Playing With Prepositions

After introducing the key preposition lesson you may find it useful for some students to have the opportunity to have concrete, hands on experiences to reinforce the concept.

I have created some easy to prepare preposition extensions cards for such occasions. These cards are used in conjunction with items you would find in your classroom (if not they would be easy enough to find at home!).

There are five sets of six cards. Each set has a small graphic in the bottom corner to help keep the sets organised easily

Grammar Mind Map

Last year I introduced mind maps to some students. After the initial introduction I decided to use the process to revise the parts of speech with some students moving into the upper elementary classroom.

We work-shopped it together as a group and students were then encouraged to make their own in their journals.

I created a completed version (based on our little work shop) to sit next to our traditional grammar chart in our language area.

It was an interesting and fun way to revise the parts of speech.

You can find a copy HERE.

Logical Agreement Games

These games reinforce the relationships between the noun and the adjective and similarly the verb and the adverb. Children have a lot of fun mixing and matching and making silly combinations, it really appeals to the sense of humour of this age group.


Logical Adjective Game

Following the initial introduction of the adjective it's really important the child gets to explore the relationship between the noun and the adjective.

I love taking an object and asking the children to tell me as many qualities about it as possible, it really helps hone their observation skills. You can leave the object and all the words you make in a basket on the shelf so the child can revisit the exercise again.

It is also good to have a set of nouns and adjectives for matching on the shelf for the children to sort through and discuss which ones fit best together. Sometimes they have an adjective left that doesn't really match the remaining noun, so they have to re-think the other pairs - hence the name Logical Adjective Game.

They can also use the set to pick out as many adjectives to describe one noun.

You can find a set of cards HERE

Logical Adverb Game

After introducing the adverb the children should have opportunities to experiment with how it works with the miniature environment.

It is fun to look at the ways the adverb interacts with the verb.

This works the same way as the Logical Adjective Game - seeing which pairs work best, making up silly pairs of words and choosing as many adverbs that can be used with a particular verb.

You can find a set of cards HERE.

Logical Agreement Games

You can play similar games with the other parts of speech as the child's knowledge and understanding grows.

You can find my series of the "parts of speech" cards for free at my TpT Store.

Introducing Conjunctions

This was the lesson that made me fall in love with Montessori Grammar. It just stuck with me and it made me realise how powerful the Montessori approach can be.

Tying that pink ribbon around the flowers was such a strong image for me and it made me think back to my own schooling and how the things that stuck with me most were those that captured my imagination.

The lesson requires three flowers of different colours and begins with asking the child/ren to label the flowers, e.g. "the white flower". Once the flowers are labelled write the word "and" on two pieces of paper and place between the flower labels. Then take the flowers and tie them together with the pink ribbon and read all the labels aloud. Tell the children that the word "and" is a conjunction, placing the symbol above the "and" and then symbolising the other words.

Conjunction comes from the Latin word 'conjungere' which means to join together, which is why its symbol is the pink ribbon.

As a continuation of my word cards series for exploration, transposing and logical agreement games, you can find my conjunction word cards for free HERE.



Extensions:

After the initial lesson, children can practice with the miniature environment.

I have also created some extension cards, which are similar to the logical agreement games that the children can play with the word cards. There are four exercises for exploring how conjunctions function.



I would suggest introducing the child to the exercise by choosing two conjunctions for them and using one of the exercises with just two pictures and ask the child to choose one of the conjunctions and place it in the pink box. Then replace it with the second conjunction and ask them how it seems different to the first.

  

You can find these extension cards HERE at my store.





Introduction to Prepositions

I shared some photos from a recent prepositions lesson on Facebook
and wow were they popular!

This work is so much fun and you can use any objects at hand.

When writing and working with sentence strips it really appeals to the humour of the elementary children to transpose the subject and the object, reinforcing the importance of correct word usage.

It is also important that the children build their own sentences as follow up to this work.

These cards can be used to build sentences in conjunction with the other parts of speech cards, they can be used as simple single word commands or your children may choose them for spelling words.

You can find my printable file HERE.

Noun Boxes - Plural Nouns

Through noun study we introduce some of the nuances of English spelling.

There are ten boxes for covering the rules for plural nouns. Today I am sharing the first three of these boxes.

Plural Box I - adding 's'

Plural Box II - nouns ending with a sibilant sound add 'es'

Plural Box III - nouns ending in '-f' '-fe' '-lf' that have a long vowel 'f' becomes 'v'

And be sure to enjoy some healthy discussion of the how and why the English language has evolved the way it has :)

You can purchase the full range word cards for plural nouns at my store.

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Collective Nouns

Sometime after discussing concrete and abstract nouns, and possibly even after discussing masculine and feminine nouns, the child can be introduced to collective nouns.

Invite the child to identify an object (have something prepared that you have several of) and briefly revise nouns and how everything has a name.

Then introduce the collection of items.

Some children may want to keep going with this work as they may enjoy matching the collective noun with the noun.

You can find my collective noun cards HERE and in list form HERE. You could use the list as the control of error (alternatively you can write the animal type on the reverse side of the animal card before laminating).

I think it is also important, either in the same lesson or in a follow up, to illustrate that collective nouns are not limited to animals (although they are often the more interesting examples). There are fleets of ships, bouquets of flowers, bunches of bananas and so forth. The children often have a lot of fun exploring the language of collective nouns and many will want to research more examples.

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Shades of Meaning - Introducing Synonyms

After the introduction of the verb, the child can be introduced to synonyms. This is a more exact form of the 'command' games the children are familiar with.

A box labelled 'Synonyms' or 'Shades of Meaning' is introduced. Inside the box are several bundles of verbs, each bundle contains a series of verbs similar in nature, hence "shades of meaning" as the child develops a sense of awareness in differentiating subtle differences in similar words.

Introducing the Article

Introducing the definite and indefinite articles with the use of objects.

It is important with this initial lesson, as mentioned in previous posts, that we handwrite the words in front of the child - a black pen and a red pen are required for this presentation. Have a variety of objects on hand for the lesson: