Three Strategies for Teaching Grammar in

ESL
Posted on July 5, 2012 by Ixchell
Grammar can often be frustrating for ESL students, partly because many grammar texts contain
exercises that use the drill method with sample sentences out of context. While the drilling
method can be very helpful for students who are in beginning stages of learning English, it may
become difficult for more advanced students to apply the structures in their own writing. To help
students incorporate their newly learned grammar skills into their writing, teachers can ask
students to practice specific skills in a paragraph. As students re-write drafts, the teacher can ask
students to focus on another skill. This way, students will not feel overwhelmed or frustrated.

ESL student Mashari, reviews independently whenever he can

Showme has helped me to cut down on the time I spend lecturing on grammar structures in class.
With the Showme tutorials, students can watch at home what they do not understand. In class, I
can focus more on using the structures in context by asking students to write their own pieces. It
is not completely flipping the class, but it has made a huge improvement in the way I structure
my class sessions; they are no longer just grammar lectures with a bit of time to practice at the
end. I would like to share three strategies that I find successful in the ESL classroom.
First, it is important to collect errors unique to the cultural group(s) a teacher works with. For
example, Chinese students tend to have trouble with articles because their language may not
have a need for them, while Saudi and some Middle Eastern students tend to have difficulty with
Subject-Verb-Object order. As teachers collect work samples, it is wise to also make a list of all
the common errors. By using lists of these common errors, teachers can point them out to
students so that they become aware that they are incorrect. I normally explain a grammar
structure, and after the students have practiced it independently, I often make a list of errors
made by previous students and ask them to correct them. Error-correction helps some students
understand certain structures better. Creating Showme tutorials for common errors helps students
to review them independently.

Second, use a lot of self-talks. This means that as I correct an error on the board, I talk out the
steps: First, I check that my subject and verb are correct; then, I see that the pronoun is she
which is third person singular, and I see that this needs a third-person-singulars. I often ask
students to do this at the board along with self-talks. Because they are ESL students, they have to
internalize these steps. By speaking them out loud while they analyze, their brain has another
chance to remember the steps. Of course, the structure of self-talks will depend on the students
level. I have successfully done this with beginning, intermediate, and advanced English level
students, both children and adults. I model self-talks in my Showme tutorials and have noticed
that the students who watched them at home often use self-talks on their own in class.
Third, guided note-taking can help students who dont have the best note-taking habits or lack
note-taking experience. How does one take notes for grammar? In addition to what I post on the
board and students individual notes, I ask students to circle, underline, and draw arrows just as I
draw them on the board in their independent homework assignment. I have, over the years,
noticed that students who practice this will also do it on an exam, and those students tend to
score higher because they caught an error they made and erased it (this also takes years of
collecting samples). A teacher will also be able to easily see which students are struggling with a
concept because they will often circle or underline incorrectly. Note-taking helps to reinforce
students memories. The Showme tutorials often show my own underlining and circling which
helps encourage students to try out sample exercises the same way.
After all these strategies have been practiced by the students, I often show a video clip and ask
students to write a summary using specific structures from a unit (i.e. parallel structure, adverbs
of time, etc.). I like to use Mr. Bean clips or Wallace and Gromit. They are short, funny, and
usually have no complicated dialogue, so theyre ideal for any level (writing activities should be
tailored accordingly for beginning levels). Finally, this is what Showme has enabled me to do
more! I used to never find the time to show a video clip, but now that students get to review
common errors in my Showme tutorials, students look forward to writing those summaries! Who
wouldve thought? Many of my students used to groan whenever I mentioned a summary. With a
video clip, they have something concrete to write about and although the class writes about the
same clip, I end up with very original samples that students are proud of!

