The noun box game power point

The Noun Box GameAND HOW TO PLAY IT

An X-Word Grammar Gamedeveloped by Bonny Hart & Tamara Kirson

Logo design: David Marte

NOUN BOXES: What’s the point?Practice with singular, plural, and noncount nounsMatch determiners to main nounsLearn a variety of describersLearn the order of different types of describers.

Why should I care? because noun boxes can occur in many places in a sentence. As the subject As the object or complement After a preposition After a clause word And so on…

As the SUBJECT

won a top award.The designS

As the OBJECT

a top award.The designWhat?

won

After a preposition

won a top awardThe design

the association.<frompreposition

After a CLAUSE WORD

won a top awardThe design

the association.from

the student groupthat createdCW

NOUN BOXES are a basic building block of English

a top award

The design

the association.from

the student group[that created]CW

won

S

What? preposition

Singular, plural, and noncount nouns

Singular: man, woman, boot, earring, dress Plural: men, women, boots, earrings, dresses Noncount: design, food, water, rice, freedom

What are Determiners?

Articles: a, an, the Demonstratives: this, that, these, those Possessives: my, her, their, John’s, the school’s …. Quantifiers: a lot of, many, each, a few ….

Determiners are the little words that come in front of a noun.

The GAME: Step 1Focused practice with DETERMINERS and NOUNS

Select these cards, shuffle them together, and deal 5 to each player.Put the remainder of the deck on the table.Turn over the top card of the deck for the discard pile.

NOUN

ADD AN “S”

DETERMINER

CAPITAL LETTER

Focus questions:

1.Which determiners match with which nouns?

2.Does every noun need a determiner?

1.Is every determiner an article?

2.Every singular noun needs a _____________.

Determiners + nouns only

Example 1: Determiner + Noun

Sorry. You can’t use “a” with a plural noun.

Example 2: Determiner + Noun

Sorry. The boxes in this game are SUBJECT boxes. A one-word subject must begin with a capital letter.

Example 3: Determiner + Noun

Yes! Boots can be a noun box.

30 points

Example 4: Determiner + Noun

Sorry. “One of the” needs a plural noun.

Example 5: Determiner + Noun

Yes! One of the dresses is a good NOUN BOX

40 points

Determiners and Nouns

The GAME: Step 2Adding DESCRIBERS

Describers are words that describe things.

In English, different types of describers have a set order. English is a WORD ORDER LANGUAGE, right?

taupe, plastic, popular, terrible, old, American, tiny

In English, nouns are sometimes used as describers. If a noun is a describer, it will come in front of another noun.

A little note about describers

She is an American girl.

The girl is an American.

describer

noun

Here are six words. Put them in order to make a good NOUN BOX

the

beautifuldoll little

pink plastic

The beautiful little pink plastic doll

Determiner Opinion Size Color Material noun

The beautiful little pink plastic doll

Add DESCRIBERS to the game, one kind at a time or all at once.

describers

1. Determiner2. Opinion3. Size4. Age

6.Material/Origin5. Color

Example 1: Determiner-Describers-noun

40 points

Example 2: Determiner-Describers-noun

No points. You can’t use “a” with “boots”

Example 3: Determiner-Describers-noun

No points. 1) Only one card per category2) You need a capital letter for “gorgeous”

Example 4: Determiner-Describers-noun

50 points.

60 points!

Enjoy playing the NOUN BOX GAME

•Remember, there are rules and instructions with every game, but it’s more fun to make them up yourselves.

•For a challenge, make your own set of cards, using vocabulary from your reading or theme.

•It’s about practice, not perfection. Have fun being imperfect!

Thank you

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