Adjectives

Students need to understand the use of adjectives is important to writing. use & understand the function of following parts of speech in the context of reading, writing, speaking **iii** adjectives (e.g., descriptive: wooden, rectangular; limiting: this that; articles: a, an, the) || [|School House Rock- Adjectives] [|Grammar Blast- Adjectives]
 * Conventions 3.22A i** verbs **iv** adverbs **vi** possessive pronouns **viii** time-order transition words & transitions that indicate a conclusion
 * **3.22A**

Explanation: Students use adjective everyday! Use the following lesson to introduce adjectives and allow students to explore the use of adjectives on their own.

**Instruction and Activities**

Adjectives and synonyms provide students with a variety of ways to express themselves both verbally and in writing. People, places, and things come alive when students are able to describe them using unique or "visual" words. Which sounds more interesting to you: "The bumpy moon is in the black sky" or "The cratered moon shines in the dark, onyx sky?" //Dark// and //onyx// are adjectives, but are also synonyms for the word //black//. The second sentence provides richer details about the moon and the sky by using more vivid—and unexpected—descriptors.


 * Session 1: Introduce adjectives** **(You do not have to read the book- just hold up an apple)**
 * 1. || Read //Apples// by Gail Gibbons aloud to the class. This book has minimal text, but provides illustrations of various types of apples. Guide students to focus on the appearance of apples, both inside and out, as Gibbons has done throughout the book. ||
 * 2. || Divide the class into groups of three to four students. Give each group two apples of the same variety—one whole and one cut into enough pieces so that each team member gets one—and copies of the __Describe Your Apples __ handout. Give them 15 minutes to brainstorm and record words that describe their apples. **They can describe the apples in their writers' notebooks rather than using a handout!** ||
 * 3. || Gather the entire class together and ask teams to share words from their lists. Descriptive words might include: //red//, //green//, //round//,//shiny//, //waxy//, //bruised//, //ripe//,//speckled//, //spotted//, or //wet//. Record the class list on a board or flipchart. ||
 * 4. || Explain to the class that they have created a list of words called //adjectives// to describe their apples. The list includes words that describe how the apples look, smell, feel and even taste. ||
 * 5. || Ask students to define //adjective//, working toward the definition that it is a word that describes a person, place, or thing (noun). Talk about why adjectives are important. Questions for discussion include:* How might adjectives be used in driving directions? (Take a//right// turn; follow the //windy// road for five miles; go through the //flashing//, //yellow// light; we're the//second//, //blue// house on the //right//.)


 * How might they be used in a recipe? (An apple pie recipe may include the following adjectives: //one// tablespoon of //brown// sugar,//one// tablespoon of //fresh lemon// juice, //two// cups of //white// flour, and a //glass pie// plate.) ||
 * 6. || Ask students to consider why adjectives are useful and helpful. What are some of their ideas? When do they use adjectives? Some ideas might include the following:* Choosing drinks: //white// or //chocolate// milk


 * Choosing breakfast: //scrambled// or //fried// eggs


 * Selecting a team during physical education: //blue// team or //red// team


 * Understanding weather and temperature: //hot//, //cold//, //rainy//, //windy//, //snowy//

You could read //If I Were an Adjective// here too
 * Describing one's own feelings or state of being: //tired//, //scared//, //angry//, //happy// ||

Day Two: Now that students have been introduced to the vocabulary of 'adjective,' they can expand on their thinking. Divide students into groups of four or five. Provide each group with a card that has an object's name written on it (ex: cat, dog, pencil, etc.) The groups will have about 5 minutes to brainstorm as many adjectives to describe that object as possible without letting the other groups hear. (make the relation to properties in science)

After brainstorming, have each group stand and read their list of adjectives aloud and have the other students guess what object is being described.

Day Three: Short Minilesson on Article Adjectives

==**'A' and 'An' are two special types of adjectives. They are used to describe objects, but are not like regular adjectives. These are called 'articles.'** ==

If the word you are describing begins with a vowel, you use 'an.' ( An orange, an apple, an instrument) If the word you are describing begins with a consonant, you use 'a.' (A house, a horse, a pig)

You can use this worksheet to practice: [|aarticles-a-an.pdf]

Day Four: Students will then choose a topic of their own and brainstorm a list of adjectives for that topic or object. They will write a descriptive paragraph or write a poem using the following format about their topic and then illustrate it.

Poem:

Object Adjective, Adjective, Adjective, Adjective, Adjective, Adjective, Adjective, Object

You can take a daily grade on their poem.

Or, you can have students write a descriptive paragraph about a particular topic.

Ideas include: The Sun Snow A planet in our solar system A famous person they have learned about

**This is a SMART Notebook interactive lesson/game...** [|adjectives quick lesson game on SMART.notebook] Everyone should have this software on their computer! The host of "Grammar Show" is british...so his accent is different and on the question part he says to use a 'tick' this means the check mark ;)​


 * Ok...just tried the link. It pops up with a blue box in front asking if you want a new or saved notebook page.. just X it out and the game is behind it!**

[|adjectives-circleunderline.pdf] [|adjectives1.pdf] [|alienadjectives.pdf]

You can take a daily grade on the paragraph as well.

4- Students uses vivid adjectives that describe the object in great detail 3- Students use several generic adjectives that generally describe the object (good, great, pretty, nice, etc) 2- One or two poor adjectives are used- do not create images in the mind 1- None or very poor adjectives are used