grammar activities - grade 2 & 3

8/10/2019 Grammar Activities - Grade 2 & 3

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Dozens of Activities With Engaging Reproducibles ThatKids Will Love...From Creative Teachers Across the Country

BY JOAN N OVELLI

GrammarGrammar


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Scholastic Inc. grants teachers permission to photocopy the designated reproducible pages from this book for classroom use.No other part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in

any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of thepublisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

Produced by Joan NovelliCover and interior design by Holly GrundonCover and interior art by Paige Billin-Frye

ISBN 0-439-35529-x

Copyright 2002 by Joan NovelliAll rights reserved.

Printed in the U.S.A.Published by Scholastic Inc.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 40 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02

Thanks to the educators who contributed material for this book: Karen K. Bjork, Jackie Clarke,Cynthia Faughnan, Maryanne Frawley, Paula W. Hotard, Lyn MacBruce, Emily A. Olesch,Janice Reutter, Charlotte Sassman, Wendy Weiner, Judy Wetzel, Wendy Wise-Borg, and

Janet Worthington-Samo.


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C O N T E N T S

About This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Whats My Noun? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Literature Link: A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink . . . 6

Rhyming People, Places, Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Literature Link: The Letters Are Lost . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Letters on the Move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Take-Home Activity: Noun-a-Morphs . . . . . . . . . . 8

Word-Building Inventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Nouns for Math Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Noun Walk-Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Alphabet Countdown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Pronoun Bingo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Advertising Adjectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Adjective Detectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Literature Link: Juba This and Juba That . . . . . . 12Interactive Morning Message: I Spy Adjectives . . 13

Literature Link: I Spy Super Challenger . . . . . . . . 13

Adjective Olympics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Literature Link: Hairy, Scary, Ordinary . . . . . . . . 14

Im an Adjective! Mini-Thesaurus . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Colorful Caterpillars Grow Long . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Adjectives About Me . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Dunk, Dive, Slide! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Literature Link: To Root, to Toot, to Parachute . . . 17

Take-Home Activity: Clap, Wiggle, Stomp . . . . . . 18


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C O N T E N T S

Actions With Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Action Name Tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Fishing for Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20When? Where? How? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

The - ly Walk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Grammar-Gories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Flipping Over Parts of Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Cut-and-Paste Parts of Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Funny Fill-Ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Double-Agent Words . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Stand-Up Sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Our Absolutely Awesome Alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Literature Link: The Absolutely Awful Alphabet . . 27

Mustnt, Dont, Wont . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Animal Cracker Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Proofreading Like Pros . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Beanillionaire Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

If, And, But . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Connect Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Punctuation Bounce . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Literature Link: Bing Bang Boing . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Quiet Quotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Comic Captions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Macaroni Marks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Reproducible Activity Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3447


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hoever heard of having fun learning the rules oflanguage? Well, with games like Beanillionaire andPunctuation Bounce, your students will be eager to

master the skills that lead to correct writing and speaking.This book features both of these games (see pages 29 and31), along with dozens of other activities and tips that willenliven grammar lessons and motivate students to learnpunctuation, mechanics, sentence structure, and more.

The activities in this book are designed to help studentsgrow in confidence and skill as writers and speakers. Tosupport your instructional goals, the activities are alignedwith the standards outlined by the Mid-Continent RegionalEducational Laboratory (MCREL), an organization that collects and synthesizesnoteworthy national and state K12 curriculum standards. These standards suggestthat students in grades 2 and 3 use the following grammatical conventions in theirwriting: various sentence types; nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs; and conven-tions of capitalization and punctuation.

This book can help you provide instruction in those areas through activities thatconnect with other curriculum areas and tap into the many ways students learn.For example, Adjective Detectives puts a scientific spin on language lessons asstudents use attributes to try to identify the hidden object in a sock. (See page 12.)

In Noun Walk-Around, students explore parts of speech in the world around them.(See page 10.) And in Punctuation Bounce, a ball gives students a hands-on lessonin using end punctuation and capital letters. (See page 31.) Other features include:

8 ideas from teachers around thecountry

8 activities that correlate with thelanguage arts standards

8 lots of reproducible activity pages,including poetry, games, graphicorganizers, mini-books, and more

8 literature connections8 multiple-intelligence links, with

suggestions for integrating art,writing, movement, and music

8 strategies for second-languagelearners

8 test-taking and assessment tips8 suggestions for interactive morning

messages

8 take-home activities to involvefamilies in student learning

8 and many more activities thatinvolve kids in moving, writing,speaking, collaborating, creating,thinking, playing, and more, asthey strengthen grammar skills!

5

About This Book

W


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Whats My Noun?This guessing game gets children writing and guessing asthey identify nouns by examining attributes.

8 Write Whats My Noun? at the top of a sheet of chart paper or awhite board. Cut a slit in the top of a shoe box and place it next tothe display.

8 Write various nouns on slips of paper and place the papers in abag. Or, for a more concrete version, place actual objects in a bag.

8 Invite a child to choose a noun from the bag and then describe it(without naming it) on the chart paper or white board. For example,

the child might describe the nouns shape, color, and size, and tell,what its used for.

8 Have students guess the noun, write it on a slip of paper, and placeit in the box. At a designated time, let the child who created the listread students guesses and reveal the noun.

8 Repeat daily to give additional children a chance to describe nounsfor the class and to let students become more skilled at identifyingspecific nounsfor example, basketball instead of ball.

Maryanne FrawleyAmery, Wisconsin

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TIP For a partnerversion of this

activity, letchildren choosea noun todescribe. Thenpair up childrenand let themmake and tradelists of wordsthat describetheir secretnouns. Can theyguess eachothers nouns?

A Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink: What Is

a Noun?by Brian Cleary (Carolrhoda Books, 2000)Hill is a noun. Mill is a noun. Even Uncle Phil is a noun. Rhymingtext and lively illustrations zip readers along in this out-of-the-ordinary lesson on nouns. Children will have fun substituting theirown words for those in the book to learn more about nouns andmake new rhymes.

Li t e r a t u re LINK


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Rhyming People, Places, ThingsLet children draw inspira-tion from Brian Clearys A

Mink, a Fink, a Skating Rink: What Is a Noun? tocreate their own sets ofrhyming nouns. Thewordplay is pure fun, butstudents will get plentyof practice with word

choice, too.

