Parts of speech don’t need to be mystifying to young students.

Introduce the concept of

adjectives with these fun, hands-on activities. This adjective lesson plan is full of intriguing
language arts games that are sure to please your entire class.

Objectives and Materials

Adjectives add life to writing, and children use them long before they can name them. However,
as kids mature, one path to better writing is understanding the mechanics of how our language
works. Learning the parts of speech is a step along that path. Help children understand what
adjectives are and when and how to use them by trying some of the activities in this lesson plan.
Lesson Objectives:
 Students will define 'adjective' as a describing word.
 Students will generate a list of common adjectives.
 Students will identify adjectives in sentences.

 Materials:
Use the materials needed for the activities you choose:
 Whiteboard/markers/eraser.
 Several 'Fill-in' stories of your choice (available in bookstores or from Free Mad
Libs Generator, Madlibs for Teachers, Mad Libs for Kids, or similar site of your choice).
 Set of word cards that include many adjectives.
 Highlighting marker for each student.
 Printed text suitable for highlighting.

 Review of Concept
Start each lesson by reviewing exactly what an adjective is. Students should state or restate that
an adjective is a word that describes a noun. They should be able to tell that adjectives often
appeal to the five senses (words such as smelly, green, or loud), and that many adjectives end in
the suffix -y. Point out adjectives in sample sentences or text passages, then have students locate
adjectives in different samples. Make a class list of adjectives for use in the chosen games and
activities.

Quiet Adjective Word Games

Fill-In Stories
These activities start with a list of parts of speech or other characteristics of words. Players
generate the required words without knowing the subject of the story. When an adjective is
needed, no one knows what the word will be describing in the final story. Take audience
suggestions for each needed word, or use a round-robin method of soliciting responses. When all
blanks have been filled, read the story out loud using the suggested words in the blanks.
Add-An-Adjective
 Divide the group into teams. Start each team with a short, simple sentence that does not use
many modifiers, such as "The boy went." Give each team a few moments to expand the sentence
by adding details, while still remaining grammatically correct. The team whose sentence contains
the most adjectives used in correct ways wins the round.

 Active Adjective Games

Adjective Shuffle
Scatter word flashcards on the floor around the play area. Make sure there are at least two word
cards for every person and that over half of the cards are adjectives. The game leader begins a
round by calling out "ADJECTIVE SHUFFLE!" and players must run to a card that they believe
is an adjective. Choose several players at random to say a sentence using their word as an
adjective in a sentence, then call "ADJECTIVE SHUFFLE!" again. Players who do not choose
an adjective for their new word can be out for the next round if you wish. Repeat as often as
often as you like.
Adjective Baseball
Set up an indoor baseball diamond with marked bases. Divide the group into two teams. The
player 'at bat' must make up a sentence on the spot. Set a time limit of 30 to 60 seconds if
necessary. The team 'in the field' must quickly analyze the sentence and count the adjectives.
Article adjectives do not count. Set a time limit if necessary. Each adjective used correctly in the
sentence is worth one base. For example, the sentence "He saw the large, red balloon float into
the blue sky" would be a three-base hit. If a sentence has more than four adjectives or has no
adjectives used correctly, the batter is out. After three outs, the opposing team gets to try a turn at
bat.

 Evaluation
Check your group's understanding of adjectives by giving each student a highlighting marker and
having him or her mark the adjectives in the given text. You can adjust the difficulty level of the
evaluation by choosing text with more or fewer adjectives, or by increasing or decreasing the
percentage of adjectives that need to be marked for successful completion of the task