the writer. The wheel in Would you review a book on TV? on edio.ai even asks for last weekend told like a movie: While I'm sleeping, my phone rings…
What's the difference between the present simple and continuous in a story?
The present simple tells what happens next; the present continuous describes what is already going on: While her parents are cooking, she sneaks into the attic. Quick events such as find, hear and realize stay in the present simple even in the middle of the action: Suddenly, she finds a key, not she is finding a key. A compare block in Would you review a book on TV? on edio.ai sets the two side by side.
Is it "a girl finds a map" or "a girl found a map" in a summary?
In a plot summary, it's a girl finds a map, and the next verbs stay in the present too: she shows it to her brother. The usual slip is a mix: a girl found a map, and she shows it… A story told in the past is fine, but then all of it stays there. In Would you review a book on TV? on edio.ai, Kirk tells Riley that a summary works better in the present.
What was Reading Rainbow?
Reading Rainbow was a PBS children's show that wanted kids to love books. LeVar Burton was the host, and the first episode aired on July 11, 1983. Each episode was about one children's book, read aloud while the camera moved across its pictures, and the last part was short book reviews by children. New episodes ran until 2006, and in October 2025 the show came back on YouTube with a new host, the librarian Mychal Threets.
What phrases can you use in a book review?
Short reviews lean on a few set phrases: The best part is the ending. It's perfect for a rainy weekend. It's a real page-turner. It's a must-read. For the reader, say I'd recommend it to + a person: I'd recommend it to anyone who loves puzzles. In Would you review a book on TV? on edio.ai, students sort phrases like these into plot, opinion and recommendation, then complete a review template.
How do I teach the historical present to B1 students?
Begin with a story the class already knows, such as a famous movie, and retell its first scenes in the present together. Then split the sentences into main events and background, and add while, then and at the end. Would you review a book on TV? on edio.ai follows that path: a feature on Reading Rainbow, a story hour where a librarian keeps plots in the present, then the scheme and four drills.
What's a good game for practicing the historical present?
Spin the wheel and tell a plot: each prompt asks for a story in the present, such as Tell us the plot of a movie you love. No spoilers! or Review a TV series in thirty seconds. The speaking chapter of Would you review a book on TV? on edio.ai closes with this wheel. In a group, a chain story works too: each player adds one sentence in the present until someone says At the end, …
What's good homework for telling a plot in the present?
Good homework mixes form drills with whole plots: choices between realizes, realize and realized, gaps for the plot of a TV series, and a story to put back in order. In Would you review a book on TV? on edio.ai, all ten homework tasks check themselves, from a memory game with the lesson's words to Marshall's review of a cartoon series about a raccoon who runs a bakery.
How do you practice telling a plot one-to-one?
Trade summaries of favorite books or shows: the teacher tells one in the present and stops before the ending, the student asks What happens next?, then tells one back. The chat in Would you review a book on TV? on edio.ai is done alone: the student helps Riley write a review for Hope and picks replies such as While his classmates are eating lunch, he opens it.
Are there interactive exercises for the historical present?
Yes: a gap-fill and a chat that mark answers instantly. This page plays three parts of the B1 lesson Would you review a book on TV? on edio.ai without an account: Riley and Kirk's dialogue at story hour, a gap-fill that tells a plot in the present, and the chat where the student helps Riley with her review. The rest of the lesson is locked.
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