Jumbled Sentences
Purpose: Word Order / Review
Choose a number of sentences from the last few chapters (pages) that you have been working on
in class. Make sure to choose a nice mixture including adverbs of frequency, time signifiers,
adjectives and adverbs, as well as multiple clauses for more advanced classes. Type (or write on
the board) jumbled versions of the sentences and ask the students to reassemble them.
Variation:

If you are focusing on specific grammar points, have the students explain why certain words are
placed in certain places in a sentence.
continue reading below our video
What's Your Romantic Attachment Style? - Quiz
Play
0:00
/
0:00
Fullscreen
Example: If you are working on adverbs of frequency, ask students why 'often' is placed as it is
in the following negative sentence: 'He doesn't often go to the cinema.'
Finishing the Sentence
Purpose: Tense Review
Ask students to take a piece of paper out for a dictation. Ask students to finish the sentences that
you begin. Students should complete the sentence you begin in a logical manner. It's best if you
use connecting words to show cause and effect, conditional sentences are also a good idea.
Examples:
I like watching television because...
Despite the cold weather,...
If I were you,...
I wish he...
Listening for Mistakes
Purpose: Improving Students' Listening Abilities / Review
Make up a story on the spot (or read something you have at hand). Tell students that they will
hear a few grammatical errors during the story. Ask them to raise their hand when they hear an
error made and correct the errors. Intentionally introduce errors into the story, but read the story
as if the errors were perfectly correct.
Variation:
Have students write down the mistakes you make and check the mistakes as a class when
finished.

Question Tag Interviews

Purpose: Focus on Auxiliary Verbs
Ask students to pair up with another student they feel they know reasonably well. Ask each
student to prepare a set of ten different questions using question tags about that person based on
what they know about him / her. Make the exercise more challenging by asking that each
question be in a different tense (or that five tenses are used, etc.). Ask students to respond with
short answers only.
Examples:
You're married, aren't you? - Yes, I am.
You came to school yesterday, didn't you? - Yes, I did.
You haven't been to Paris, have you? - No, I haven't.

Collect This Activity

set

See in set:
Got Grammar? 8 Fun Exercises
3.0 based on 9 ratings
By Jane Oh
Updated on Feb 22, 2013

In the late elementary grades, students are learning complex grammar that most adults can't quite
keep a handle on. Appositives? Clauses? Huh? But for young writers, knowing the nuts and bolts
can be a big step up. Here's a review of some common (and commonly confused) grammar
terms, as well as a quick activity to apply them to real life reading and writing.
What You Need:

Kids' magazines

Highlighter

Pen

Review:

A prepositional phrase, composed of a preposition (part of speech that shows relationship

between a noun or pronoun and another word, such as in, on, by, of, with, to, etc.) and its object,
shows relationships involving time, direction, or space. She left early in order to get to the store.
An appositive, a word or phrase that renames a noun or pronoun, adds information about a noun
but in a different way than do adjectives. Appositives are set apart by commas. Mr. Martinez, our
neighbor, is at the door.
An independent clause is also known as a primary, main, and principal clause. An independent
clause has a subject and verb, with the ability to stand alone as a sentence. Charles went to
dinner after he changed clothes.
A dependent clause, or subordinate clause, adds information to the sentence by acting as an
adjective, adverb, or noun, and is not able to stand alone as a sentence. Martha told us that her
book is missing.
Conjunctions link words, phrases, and whole clauses to each other such as, and, but, if, for, or,
so, yet, because, while, etc.
What You Do:
1. Review the definitions and examples of these terms with your child.
2. Then, focusing on only one term at a time, have your child look through
magazines to find examples of sentences demonstrating the term. It's not as
easy as it sounds
3. Have your child highlight the word or phrase in the sentence as well as to
record the correct term on a separate sheet of paper.
4. When she's finished, have her write a composition using the list of recorded
terms as a mad lib! For example, if she found a conjunction, an independent
clause, then an appositive, she might write: While Maria read the book that
Sean had given her, Rufus, the family dog, slept soundly on the floor.

By finding and identifying grammar structures, then using them in her own writing, your child
will be learning and applying these concepts on her own terms. Who knows, she may even teach
you a thing or two!

Jane Oh has taught third and fourth grades for 8 years. She has worked with many
diverse groups of students. Most recently, she has written teacher textbook guides.
Make Mix-and-Match Poetry Dice

Collect This Activity

set

See in set:
Got Grammar? 8 Fun Exercises
3.0 based on 23 ratings
By Melissa Koosmann

Updated on Jun 14, 2013

Confused about clauses? Turn a lesson about independent and dependent clauses into a fun, rainy
day game! These cute poetry dice are fun and simple to makeand they pack major educational
value. Remember: a clause is an expression that contains both a subject and predicate, but doesn't
necessarily express a complete thought. Independent clauses can stand on their own as whole
sentences, but dependent clauses cannot. Dependent clauses are headed by a word, called a
subordinating conjunction, that joins them to an independent clause. He'll mix and match
dependent clauses to independent ones, making silly sentences that get the concept of a clause to
stick.
What You Need:

Pencils

Paper

Permanent markers

4 or more plain wooden blocks with surfaces of at least 1.5 inches

List of common subordinating conjunctions (after as long as, though, when,

etc.)

