Parts of Speech

Modified from: The Shurley Method (1997)

By: Brenda Shurley and Ruth Wetsell
These are some parts of speech that can be incorporated into your writing mini-
lessons:

Article Adjective
Subject Noun
Verb
Adjective
Adverb
Preposition
Object of the Preposition

Article Adjectives
A, An, The (These just have to be memorized)

Subject Noun/Verb
The teacher asks the questions and the class answers in unison at the
same time aloud . . . This must be modeled, modeled, modeled . . . .

Girl laughed.
Who laughed? Girl, subject noun
What’s being said about girl? Girl laughed, verb

Dog barked.
Who barked? Dog, subject noun
What’s being said about dog? Dog barked, verb
Adjectives
What kind?
Which one?
How many?

Introduce adjectives by having students snap what kind, snap which

one and clap how many. Then, wiggle your body and say adjective.

Mini-lesson idea: Jot down a list of nouns and then add adjectives to
them.
The teacher asks the questions and the class answers in unison at the
same time aloud . . . This must be modeled, modeled, modeled . . . .

Red apple, What kind of apple? Red, adjective

Juicy apple, What kind of apple? Juicy, adjective
That apple, Which apple? That, adjective
Three apples, How many apples? Three, adjective

Soon you’ll be ready to combine subject nouns, verbs and adjectives.

The little girl laughed.

Who laughed? Girl, subject noun
What’s being said about girl? Girl laughed, verb.
What kind of girl? Little, adjective
The, article adjective

Seven smelly pigs oinked.

Who oinked? Pigs, subject noun
What’s being said about pigs? Pigs oinked, verb
What kind of pigs? Smelly, adjective
How many pigs? Seven, adjective
Adverbs
How
When
Where

Introduce adjectives by having the students make punching motions.

How did you punch him?
When did you punch him?
Where did you punch him?
Then tell them they have to go to the principal’s office (Jokingly, of
course!) Then, pound your fists together and say ADVERB.

Mini-lesson idea:
Jot down some action verbs and then add adjectives to them.
The teacher asks the questions and the class answers in unison at the
same time aloud . . . This must be modeled, modeled, modeled . . . .

Ran quickly – Ran how? Quickly, adverb

Ran swiftly – Ran how? Swiftly, adverb
Ran yesterday – Ran when? Yesterday, adverb

The silly boys laughed loudly.

Who laughed loudly? Boys, subject noun
What’s being said about boys? Boys laughed, verb
What kind of boys? Silly, adjective
How did they laugh? Loudly, adverb
The, article adjective

Thirteen giant elephants ran wildly.

Who ran wildly? Elephants, subject noun
What’s being said about elephants? Elephants ran, verb
What kind of elephants? Giant, adjective
How many elephants? Thirteen, adjective
How did they run? Wildly, adverb

Prepositions
Use a chair the first time you introduce prepositions. First, have a
student sit in the chair, on the chair, by the chair, behind the chair,
beside the chair, etc. Also, have students walk with the chair, around
the chair, between the chairs, over the chair, etc.

Tell students that a preposition always has an object. Then, model

talking without an object.

I went to . . . . Then, I sat on . . . . While I was riding in . . .

It’ll truly drive them crazy!

They’ll be asking . . . to . . .to what??? On . . . .on what?? In . . in

what??

The teacher asks the questions and the class answers in unison at the
same time aloud . . . This must be modeled, modeled, modeled . . . .
In, in what?? , car – object of the preposition (I taught my kids to say
object of the preposition aloud like a robot – they loved it!)