Let’s Hammer Out Some Grammar!

A 1st grade lesson on parts of speech.

By Kaitlyn McMahan

Building a sentence is like building a house!

All the materials for the house are put together to create it, just like different types of words are put together to create a sentence.

Building Sentences

Put on your hard hats! We’re going to learn how to construct sturdy sentences by taking a look at some key parts of speech including nouns, verbs, and adjectives!

Construction Site

Think of nouns as the wood for your house. They

are an important foundation for your sentence.

Usually, you can think of a noun as something you can touch or draw.

Words that are nouns usually fall into 4 categories: PEOPLE PLACES THINGS ANIMALS

Nouns

Common nouns are general people, places, things, and animals. They are not specific types.

PEOPLE PLACES THINGS ANIMALS

cashier store screwdriver ant

Common Noun Examples

There are several types of wood you could use to

build your house, just like there are several types of nouns that might be needed in your sentence.

Proper nouns are a different type of noun that are specific names of people, places, things, and animals.

Proper nouns always start with a capital letter.

Proper Nouns

PEOPLE PLACES THINGS ANIMALS

Jane Webb Lowes Phillips Joe- specific name - specific name - specific type - specific name of the cashier of the store of screwdriver of the ant

Proper Noun Examples

Can you find the nouns in these sentences? Which ones are common and which ones are proper?

Jack bought sandpaper and a toolbox from Lowes.

The house on Reed Street will be finished in two days!

Click the wood for more noun practice:

Find the Nouns

There is one other type of noun that you need to

know! Pronouns are like the bricks for your house. Instead of using wood the whole time, you might need to throw in a few bricks.

Pronouns are words that can take the place of nouns.

Instead of saying or writing the same noun over and over, you can replace it with a pronoun like:

he, she, it, they, we, him, her, they, us

Pronouns

The hammer is heavy. The hammer is also long.

Instead of saying “the hammer” twice, we’ll replace the second one with a

pronoun.The hammer is heavy. It is also long.

What pronouns can replace the underlined nouns in the following sentences?

The ants work hard to build the colony.

Kate gave the nail to Sam.

Pronoun Practice

Verbs are like the power tools you use to build

your house. They do the work or the actions.

Think of a verb as something you can act out.

Sometimes we call verbs action words.

Verbs

Read I read the instructions for my

new tool.

Build My dad will build us a tree house

this summer.

Verb Examples

Run Let’s run to the hardware

store.

Hit I hit the nail as hard as I could.

Verb Examples

Can you find the verbs in the following sentences?

We walked quickly around the store to find all the materials.

I wish we could start painting today!

Click the drill for more verb practice:

Find the Verbs

Adjectives are like the paint for your house.

They help your sentence become colorful.

Adjectives are describing words. They tell “what kind” of nouns.

Adjectives can tell: what color, how many, what kind, when, what size

Adjectives

We used blue paint on the wooden door.Blue describes the paint and wooden describes the door.

Our friendly neighbor helped us carry the heavy bags.Friendly describes the neighbor and heavy describes the bags.

We need four large screws for the new shelf.Four and large describe the screws and new describes the shelf.

Adjective Examples

Can you find the adjectives in the following sentences?

The beautiful house has three tall windows to let in the bright sunlight.

Mr. Jacobs put a soft green rug in the rectangular bedroom.

Click the paint can for more adjective practice:

Find the Adjectives

You are on your way to building some

excellent sentences! Nouns, verbs, and adjectives are some great materials to get you started with your construction!

Congratulations

Images from Microsoft Clipart HMH School Publishers. (n.d.). Grammar practice park.

Retrieved from http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/basketball/index.html

Soft Schools. (n.d.). Balloon verb game. Retrieved from http://www.softschools.com/language_arts/grammar/verb/balloon_game/

Sheppard Software. (n.d.). Adjective adventure. Retrieved from http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/grammar/adjectives.htm

Resources