What You Do:

1. Have your child make a list of at least twelve independent clauses (e.g. Tom
ate a baked potato). He should make them all past tense or all present
tense. Encourage him to make them as silly as he wants!
2. Now, have him make a list of at least twelve dependent clauses (e.g.
Because a bird flew over Mexico). They should all be in the same tense as
the independent clauses. Encourage him to work with the list of subordinating
clauses and use as many of them as possible.
3. Check to make sure that all of the dependent clauses are really clauses and
not just phrases. He'll probably be able to do this himself with fairly good
accuracy by covering up the subordinating conjunction and reading the rest.
Does it sound like a complete sentence? If not, ask him to cross it out and
write a new clause.
4. Help him transcribe the independent clauses onto two of the blocks. First
write the clauses lightly in pencil first to make sure they fit. Then write over
them with the permanent marker.

5. Next, invite him to transcribe dependent clauses onto two of the blocks. Make
sure he doesnt mix dependent and independent clauses on a single block.
The poetry dice wont work if two dependent clauses come up at once.
6. Roll one independent clause die and one dependent clause die at a time, and
read the combination that results. If youre working with more than one child,
encourage them to combine their sets of dice. The more possibilities you
have, the sillier the combinations are likely to be!

ou've packed up the kids, jackets, water bottles, tchotkes and all, and you're off for a special
afternoon. Maybe you'll see a park; maybe a museum; maybe a special friend. Whatever it is,
you know it will be fun, and you'll want to keep some memories. You might even want to send a
few along, perhaps in a letter to a relative, or a thank you to a host. Here's a creative way to do
it...while helping your second grader with some classic parts of the curriculum this year!
What You Need:

Camera

Pencil or pens

Booklet Paper

What You Do:

1. Next time your child goes somewhere enjoyableto the park, or on a day trip
to a museum, explain that to add to the fun, you're going to collect words for
what you see, hear, and feel. On the trip there, you have a perfect chance to
review what we call some different kinds of words in our written language:
nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs. Second graders are studying all of them
this year, and if you get a "we already know that!" go ahead and applaud;
that's great news!
2. As you're traveling, it helps to review these fundamental parts of speech,
even if your child feels pretty confident. Heres a list, and a brief description
to get you going:

Nouns: a person, place, thing (there are common nouns, which are not
capitalized, and there are proper nouns, which are capitalized because they
are names of people, places, or things). For example: cat, day, sound, coffee,
bone, book (common nouns)

Verbs: action words. For example: run, read, eat, skipping, jogged, loved,
thought

Adjectives: describing words. For example: green, round, shiny, tall, old,
woodenbug

Adverbs: words that describe verbs (many end in ly) For example: quickly,
busily, happily, angrily

3. When you get to your destination, do like any typical tourist: take some
pictures! Enjoy everything about your experience!

4. Then, on the way home or later that day, make your "Parts of Speech Travel Guide" for today. Have your
child write the chosen part of speech vertically, in all capital letters, down the left side of the paper, as
shown.

5. Now have your child create an acrostic poem about this word, using only words that are that particular part
of speech. This means that for the first line, she will need to think of a noun that starts with the letter n,
such as nest, net, or noodle. She writes her noun beside the capital letter N, and uses the capital N as the
first letter. Then she goes on to the next line, and thinks of a noun that begins with the letter o, such as
octopus, octagon, or ox. She continues in this way until all the vertical letters have been used.

6. Have her reread her NOUN (or verb, or adjective etc.) acrostic poem. Ask her to explain what all the words
in the poem have in common. (They are all nouns, or they are all people, places, or things.)

7. Repeat for other parts of speech. Then, compile all the parts of speech pages into a stapled booklet with
your favorite trip photo on top. You'll have a creative, unique "travel guide" memory of today's experience
a book to keep or to send to a relative or as a thank you to a host. You have also given your child a
natural, memorable lesson in basics of language that she'll be using for the rest of her life. Not bad for one
day's excursion!

