Help with a verb sentence riddle/challenge my 8th grader was given by his teacher

[lisareneeo]

Oopps I am sorry. We have had sooooo much snow here my mind has been on that.

There was no answer. The teacher gave this challenge to get the kids to realize all sentences must have a helping verb when there is an "ing" verb in a sentence.

Don't think that was very nice of the teacher....that is a whole another story...
Anyway...now we know (or I think we already did)

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

OK, I'm a full-fledged grammar nazi and even I'm having trouble with this one! I'll have to ask DH when he gets home...he's even worse than I am with his grammar nazi-ism...

I'm going to go on a limb here...

since this is a riddle--the whole idea behind riddles is to stump those who are being riddled with something that has a simplistic and unexpected answer.

If the directions in the OP are as written, I'm thinking the son is hung up on the fact that it must be a word that ends in ING as an added ending--i..e
helping
going
running


And I do feel the answer probably contains a verb that in its root form already ends in ING. But it seems in the update---the teacher didn't even go that far. What a waste of a riddle. And what a waste of a lesson since there are verbs that end in ING that do not require helping verbs: Swing, Ring, Wring, etc. It is when you ADD ING of course that a helping verb is required.

 

[Slippy]

I'll expect a letter of resignation from the teacher in my in-box tomorrow.

Not well executed on her part, methinks. What a way to turn off minds to probblem solving, critical thinking, and imagination. >sigh<

Never mind the fact that she is clearly WRONG ("Swing!")

 

[PollyannaMom]

....What a way to turn off minds to probblem solving, critical thinking, and imagination. >sigh<....

Exactly!

 

[Patricia]

Another teacher who has no idea the havoc this type of thing causes in a diligent student. My oldest two would have been suicidal about this! Thoughtless. Having taught English for 20 years, I sympathize with her plight of wanting them to remember the important grammar rules. However, to put the kids through this... not necessary.

 

[rie'smom]

She ought to have the kids look up the synonym for idiot. Her name would be the answer.