Nouns form a crucial part of daily conversation, whether it is verbal or written communication. When a child starts to learn a language and grammar, the first step after phonics is “nouns” as every other part of speech works in modifying and completing the meaning of nouns.
To ensure that the child is learning and developing grammar skills effectively, It is vital to confirm that the first step of learning nouns is comprehended well in terms of its types and applicability. Though traditional classroom lessons and books are a must in building a strong foundation, interactive and fun activities can prove to be an ideal option to add on as a form of practice and to get a hang of the usage of the concept in real life.
Thus, this post will take you through a list of engaging activities that create a fun learning environment allowing students to express and clear their misconceptions and misunderstandings about the concept.
Interesting and engaging activities to teach Nouns
Different activities can be practiced by teachers on a daily basis to inculcate a comprehensive sense of learning. These activities require no heavy preparations and can be conducted in an entertaining manner.
1. Say it Quick
Students understand nouns in a better way when they learn about the concept in a comprehensive manner. This is a unique activity to understand different types of nouns and their applications. The activity is used to enhance team building while inculcating knowledge about the subject.
- To conduct this activity divide students into two teams of 3 members.
- Here, teams will be challenging each other to be as quick as possible in identifying the types of nouns.
- Basically, the first team shall be saying different things, objects, places, or names while the second team shall be guessing.
- The second team shall guess if the noun falls into the category of proper, common, collective, or abstract noun.
- Similarly, when the first team is done asking questions, it will be the turn of the second team to challenge the opponent.
The activity helps students understand the category of nouns while also allowing classmates to explore them in a brief manner. They also develop collaborative skills while working with other team members.
2. Let’s go Creative
Little budding minds are a bundle of creativity. Engaging them in creative activities that also help foster concepts can be an ideal option to go for. Students will be required crayons, sketch pens, and colorful materials for this activity.
- To conduct this activity give a blank sheet of paper to all students now quickly announce the type of noun they need to work on.
- As you announce the type of noun, students should be quick to draw 3 things related to it.
- For example, if the teacher says a common noun, the students can draw trees, fruits, chairs, or a pencil.
Students get to understand how they are surrounded by different types of nouns. They also learn to create an interconnection between what they are learning and what they see in their everyday life.
3. Have you observed well?
Learning from surroundings allows students to connect with the concept in real time. Through this activity, teachers can focus on developing observation skills while teaching nouns. It is obvious for students to come across a variety of nouns in their everyday life.
- To conduct this activity, ask students to completely observe their day from the morning to their bedtime.
- Ask them to spot different types of nouns and categorize them into different locations.
- For example, if students are in school, they can write school and then make a list of nouns.
- Similarly, if they go to a park, they can spot different nouns there.
- Once they have collected the list of nouns, ask them to categorize these nouns into proper, common, collective, and abstract when they are in the classroom.
- Once done, ask students to read out their list and share experiences.
The activity is helpful in teaching kids, the art of observation skills. While spotting different nouns in different places, kids become more aware of the practical usage of the concept.
4. Can you count it?
Teaching the concept of countable and uncountable nouns is important to understand the concept of nouns in a complete manner. It is crucial for students to understand how some nouns can be quantified while some cannot so that they’re able to describe them properly without getting confused.
- To conduct this activity divide students into teams of 2 members each.
- Now, ask each team to create their unique placard.
- The placard shall have 2 names – countable and uncountable.
- Now, two teams shall be challenging each other.
- In this activity, the first team shall start with different statements.
- The opposite team has to show a placard within 1 second to determine whether the noun is countable or uncountable.
- For example, if the first team says – I have some milk, the second Team should be quick enough to understand that milk is not countable.
- The second should quickly show the placard that reads uncountable.
The activity enhances motor skills through the use of placards. Students learn to challenge each other while also coming up with innovative statements for their opponents.
5. Join My Noun
At times, when students are exposed to long words, they tend to get confused in terms of how to treat those words. Basically, those are compound nouns and these are two nouns joined together to form a single noun. The formation of such words can be explained with the help of this activity.
- To conduct this activity, you need to have different placards.
- The placards should have different compound nouns separated into two different placards. For example, if the compound noun is classmate, one placard should have class and the other placard should have a mate.
- Make such placards and put them in a box.
- One by one, ask students to pick one placard and hide it from other players.
- Once everyone is done, ask students to stand in a circle.
- Now, play the music and let students make rounds in the circle and find their pair.
- Students should go around and find their pair before the music is stopped.
- For example, if one student has the placard of class, he/she should be able to find the placard with a mate to form a compound noun.
The activity enhances the learning environment and allows students to brush up on their vocabulary. They also learn different compound nouns which they use in everyday communication.
6. Singular or Plural?
While teaching countable and uncountable nouns, the concept of singular and plural comes into the picture. You must have heard kids narrating incidents out of so much curiosity but tends to make mistakes while describing the number of nouns. Thus, this activity can be used to help them understand and differentiate between singular and plural nouns.
- To conduct this activity, make students sit in a circle.
- The activity starts when one student speaks aloud any singular noun.
- The student on the right should then speak any plural noun.
- Similarly, one by one, each student shall alternatively speak singular and plural nouns.
- This is how the noun series shall be: A cat – dogs – a car – chairs
The activity requires kids to be more focused and concentrate as they might miss their turn. They also get an opportunity to be quick while also paying attention with good listening skills.
Usage of nouns in everyday life
Students are likely to spot a variety of nouns in their everyday lives. It is not only about the proper and common nouns but also about the material, collective, abstract and different kinds of nouns. Explore the usage of nouns around and how it is crucial for students to understand the concept deeply.
- As the teacher starts taking attendance, he/she is likely to call out the names of different classmates. That’s when Proper noun comes into the picture! Also when you want to address an issue or a problem with a certain teacher or a classmate, you are likely to use proper nouns by calling them by their names.
- Your visit to the school, park, departmental store, or even grocery store makes you accustomed to common nouns. Right from the grocery store keeper asking for money to completing a craft activity, common nouns are all around you.
- Similarly, students are surrounded by various abstract nouns. You are likely to meet your students and know if they are tense or calm about the examination. Different feelings are sure to cross your way in everyday communication.
- While you may say collective nouns are rare, that’s not the case! Don’t you see a group of friends or a bundle of bananas at the market? Hence, collective nouns can be spotted in everyday living.
Summing up,
The utilization application of nouns in everyday life just cannot be ignored. It can be said that humans are surrounded by nouns in some or the other way. Hence, it becomes crucial for parents and teachers to impart knowledge about nouns through a diversified learning platform.
The above-mentioned activities are a good way to make students understand the concept of nouns along with building their concentration, critical thinking, and innovative skills. As they learn different nouns, they are likely to reflect their importance in everyday communication.
I am Shweta Sharma. I am a final year Masters student of Clinical Psychology and have been working closely in the field of psycho-education and child development. I have served in various organisations and NGOs with the purpose of helping children with disabilities learn and adapt better to both, academic and social challenges. I am keen on writing about learning difficulties, the science behind them and potential strategies to deal with them. My areas of expertise include putting forward the cognitive and behavioural aspects of disabilities for better awareness, as well as efficient intervention. Follow me on LinkedIn