Lesson Activity: Introductory lesson on comparative and superlative adjectives (Day 1)

Lesson: Taught to ELL students in the small-group setting

1. Introduce the lesson by explaining to students that they will be
learning a new grammar rule today. Explain to them that this is a
mystery rule, and they are going to have to use the examples
provided to investigate and figure out the rule.
2. Have a t-chart on the small-group table, but do not have labels
on the top. Introduce the examples one by one, discussing how
the underlined word changes in each example and why it might
change.
a. Example: Place Rey is taller than Diego on one side
and Xavier is the tallest of the boys in our class. Ask
students, what do you notice is different about the base
word tall in these two examples. What else do you notice
is different about these two sentences? Allow students to
share their ideas. Continue placing examples, asking
questions to guide students to discover the rule. Other
examples include: Emely is nicer than her brother. Some
students think Emely is the nicest student in our class.
Cayenne is faster than Cierra. Clara is the fastest runner
in the entire school!
3. After progressing through examples, ask students, do you think
you have figured out the mystery rule? Lets look at just this
column (point to the comparative column) What did you notice
here? Do the same thing for the superlative column, writing
down student responses on another piece of chart paper beside
the examples.
4. Explain to students that they were able to figure out the mystery
rule. Introduce the names of the two different types of adjectives.
Comparative and Superlative. Be sure to point out that
comparitve adjectives are used to compare two things and you
attach er to the base word. Superlative adjectives are used to
compare one person or thing to every member of a group and
you attach est to the base word. Have students write the t-chart
into their grammar toolkits. Create examples of each together.
5. Next, have students work on a comparative/superlative
worksheet. At first, students are underlining the comparative and
superlative adjective and identifying which one it is and
explaining why. (You may choose to do this using the GRR
depending on level of students)

6. Students will also practice changing a comparative adjective to a

superlative and vice-versa.
7. Now, show students the comparative/superlative T-chart on the
Smartboard. Students will get a chance to 1-by-1 come up to the
Smartboard and drag the provided sentence to the correct
category and explain why.
8. Before moving on to the context of reading, provide pairs of
students with a conversational dialogue with partner A and
partner B lines. Read throught the lines together as a group,
discussing any unfamiliar words. The partners will read through
the conversation and practice reading it and saying it together.
Sample:
Partner A: My sister and I were racing yesterday, and I
totally creamed her. I am faster than my sister.
Partner B: Oh yea, well I bet that I am faster than you.
Partner A: Impossible. Coach M, our P.E teacher, told me
that I am probably the fastest kid in the grade.
Partner B: Well that may be true. But you arent in my
grade. Guess what?! Coach M told me that I am the fastest
kid in the school!
Partner A: I dont believe it. We have to have a race so
that I can prove I am faster than you.
Partner B: Lets have every one race so that I can prove I
am faster than you and that I am the fastest kid in the
school!
Partner A: Its on!
9. After reading the conversation orally and practicing with the
different kinds of adjectives, show students that they are going
to work with their partner to identify the comparative and
superlative adjectives in the conversation. Explain to them that
they will use a pink highlighter to highlight comparative and a
yellow highlighter to highlight superlative adjectives. Model how
to do one, thinking aloud. Then, allow students to finish the rest
with their partner. Walk around and assist if needed.
10.
Next, provide students with the text, Pig, Pigger, Piggest
by Rick Walton. Read the book together, hunting for examples of
comparative and superlative adjectives. Make a list together of
everything found.
11.
To close the lesson, have students write a story that
includes at least 2 comparative and superlative adjectives. Ask
students, think about what you could write about that you can
compare things. Do you have any ideas? Allow students to share
their ideas with the group. Then allow students to begin writing.
12.
After students are finished writing, have them switch with a
partner. Their partner should identify the comparative adjectives

used in pink highlighter and the superlative in yellow. Share

some examples
13.
End by having students share what comparative and
superlative adjectives are in their own words, sharing examples
of each.