Teaching the Parts of Speech
Although teaching grammar has become slightly old fashioned, most home educators still want to incorporate at least the very basics of the parts of speech into their language arts curriculum. Here is a collection of some of the best resources available to make learning English grammar interesting and memorable. Many of them can be found free online, so with just a little bit of planning, you can develop a very low cost homeschool grammar curriculum.
Using Grammarland Novel - To Teach the Parts of Speech
Grammarland by M. L. Nesbit is a living book in the public domain (published 1878). The children of Schoolroomshire participate in a court proceeding of Grammarland and learn all about the parts of speech and the rules of grammar that govern them.
Each part of speech is personified and makes an appearance at court. Their personalities and behaviors reflect their functions in this allegorical tale.
I would recommend this book for ages eight to twelve with the parent reading out loud to the child, discussing as you read. Children over twelve could enjoy this book independently. At the end of most chapters there are small assignments to label the parts of speech of a small passage.
The quaint black and white images of the parts of speech on this page all come from this book.
Would you like some free printables, specially made for Grammarland? Here are two sources:
1. Worksheets that have the activities written in the original text.
2. Free printable notebooking pages from God's Gems.
Here is another source for the text of Grammarland. And Librivox has free audio recordings of Grammarland, too.
More Tools for Teaching Grammar
The Homeschool Classroom shares some tips for Teaching Grammar Without Requiring Writing. This is a must read, especially if your children dislike handwriting.
Listen to The Language Police online for free. This silly song will help you learn the parts of speech.
Grammar Songs, published by Audio Memory and pictured to the right, is another great resource. Look for it at your favorite homeschool retailer.
Garden of Praise offers an entire grammar package including songs set to familiar tunes, printables, and suggestions for teaching the parts of speech.
Make your own reference guide to the parts of speech. A layered book would be perfect! Crayola tells you how to do it.
Or visit Minibook Gallery for other types of minibooks.
Prefer notebooking? Then be sure to visit Notebooking Pages' free language arts resources. There are free printables for each part of speech
Links for Making a Grammar Lapbook - Ideas and Printables
- RETAIL -- Operation English Grammar Lapbook
This is a for purchase product. This Hands of a Child lapbook kit is a thorough look at grammar for children Read a review of this product at The Curriculum Choice - EXAMPLE --Grammar Lapbook Pictures
Wonderful example of a lapbook. - EXAMPLE --Grammar Lapbook Blog Entry
No printables but lots of ideas here for making your own. - PRINTABLES --Language Arts Printables from Busy Teachers Cafe
Look for the link to the Grammar Booklet for a handy minibook template. Each page has a part of speech and its definition with space for the student to write examples. This page also has some parts of speech worksheets you may find useful. - Homeschool Share Grammar Mini Books
Three minibook templates that go along with the story Grammarland: Adjective Endings, Adjective Pronouns, and Objective/Nominative Case.
Instant Books for Grammar
More Printable Grammar Helps
- Grammar Cheat Sheet
This document would be appropriate for middle school or high school students. It's an overview of the parts of speech and their various subgroupings (common and proper under nouns; transitive and linking under verbs, etc). - Language Arts Forms
A nice collection of grammar printables shared by a homeschool mom. - Printable Grammar Notebooking Pages
Look for the grammar notebooking pages.
Three Parts of Speech Grammar Poems
Free Printable Posters
Here are three different poems that can be used to learn about the parts of speech.
I found three different poems to help you learn the parts of speech. Each one is a bit different, so choose the one you like best, download the PDF, print it out, and teach it to your children. Click the image for a letter sized mini-poster. (An A4 alternative is also available.)
Besides hanging on the wall or putting into a notebook, these poem poems could be used for memorization or for copywork.
If you want the text of the poems to create your own printables, click here.
POEM ONE:
The poem The Nine Parts of Speech was written by Green Baker in 1865 or 1866. For this poem in printable PDF, click HERE for LTR size and HERE for A4 size.
POEM TWO:
This second parts of speech poem is taken from Language and Grammar.
For printable PDFs of the poem, click HERE for LTR size and HERE for A4 size.
POEM THREE:
This third parts of speech poem is taken from First Lessons in Language (also called Elements of English Grammar) by David B. Tower and Benjamin F. Tweed. (See pp. 27-28 for the poem.)
