This report outlines the formative evaluation of the first lesson in the Structured Language Improvement Project (SLIP) - an English language instructional program being developed at the Model Secondary School for the Deaf, Washington, D.C. The theme of this first lesson is the distinction between the simple present (e.g. He eats lunch every day.) and the present progressive (e.g. He is eating lunch right now). Significant gains in terms of ability to correct mistakes in usages of the two verb forms were found for three of the four tested students. Formats and activities which were most and least successful in terms of capturing student interest and/or helping students meet the objectives were identified. The instructional development team concluded that this language learning program is feasible for use in a school for the deaf. The test instruments used appear in the appendices. (Author/DEP)