A noun, adjective, and verb activity for 1st to 3rd grade: sort 24 popcorn word cards into three buckets, then practice in sentences. Answer key included for easy checking.
Using Capitalize It Activity, students sort the topic cards into Do Capitalize and Don't Capitalize categories.
Using this Common and Proper Nouns Flash Cards, students sort the Common and Proper Flash Cards to the appropriate category.
This common and proper nouns activity has 1st to 3rd grade students sort snowflake word cards on a winter mat, with a practice page and answer key included for easy checking.
This L.2.1 Common Core activity has 1st-3rd grade students match picture cards for irregular plural nouns like mouse and mice, with a recording sheet, practice page and answer key included.
This Common or Abstract Nouns Worksheet helps 3rd grade students decide whether each underlined noun names something concrete or an abstract idea. Includes a complete answer key for fast, no-prep grammar practice.
This getting down with proper nouns activity has students match common and proper noun cards, then write each proper noun with a capital. For 1st to 3rd grade, answer key included.
People, places, things, ideas!
Third graders learn that a common noun names any general person, place, thing or idea, like city, teacher or dog. They compare these with proper nouns, which name a specific one and get a capital letter (city → Chicago). Third graders also meet abstract nouns, words like joy or courage that you can't touch. The click is realizing nouns aren't only things you can see.
Nouns are everywhere, so we teach them by hunting, sorting and using them in writing.
Flash a card with a noun and kids hold up one finger for common or two for proper. Fast rounds keep everyone answering, not just the quick hands.
Why it works: a big review of study methods ranked quick self-quizzing among the most powerful ways to remember (Dunlosky and colleagues, 2013).
Try it withCommon and Proper Nouns Flash CardsFlash CardsOpen it →Kids sort a pile of noun cards into common and proper, then match pairs like girl and Emma, river and Mississippi. The pairs show exactly how the two kinds connect.
Why it works: the U.S. Department of Education's guide for teaching elementary math recommends moving from hands-on objects to drawings to numbers.
Try it withCommon and Proper Nouns ActivityActivitiesOpen it →Ask "Can you touch it, see it or hear it?" to sort concrete nouns from abstract ones. Mixing both on one page makes kids think about each word.
Why it works: mixing different kinds of problems in one practice set helped students do far better on a later test (Rohrer and Taylor, 2007).
Try it withCommon or Abstract Nouns WorksheetWorksheetsOpen it →Hunts and sorts that turn grammar into a game.
ActivitiesKids sort words into nouns, adjectives and verbs. Nouns stand out once kids see the other kinds too.
Open Noun, Adjective, and Verb Activity →
ActivitiesFind the proper nouns hiding in sentences and give them their capital letters.
Open Capitalize It Activity →
ActivitiesKids turn plain common nouns into specific names of people, places and things.
Open Getting Down with Proper Nouns Activity →Teacher favorites right now: Noun, Adjective, and Verb Activity, Capitalize It Activity and Common and Proper Nouns Flash Cards.
A common noun names a general person, place, thing or idea, like boy, park, pencil or love. It does not start with a capital letter unless it begins a sentence.
A common noun is general, like school. A proper noun names a specific one, like Lincoln Elementary, and always starts with a capital letter.
An abstract noun names something you can't touch, see or hear, like happiness, bravery or friendship. It is still a common noun.
Play "I spy a noun" around the house or in a book. Point to a word and ask, "Is it a person, place, thing or idea?"
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