A Quick, Easy, Adjective Activity
When I was in eighth grade, and was just a brand new homeschool kid, my Mom signed me up for an SAT Prep Course. I clearly remember the day that we were talking about analogies, which somehow led to a discussion of adjectives. There was just one problem: I didn't know what an adjective was.
Yes, go ahead. Gasp, laugh, cry. I had made it through EIGHT YEARS of school (kindergarten through seventh grade) barely missing a day of school, making excellent grades, paying attention in class... and I didn't know the names of the different parts of speech.
I survived, fortunately, and even went on to major in English and communications. Today, I make sure that all of my students have a clear understanding of the parts of speech and are able to apply them to their writing.
Here's a fun little time-filler that I used with one of my writing classes last week that I think you and your students might enjoy:
- Brainstorm a list of adjectives that your students could use to describe themselves or their friends on a whiteboard or large sheet of paper/poster board.
- Instruct each student to grab a blank sheet of paper. Ask them to write their name vertically, with ONE letter on each line.
- Have your students choose an adjective that they think describes them beginning with each letter of their name. (If they have duplicate letters in their name, they will need to pick two different adjectives!)
- If time allows, provide students with plain paper to draw a self-portrait. They can copy their name/adjectives onto their portrait and frame their artwork with construction paper for a nice display!
My students really seemed to enjoy this activity, and it was exciting to watch them encourage each other with positive suggestions for adjectives.
Do you have any fun ideas for teaching adjectives? Feel free to share them in the comments! :)
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