Grammar Games
By Kim Brown

The mere mention of a grammar lesson can set students' eyes rolling. You can turn those blank looks into smiles with these fun activities for teaching the parts of speech.

Noun tennis. One student stands at the front of the room and calls out a noun, for example, "building." A second student at the back of the room responds with a proper noun in that category, such as, "the Empire State Building." The first student then calls out another noun. The game continues until it takes the second student more than two seconds to respond. That student sits down and a new student stands.

The minister's cat. For fun adjective practice, ask the class to clap or snap in unison and rhythmically say, "The minister's cat is an angry cat." To continue, point at a random student, who must come up with an adjective beginning with the letter "b," such as, "The minister's cat is a boring cat." Point at another random student for "c," and so on. It's best to choose students randomly – going in order through the seating chart will give students time to count ahead to "their" letter and prepare an adjective. See how far you can make it through the alphabet without breaking the rhythm.

Kids take action. This verb exercise is more of a confidence-builder than a game. Ask students to list activities they're good at, like running, ice skating, dancing and painting.

What's my adverb? Have each student choose a verb (one that can be acted out in class) from the lists they made in the previous activity. Ask a student to come to the front of the room. Tell him or her (without letting the rest of the class hear you) to act out that verb quickly, slowly, loudly or softly. The class guesses the adverb by watching the student do the activity.

And then I saw… Conjunctions keep things moving when you tell a story as a class. Start with a sentence, such as, "This morning, I woke up late." Each student adds a conjunction (such as but, and, therefore, etc.) and his or her own idea: "But I got to school on time."

Grammar sing-along. Play the vhs tape Schoolhouse Rock!: Grammar Rock (Disney Studios, 1997). These cartoons from the 1970s feature zippy melodies about parts of speech. The lyrics offer precise rules and examples.

Kim Brown teaches video production at Mamaroneck High School in New York.