Proper Noun Gallery Walk Activity

Subjects

Arts & Humanities

--Language Arts

Grade

3-5

6-8

9-12

[facebookbadge]
Brief Description
A gallery walk activity helps reinforce the concept of proper nouns.
Objectives
Students will

learn to recognize proper nouns.

work together to use their knowledge to build lists of proper nouns.

Keywords
grammar, noun, proper noun, jigsaw, gallery walk
Materials Needed[shopmaterials]

large sheets of chart paper

markers or crayons of several different colors

Lesson Plan
A proper noun is a noun that names a specific person, place, or thing.
After introducing the concept and providing examples of proper nouns use this gallery walk
activity to help build/reinforce students' awareness of the concept.
Arrange students into groups of three or four. Provide each group with a different colored marker
or crayon. Post around the room large sheets of chart paper. Each sheet of paper should have at
the top one of the "Proper Noun Gallery Walk Activity Sheet Headings" listed below. Post the
same number of sheets as you have groups of students.
Nine sheets are listed below. If you only have six groups of students, eliminate some of the
headings.
-- You might combine State, Country, and City Names into one large category, "Place Names."
-- Or you might include eliminate Vehicle Names and include it among the proper noun
categories included under the "Other Proper Nouns" heading.

No matter how many headings you use, be sure to include one sheet of paper that is headed
"Other Proper Nouns." That will accommodate a wide variety of proper nouns not included in
other categories.
Proper Noun Gallery Walk Activity Sheet Headings

State Names

Country Names

City Names

Bodies of Water

Team Names

Company Names

Languages

Vehicle Names

Other Proper Nouns -- Do not give students any hints about what "other" proper nouns
might be listed there. Just see what they come up with. This sheet could capture a wide
variety of proper nouns, including days of the week, months of the year, holidays,
religions, names of special awards, club names, ship names, specific names of landmarks
and buildings, names of specific products

When groups are set, each with a different colored marker or crayon, assign each group to a
chart. Give students five minutes to write on the chart all the proper nouns they can come up
with that fit under that heading.
It might help if the first group at each chart writes closest to the top of the chart. Then each
subsequent group can add their lists under the previous group's list. That will make it easy if you
wish to tally each group's contributions at the end of the activity.
Also, to avoid confusion, You might want to have one member of each group serve as the
recorder for that group. Groups might change recorders from chart to chart so each student gets
an opportunity to write.
At the end of five minutes, have each group tally and record the number of proper nouns it wrote
and circle the number. Then have all groups shift to the next chart to their right. Give them five
minutes to review what the previous group has written and to add new proper nouns to that list.

At the end of five minutes, call time and have all groups tally their contributions and shift to the
next chart to their right. Continue until all groups have had five minutes to add to each chart.
Adding to some of the charts is likely to get progressively more difficult.
When the activity is complete, share each chart with all the students. Draw attention to errors,
clear up misconceptions, and reinforce rules for recognizing proper (vs. common) nouns. Adjust
the groups' tallies accordingly.
Pay a little extra attention to the chart with the "Other Proper Nouns" heading. Bring up any of
the categories of "other proper nouns" that students might have omitted. Did they include days of
the week, months of the year, holidays, religions, names of special awards, club names, ship
names, specific names of landmarks and buildings, names of specific products?
Let students tally the totals for each group to see which group came up with the most proper
nouns.
When completed, the activity should have clarified for students the concept of the proper noun.
Assessment
Provide students with a short quiz of ten statements that include a wide variety of proper nouns.
Some of the proper nouns should be properly capitalized and others should be erroneously
uncapitalized; in addition, some common nouns also might be erroneously capitalized. Have
students edit the statements so all proper nouns are capitalized and all common nouns are lower
case. Students should achieve a score of 90 percent or better on this activity.

Pair Editing

Subjects

Arts & Humanities

--Language Arts

Grade

3-5

6-8

[facebookbadge]
Brief Description
Students share their edits and then edit solo. Two humorous work sheets included.
Objectives
Students will

apply their knowledge of spelling, punctuation, and grammar as they read

and edit two humorous essays.

