Adverb Art Projects

Adverbs answer how, when, where and how much questions about a verb or an adjective.

Grammar doesn't have to be dull. Make your lessons on adverbs come to life by integrating art activities into your classroom. Once you've taught your students what an adverb is -- a part of speech that modifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb, a phrase or a clause -- get them to sing, draw, act and sculpt adverbs in ways they're sure to remember.

Schoolhouse Rock

Play the Schoolhouse Rock video, "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly, Get Your Adverbs Here." Teach the students the song and have them sing it. Then have them create a comic strip based on the song. Alternately, have students write their own verses to the song and illustrate them with drawings.

Adverb Chain

Have each student write a verb or adjective in large letters on a piece of construction paper. Cut a 2-inch rectangle in the bottom of the sheet of paper. Then let students cut out several 1-inch thick strips of construction paper in different colors. On each strip, have each student write an adverb that can be used to modify the verb or adjective on his construction paper. Then have students make the strips into links. The first one should be connected to the bottom of the construction paper in the rectangle you cut out. The rest should link with each other. Have them read their links with their words.

Place Adverbs

Write the following adverbs on the board: "Abroad," "Anywhere," "Downstairs," "Here," "Home," "Inside," "Nowhere," "Out," "Outside," "Somewhere," "There," "Underground" and "Upstairs." Tell students to pick one of those words and to make a drawing of it. Encourage them to use any style of art they want and provide them with different art implements.

Dramatic Art: Adverb Acting

Create two piles of note cards. Write action verbs on one pile and adverbs on the other. Have students take turns coming up to the front of the class and drawing one card from each pile. Each student should act out the sequence created by the cards. Other students should try to guess what the student is doing. Sample verbs include "walking," "dancing," "singing," "smiling," "skipping," "crawling," "resting," "jumping" and "rocking." Sample adverbs include "Happily," "Quickly," "Slowly," "Quietly," "Morosely," "Loudly," "Jubilantly," "Angrily" and "Shyly."

References

• Schoolhouse Rock: Lolly, Lolly, Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here
• Teacher Vision: Popular Art Activities for Language Arts
• Your Dictionary: Adverb Games

Resources

• Moms Who Think: List of Adverbs