If you'd like this poem in a printable PDF click HERE for LTR and HERE for A4.
Charlotte Mason Styled Grammar and Language Arts
Charlotte Mason felt that grammar was best learned in the context of real language through the reading, dictating, and copying of literature passages. Here are some English curricula that fit with Charlotte Mason's gentle approach to language arts. For curriculum reviews of these and other (not necessarily CM styled) products, visit Home School Reviews.
For more details about a CM language arts, visit Eads Home Ministries.
Printable Parts of Speech Posters
For free printable parts of speech charts try these options:
- Scholastic
- Nicholas Academy
- Parts of Speech Chart at Busy Teachers Cafe
Parts of Speech Poster Set
Let's Be Honest
Grammar can sometimes be dry. Spice it up with hands-on activities, games, songs, and videos. Remember that the more senses you can engage during the learning, the more retention (and usually the more enjoyment).
Grammar Games
My daughter created this homemade board game with a grammar theme! Making it and playing it offer lots of enjoyable learning.
- Make your own board games about grammar. This is a win-win situation because the child learns as he makes the game and then reviews as he plays the game!
- Play some spoken games with your words! Teaching K-8 shares some clever verbal games that you could play even while riding in the car.
- Word bags are another simple game idea that require only paper bags, paper, and pencil.
- Parts of Speech Card Game is a free PDF to cut out and play. A reminder about words -- a word's part of speech can only be determined in context. So encourage your child to USE the word in a sentence to prove its part of speech. In other words, you may draw YELLOW and say that is an adjective. Yes, YELLOW can be an adjective. But it can also be a noun.
A Unique Grammar Game
The game highlighted below, You've Been Sentenced, reinforces grammar while making for a great family game night. You could probably make your own version of this game with just some index cards.
Awesome Hands-on Activities For Teaching Grammar
Let's Talk Grammar
Need more meat for thought? Here are blog posts & articles related to the topic of teaching grammar.
- Why Learn the Parts of Speech?
The Thinking Mother shares her doubts about the necessity of teaching grammar at all. - Why Study Grammar
A more scholarly article than the previous link, this blog entry gives even more reasons to support the study of English grammar. - Grammar Matters Yahoo Group
There's a website for everything and a Yahoo group for everything. This one is "for exchanging ideas and resources relating to teaching grammar in the elementary grades."
Is Grammar Necessary?
Many public schools have phased out the teaching of parts of speech in favor of the usage and mechanics of English. The thinking is that as long as you can use English, what difference does it make that you can label the parts of speech or diagram a sentence?
Does it matter if someone can't understand the humor in the cartoon below? Or is studying the parts of speech too old fashioned?
Online Tools for Learning Grammar - Games and Activities
Choose some of these online activities and games as an alternative to a paper and pencil worksheet.
- Harcourt Grammar Practice Park
Simple but well done games covering several parts of speech. For example, the noun game -- can you tell if the word is a common noun, proper noun, or not a noun at all? - Grammar Gorillas
Review all the parts of speech through these interactive worksheets. - Learning Planet
Games for three levels of learners. - Madlibs -- E Style
Fill in the blanks and the online madlibs will create a silly story for you.
Text of Parts of Speech Poems
POEM ONE
The Nine Parts of Speech
Three little words you often see,
Are articles - a, an, and the.
A noun's the name of anything
As school, garden, hoop, or swing.
An adjective tells the kind of noun -
Great, small, pretty, white, or brown.
Instead of nouns the pronouns stand -
Her head, his face, your arm, my hand.
Verbs tell of something to be done,
To read, sing, jump, or run.
How things are done the adverbs tell,
As slowly, quickly, ill, or well.
Conjunctions join words together,
As men and women, wind or weather.
The prepositions stands before
A noun, as at or through the door.
The interjection shows surprise,
As ah! how pretty --- Oh! how wise.
The whole are called nine parts of speech,
Which reading, writing, speaking teach.
The poem The Nine Parts of Speech was written by Green Baker in 1865 or 1866.