A fter sharing the book,invite students tobrainstorm nouns thatrhyme. How about a home, adome, and a gnome from Rome? After sharingsome ideas, give students copies of page 34. Have them completeeach set of rhyming nouns by filling in the blanks. Then invite them tomake up their own sets of rhyming nouns. A rhyming dictionary willcome in handy and help broaden students thinking about their wordchoices. (See Tip, right.) Have students choose three or more rhyming

nouns and then write their words on drawing paper and add illustra-tions. Put the pages together to make a book, or use them to create acolorful collaborative banner that wraps around the room.

TIP Find morethan 15,000words in The

Scholastic Rhyming Dictionar y,by Sue Young(Scholastic,1999), a kid-friendly resourceorganized byvowel soundsand finalsyllables.

7

The Letters Are Lostby Lisa Campbell Ernst (Viking Penguin, 1996)In a book about lost letters, A is discovered in an airplane and Bin a bath. C joined a family of Cows. D was a Dogs tasty treat.Use the book to highlight nouns. (For each letter of the alphabet,the noun in the sentence is capitalized.) Then get ready for morewith the books ending: The letters are together again but not forlong. Can readers guess where theyre going?



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Letters on the MoveStudents write a sequel to a clever alphabet book to put aplayful twist on what they know about parts of speech.

S hare The Letters Are Lost. (See page 7.) After reading the ending,let students guess where the letters are off to now. Write eachletter of the alphabet on a slip of paper and place them in a bag.Have children randomly choose a letter to write about in an innovationon the book. Students can use the book as a model for sentencestructure and illustration (alphabet-block-style art).

Take-Home Activity:Noun-a-MorphsChildren learn that nouns namepeople, places, and things, butthings get tricky when it comes tocapitalization. Try this morphingactivity to have fun learning the

difference between common nounsand proper nouns.

8 Invite children to share what they know about nouns. Let themlook around the room and take turns naming some nouns. Helpstudents recognize that nouns name people, places, and things.

8 Review what students know about using capital letters. If you use amorning message, have students identify words with capital lettersand the kinds of nouns these words name. For example, the datenames a thing, your signature names a person, and so on. (Notethat using the morning message in this way is also an opportunityto point out other instances in which capital letters are used,including in greetings such as Good Morning, Boys and Girls.)

8 Give each child a copy of page 35. Ask children to share what theyknow about morphing, then explain that you want them to morph allthe words in the first column to make them proper nouns. Readthrough the words in the first column together, and review what theyhave in common. (Theyre all nouns. They dont have capital letters.)

8 Let children take home the pages and let their families help themmorph each noun to make a proper noun. When children returntheir papers to school, let them take turns sharing the words theychose and the letters they capitalized.8

TIP Children mayhave an easiertime identifyingnouns that areconcrete, such aschild or school.Help childrenrecognize thatsometimes a

noun can alsoname a thingthat is moreabstract, such asfriendship orexcitement.

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35

B e s t - E v e r A c t i v i t i e s f o r G r a d e s 2 3 : G r a m m a r S c h o l a s t i c P r o f e s s i o n a l B o o k s

TA K E - H O M E AC T IV IT Y Name

Dat e

No u n

P r o p e r No unaut hor Dr . Seussboy

g ir l

st r eet

day

mont h

book

c it y

st at e

c ount r y

No un- a- Mo r p hs Dear F amily ,W ere st udy ing par ts of speec h in c lass inc luding nouns and pr oper nouns.

T r y t his ac t iv it y w it h y our c hild t o t eac h about nouns t hat need c apit al let t er s.

T o complet e t he ac t iv it y , y our c hild needs t o mor ph eac h noun t o make it a

pr oper noun, t hen hig hlig ht eac h c apita l lett er.


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Word-BuildingInventions

This adventurous activity lets students putnouns together to design inventions.

W ork with students to create a list of nounson the chalkboard. Challenge students toput two or more words together to inventsomething newfor example, someone might putsky and bicycle together to create a skycycle , abike that is ridden in the sky instead of on the

ground. Invite students to sketch a design of theirinvention and describe in writing its purpose andbenefits. Provide time for sharing and comments.

Jackie ClarkeCicero ElementaryCicero, New York

Nouns for Math PracticeConnect math and grammar by letting students add nounsto their math word problems.

L ots of math worksheets have word problems that involvesomebody doing something. Somebody has apples to divideevenly among friends; somebody has money to buy candy andneeds to know how much is left over; somebody wants to save moneyfor something and needs to know how long it will take. Problemslike these are perfect for reinforcing parts of speechin particular,

nouns. Use a correction pen to white out any names, places, or thingsin the word problem. Let students read the problem and fill in wordsthat make sense. Theyll get practice capitalizing proper nouns andusing context to figure out where names for people, places, and thingsbelong.

9

A r t


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Noun Walk-AroundThis game lets students enjoy a walk outside as they noticeand name nouns.

8 Review the definition of a noun, then brainstorm a chartful of them. Ask students which of those nouns they might find on a walk around the school.

8 Give each student a small paper bag to take on a walk. It will behelpful for students to bring notepads or clipboards and pencils.

8 As they take their walk, have students notice objects aroundthemfor example, tiny stones, leaves on the ground, small sticks,

and pinecones. Before they put the objects in their bags, have them jot down a note about where they found itfor example, on theground next to a tree.

8 Back inside, have students take turns sharing their nouns. Spread outa large sheet of mural paper, and let students work together to createa mini-version of their walk. Have them glue their objects to thepaper, then add details such as trees, leaves, and paths.

8 To reinforce vocabulary, have students label the nouns in theirmural. They can continue to add labels as they notice and nameadditional details in their artwork.

Alphabet CountdownAfter studying nouns for a few days, try this timed activityto have some fun with nouns students know.

G ive each student a copy of the record sheet on page 36. Ask children how many nouns they think they can name in threeminutes (one for each letter of the alphabet). Let them maketheir guesses, then start the timer. At the end of three minutes, letstudents pair up and exchange papers. Have them put a star next towords they think are nouns and circle those they dont think are nouns.Have students take back their own papers and count the number of words that are nouns. If students can use as nouns any of the circledwords on their papers, award extra credit. Repeat the activity anotherday. Can students increase the number of nouns they name in threeminutes?

Cynthia FaughnanHartford Memorial Middle SchoolWhite River Junction, Vermont

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M o v e m e

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TIP For a challenge,add a rule:Students can useup to but nomore than threenouns from thesame categoryfor example, nomore than threenames, threeanimals, or threefruits.


