When students get poor marks on writing assignments, it is often because they don’t have a solid grasp of the parts of speech and how they function. Parts of speech is a topic that needs to be revisited regularly in order for it to stick, but maybe you’re a busy teacher who doesn’t have time to rework every activity you know! Not to worry: here are 23 parts of speech activities, grammar games, and creative lessons to help students of all ages learn this tough topic once and for all!
Elementary Grade Levels
1. Ping Pong Toss
Bring out your class’ competitive spirit with this game! Label some cups with the parts of speech and then write vocabulary words on the ping pong balls. Have your kiddos take turns at tossing the words into their corresponding parts of speech cup. You can have students guess which part of speech will fill up first, or challenge them to fill all the cups as quickly as they can! All you’ll need are some ping pong balls and some plastic cups!
Learn More: Amazon
2. Reading Scavenger Hunt
Who doesn’t love a scavenger hunt? This activity has printable sheets making this the perfect quiet activity for your kiddos to read as a warm-up or if they are fast finishers. They’ll take a worksheet and book and will have to hunt through their book to find adjectives, verbs, nouns, and other parts of speech.
Learn More: 123 Homeschool 4 Me
3. Word Ball
In groups, give each of your kids a part of speech and instruct them to say a word that corresponds with that part of speech whenever they have the ball. After they say their word aloud, they roll the ball to someone else in the circle. This is a great activity for young students who are learning basic vocabulary and developing hand-eye coordination. You could even use this ball for an extra challenge where they’ll have to start their word with the letter their hand lands on!
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4. Worksheets
If you don’t have the space for physical, outdoor activity, worksheets are a good way to engage your students from their desks. Worksheets are also great for some quiet work time.
Learn More: Scholastic
5. Visual Webs
Create a visual web with your classroom and put it up on the wall for students to see. A visual reference during grammar lessons is essential in solidifying the concepts. Let the web grow with example vocabulary words attached to their respective parts of speech. Use colorful paper, designs, and images to go with the vocabulary words.
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6. Flipbooks
Let your students create their own flipbooks to keep for reference. Let students personalize their flipbooks with sketches, colorful ink, and colored paper. This is a good activity for 3rd-grade students and above who might find some of the other elementary school activities too simple.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
7. Songs
Who doesn’t love a sing-a-long? These fun parts of speech songs are set to familiar tunes like the “Spongebob Squarepants” theme song! You can put the lyrics up on the projector and have the whole class sing along.
Learn More: The Classroom Key
8. Picture Books
These books are all about the parts of speech and are geared toward very young students. Get a few of these for your classroom and you can have students read them on their own or in small groups.
Learn More: Learn In Color
9. Label the Room
If you’ve been looking for an excuse to finally get that label maker you’ve had your eye on, then this is it! Label everything in the classroom with parts of speech! You might think everything is going to be a “noun,” but with a little creativity, you can add a variety of labels to each object. A chair could have labels like, “chair = noun” and “sit = verb,” or even “comfy = adjective.
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Middle-Grade Levels
10. Parts of Speech Jeopardy
Make the parts of speech your top-row categories and write sentences under each points square. When a student selects “verbs for 200,” read the sentence and the student will respond with the verbs as their answer.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
11. Colorful Copywork
This printable activity is an excellent way to get your kiddies some practice at identifying the different parts of speech. Ask them to use a few different colors to highlight the different parts of speech they come across in each sentence. You can make this activity even more fun by having your students copy sentences from their favorite books to use for this exercise.
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12. Cinquain Poems
Cinquain poems, like haikus, follow a very specific, strict structure. Cinquain poem rules don’t just restrict your syllables, but also what part of speech to use on each line.
Learn More: Poetry Tea Time
13. Tally Parts of Speech
Ask students to read a few passages from a book and tally up how many times each part of speech is used. This is a great activity for all levels of students because you can adjust the reading level of the material being tallied. This is also a good independent online activity for students who are still virtual and are unable to participate in an interactive game.
Learn More: The School Run
14. Super Stories Substitution Game
Use this fun interactive game on your smartboard and have your kiddos edit a story into a bestseller! Task them with changing the sentences by substituting given words with other words that match the respective part of speech. They’ll go through each part of the speech until the sentence is completely changed! “How now, said the brown cow,” becomes “When then, ran a cozy table!
Learn More: Top Marks
15. Create a Cheat Sheet
See how much information about parts of speech your students remember! Have them create their very own cheat sheets with definitions of each part of speech and some ‘wow’ vocabulary to help them make their writing interesting! The more they use their cheat sheet, the less they’ll eventually need it.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
16. Sentence Diagrams
Sentence diagrams are a great way to make parts of speech concrete for middle school students and there are a variety of ways to diagram parts of speech.
Learn More: English Grammar Revolution
17. Parts of Speech Bingo
With this printable bingo game, students can practice parts of speech while relaxing and having fun!
Learn More: Bingo Baker
High School Grade Levels
18. Partner Match Game with Post-it Notes
Give each student a post-it note with a word or phrase written on it. Tell them to stick the post-it to their forehead without looking at it. Students can go around the classroom asking questions about the word on their post-its. Once they know what part of speech it fits into, they can partner up to make full, silly sentences!
Learn More: Vocabulary Luau
19. Mini Zines
Zines are a fun activity and a great way to get creative. Have your students make zines about the parts of speech.
Learn More: Wiki How
20. Charades
The classic game of charades can also help students identify parts of speech. Break into teams and have students act out basic sentences by focusing on the parts of speech.
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21. Group Skits
Have students break into groups and write short skits based on parts of speech. One group could have proper nouns, while another has interjections, and so forth. Each group will write and perform a skit focused on the use of their assigned part of speech.
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
22. Creative Writing and Review
Have students write a paragraph or two, then pass their work to the left for review. The reviewer will then suggest alternative nouns before passing the paper to the left again. The second reviewer will suggest alternative verbs before passing the paper to the left again.
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23. Baseball Grammar Game
To play this grammar-based classroom baseball game, you’ll set up “bases” and ask students who are “up to bat” to identify parts of speech in a basic sentence on the board. Alternatively, you could ask students to correct sentences instead. This is an exciting game and is sure to get students up and moving around!
Learn More: Teachers Pay Teachers
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