Flowers Activity: More on Nouns and Verbs

I was getting ready for my lesson today and hit a wall. I just couldn't figure out a fun activity to review nouns and verbs. Every single site I went to offered a worksheet, and I really didn't want to do a worksheet to review.

So I decided that, since flowers are starting to bloom, we would do a noun and verb activity with flowers. Here's what I did:

1) I cut out two yellow circles about the size of the bottom of a cup. On these, I wrote "noun" and "verb". These are the centers of my flowers.

2) I cut petals out of pink and orange paper. I didn't do any particular size on these, just what looks good. However, I did cut them all the same size. You will need eight pink and eight orange for each flower.

3) On each of the petals, I wrote a noun or a verb. Remember, each flower should have eight petals.

4) Using a medium-sized white board (you can use whatever you have around, walls would work fine!), I taped the flower centers to the board. On one side of the board, I mixed the petals up and taped them in no particular order.

5) I introduced the activity and gave my learner five minutes to complete it independently. When she asked, I helped her with more difficult words.

I used this as a review, but it could easily be used during the initial lesson. If you're teaching a boy who isn't interested in flowers, you could change the theme. For example, a noun and a verb cloud with nouns and verbs written on raindrops. You can also change it to fit whatever topic you're teaching.

I think this activity worked well becuase it not only showed me what we needed to continue working on, but it also worked as an assessment without any anxiety. I would definitely recommend trying it!

A Fun Way to Teach Parts of Speech

Just a  few weeks ago I started teaching parts of speech to my learner. At first, it was extremely difficult because I wasn't sure how to get her to connect what I was teaching to the words she reads, but then I remembered this goofy looking set of books we had in our tutoring center. They turned out to be a fantastic resource.

The Words are CATegorical book set by Brian P. Cleary is a great way to teach parts of speech becuase they use rhymes and silly illustrations to rienforce their concepts. The books are fun to read and easy to pay attention to, so your learner will have no problem listening. You can purchase the books online at Really Good Stuff.

For more great ways to teach parts of speech, check out websites like Teachnology and ABC Teach. You can also use online games like this snake-themed game on 4Kids. If you want to keep it simple, games like Simon Says seem to do the trick. Remember, keeping your lessons fun will make learning more enjoyable!

Recently, I was able to hear Erin Gruwell speak about her students and her teaching methods. This was a fantastic experience and I got some great ideas for tutoring!

Meeting Erin!

One of the most important things Erin talks about is meeting your students on their level. For example, if I'm tutoring someone who knows a lot about music, I can incorporate music into the lesson to help them learn.

Here is a activity idea from Erin's teacher's guide for accomplishing this:

• Have your learner make a "coat of arms". Their sheild should include four spaces. These will include Favorite Things, Goals, Someone You Admire, and What Makes You Unique. In the center, have them put a picture of themselves, and at the bottom, have them write their "motto".

You should try to get to know your learner to see what they are interested in and what they enjoy doing. By making information relevant to their everyday lives, you can help them to be more enthusiastic about learning. Remember, every student has something unique that they can contribute to the learning process, so look for what makes them special!