WRITING
Parts of Speech -
Making a "Noun" Book

Submitted by: Jennifer Smith
From: SLC, Utah
Date Submitted: April 24, 2001

I introduce this mini-project by reading Ruth Heller's book titled Merry-Go-Round: A Book about Nouns. Discuss what kinds of words are nouns (people, places, and things) as well as different categories of nouns (common nouns, proper nouns, and collective nouns). Using a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 paper folded in half, have each student create their own book of nouns using pictures cut out of magazines. Label the first page as a title page and instruct students to include a definition of nouns. On the inside of the folded sheet of paper, label one side "examples of common nouns" and the other side "examples of proper nouns." Finally the back page should be labeled "examples of collective nouns." Once students have their "book" labeled they should look through old magazines and cut out at least 3 pictures for each category, glue them on to the respective page, and label it.

As an extension to this activity, you can teach adjectives as words that decribe nouns (color, size, shape, etc.). Either orally or on paper, students can get with a partner to trade books and think of two different words that might be used to describe each picture of a noun in their partner's book.