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Pronoun BingoChildren put pronouns in their place with this variationon Bingo.

O n slips of paper, write sentences that contain pronouns. Includesubject ( I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they ), object ( me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them ), and possessive ( my, your, his, her, its,our, their, mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs ) pronouns. Give eachchild a copy of the Bingo board on page 37 and a handful of markers(such as dried beans). Write pronouns from the sentences on thechalkboard and have children copy the words on their boards, oneword per square. Randomly select a sentence from the bag and read it

aloud, leaving out a pronoun (inserting a pause in place of it). Havechildren listen carefully and decide if they have a pronoun that fits. If they have this word, have them put a marker on the square. Play untilsomeone has five squares filled in across, down, or diagonally.

Advertising AdjectivesStudents learn about words that describe nouns with anactivity that also reinforces consumer skills.

8 Invite students to bring in and share advertisements for favoriteproductsfor example, food they like, games, and sneakers. If possible, tape a few commercials to view with students, too.

8 Ask what all the materials have in common. Guide students torecognize that the ads try to get a person to buy something. Ask how the ads do it (by describing the product with lots of favorablewords). Explain that the describing words advertisers use are calledadjectives. They tell more about the product (a noun).

8 Have students identify adjectives from the ads. List them on chartpaper. Help students see that adjectives tell what kind, which one,or how many.

8 Let students develop their talent in this field of writing by creatingtheir own ads (or commercials) to sell a favorite toy or other prod-uct. (Students might like to work in groups for this.) Have themwrite an ad for the product and underline all the adjectives theyuse. Students can display print ads or perform commercials.

Janet Worthington-SamoSt. Clement SchoolJohnstown, Pennsylvania

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A C T I V I T Y P AG E Name

Dat e

P r o no un Bi ng o I y o u me y o u r m y m e

they h i m he r m i n e yours o u r s

o u r

i t s

w e

t h e m

i t

s h

e

h e

t h e

i r

w e

t h e

m

i t

s h e

f r e e s p a c e

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Adjective DetectivesStudents focus on word choice while stretching scienceskills with this interactive display.

H ave students bring in odd socks. Tack the socks to a bulletinboard, making sure theres one for each child, then have stu-dents choose a small object to hide in their socks. Give them alla chance to place the object in the sock without anyone looking. Makecopies of the Adjective Detectives form on page 38 and give one toeach child. Have children complete the form, writing three descriptiveclues about the object in their sock (such as size, shape, and color)and then filling in the name of the object in the space provided. Show

students how to make a flap to cover the name of the object by cuttinga small piece of paper to size, placing it over the name, then tapingonly the top edge. Let students visit the bulletin board to guess theirclassmates mystery objects. They can lift the flaps to self-check.

Paula W. HotardSt. Philomena SchoolLabadieville, Louisiana

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38

B e s

t - E v e r A c t

i v i t i e s

f o r

G r a

d e s

2 3 :

G r a

m m a r

S c

h o

l a s t

i c P r o

f e s s

i o n a

l B o o

k s

A C T I V IT Y PA G E

Na meDa te

Ad jec t i ve De t ec t i ve s

W ha ts i n m y soc k ?

Read t he clues a nd

t he n guess!

Clue 1

Clue 2

Clue 3

Li f t t he fla p to c hec k you r a ns w

e r.

Ta pe fla p he re.

Juba This and Juba Thatby Virginia Tashjian (Little, Brown, 1995)

This playful collection of stories, songs, chants, poems, rhymes,and riddles includes the irresistible What Did You Put in YourPocket? by Beatrice Schenk de Regniers. The poem begins Whatdid you put in your pocket/What did you put in your pocket/in

your pockety pockety pocket/Early Monday morning? The verserepeats for each day of the week, with an answer after each thatranges from slushy glushy pudding on Monday to a spinkyspanky handkerchief on Sunday. The refrain cumulatively repeatswhats in the pocket for each day of the week, so by the endstudents will be chiming in with a long list. For an innovation onthe poem that strengthens the use of adjectives, let students taketurns substituting something new for each day of the week.

Li t e r a t u re

LINK


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Interactive Morning Message:I Spy AdjectivesThe detail-packed I Spy books areperfect for exploring adjectives.This morning message lets childrengo further by writing their own miniI Spy adjective riddles.

Share I Spy Super Challenger . (Seebelow.) As children solve the riddles,

take time to identify adjectives. Guidechildren to notice numbers that tell howmany ( two snowmen), words that tell whatcolor (a brown-and-white dog), words thatdescribe sizes ( little glass heart), and so on.Display a picture from the book, along witha morning message that invites children todescribe something they spy. Have children write theirmini I Spy riddles on the morning message and sign their names.Take time at your morning meeting to let children solve theirclassmates riddles. Repeat the activity with other scenes fromthe book.

13

I Spy Super Challengerby Jean Marzollo and Walter Wick (Scholastic, 1997)

I Spy fans will recognize favorite pictures from previous I Spy

books, each with an all-new riddle. The scenes in this collectionare among the most complex, and the new riddles that go withthem challenge children to find some of the most difficultdetailsincluding plenty of objects to reinforce lessons onadjectives. A little blue duck, six red shoes, ballet slippers,a birthday candle, and chocolate sauce are just a few of theexamples students come across in their I Spy adventures.



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1s t P la ce in

Awa rd ed t o

on

Adjective OlympicsWhich student has the longest feet? Who can tell the

funniest joke? Whos the fastest runner? Whoswearing the most colorful socks? Who has thestrangest pet? Your students will make all sortsof interesting discoveries about their classmateswith this Olympic activity.

8 Make copies of the Adjective Olympics medalon page 39.

8 Brainstorm with students adjectives that coulddescribe something special about their classmates.These can be silly, strange, or serious (but alwayspositive).

8 Let students suggest a winner for first place ineach category. Then, let each student complete anddecorate a medal for another child; then hold anawards ceremony. Play some majestic musicbefore bringing students up one at a time to accepttheir medals.

Adapted from 25 Great Grammar Activities, by Bobbi

Katz (Scholastic, 1999).

