How we teach nouns, verbs and adjectives from one sentence at a time

A third grader I tutor could recite the definition of a noun, a person, place or thing, and still labelled "barks" as a noun because dogs are things. Definitions don't do it. Watching the same kind of word do the same job in sentence after sentence does.

What the sheet looks like

The parts of speech worksheet has two formats. Identify prints short sentences with one word in bold, "The dog barks loudly," and the child writes N, V or ADJ on the line. Sort prints a shuffled word bank and three empty columns headed Nouns, Verbs and Adjectives. Difficulty is Easy for kindergarten and first grade or Standard for second and third. The Target setting is the useful one: Mixed, or Nouns only, Verbs only, Adjectives only. Pages hold 9, 12, 15 or 18 sentences, with an optional answer key.

Why it works

• Verbs only turns the sheet into "find the action word" and nothing else. One part of speech at a time is how the labels actually stick.
• The bold word sits inside a sentence, not on its own. A child has to notice that "rides" in "My sister rides a bike" is doing something, not naming something.
• The Sort format is the test. Nothing is bold; the child decides what each word is with no sentence to lean on.

Who it suits

Six-year-olds: Identify, Easy, Nouns only, nine sentences. Third graders can handle Sort on Standard with eighteen words. The sheet covers nouns, verbs and adjectives only, no adverbs or pronouns, which is the right stopping point through grade 3. When those three are solid, the broader grammar skills sheet picks up the rest.

Two or three sheets a week for a fortnight and the labels hold. After that, just point at words in whatever book is open.