Gist: Students use cards and dice to select silly words for each part of speech and use them to construct sentences.

 

Why Do It?  Students are tired of "underline the noun" worksheets, and they still struggle to identify and use parts of speech correctly in their own writing.  This engaging activity lets students practice using major parts of speech correctly in their own writing.

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Materials:

-dice

-word cards for each part of speech (I printed them and taped them to index cards, then color-coded the tops of the cards so we can sort them easily by their part of speech)

-Recording form or dry erase boards/paper for students to write their sentences on

 

Set Up:

1.  In stations around the room, set out one card for each part of speech and a die.

2.  Have a recording form, paper, or dry erase board for each student or group ready.

 

To Play:

1.  Students roll the die and pick the word for that number.  They record it on their form/board/paper.

2.  Repeat for each part of speech.

3.  Use each word correctly in one sentence, paying special attention to using the words in their designated part of speech.  Note: Students may need to add appropriate endings to verbs or nouns to match number or tense, but they should NOT alter the part of speech.

4.  Share sentences and giggle.

 

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Caution and Tips:

-Be careful that the words you pick don't have double meanings that could make these "silly sentences" into "dirty sentences."  This is especially important with older students.

-If prescribing specific sentence patterns, model exemplar sentences with students.  This activity goes beyond just writing funny sentences but into actually USING parts of speech correctly.  That's the challenge for our students, and that's where we want to focus.

 

Variations:

-Students can write sentences alone or in small groups.

-You can allow students to use any sentence structure they'd like or prescribe sentence structures.  Note: This tends to be hard for the students but helps them practice using different sentence structures and challenges them to use parts of speech correctly.  Here's an example of one I've used in class.

-I once did a large version of this on the wall outside my classroom.  It was a big hit, and even though I teach jr. high, the students were very appropriate with it.  Instead of rolling dice, I just posted large, laminated words (color-coded for the parts of speech) on the wall with sticky tack and let the students build sentences,

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