People want verbs. Who knew?

Since posting last week about some of our Upper El grammar activity I have received a ton of traffic. The title of that post included the word verb, so I don't know if people are searching for help with verbs, or maybe it was a fluke that so many people looked at that post.

I decided that it could be a good idea to post some more of our grammar work here.

Today I'll start where I started with Sean, just so I could see where we should begin with grammar instruction.

What is a noun? A noun is a person, place or thing.

What is a verb? A verb is an action word. It is a word in a sentence that tells us what the subject (noun) of the sentence is doing.
Example: The boy ran.
Boy is the noun. Ran is the verb.
Another Example:
Bella, the dog, barked at the mailman.
Bella is the subject. The word dog is also a noun. Barked is the verb, because that is the action Bella was doing.

The, An and A are all called articles.
Although it seems to be losing ground in current writing, An is supposed to be used in front of a word that begins with a vowel, or begins with a vowel SOUND. So if you are writing a sentence using a word like X-ray, you still use an before it.
Example:
Tony ate an apple this morning.
Apple begins with the letter a, which is a vowel.
Another Example, but using A, instead of An:
Tony ate a peach this morning.
Peach starts with a P, which is a consonant.
Another Example with the vowel SOUND:
Hugh had to go to the doctor yesterday for an X-ray of his right foot.
Even though X-ray doesn't begin with a vowel, it begins with the short e sound.
Another with the vowel SOUND:
Tony ate an M&M.
Even though M is not a vowel, when we say M it also begins with the short e sound.


What is an adjective? An adjective describes the noun. It gives a sentence interest and variety. I love adjectives because they help me to describe more of what I want my reader to see.
Example:
Bella, the brown dog, barked at the mailman.
Using the word brown helps us imagine the dog a little more clearly.
Example: The tall boy ran.
By using the word tall we have a better vision of what this boy looks like.

What is an adverb? An adverb describes the verb. It often ends in ly, but not always.
Example:
Bella, the brown dog, barked wildly at the mailman.
Wildly is the adverb. It describes how Bella barked.
Another Example: 
The small boy ran fast down the street.
Fast is an adverb, it is describing the verb, ran.

You can also use adverbs to denote time.
Example:
Bella, the brown dog, barked wildly at the mailman today.
The word today tells us when she barked, and it is still describing the verb. So in this sentence we have used two adverbs-- wildly, and today.

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