Keywords
edit, punctuation, grammar, spelling, humor
Materials Needed [shopmaterials]

pencils

copies of one or both work sheets included in this activity

Lesson Plan
This activity work sheet provides students with practice in thinking critically and, more
importantly, editing carefully. Provide students with a copy of the What's Up? Work Sheet.
Students should find at least 20 basic errors of spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Give students
10 to 15 minutes to complete the work sheet.
When students are done, arrange them into pairs. Each pair of students should review the work
sheet to "pair edit" it. They can compare the edits they made and identify the corrections that
should be made.
Gather the class to compare edits and to edit correctly.

You might copy the work sheet onto a transparency. Place the transparency on an
overhead projector and make the edits to the work sheet together. See the edits in
bold in the Assessment section below.

How did students do? With that editing completed, are they ready to do a second editing job?
Decide whether they should complete this work sheet individually or in pairs and then distribute

the Cold Water Clean work sheet. If they "pair edit," tell students they must agree on the
corrections they make because each partner will earn the same grade.
The Answer Key for the second work sheet can be found in the Assessment section below.
Assessment
Students will make at least 80 percent of the corrections on the assessment work sheet (#2).
ANSWERS
Corrections appear in bold type.
Work sheet #1 -- What's Up?
On Sunday morning, I sat down to breakfast with my mother. "You know, there's/there is
something I've been thinking about," I told her. "I've been thinking about how much trouble one
little word can cause."
"What are you talking about?" my mother asked.
"Well, think about it," I said. "It's easy to understand the word up when it means toward
the sky or at the top of the list, but why do we wake up in the morning? In school, why does a
topic come up? Why do I have to read up on the Civil War? Why is it up to me to remember to
do my homework?"
"I see what you mean," my mother said. "I just was reading that the mayor is up for
election. When I get to work, I have to write up a report."
"We call up our friends; we warm up the leftovers; and we clean up the kitchen," I laughed.
[delete end quotation mark that was after laughed."] "We lock up the house. I hate getting
dressed up. We open up a drain that is stopped up. It clouds up, then it clears up. Then we fix up
the old car."
"You sound really fed up," my mother chuckled. "Or are you just mixed up?"
"I looked up the word up in Webster's Dictionary and it took up a whole column!" I said,
almost ready to lose it. "I think it's time to speak up!"
"Don't go and stir up trouble," my mother said. "You don't want to wind up with a bigger
problem, do you?"
"You're right," I said. "All this thinking has really helped me work up an appetite though.
May I have some more eggs?"
"Coming right up!" my mother said.
Work sheet #2 - Cold Water Clean
Corrections are noted in bold type:
The sun woke up Rob early in the morning. It was so good to be back in the small Ohio
town where he grew/had grown up. He was eager to spend some time with his 87-year-old
grandfather in the family's cabin at Lagoon Lake, so he hopped out of bed. Grandfather was just
beginning to cook breakfast. "Yum! I smell bacon and eggs!" Rob said.

As Rob held out his plate to be served, he saw a film-like substance on his plate. "Is this
plate clean?" he asked his grandfather.[delete the end quotation mark that was after
grandfather."]
"That plate is as clean as cold water can get it," his grandfather said. "Go on and finish
your meal."
That afternoon, while eating burgers for lunch, Rob saw tiny specks around the edge of his
plate. It looked like there was dried egg on the plate too. "Are you sure this plate is clean?" he
asked his grandfather.
Without looking up from his burger, grandfather said, "I told you before, that dish is as
clean as cold water can get it. Now don't ask me about it anymore!"
Later that afternoon, as Rob was on his way out to get the newspaper, the dog started to
growl. The old dog wouldn't let Rob out the door. "Grandfather, your dog won't let me out,"
Rob complained.
Without looking away from the football game on TV, grandfather shouted, "Come here,
Coldwater. Come here, boy!"
Lesson Plan Source
Education World
Submitted By
Gary Hopkins
National Standards
LANGUAGE ARTS: English
GRADES K - 12
NL-ENG.K-12.2 Reading for Understanding
NL-ENG.K-12.3 Evaluation Strategies
NL-ENG.K-12.4 Communication Skills
NL-ENG.K-12.12 Applying Language Skills
Click to return to this week's lesson planning theme page, Teaching Grammar Without the
Hammer: Five Fun Activities.

Brief Description

A fun activity reinforces synonyms and builds vocabulary skills.