14

Hairy, Scary, Ordinary: What Is anAdjective?by Brian J. Cleary (Carolrhoda, 2000)

Theyre colorful, like mauve and puce. They help explain, likelean and loose. Playful rhymes and whimsical illustrations whiskreaders from page to page to learn about adjectives. As anextension, reread the book and let students add on to each typeof adjective that is introducedfor example, adjectives thatdescribe or explain.



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Im an Adjective!Mini-ThesaurusThis mini-thesaurus gets students using referencebooks as they explore descriptive vocabulary.

G ive each student a copy of page 40. Have students foldthe pages to make a book. Invite children to think of adjectives that describe them, then record them on pages24 in the space provided. As a lesson in using a thesaurus,have students find and list synonyms for each adjective. To fol-low up, you might invite students to write descriptive para-

graphs about each other, using the words in the mini-thesaurus.

Colorful CaterpillarsGrow Long

This interactive display invites children to explore adjec-tives and adverbs as they create long, colorful caterpillars.

8 Make two copies of the caterpillar face pattern on page 41. Enlistchildrens help in cutting out additional ovals from constructionpaper.

8 After sharing a book with children, revisit a few sentences toidentify adjectives and adverbs. Let children name other adjectivesand adverbs on their own. Record some of their words on the ovals(one per oval). Gather students outside the classroom and put upthe start of the caterpillar displaystacking up one caterpillarface and adding on adjective ovals, then doing the same for theadverbs with the second caterpillar face. Add construction paperlegs, two per oval. Reread the words with children.

8 Continue to add to each caterpillar as students identify moreadjectives and adverbs in books they read. Can students make theircaterpillars stretch down the hall and around the corner? Passersbywill enjoy seeing all the words and learning some colorful wordchoices for their writing.

Wendy WeinerParkview Elementary SchoolMilwaukee, Wisconsin

40



Dat e Ad j ect i v e

S y non y ms

I m i n a t hes a urus ,Look a nd s ee! H ere a re s omea d j ect i v es T ha t t el l a b out me!

b y

1

A d j e c t i v e

S y n o n y m s

2

A d j e c t i v e

S y n o n y m s

3

4

15

TIP The ScholasticChildrensThesaurus, byJohn K. Bollard(Scholastic,1998), definessynonyms.Illustrationsprovide visualclues and

informationboxes invitechildrento learn more.

A r t


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Adjectives About MeStudents create self-portraits with words, learningmore about themselves and becoming more skilled atchoosing and using specific language.

A fter teaching adjectives, askchildren to name adjectivesthat describe themselves and/oreach other. Record suggestions onchart paper and display. Encouragechildren to be specific in their choices.Although nice might fit, strongerchoices might be helpful and cheerful .Give children copies of page 42. Havechildren complete each section todescribe themselves, then write theirname at the bottom and make a paperflap to cover it.

Lyn MacBruceRandolph Elementary SchoolRandolph, Vermont

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42

B e s

t - E v e r

A c t

i v i t i e s

f o r

G r a

d e s

2 3 : G r a

m m a r

S c

h o

l a s t

i c P r o

f e s s

i o n a

l B o o

k s

A C T I VIT Y

PA G E

Na meDa te

Ad jec t i ve s Abou t Me

I a m a bo y.

girl.

M y e yes a re

.

M y hai r is

.

I a m t ha n a

.

I a m t ha n a

.

I a m mo re t ha n a

.

I a m good a t.

I a m be t te r a t

.

I a m bes t a t

.

W ho a m I ? Ta pe fla p he re.

utting out pictures from magazines gives second-language learners a chanceto learn language skills through multiple approachesin this case, the activityprovides both a visual and hands-on learning experience. Start by giving stu-

dents a list of adjectives. Have them look for and cut out pictures that represent thesewords and then use them to create a collage. Have students copy the adjectives fromthe list on sticky notes and use them to label the adjectives in the picture. They canremove the words and repeat this part of the activity (and do the same with class-mates collages) to expand their vocabulary for and understanding of adjectives.For a more basic approach to this activity, start with an adjective such asred. Havechildren find pictures of things that are red and cut them out for their collages.

C

LanguageSECOND

LEARNERS

A r t

TIP These adjectiveself-portraitsmake greatdisplays atopen-school

night. Parentswill enjoy tryingto spot theirchildren byreading theadjectives theyused to describethemselves.


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Dunk, Dive, Slide!Students web sports verbs to practice using specificlanguage to describe actions.

T ake students outside or to another open space to play agame such as kickball or soccer. After theyve had plentyof action, bring them back to the classroom for somewordplay. Draw a large web on the chalkboard. Write thename of the game in the center. Invite students to suggestaction words that describe the game. Record these words onthe web. If students suggest words that are related to the gamebut are not verbs, guide them to make another choice. As a

followup, give students copies of the web template on page 43.Let them web action words that describe a favorite sport. (Studentscan draw inspiration from the sports pages, too.) Display webs ona bulletin board decorated with pictures of balls and other sportsequipment.

Wendy Wise-BorgRider UniversityLawrenceville, New Jersey

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To Root, to Toot, to Parachute:What Is a Verb?by Brian P. Cleary (Carolrhoda, 2001)

Verbs are words like sing and dance, pray or practice, preach orprance, toss and tumble, jump and jam, whine and whisper, sleepand slam. This fast-paced book introduces action words (alongwith other kinds of verbs), and will lead to lots of fun followupactivities. For example, have students add to the list of verbsabove, suggesting pairs of verbs that use alliterative language.How aboutleap and look, bake and beep, read and ride, swimand sweep?


TIP

For a variationon the sportswords web,invite studentsto think of afavorite activity.Have them writeabout it on asentence strip,

using verbs totell about theaction. Theninvite them todraw picturesof themselvesdoing theactivity.


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Take-Home Activity:Clap, Wiggle, Stomp

The familiar and favorite song If Youre Happy and YouKnow It invites students to come up with actions for newverseswhich means building their vocabulary of verbs.

8 Write the words to If Youre Happy and You Know It on chartpaper:

If youre happy and you know it, clap your hands,

If youre happy and you know it, clap your hands,

If youre happy and you know it, and you really wantto show it,

If youre happy and you know it, clap your hands.

8 Ask students what the action is in the song. ( clapping ) Underlinethe word clap each time it appears. Then sing the song togetherand let children join in on the action.

8 Since one time through wont be enough, ask children what otherverbs (or actions) they could substitute for clap . List their ideasfor example, stomp your feet, wave your hands, touch your toes,and jump up high and then sing the new verses.

