Do you find it challenging teaching the parts of speech? Especially to primary students?! Are you looking for grammar activities in the classroom?

I have a simple guide you can follow that has made my life easier as a teacher and hopefully it will do the same for you. This post will get you started on how to teach NOUNS to your primary students. For each part of speech I do the same type of lessons. So they can all be adjusted to whatever you’re teaching.

It is SO important to keep grammar visually appealing to primary students. When I was teaching, I taught in a classroom full of ESL/ELD/ELL students. On top of teaching them a new concept, I was also teaching them new words that many of them had never heard before. I feel that in the primary grades you can just assume that many students could use this visual refresher. If at any time you find yourself needing more, click here to be directed to my Grammar Bundle in my TpT store!

1. Even primary students can do grammar!

Give them the benefit of the doubt, cuz they CAN do it! With the right tools you will have your student’s deciding between common and proper nouns, singular and plural, pronouns vs. regular nouns. I love using this anchor chart and putting it on yellow paper (because nouns are yellow!). Keep everything visually appealing. It’s all about anchor charts and pictures to identify everything.

click here for more info on this anchor chart!

2. Color coding the parts of speech

I love using a grammar wall in the classroom. This can get overwhelming to students, so color coding each part of speech eliminates that confusion.
a. NOUNS – YELLOW
b. ARTICLES – RED
c. VERBS – ORANGE
d. ADJECTIVES – BLUE
e. CONJUNCTIONS – PURPLE
d. PREPOSITIONS – GREEN

Here is a sample from a color coded grammar wall using my noun cards. All you have to do is make a poster for each part of speech and tack them up on your wall. To find these noun cards you can find them in my Grammar Bundle!

3. Use picture cards

It’s so important to use picture cards! Many students can’t read these tricky words, and if you have an ESL student, this helps them so much more. When I introduce nouns, I always bring out my picture cards and place them into a pocket chart so the students can help me sort between a person, place or thing.

4. Make your lessons fun and interactive

Teaching grammar in a fun way? Say what?! Yes! This can be done! I created grammar lessons using the I do, we do, you do method. Students are always involved in the lessons and partner sharing is highly encouraged. Here is a sample from a noun sorting lesson for singular and plural nouns:

I also love tying in real pictures to my lessons! This is an anchor chart that is very visually appealing and can be placed up on your grammar wall or somewhere in your room for a quick, easy reference.

Another great activity is to play the game Last Man Standing. The teacher can post a print rich picture from a book. I also like to use pictures off the internet. Here is an example:

click here for more examples

To play last man standing: students all stand up and you go around the room and each person gets a turn to name off a noun that they see in the picture. The last person standing is the Noun King or Queen! I usually make them a little grammar crown out of a sentence strip to wear for the day.

5. Give students meaningful independent practice.

Once you have covered the meat of nouns, now it’s time to set your student’s free and try some activities on their own. I love this simple activity called a ‘4 box job’. You literally give your students a blank piece of paper and they draw a line down the middle to make 4 boxes. Then you pass out the noun cards. See below for an example:

Noun 4 box job

For those students who finish early or are ready for sentence practice, I also love doing this too! It’s such a great activity for independent practice and no prep to you at all. Simply  hand them a blank sheet of paper and give them a pile of noun cards and let the writing and creativity begin!

Noun sentences for independent practice

For a more structured sentence practice, I love to use this as well! It works best when you place the parts of speech in colored containers and place them on the tables. This keeps them soooo organized. I used colored kid’s bowls from Ikea, sippy cups from Target, colored metal buckets from Target, and portion control containers. Pretty much any colored container works! 
Depending on the sentence frames, put out whatever parts of speech you need. Then students will follow the directions to form a sentence.

Noun sentence practice

Another engaging activity that students love to do is the noun flaps. Simply print and they assemble their pages to make interactive noun flaps.

Noun flap activities

In conclusion:

I hope these tips encourage you to venture out and teach some grammar! I have always noticed when I teach the parts of speech that my student’s writing increases dramatically. I can tell them to add an adjective to their sentence to make it more interesting, and they know exactly what I mean! To purchase the Grammar Bundle click on the picture below!

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