Objectives
Students will

follow directions.

reinforce awareness and knowledge of synonyms.

build vocabulary skills.

Keywords
synonym, vocabulary, game, antonym, opposite, foreign language
Materials Needed[shopmaterials]

index cards

synonym word lists (see below)

Lesson Plan
Before the Lesson
This fun activity requires advance preparation of a deck of cards. You'll need one card for each
student and one for yourself. The prep is simple:

Make a list of synonym word pairs that are appropriate for your grade level. Examples:
sad and unhappy
mistake and error
sleepy and drowsy
perhaps and maybe
A thesaurus is a great and easy source for finding grade-appropriate synonym pairs.
You'll find two lists below, one for use with students in grades 2 to 4 and the other for use
in grades 5 and up.

Use a blue marker to write on blank index cards or 3- x 5 paper the first word in one of
the synonym pairs. (For example, write sad on the first card, mistake on the second card,
sleepy on the third card) Keep the cards in order.

Use a red marker to write on the back of the first card the second word in the second
synonym pair on your list (error). Continue by writing, in sequence, the second words in
each synonym pair. So, on the back of mistake is drowsy; on the back of sleepy is maybe.

On the last card, write the second synonym in the first word pair on the list -- in the
example above, it would be unhappy.
Now you're ready to play the game!
The Lesson
Mix up the cards and distribute them to students, one card per student -- don't forget one
for yourself. Have students look at the blue word on the card they hold. Start the game by
showing and calling out the red word on your card. The students must look at their cards
to see who has the blue word that is a synonym for the word you call out. That student
should call out the synonym.

For example, if you show and call out the word error, the student who is holding
the blue word that is a synonym for error -- in this example, mistake -- must call
out that word.
Then, the student holding the card on which was written the synonym for your card
(mistake) flips over his or her card and reads the red word (drowsy) on the back. Students
look at their cards to see if they hold the blue word that is a synonym for drowsy. The
game continues until you have gone all the way through the deck of cards.
Variations on the Game
o Time students to see how long it takes them to complete the game. When the
game is finished, collect the cards and redistribute them so students have a
different card than the one they held in the first game. Play the game again. Try to
beat the time it took to play the first round.
o Prepare several decks of cards and play the game with different sets of synonyms.
o Make the game more challenging by selecting difficult synonym pairs.
o Play the same game using antonyms (opposites).
o Play the game using words and their definitions.
o Play the game using foreign language synonyms; or foreign language verbs and
their English meanings.
Sample Synonym Pairs Use a thesaurus to create a grade-appropriate list of synonyms.

You might use an online thesaurus. In addition, some versions of Microsoft Word
have their own easy-to-use thesaurus. Simply click Tools in the menu bar, then
choose Spelling and Grammar, and Language.
I used a thesaurus to create the synonym lists below. The first list might be appropriate to
use at grades 2-4.
center, middle

damp, wet

hurry, rush

gaze, stare

hear, listen

lost, missing

lump, chunk

odd, strange

stop, halt

paw, foot

paste, glue

present, gift

quick, fast

get, receive

funny, silly

sad, unhappy

small, little

smile, grin

stay, wait

stream, creek

tow, pull

pick, choose

lid, cover

neighborhood, community

big, large

harm, hurt

fire, blaze

fight, battle

hate, dislike

crash, smash

This list might be appropriate to use at grades 5 and up.

disappear, vanish

caution, care

petty, unimportant

copy, duplicate

danger, hazard

distribute, dispense

divide, separate

hesitant, indecisive

inappropriate, improper

poison, toxin

ponder, contemplate

prison, penitentiary

substitute, replacement

sudden, unexpected

tough, rugged

weaken, undermine

veer, swerve

natural, organic

inspect, examine

insult, offend

clench, squeeze

unprotected, vulnerable

courageous, valiant

categorize, classify

mission, assignment

liberty, freedom

restriction, limitation

traditional, customary

exaggerate, magnify

alternative, option

Assessment
Students will correctly identify the synonym word pairs.
- See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/04/lp33401.shtml#sthash.YNONxiE8.dpuf