POEM TWO
THE PARTS OF SPEECH
Every name is called a NOUN,
As field and fountain, street and town;
In place of noun the PRONOUN stands
As he and she can clap their hands;
The ADJECTIVE describes a thing,
As magic wand and bridal ring;
The VERB means action, something done -
To read, to write, to jump, to run;
How things are done, the ADVERBS tell,
As quickly, slowly, badly, well;
The PREPOSITION shows relation,
As in the street, or at the station;
CONJUNCTIONS join, in many ways,
Sentences, words, or phrase and phrase;
The INTERJECTION cries out, 'Hark!
I need an exclamation mark!'
Through Poetry, we learn how each
of these make up THE PARTS OF SPEECH.
This second parts of speech poem is taken from Language and Grammar.
POEM THREE
A NOUN'S the name of any thing;
As, school or garden, hoop, or swing.
ADJECTIVES tell the kind of noun;
As, great, small, pretty, white, or brown.
Three of these words we often see
Called ARTICLES -- a, an, and the.
Instead of nouns the PRONOUNS stand;
John's head, his face, my arm, your hand.
VERBS tell of something being done;
As, read, write, spell, sing, jump, or run.
How things are done the ADVERBS tell;
As, slowly, quickly, ill, or well.
They also tell us where and when;
As, here, and there, and now, and then.
A PREPOSITION stands before A NOUN;
as, in, or through, a door.
CONJUNCTIONS sentences unite;
As, kittens scratch and puppies bite.
The INTERJECTION shows surprise;
As O, how pretty! Ah, how wise!
This third parts of speech poem is taken from First Lessons in Language (also called Elements of English Grammar) by David B. Tower and Benjamin F. Tweed. (See pp. 27-28 for the poem.)
Guestbook
Cynthia Haltom from Diamondhead on April 09, 2013:
I've always enjoyed School House Rock. I also have many grammar games that I created the kids love them.
anonymous on September 23, 2012:
I wanted to add another great grammar game in addition to You've Been Sentenced.
Cooking Up Sentences is a game for ages 7+ from Learning Resource. It is a fun way to teach parts of speech with a recipe/chef theme
bskcom on September 05, 2012:
The poems on grammars and parts of speech made your Lens very enjoyable. I found myself smiling at all of the passion you put ino your Lens.
VeseliDan on June 12, 2012:
i think that a lot of parents are home schooling their children. *blessed*
anonymous on June 02, 2012:
Check out www.linkingblocks.com for great homeschool grammar resources.
SellClean on May 07, 2012:
Great lens! I love the School House Rock stuff. They still connect with kids today like they did with me all of those years ago.
Spiderlily321 on April 20, 2012:
This is a great lens with a lot of excellent info. I am currently homeschooling my 3 year old son. He started off with a bit of a speech delay and I have been researching all over the web and coming up with different techniques to help him and I must admit that his speech and vocab have improved dramatically. I love homeschool! One of my lens includes some of my techniques. Love your lens! Thank you for sharing
profundus on February 16, 2012:
Great lens will have to tell my sister about this she has two young ones. Liking it...
jimmyworldstar on February 09, 2012:
Schoolhouse Rock was such a great show, even though I already knew my grammar and such, it was still entertaining to watch.
HOPEHomeSchoolConsulting on October 01, 2011:
Nice lens. I loved Schoolhouse Rock as a kid. :)
anonymous on August 29, 2011:
This is the best and most comprehensive homeschool site I have been on for any subject.Thank you so much for your time and effort.BTW I have to agree with an earlier post about knowing the parts of speech so one can learn another language.I went to Spanish immersion school in Guatemala at age 49.I am sad to say what grammar I had learned as a kid did not stick and it made learning Spanish that much more difficult.I am happy to be re-learning grammar right along with my homeschooled daughter.P.S.Love the grammar rock videos!
Wendy Leanne from Texas on August 11, 2011:
I love that you say "the more senses you can engage during the learning, the more retention" because that is so very, very true.
bbsoulful2 on June 18, 2011:
Great page! I love the ideas, and the resources you've cataloged. Thank you!
ShellB on June 03, 2011:
Great lens! My daughter is 15 and I'm having her do "Easy Grammar". She really likes the it.
JanieceTobey on May 06, 2011:
I've been to your wonderful grammar page before, but came back today to leave a blessing! Featured on "The Best Homeschooling Lessons on Squidoo!"
