Subject Verb Agreement...It Just Makes Sense

We have been looking at subject verb agreement in class as of late and I just wanted to show you what we have been doing as far as showing "evidence".  It sort of came out naturally as I was teaching and really, I am surprised I never thought to do this before.

Most of the time, when I ask my students why a sentence is correct, or a word fits in where it does, the standard response is "It just makes sense".  Well, that just isn't jiving with me anymore.  I mean, there has to be a reason WHY it makes sense and for our subject verb agreement statements, I have finally found a way to show it!

So here is what we did.  After learning all about how a singular subject needs a singular verb and a plural subject needs a plural verb, we went to the task of dissecting sentences using our workbook.  Yep, we used the workbook. 

First the students had to decide upon the subject.  What is it and is it singular or plural?

Then, the verb was identified as singular or plural.  If they were the same...a match made in heaven. If not, the kids fixed it and went on their merry way. 

We then identified if the sentence was past tense or present tense to make sure that the correct verb was being used.  Again, the students wrote this in their workbook.

Now, I know how simple all of this sounds but, to be honest, it never really occurred to me that THIS was what the students were always needing....a way to PROVE why a sentence just simply "made sense".   It is also a way to up the rigor on a simple worksheet just a tad bit and get those thinking juices flowing.

Anyway, nothing earth shattering I know, but it is something that was new to me and I wanted to share.  What do  you do to have the students show their evidence on things like this?