8 Let children share theiraction-packed song athome. Give them copiesof page 44. In the spacesprovided, have studentsfill in the verbs (or verbphrases) for new verses.Can they and their familymembers think of otheractions? Take time to singthem in school.

TA K E- H O M E

A C TI VI T Y

44

B e s

t - E v e r

A c t

i v i t i e s f o r

G r a

d e s

2 3 : G r a

m m a r

S c

h o

l a s t

i c P r o

f e s s i o n a

l B o o

k s

Na meDa te

T R Y T HI S!Ca n you r fa mily t

hi n k o f a ne w ac tio n fo r t he so ng ?

W ri te i t he re. Si ng i t

toge t he r!

Dea r Fa milies,Music is a na tu ra

l wi t h c hild re n, a nd i n teg ra ti ng i t w

it h

s kills a nd co nce p ts i n o the r pa r ts o f

t he cu r riculu m ca n

hel p rein fo rce lea rning i n me mo rab

le wa ys. He res a n

ac tio n- pac ked so ng you ca n si ng w

it h you r c hild to

p rac tice ve rbs. Re pea t t he so ng to t

r y t he ne w ac tio ns

(lis ted belo w ).

I f You re Ha p p y a nd You K no w

I t

I f you re ha p p y a nd you k no w i t, c

la p you r ha nds,

I f you re ha p p y a nd you k no w it, c

la p you r ha nds,

If you re ha p p y a nd you k no w i t,

a nd you really wa n t to s ho w it,

I f you re ha p p y a nd you k no w i t, c

la p you r ha nds.

Ac tio ns fo r Ou r Ne w Ve rses

C la p , W igg le, S t o m p

18

M u s i c


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Actions With ImpactThis unconventional lesson lets students discover theimpact of strong verbs on their writing.

8 Surprise students inthe middle of a fairlycalm activity (such as aread-aloud) by acting out anunexpected and lively scenariofor example, you might pretend yousaw a spaceship go by the classroomwindow or act very bothered by a

nonexistent fly that wont leave you alone(stomp around it, swat at it, wave it away). Act out the scenario asdramatically as you can in order to give children lots of material todescribe later on.

8 After your theatrical experience, explain that it was just an act,then invite children to describe what they heard and saw. Recordtheir comments on the chalkboard. (You jumped from your seatand rushed to the window; you shouted for us to come, too; youpointed to the sky; you shrieked that there was a spaceship, andso on.)

8 After soliciting a dozen sentences, have students identify theverbs in each. Then write as nondescriptive a sentence about theevent as you can on the chalkboard (I saw a spaceship) andcompare it with students sentences. Guide students to recognizethe importance of strong verbs in their writing.

19

lay a lively game of Simon Says to help second-language learners developvocabulary for verbs. Pair up students. Let them take turns giving each otherSimon Says commands with one verbfor example, Simon says, sit. Build up

to two verb commands and then three. Performing the actions named by the verbswill help second-language learners remember their meaning. And everyone will enjoythe chance to move!

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g

TIP Follow up by

asking studentsto circle theverbs in a drafttheyre workingon. Challengethem to replacevague or redun-dant verbs withmore descriptiveones. Invite themto notice strongverbs in bookstheyre reading.


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Action Name TagsThese name tags let students tell something aboutthemselves as they learn more about verbs.

8 Have each student choose a verb that starts with the same firstletter as his or her name. ( Rob runs, Sara snowboards, Wendywhistles ) If students are new to learning verbs, you may want topost verb banks around your classroom that list a variety of verbs for students to choose from. An alternative is to havestudents each check their choice with you before proceeding, tomake sure that they are making correct word choices.

8 Give each student a sheet of sturdy paper. Have students foldtheir papers in half lengthwise to make name tags that will sit ontheir desks. Let them write their verbs and names on the paperand then illustrate themselves in action.

8 When everyones finished, let students take a walk around theroom to appreciate the many action words that describe theirclassmates. Students will also enjoy using these name tags to pointfamilies in the right direction at open-school night.


Fishing for VerbsThis pantomime activity begins with a fish bowl fullof verbs.

Write verbs on slips of paper

and place them in a fish bowl.Gather children in a circle toform a pond, and pass the fish bowlto a volunteer. Have this student takea verb from the fish bowl, go to thecenter of the pond, and act out theword. Have the child who guesses theword take the next turn. Continue untileveryone who wants a chance to actout a verb has had one.

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A r t

TIP For a variationon this activity,have studentschoose an adjec-tive that beginswith the first let-ter of their nameand is also

descriptive ofthemselves. Letchildren createname tags thatcombine theadjectives andtheir names.

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When? Where? How?The southwest has never seen a snowstorm like this before The game-winning hit was over the fence Thegovernor made the announcement unexpectedly Thenewspaper is full of adverbswords that tell when, where,or how something happened. Use newspapers to helpchildren see how these describing words make writingstronger.

8 Cut out newspaper stories and highlight adverbs that tell when,where, and how.

8 Divide the class into small groups. Give each an article and ask students to read aloud the story. Then decide together what thehighlighted words have in common.

8 Bring students together to share their words and ideas. Create athree-column chart labeled When, Where, and How. Askstudents to record their words in the corresponding columns.

8 Discuss how adverbs help make writing stronger. Then let childrenwrite a short news story about a school or family event. Encouragethem to use adverbs to provide specific information that answersthe questions when, where, or how.

The -ly WalkStudents will enjoy getting from oneplace to another in school with anactivity that lets them act out adverbs.

B rainstorm words that end in -ly and tellhowfor example, happily, quickly,quietly, slowly, proudly, and casually .Write these words on slips of paper and placethem in a bag. Each day, when its time to lineup and go to lunch, recess, or a special, let achild choose a word and lead the class inmoving down the hallway as described by theadverb. Add new words to the bag as studentsnotice -ly adverbs in their reading.

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TIP Share studentsnews stories onthe back of theweekly notehome. You mightbe able to fitthree or four onthe back ofeach note. Overa period of acouple ofmonths, eachstudent will havea chance to sharea story in thisway.


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Grammar-GoriesStudents practiceusing parts of speechin this variation of apopular game.

8 Write the followingcategories on thechalkboard: ProperNoun, CommonNoun, Past-TenseVerb, Future-TenseVerb, Adjective,Adverb.

