For years, I used a game that is such a great learning tool! "In The Manner Of The Adverb" is easy to teach, so much fun to play, and helps students internalize an important concept. You don't even have to wait until you're teaching parts of speech to introduce it. It makes a great indoor recess game or brain break and is super at building collaborative skills. In addition, kids are very active, they practice expressive skills, and the game is supposed to be fairly quiet!
How to play "In The Manner Of The Adverb":
⇨1. If you haven't already, explain to students what an adverb is and how it's used. You don't need to go into a lengthy grammar lesson, you'll be developing the concept by playing the game over time.
⇨2. Have a list of adverbs from which to choose. If you're good at "mental grammar", that's great! I always needed a list so I could differentiate on the fly. You'll also need a list of tasks that can be performed in the classroom. Examples are "sharpen your pencil" or "adjust the mini-blinds". I've added a list below to get you started.
⇨3. Choose two students, the Adverb Guessers, to step outside of the room. I always used two students just so they could support each other and to foster collaboration. You can use one, if you wish. Another character you might need is a Door Person to call the Guessers back in and to assure there's no peeking if you have a glass window!
⇨4. Once the Guessers are outside, write an adverb on the board or a slate and silently show it to the rest of the class. It's important that no one says the adverb out loud. Erase the word and call the Guessers back in.
⇨5. Start calling on students to silently perform a specific task "in the manner of the adverb". Let's suppose we chose the adverb "quickly". You might say, "Jayden, please come shake my hand in the manner of the adverb." Without speaking a word, Jayden would quickly leave his seat, come shake your hand, and return to his seat, all without speaking. The Guessers can now take a guess at what the adverb is. I always give each pair of Guessers three tries.
⇨6. Let's suppose the Guessers don't know or guess incorrectly. You'll call on Lilly. "Lilly, please go sharpen your pencil in the manner of the adverb. Without speaking, Lilly will quickly walk to the sharpener, sharpen her pencil, and return to her seat. The Guessers can try again.
⇨7. After a third try, or whatever works for your group, you can reveal the adverb to the Guessers, choose two new students, and choose another adverb.
You'll probably have a plethora of students volunteering to perform a task for each adverb. They get so excited! To keep everyone active and involved, I allow students to sit on their desks or stand out of the way during the game.
The two tools that I mentioned in Step #2 that are good to have at hand are a list of adverbs and a list of activities that can be performed in a classroom. To get you started, I've included a list for each. Feel free to add to them!
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