Comments
Report Abusive or Spam Comment

Search
Search

<SCRIPT language='JavaScript1.1'
SRC="https://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/adj/N8197.8813EDUCATIONWORLD.COM/B942
0016.127988443;abr=!ie;sz=300x250;click=https://adclick.g.doubleclick.net/aclk?
sa=L&ai=BwOBReaz8VsVB4229gWVpKjoD8X30O4HAAAAEAEgq9HWEzgAWJW02I3cAmDhnLuFkBqyARZ3d3c
uZWR1Y2F0aW9ud29ybGQuY29tugEKMzAweDI1MF9hc8gBCdoBOGh0dHA6Ly93d3cu
ZWR1Y2F0aW9ud29ybGQuY29tL2FfbGVzc29uLzA0L2xwMzM0LTA0LnNodG1swAIC4AI
A6gIcLzEwODU4MjMvRVdfUmVjdGFuZ2xlLUxlc3NvbvgC9NEekAOwCZgD4AOoAwHQB
JBO4AQB0gUFEK2ZEWQBgGgBhbYBwDgBws&num=0&cid=5GihfvwIjhIu0fqssZ9stphr&sig=AOD64_0d_
UMJjL9tjZ2cGVWZ3_NT2y-nHw&client=ca-pub6495427293245861&adurl=;ord=436471279;dc_lat=;dc_rdid=;tag_for_child_direct
ed_treatment=?"> </SCRIPT> <NOSCRIPT> <A
HREF="https://adclick.g.doubleclick.net/aclk?sa=L&ai=BwOBReaz8VsVB4229gWVpKjoD8X30O4HAAAAEAEgq9HWEzgAWJW02I3cAmDhnLuFkBqyARZ3d3c

uZWR1Y2F0aW9ud29ybGQuY29tugEKMzAweDI1MF9hc8gBCdoBOGh0dHA6Ly93d3cu
ZWR1Y2F0aW9ud29ybGQuY29tL2FfbGVzc29uLzA0L2xwMzM0LTA0LnNodG1swAIC4AI
A6gIcLzEwODU4MjMvRVdfUmVjdGFuZ2xlLUxlc3NvbvgC9NEekAOwCZgD4AOoAwHQB
JBO4AQB0gUFEK2ZEWQBgGgBhbYBwDgBws&num=0&cid=5GihfvwIjhIu0fqssZ9stphr&sig=AOD64_0d_
UMJjL9tjZ2cGVWZ3_NT2y-nHw&client=ca-pub6495427293245861&adurl=https://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/jump/N8197.8813EDUCA
TIONWORLD.COM/B9420016.127988443;abr=!ie4;abr=!
ie5;sz=300x250;ord=436471279?"> <IMG
SRC="https://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/ad/N8197.8813EDUCATIONWORLD.COM/B942
0016.127988443;abr=!ie4;abr=!
ie5;sz=300x250;ord=436471279;dc_lat=;dc_rdid=;tag_for_child_directed_treatment
=?" BORDER=0 WIDTH=300 HEIGHT=250 ALT="Advertisement"></A>
</NOSCRIPT>

Subjects

Arts & Humanities

--Language Arts
--Theater Arts

Grade

3-5

6-8

[facebookbadge]
Brief Description
Verbs and adverbs take center stage in this lively activity.
Objectives

Students will

silently act out a variety of verbs and adverbs.

Keywords
verb, adverb, grammar, pantomime, drama, acting, theater
Materials Needed [shopmaterials]

a stack of cards labeled with verbs (sample list provided)

a stack of cards labeled with adverbs (sample list provided)

Lesson Plan
This lively activity will reinforce the concepts of verb and adverbs.
Before the Lesson
Create two sets of cards; each set should be on a different colored paper. Make at least one card
per student in each color. Index cards or paper cut to 3 x 5 inches works well.

Create a set of verb cards on cards of one color, at least one verb card per student. (See a
sample verb list at the bottom of this section.)

Create a set of adverb cards on cards of another color. (See a sample adverb list at the
bottom of this section.)

Stack the verb cards upside down in one pile; stack the adverb cards in another pile.

The Lesson
This game can be played as a whole class or with the class divided into teams. (See team
instructions below.) One at a time, have each student come up to the front of the class and draw a
card from the stack of verb cards. Then the student must act out, or "pantomime," the word on
the card.
The other students call out the word the student is acting out. The first person to call out the
correct verb earns 1 point.
Then the same student who pantomimed the verb chooses and then acts out the word on his or
her adverb card. The student must act it out as it relates to the verb that was just pantomimed.
As the student pantomimes his or her verb/adverb combination, others call out guesses for the
adverb. When somebody guesses the correct adverb, that person earns 2 points.

