How to Help Children Learn the Parts of Speech
Teaching Elementary-Aged Kids to Identify Basic Sentence Structure
Teaching children about reading and writing can be difficult, but they can best succeed in language arts by learning the simple stuff in a simple way. Instead of clouding their confusion even more by throwing around fancy names and difficult situations, allow them to pick up on patterns since that’s how they learned how to speak the language to begin with.
Basic Grammar: Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives
Noun: a person, place or thing.
Verb: an action word.
Adjective: a description.
Example: Jason chased the grey rabbit.
In the preceding example, ask a child what the nouns of the sentence are, reminding them that nouns are people, places, or things. Jason and rabbit are the two nouns. Next ask for any verbs or action words that the nouns perform in the sentence. What does Jason do? What does the rabbit do? Only Jason performs an action: he chased, therefore the verb is chased. Next, ask if there is any word in the sentence that describes the two nouns. Because the rabbit is described as grey, grey is the adjective.
Intermediate Grammar: Pronouns and Adverbs
Pronoun: replaces a noun to avoid repetition.
Adverb: describes any word or phrase but a noun. Usually answers how, when, where, why, or to what extent. Adverbs often end in “ly.”
Example: As Jason quickly chased the rabbit, he tripped.
In the preceding example, ask the child what the noun of the sentence is, then ask if Jason is mentioned again in the sentence. Explain that he replaces the name Jason, making it the pronoun of the sentence. The word quickly describes how Jason chased the rabbit, and it is a description of the verb chased, making it the adverb of the sentence. Explain that adverbs are similar to adjectives but instead of describing nouns they describe other parts of a sentence.
Advanced Grammar: Prepositions, Conjunctions, and Interjections
Preposition: Linking words. These words link noun phrases to the rest of the sentence. Examples of these words include: during, in, at, between.
Conjunction: Also linking words. These words link a list or set of descriptions together. Links nouns, adjectives, verbs, and sentences. The most common conjunctions are: and, or, but.
Interjection: A strong feeling or cry that often begins a sentence.
Example: Wow, I couldn’t have climbed the tree, but Katelyn makes it look easy in that video.
In the preceding example, in is the preposition because it connects the noun phrase that video to the rest of the sentence. But is the conjunction because it connects the first sentence to the second, creating a compound sentence. The word wow is the interjection of the sentence because it conveys the awe of the sentence’s speaker.
Remember that teaching children the parts of speech can be difficult because the English language has many exceptions and contradictions, but teaching the basics of how to identify each word will help them become more competent readers and writers, eventually allowing them to better understand the language itself.
Related Reading:
Complex examples and explanations confuse kids.
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