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This lesson plan has a catchy title – “Nicky Noun and Victor Verb”
2, 3, 4, 5
Title – Nicky Noun & Victor Verb
By – Barbara J. Pendleton
Primary Subject – Language Arts
Secondary Subjects –
Grade Level – 2-5
Objective: To teach nouns and verbs in an interesting and memorable way. The class will label human cut-outs with nouns naming body parts and verbs naming actions that can be made with those body parts.
Materials: Large sheet of white paper (large enough for two human outlines), scissors, marker.
Procedure: Trace a child’s body or draw a human shape freehand. You will need two body cut-outs. (To save time, I drew one body, then I folded the paper and cut both out at the same time). Label one “Nicky Noun” and the other “Victor Verb.” (You could have the class vote on names if you would like).
Begin with Nicky Noun. As the class comes up with ideas of nouns, write them in the appropriate places. For instance, if a child says “nose” write the word nose on the face where the nose would be located. If the class begins to run out of ideas, point at different parts, such as the shoulders, encouraging more responses.
Next, label Victor Verb with verbs. Each verb should be placed in an area where it would be appropriate. For instance, “talk, chew, and sing” would all be put where the mouth is located.
Follow-up: Place Nicky Noun and Victor Verb in a prominent place on the wall. Have the class write a story using nouns and verbs from the cut-outs.
Comment: Most of my 2nd grade class does not enjoy writing. They were very excited about this activity, however. I was very pleasantly surprised at how many verbs they came up with. The boys even included “tackle” and “block” for the shoulders!
Barbara J. Pendleton