Michey LM on April 02, 2011:
Hi! Great lens, I don't think that teaching grammar is old fashioned, I think is mandatory.
So when I grandson used "calculator" to find out 3x4, I hide the calculator and I thought him multiplication... the same think with grammar... The basics are extremely important.
Thanks for a useful lens
Anthony Godinho from Ontario, Canada on December 24, 2010:
I enjoyed reading your informative lens and it was sort of a refresher in the parts of speech for me. Though grammar can be dry and boring, I think it's important for effective communication. Lensrolled to my Common Grammatical Mistakes lens and blessed by a Squid Angel.
teachingtools on November 18, 2010:
Great lens and ideas! Don't forget you can use free certificate templates to reward your students for their successes!
Rachel Thomas on November 11, 2010:
All of your lenses are so helpful! I haven't had the chance to read them all yet but I plan to as you really do have the most interesting collection of lenses that I have read. I don't homeschool but even with homework I can tell that your lenses are going to really help me.
Jeremy from Tokyo, Japan on October 15, 2010:
Wonderful ideas, Jimmie! How could I have forgotten about Schoolhouse Rock?! I'm going to play some of those for my daughter who is working on parts of speech right now. I just published a lens actually about using Mad LIbs to teach parts of speech, but I'm always on the lookout for new methods.
eclecticeducati1 on October 01, 2010:
I'll admit it, I hate grammar and hate teaching it. There, I admitted it. lol!! Obviously, as a home educator, I have to teach it. lol!!! This page has a lot of wonderful ideas for teaching a subject that is normally dry. Thank you! I've already printed out a couple of the poems to use with my 3rd grader. Great lens. Blessed by a Squid angel.
GardenArbor on September 28, 2010:
Great lens. Nice to see somebody promote accuracy over apathy!
Rhonda Albom from New Zealand on September 20, 2010:
Great lens. I added it on Homeschool Fun.
GrowWear on September 10, 2010:
Your lenses are wonderful. Wish I had learned more about grammar as a child. :)
David Schroeter from St Kilda, Victoria, Australia on September 08, 2010:
Another great lens Jimmie. I can certainly use some of your ideas here to spice up some of my classes for the younger ESL learners.
anonymous on April 08, 2010:
Thank you so much for this wonderful lens! I specifically searched the Internet for free homeschool worksheets on the parts of speech and your lens was one of the top results. I have printed so many of these resources for my 10 year old who is still struggling with this. I believe some of it will help my older and younger children too. I have forwarded many of the links to my laptop and I will be mentioning this on my new homeschool blog. :o)
Carol Goss on January 14, 2010:
This is good resource for writers too. Thanks :)
SadieCope on January 09, 2010:
I love the photos of your homeschool projects! I remember those days!
anonymous on December 04, 2009:
Loved the graphics and the comics! Thanks!
gia combs-ramirez from Montana on November 01, 2009:
Nice lens! Blessings..
Canela Ajena from Houston on March 17, 2009:
This is great!
MargoPArrowsmith on February 26, 2009:
Grammar matters so much. People do pick it up, but you need to understand the concepts. Jazz musicians need to know music extremely well before they can jam and people need to know grammar to write well.
Susan Deppner from Arkansas USA on January 02, 2009:
What a lovely lens! I so miss homeschooling. I love the rhymes and songs that help make learning grammar fun. A SquidAngel blessing for another quality lens!
anonymous on January 01, 2009:
Thank you for this grammar lens, wonderful!
poutine on December 31, 2008:
I've got to admire moms who homeschool, it takes a lot of knowledge and
patience to pull it off.
seegreen on December 16, 2008:
Love the poems! We use Mad Libs from time to time as well as formal grammar books.
AlisonMeacham on December 15, 2008:
Another great resource. I have been looking for a way to teach grammar painlessly and here you have set out some great ideas and resources. Thanks as always!
marsha32 on December 14, 2008:
grammar used to be something Jasmine was great at, now she acts like she has no interest and acts like she doesn't understand. Great resources here. I hope you will go add this lens in the plexo list on my homeschool lens.
Spritelett on December 13, 2008:
great lens mom!!!
