Here’s an engaging activity for teaching parts of speech through song. This is particularly useful for English Language Learners.
Post a large piece of butcher paper and have multiple colored markers available.
Prompt students for a list of adjectives which you list on a color coded chart. Do the same for nouns, verbs, and prepositional phrases.
You then have students choose three adjectives and one of each of the other parts of speech. You then sing across the chart to the tune of “Farmer in the Dell.”
Sample chart. Image from Husby’s habitat,
Completed chart, image from my classroom.
(to the tune of “Farmer in the Dell”): The ADJECTIVE #1, ADJECTIVE #2, NOUN, the ADJECTIVE #1, ADJECTIVE #2, NOUN, the ADJECTIVE #1, ADJECTIVE #2, ADJECTIVE #3, NOUN VERB PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE.
For example…”The green, hairy, monsters, the green, hairy monsters, the green, hairy, funny monsters stomp through the forest.”
This works well as a sponge activity before or after recess/lunch. I leave the chart up and refer back to it. When we need a verb, for example, I might say, “Remember, action words…the green ones on our chart?”
You can repeat this activity when starting a new unit as a way of getting student familiar with the new vocabulary for each theme. I don’t require that they use fossil vocabulary, for example, when on the fossil unit but some of it naturally creeps in and makes its way to the chart.
The idea for the “Farmer in the Dell” chart was taught through Project GLAD but I’ve seen it elsewhere as well. I’m not sure they created the idea. It was first taught to me by my mom.
That is a ridiculously simple, yet fun and effective idea! I will try this with my students. I have 20 ELD 1s and 2s this year, so this will be excellent for them!
Great idea. I’ve heard of professional writers using similar lists to warm up or refocus after a distraction, such as a nights sleep!
When faced with a blank sheet of paper/screen and a deadline, I use a version of it for the same reasons learned from Ray Bradbury’s book about writing. Just start writing a word list until I see a pattern of words I can form into a phrase, then sentence, then paragraph, then report, proposal, or story. Works great. Kids have fun with this approach also.
Finally, an idea that is fun, easy, and reality-based!! I have tried to find ways to get the grammar across to my kids, but it hasn’t been easy at all!!
this is so easy, my adms may freak out!