From Your Friends at The MAILBOX Grades 4 6 Plus! Grammar TEC2315 Parts of Speech Motivating Activities to Teach Basic Skills tions interjections pronouns adjectives nouns prepositions adverbs Fun ways to master basic grammar and mechanics Supports IRA/NCTE standards verbs Creative ideas to improve writing skills Kid-appealing reproducibles to reinforce good grammar
Table of Contents 2 Nouns...3 Definitions and Examples...3 Common and Proper Nouns...5 Spelling Plural Nouns...5 Collective Nouns...6 Subject Nouns and Nouns as Direct Objects...6 Concrete and Abstract Nouns...7 Different Kinds of Nouns...7 Student Reproducibles...8 Verbs...11 Definitions and Examples... 11 Action Verbs...13 Linking Verbs...14 Irregular Verbs...14 Active and Passive Verbs...15 Singular and Plural Verbs...15 Verb Tenses...16 Reviewing Verb Skills...16 Student Reproducibles...17 Pronouns...21 Definitions and Examples...21 Personal Pronouns...23 Subject and Object Pronouns...23 Uses of Personal Pronouns...24 Singular and Plural Pronouns...24 Persons of Pronouns...25 Special Kinds of Pronouns...25 Student Reproducibles...26 Adjectives...28 Definitions and Examples...28 Identifying Adjectives...29 Demonstrative Adjectives...30 Comparative and Superlative Forms...30 Student Reproducibles...31 Adverbs...33 Definitions and Examples...33 Adverbs That Modify Verbs...34 Identifying Adverbs...34 Positive, Comparative, and Superlative Forms...35 Adverbs That Modify Other Adverbs...35 Finding the Word an Adverb Modifies...36 Using Descriptive Adverbs...36 Student Reproducibles...37 Prepositions...39 Definitions and Examples...39 Identifying Prepositions...40 Compound Prepositions...40 Prepositional Phrases...41 Objects of Prepositions...41 Student Reproducible...42 Conjunctions & Interjections...43 Definitions and Examples...43 Different Kinds of Conjunctions...44 Identifying Kinds of Conjunctions...44 Identifying Interjections...45 Student Reproducible...46 Answer Keys...47
Nouns A noun names a person, a place, a thing, or an idea. Person: Jacob, girl, teacher, Mr. Singleton Place: Chicago, school, Montana Thing: computer, tree, elephant Idea: happiness, anger, responsibility A common noun is the general name of a person, a place, a thing, or an idea. A common noun isn t capitalized. A proper noun names a specific person, place, thing, or idea. It is always capitalized. S Common: building Common: holiday Proper: The Empire State Building Proper: Labor Day A concrete noun names something that you can see, touch, taste, hear, or smell. An abstract noun names an idea, feeling, emotion, or quality. S Concrete: lion, table, The White House Abstract: fear, kindness, beauty A collective noun is a noun that is singular in form but names a group of people, animals, or things. S People: crew, audience, committee Animals: herd, flock, litter Things: collection, bundle, set A singular noun names a single person, place, thing, or idea. A plural noun names more than one person, place, thing, or idea. S Singular: book, bush, piano, leaf, ox Plural: books, bushes, pianos, leaves, oxen
There are several ways to make a singular noun plural: Add s to most singular nouns. S girl girls chair chairs Add es to nouns that end in sh, ch, x, s, and z. S brush brushes church churches buzz buzzes box boxes dress dresses Add s to most nouns that end in o. patio patios Add es to most nouns that have a consonant before the o. echo echoes In most cases, if a noun ends in f or fe, change the f or fe to v and add es. S leaf leaves knife knives Add s to nouns that end in y if the letter in front of the y is a vowel. S toy toys key keys Drop the y and add ies if the letter in front of the y is a consonant. city cities The plurals of some nouns have irregular spellings. S child children woman women mouse mice
Picturing Nouns Identifying common and proper nouns fraction Shaquille Neal lag Rise and Sign! Blast off a study of nouns with this creative activity! After reviewing common and proper nouns, give each student an unlined index card. Challenge each child to think of a common noun that can be written in a way that illustrates its meaning (see the examples). Then have the student write and color the word on his card. Post the cards on one side of a bulletin board titled Picturing Nouns. Then challenge each student to decorate another index card with a proper noun that is written in a way that represents something about the specific person, place, thing, or idea (see the example). After students share their work, add these cards to the other side of the board. For more practice with common and proper nouns, see the reproducible on the bottom half of page 8. Spelling plural nouns Practice plural nouns with an activity that has all the signs of becoming a class favorite! After reviewing the rules for spelling plural nouns (see page 4), give each student five index cards. Have the student write a singular noun on the front of each card and its plural spelling on the back. Collect and check the cards. Also copy the American Manual Alphabet from an encyclopedia or reference book to make a class supply. Distribute the manual alphabet handout. Explain that this form of sign language is used by deaf and hearing-impaired people. With the class, practice finger-spelling some students names and short words. Then give each pair of students ten labeled cards (five per child). In turn, have each child fingerspell a singular noun to her partner; then have her partner finger-spell the noun s plural spelling. When finished, have pairs swap cards with other twosomes and play again. For more plurals practice, see the reproducible on page 9. Galaxy Gee! Galaxies