Use this activity to instruct students about the role of adverbs: Adverbs modify or limit the action
(verb) that is taking place in a sentence; adverbs provide more specific information about how
that action is being carried out. For example, eating is an action everyone can visualize. But the
action of eating can be carried out in many different ways. Eating swiftly creates a very different
visual image than the image you get of someone eating thoughtfully or noisily or greedily Each
of those adverbs modifies the verb eating in a different way.
Part of the fun of this game is that the verb-adverb combinations students draw from the stacks
of cards don't always fit together. For example, a student might have to act out eat suspiciously
or scream calmly.
Playing the Game in Teams
Students also can play the game in two or more teams. If playing in teams, you will want to
alternate students, calling one student from each team before calling a second student from any
team. You might give each student's team the first chance to guess the verb and adverb he or she
is acting out. If a teammate does not guess the word by the end of a set time limit, then anyone
on another team can call out the word and win those points.
Verb List
Following is a list of verbs that might be included in your set of cards. This list is only a "starter"
list. Feel free to add to it or subtract from it:
argue

attack

carry

celebrate

clean

climb

count

cry

cut

dig

drink

drive

drop

eat

enjoy

examine

fall

fight

fold

grab

jump

kick

kiss

knock

laugh

lead

leave

listen

open

paint

perform

play

point

pray

run

scream

search

shout

shake

shut

sing

sleep

speak

step

study

sweep

talk

taste

teach

think

threaten

throw

touch

walk

wash

wave

wipe

work

worry

write

Adverb List
Following is a list of adverbs that might be included in your set of cards. This list is only a
"starter" list. Feel free to add to it or subtract from it:

accidentally

angrily

anxiously

badly

blindly

bravely

briefly

busily

calmly

carelessly

cautiously

courageously

doubtfully

easily

elegantly

enthusiastically

fiercely

foolishly

frantically

gently

gladly

gracefully

greedily

happily

hastily

hungrily

innocently

inquisitively

lazily

loudly

madly

merrily

mysteriously

neatly

nervously

noisily

obnoxiously

politely

quickly

quietly

rapidly

recklessly

reluctantly

rudely

sadly

selfishly

seriously

shyly

silently

sleepily

slowly

solemnly

speedily

suspiciously

swiftly

thoughtfully

victoriously

violently

wearily

wildly

Added Note
You will also want to take time to introduce the idea that adverbs -- words that modify (or
qualify or limit verbs) do not always end in the suffix ly. The following words are among the
most common adverbs that do not end in ly.
afterwards

almost

even

far

fast

less

more

never

not

often

seldom

soon

tomorrow

too

very

well

Assessment
Given ten sentences, students will circle correctly the adverb(s) in each sentence.
- See more at: http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/04/lp33402.shtml#sthash.pFcAaFvg.dpuf

Many parents are faced with a crisis when their fifth-grader hands them a three-page essay that's
full of mechanical errors. Where to begin? To help your child refresh his knowledge of grammar,
try the CUPS strategy. CUPS, which stands for Capitalization, Usage, Punctuation, and Spelling,
is a useful tool when helping your student edit a writing piece. Plus, it's an activity you can do
together!
What You Need:

Rough draft of writing piece (2 copies)

Permanent markers

What You Do:

1. On a separate sheet of paper, write the following acronym, with each letter written in a
different color:
C ___
U ___
P ___
S ___
2. Begin with C. Scan your child's essay together (each with your own copy)
looking only for capitalization errors. Make corrections in the C color. Once
all capitalization errors have been identified and corrected, put a check next
to the C.
3. Move on to U. Follow the same process, but have the student read the
writing piece aloud. If there are errors, ask, Does that sound right? Did you
use the correct words? How can you make it sound better?" Make corrections
in the U color and put a check next to the U.
4. Follow the same process for P and S. Use corresponding colors when
fixing punctuation and spelling errors.

CUPS is a useful strategy for helping your child become an independent writer. It is a quick
acronym students can jot down at the bottom of any piece of writing to help narrow their focus
when making corrections. In this way, revising and editing are made simple and the steps are
easy to remember C-U-P-S!