Language Arts, Reading, Vocabulary, Writing, Grammar

Grade 3- 5

Objective

The students will use action verbs to provide clarification and description in writing.

Directions

Introducing the Skill
Preparation: Reproduce the Student Resource Sheet (page 14) for students and make a copy for yourself to use as a teaching reference.
Directions: Distribute the Student Resource Sheet to students. Tell students WHAT skill they will be learning. Explain WHY writers use this skill and WHY it will make your students' writing better. Show several examples of WHEN this skill is used. Teach students HOW to use this skill.

Practicing the Skill
Preparation: Reproduce the Student Practice Sheets (pages 15 and 16) for students.
Directions: Assign the practice sheets to students according to their needs and abilities. You may wish to have students work on these sheets in one or more of the following ways: as a whole-class activity, with a partner, in small groups, or independently. As an alternative, you may prefer to use one or both sheets as homework assignments. Provide feedback to students to ensure mastery of the skill.

Applying the Skill
Preparation: Write verbs on slips of paper. You will need enough slips for each student in the class to have one. Place the slips in a container, such as a hat, bag, or small box. The following verbs work well for this activity.

skip jump sleep drive cry sniff

sing blow eat hide walk hit

catch fall shake swim throw dive

fight write jog drink draw fly

sit dance bite drown paint type

Directions: Tell students that they are going to play a version of charades. Choose a student to select a slip of paper from the container. Instruct that student to read the word on the slip of paper to him/herself. The student should then act out the word for the class. The rest of the class should try to guess what word is on the slip of paper based on the action being performed. Continue with the game until all students have had a chance to act out a word. Depending on the size of your class, you may want the students in small groups for this activity.

Resources

• slips of paper on which you will need to write various action verbs
• copies of the Student Resource Sheet
• copies of the Student Practice Sheets (1 and 2)
• 2991--Meeting Writing Standards: Descriptive Writing