Subject(s): Language Arts Grades(s): Grades 6-7, Grades 4-5

Title – Kinetic Parts of Speech
By – Penny Casey
Primary Subject – Language Arts
Secondary Subjects – Language Arts
Grade Level – 4-7
This lesson is an excellent way to reduce some of the boredom that comes with studying parts of speech. It is easily adaptable for use with any or all of the parts of speech. Once you’ve tried it with your kids, they’ll suggest variations that you may want to use the next time.

Prepare a list of fairly simple sentences that contain the part of speech you are reviewing. Let’s use verbs for this example.

1. Instruct the students to stand on one foot beside their desks, and to listen carefully.
2. Tell them that you will read a sentence twice. The first time, they are to listen for any verbs that are in the sentence.
3. Tell them that the second time you read the sentence, they are to switch to the opposite foot each time a verb is read.
4. Be sure to use sentences that contain some helping verbs, so that the students sometimes will have to switch feet more than once during a sentence.

Using a physical activity can be varied in any number of ways. For example, this week my seventh graders were reviewing nouns, verbs, and adjectives. When I read a noun, they put their hands on their heads. When I read a verb, they pumped their arms as if they were running. When I read an adjective, they put their hands on their shoulders.

Students love this, and they learn from one another as well as from me.

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