8 Randomly choose aletter of the alphabet.(See Tip, left.)Demonstrate how toname a word for eachcategory that startswith that letter. If the letter is l, you might use the word London forproper noun, lake for common noun, licked for past-tense verb, andso on.

8 Give each student a copy of page 45. Choose another random letterand have children record it on their paper in the appropriate space.Have children write down a word that starts with that letter foreach category. The first person to fill in a word for each categorycalls out Stop, at which point all students put down their pencils.

8 To award points, the student who finished first reads his or herword for proper noun. If no one else had that word, then the stu-dent who had a word for that category gets one point. If someoneelse had the same word, no points are awarded. The leader pro-ceeds with words in each additional category and the scoring con-tinues. At the end of the scoring, choose another letter and start a

new round. For a cooperative scoring method, give everyone timeto record a word for each category. Have students share theirwords, crossing off any that another student also has. How manydifferent words did students come up with for each category?

Emily A. OleschStar of the Sea SchoolVirginia Beach, Virginia

22

TIP Heres a fun wayto randomlychoose a letter ofthe alphabet:Have a studentsilently say thealphabet. After amoment, sayStop. Usewhatever letterof the alphabetthe child was onas the targetletter.

4 5

Na me

Da teA C T I V

IT Y PA G E

Na meDa te

C o m m o n

N o u n

Past-TenseVerb

F u t u r e - T e n s e

V e r b

A d v e r bAdjective

L e t t e r ProperNoun

G ra m ma r- Go r ie s

Best- E ver Acti vities f or Gra

des 2 3: Listening & S peaki

ng S c h o las t i c P r o fe s s i

o n a l B o o k s


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Flipping OverParts of Speech

Children construct some amusingsentences with a flip book thattargets parts of speech.

8 Give each child multiple copiesof page 46. Have children cutout the mini-book pages, stack them, and staple them at thetop. Guide children in cuttingthe center dashed line of eachpage to make flaps.

8 Brainstorm noun phrases withchildren and write them on thechalkboardfor example, Theice cream, Our teacher, Thehippopotamus, The cat, An alli-gator, A boy, and A girl. Do thesame for verb phrasesfor example,won the race, had the hiccups,watched cartoons, rode a roller coaster, ate

biscuits, caught a mouse, and suddenly screeched.8 Have students copy a noun phrase on the left flap of each page.

Have them copy a verb phrase on the right flap of each page. Invitestudents to illustrate each flap.

8 Show students how to flip the sections back and forth to builddozens of silly sentencesfor example, with the phrases listedabove, they can create these sentences and more: An alligator atebiscuits. The ice cream won the race. The hippopotamus rodea roller coaster.

Karen K. Bjork Portage Public Schools (retired)Portage, Michigan

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W r i t i n g

46 B e s t - E v e r A c t i v i t i e s f o r G r a d e s 2 3 : G r a m m a r S c h o l a s t i c P r o f e s s i o n a l B o o k s


Dat e

F li p p i ng O v e r P ar t s o f Sp e e c hSt aple

Staple


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Cut-and-PasteParts of Speech

Dont underestimate the power of a few art supplies,scissors, and a little glue! These simple materials bringlife to this parts-of-speech lesson.

I nvite students to search in magazines for nouns, verbs, adjectives,or other parts of speech youre studying. Have them cut out thewords from headlines, advertisements, and other places where thetype tends to be bigger. Let students use the words to form sentences,pasting them in place on construction paper, then adding illustrations.Students wont be able to make as many sentences as on a fill-in work-sheet, but they will be much more likely to remember what they learnthis way.


Funny Fill-InsMad Libs are a favorite with children. These fill-in-the-blank stories give students lots of practice with parts ofspeech, with very humorous results. Heres an activity thatturns commercial worksheet pages into mini-Mad-Lib-likestories that are just as much fun.

M ake a copy of several commercial grammar worksheets thatask children to complete sentences by filling in nouns, verbs,adjectives, adverbs, and so on. Use a correction pen to whiteout several additional words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs) ineach sentencefor example, an altered sentence might read__________ (noun that names a person) went to __________ (noun

that names a place) to ____________ (verb). Photocopy the revisedworksheets and give one to each child. Pair up students, making sureeach partner has a different sheet. Have students take turns asking theirpartners to supply the parts of speech called for in each sentence.(Partners should not be told the sentence before they supply therequested words.) Have students read completed sentences aloud forsome silly results.

Janice ReutterBoone, Iowa

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Double-Agent WordsStudents are often confused by words that have more thanone usagefor example, words such as can that functionboth as a noun and a verb. Try this activity to familiarizestudents with such words and have some fun with wordplay.

8 Write the following two sentences on the board: Open the can of soup. I can write my name. Ask students to identify the wordthat appears in both sentences. ( can )

8 Ask students to define the word can in each sentence. Guidestudents to notice that even though can looks, sounds, and is

spelled the same in each sentence, it means different things. Ask students if can is a thing or an action in the first sentence. Thesecond sentence?

8 Share a couple of other examples of words that function as bothnouns and verbsfor example, present , saw , and heat . Notice wordsthat change pronunciation with usefor example: I got a present formy birthday. I will present my science project on Tuesday. You mustwind this clock to make it work. The wind blew my hat off.

8 Once students have the idea, let them team up to find their owndouble-agent words. Have students write sentences that use theword as a noun and a verb. Let students share their sentences,

leaving blanks for the double-agent words. Can their classmatesguess the word that fits in both sentences?


25

TIP Make a game

of using thedictionary tolearn more aboutwords with morethan one usage.Challenge teamsof students tofind a word inthe dictionarythat has the mostways to use it.You might limittheir search towords that startwith, for exam-ple, the letter a.Being aware ofmultiple usagehelps students

with spelling,too.


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Stand-Up SentencesStudents stand up and arrange themselves to makesentences. But they dont stay that way for long.Classmates can replace someone standing if they havethe same part of speech!

W rite a sentence on a sentence strip and cut it apart, word byword. Distribute the words to volunteers. Ask students tostand with their words and arrange themselves at the front of the room to make a sentence. From here, you can do a number of things. You can distribute other words and have students replace eachother in the sentence. For example, ask, Who could replace Sandy?If Sandy has a noun, only those students also holding a noun couldvolunteer to replace her. Read the sentence aloud to see how it changeswith the new student. You can also have students add adjectives andother parts of speech to the sentences.


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n activities that ask students to build sentences with different parts of speech,try color-coding words to help second-language learners make choices. Forexample, write nouns in green, adjectives in purple, and verbs in red. Have

students follow color patterns to put words together and build basic sentencesforexample, sentences with a simple subject (The dog) and simple predicate (barked )would always be green and red.

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Our Absolutely AwesomeAlphabetThis collaborative bookmaking project has children playingwith parts of speech from A to Z.

S hare The Absolutely Awful Alphabet . (See below.) Then let eachstudent choose a letter to create a class innovation on the book.(Leave the letter Z for the class to do together. If you have otherletters left over, invite the principal, school nurse, and other membersof the staff to contribute a page.) Before students begin writing, revisitvarious letters in the book and identify adjectives, nouns, verbs, and

adverbs on each page. Have students meet with the classmate who hasthe next letter in the alphabet to create the transition from one letter tothe next. Students can add illustrations to their pages, then put themtogether to make a book.

27

The Absolutely Awful Alphabetby Mordicai Gerstein (Harcourt Brace, 1999)

A is an awfully arrogant Amphibian annoyed atB who is abashful, belching Bumpkin bullied by From A to Z, this book isfull of adjectives, nouns, verbs, adverbs, and other absolutelyawful parts of speech. Read it to see how choosing the rightwords can make for writing that paints unforgettable pictures.



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Mustnt, Dont, WontUse poetry to help students learn more about usingcontractions in their writing.

S hare Shel Silversteins poem Listen to the Mustnts, fromWhere the Sidewalk Ends (HarperCollins, 1974). Copy it on chartpaper and let students highlight the contractions. Then set up achart for recording the two words that make up the contractions,including mustnt, dont, shouldnt, and wont . Let students take turnsrecording contractions and the two words that make them.

Wendy Wise-Borg

Rider UniversityLawrenceville, New Jersey

Animal Cracker StatementsCooperative groups use animal crackers as springboards toconstruct declarative sentences.

8 Show children an animal cracker and ask them to identify whatkind of animal it is. Write the animals name on the board. (Wellsay its a lion for demonstration purposes.)

8 Ask children for information about the lion. (The lion roarsloudly.) Write this on the board. Then ask students to name morethings that the lion does. (The lion hunts. The lion sleeps. Thelion eats.) Write these statements on the board, too.

8 Explain that a statement tells about something: Its more than oneword; it is about one particular person or thing, in this case, a lion.But a statement also tells what that lion does. Invite children topoint out the two parts of each sentence (subject and predicate).

8 Ask students how they can tell where one sentence ends and anoth-er begins. Let them see that statements always begin with a capitalletter and end with a period. Now for the fun! Divide the class intogroups and give each group a box of animal crackers. Have eachgroup write statements about their animals and illustrate them.Display the sentences and illustrations, and invite students to findthe subjects and predicates in each statement.


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Proofreading Like ProsProofreading is an obvious way for students to practicegrammatical conventions, including punctuation, sentencestructure, and word use. This activity challenges them tospot the errors even professional proofreaders missed!

8 Explain to students that even though published material, such as anewspaper, gets proofread, mistakes still happen. Locate a newspaperarticle that contains a grammatical mistake, and place a transparencyof it on the overhead. Challenge children to find the mistake.

8 Ask children how many grammatical errors in published materialthey think they can find in one week. Provide the paper for revieweach day, and encourage children to look at home, too. You canalso suggest other sources, such as kids current events magazinesand class or school newsletters.

8 Have students highlight the mistakes, write the correction on anindex card, and display both on a bulletin board. Take time to letstudents share their proofreading accomplishments, explaining theerror and the correction. Encourage them to apply the same carefulproofreading skills to their own work!

Beanillionaire GameThis game, piggybacked off the Millionaire game, meansbig beans for students who correctly answer grammarquestions. Heres how it works.

P ut together a set of grammar questions, each with four possibleanswers. (See sample, right.) Children might like to help come upwith questions, too. Divide the class into groups. Explain thateach team will be asked a series of questions about grammar and will

be given four possible answers. Students on each team will take turnsanswering the questions. If children arent sure of the answer, theymay ask a buddy for help, ask to have two incorrect answers removed,or take an educated guess. If they answer correctly, they get 100 beans.Try to play the game more than once, having each team keep track of their beans from one round to the next. For more fun, let students usethe beans to buy prizes (such as pencils and stickers) in an end-of-the-week auction.

Judy WetzelBull Run ElementaryCentreville, Virginia 29

SampleBeanillionaireQuestion

What has thesame meaning astheyre?a. thereb. theirc. they ared. they there


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If, And, ButThis game challenges children to work together to formthree-part sentences that use conjunctions.

8 On sentence strips, write sentences that useconjunctions. (Common conjunctions includeand, but, so, or, and because .) Cut each sen-tence into three parts: the part before the con-

junction, the conjunction, and the part afterthe conjunction. Make sure there is a sentencepart for each child.

8 Give each child part of a sentence. Explainthat children need to search for two partnersto complete their sentence. Because the goalis to have everyone be part of asentence, children may need to rearrangethemselves after forming their sentence inorder to make other sentences work.

8 Once everyone has found partners, letchildren read aloud the sentences. Askstudents to tell how each conjunctionconnects the other two parts.

Connect TwoChildren pair up to write sentences on a selectedtopic, then see how fast they can connect them usingconjunctions.

B rainstorm topics that can generate lots of discussionforexample, favorite after-school activities, bedtime, cafeteriafood, or homework. Write the topics on slips of paper, then let avolunteer randomly choose one. Ask each child to write a sentence onthat topic. When everyone has a sentence, have children pair up and tryto join their sentences with a conjunction. (You can write commonconjunctions on the chalkboard for reference.) To make the activitymore challenging, children might like to set a timer. Can they combinetheir sentences in under ten seconds? Let children read aloud theircombined sentences and tell why they chose the particular conjunction.

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Punctuation BounceA ball gives students a hands-on lesson in using endpunctuation and capital letters.

G ather students in a group and pull out a basketball. Beginbouncing it around the group, and ask children what the ballis doing. (Bounce it hard so it rebounds, at least as high as yourhead.) When they reply The ball bounces up high, ask what punctua-tion mark the ball reminds them of. Establish that When you put aperiod (the basketball) at the end of a sentence, it will bounce up highindicating the need for a capital letter to begin the next word. Silly,but it helps students remember this new skill!

Charlotte SassmanAlice Carlson Applied Learning CenterFort Worth, Texas

TIP Tests thatinclude sectionson conventionsof languageoften include apassage withpunctuationand/or spellingmistakes forchildren to edit.Children mightbe asked tohighlight errors,then write theappropriate

punctuationabove them.To help studentsorganize theirapproach tosuch a task,teach them theBeginningand Ending

strategy: Checkthe beginningof sentences forcapitals, thencheck the endof sentencesfor endingpunctuation.

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Bing Bang Boingby Douglas Florian (Harcourt Brace, 1994)

This delightful collection of poems includes the eight-lineCommas which gives children a great visual forremembering what this punctuation mark looks likeits the onewith claws!


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Quiet QuotationsThis quiet activity is surprisingly funit teaches the use ofquotation marks without anyone speaking at all!

P air up students after teaching a lesson on using quotations.Have students write back and forth to each other four or fivetimes (for about 1015 minutes), using questions and answerswith quotations and dialogue tags. What makes the activity reallyfun is requiring that no one speak aloud at all. Students must writeeverything! (Keep the focus on using quotation marks, and off spellingand other skills for now.)


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Comic CaptionsFunny photos bring out the comedians inchildren while teaching about quotation marks.

L ook for funny photos in newspapers and magazines. Invitestudents to find them, too. Cut out the photos and displaythem a few at a time on a bulletin board. Provide copies ofthe word bubbles on page 4 . Let children use the word bubbles(with quotation marks) to tell what the person in the photo issaying. Have children display their word bubbles next to thecorresponding photos for an amusing classroom display.

Macaroni MarksElbow macaroni becomes a memorable manipulative in aliterature-based activity that teaches the use of quotationmarks.

Copy a familiar text (a selection from the Frog and Toad series,by Arnold Lobel, works well) on chart paper. Leave out the

punctuation marks. Lead a discussion about where the periodsshould go. After letting children take turns filling them in, talk aboutwhat Frog and Toad are saying. Guide children to notice that itsdifficult to follow who is saying what without proper punctuation.Demonstrate the use of quotation marks by gluing two pieces of elbowmacaroni at the beginning of the first conversation. Ask children to tellwhere the end of that thought is. Place two more pieces of macaronithere. Continue, asking children where pieces of the dialogue beginand end and gluing macaroni in place accordingly. Children willremember that quotation marks are like macaroni as they continueto place macaroni where each quotation mark would go.


33

TIP For dozens ofdisplays thatbuild grammarskills and more,see Interactive

Bulletin Boards: Language Arts,

by Judy Meagherand Joan Novelli(Scholastic,1998).

48 B e s t - E v e r A c t i v i t i e s f o r G r a d e s 2 3 : G r a m m a r S c h o l a s t i c P r o f e s s i o n a l B o o k s


Dat e C o mi c C ap t i o ns

7


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34

A C T IV I T Y PAGE

Rhyming People,Places, Things

Read the nouns. Fill in the blank with a rhymingnoun or noun phrase. The first one shows you how!

TRY THIS!Create your own rhyming noun set. Write it here. Leave a blank so aclassmate can fill in a noun.

1.A can, a pan, and a .

2. A stack, a track, and a .

3. A bank, a prank, and a .

4. A jet, a net, and a pet named .

5. A mop, a drop, and a sign that says .

6. A string, a ring, and a king who can .

7. A sock, a rock, and a clock that goes tick .

8. Our town, a crown, and a clown in a .

Name Date

man named Dan


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TA K E- H O M E ACTIVITY

Name Date

Noun Proper Noun

author Dr. Seuss

boy

girl

streetday

month

book

citystate

country

Noun-a-MorphsDear Family,Were studying parts of speech in classincluding nouns and proper nouns.Try this activity with your child to teach about nouns that need capital letters.To complete the activity, your child needs to morph each noun to make it aproper noun, then highlight each capital letter.


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A C T IV I T Y PAGE

Name Date

Alphabet CountdownA

B

CD

E

F

GH

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

PQ

R

S

TU

V

W

X

Y

Z


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A C T IV I T Y PAGE

Name Date

Pronoun Bingo

I y ou me y our m y m e

t he y hi m her mi n e yours o u r s

o u r

i t s

w e

t h e m

i t

s h

e h

e

t h e i r

w e

t h e m

i t

s h e

freespace


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38

A C T IV I T Y PAGE

Name Date

Adjective Detectives

Whats in my sock?

Read the clues andthen guess!

Clue 1

Clue 2

Clue 3

Lift the flap tocheck your answer.

Tape flap here.


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A C T IV I T Y PAGE

Name Date

1st Place in

Awarded to

on


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40

A C T IV I T Y PAGE

Name Date

Adjective

Synonyms

Im in a thesaurus,Look and see!Here are some

adjectivesThat tell about me!

by

1

A d j e c t i v e

S y n o n y m s

2

A d j e c t i v e

S y n o n y m s

3

4


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A C T IV I T Y PAGE

Name Date

Colorful CaterpillarsGrow Long


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A C T IV I T Y PAGE

Name Date

Adjectives About Me

I am a boy. girl.

My eyes are .

My hair is .

I am than a .

I am than a .

I am more than a .

I am good at .

I am better at .

I am best at .

Who am I?Tape flap here.


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A C T IV I T Y PAGE

Name Date

Dunk, Dive, Slide!


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TA K E- H O M E ACTIVITY

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TRY THIS!Can your family think of a new action for the song? Write it here. Sing ittogether!

Dear Families,Music is a natural with children, and integrating it withskills and concepts in other parts of the curriculum canhelp reinforce learning in memorable ways. Heres anaction-packed song you can sing with your child topractice verbs. Repeat the song to try the new actions(listed below).

If Youre Happy and You Know ItIf youre happy and you know it, clap your hands,If youre happy and you know it, clap your hands,If youre happy and you know it,and you really want to show it,

If youre happy and you know it, clap your hands.

Actions for Our New Verses

Clap, Wiggle, Stomp


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a m e

D a t e

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T e n s e

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e n s e

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A d j e c t i v e

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e r N o u n

G r a m

m a r - G o r i e s


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A C T IV I T Y PAGE

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Flipping OverParts of Speech

Staple

Staple


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Comic Captions

grammar activities - grade 2 & 3

Documents