Vivid Verb Cheers
Some background: My team partner and I have created a kinesthetic approach to
teach grammar to 5th graders. For each part of speech, students are involved in
kinesthetic activities and games to help fine tune their. grammar skills. These tactile
learning experiences have made our grammar lessons much more interesting to
students and they willingly take an active role in their learning.
The Vivid Verb Cheer idea came from a book called Awesome Hands-on Activities
for Teaching Grammar by San Van Zile. I simply modified it to fit my own classroom.
Step 1: Prior to the students creating their Vivid Verb Cheers, we had a whole class
meeting and brainstormed action verbs. Students worked with a partner using a
thesaurus. Partners created lists of their ideas plus what they found in the thesaurus.
Then we met and compiled all of our lists.
VIVID VERBS FOR RUN:
dash
scurry scurried
dart
flew
bolt
bounded
galloped
sprinted
cantered
scuttled
VIVID VERBS FOR WALKED
trudged
wobbled
tiptoed
waddled
paced
sauntered
hiked
tramped
hoofed it
VIVID VERBS FOR LAUGH
chuckle
chortled
giggled
snickered
heehawed
VIVID VERBS FOR TALK
suggest
murmured
whispered
whined
bleated
cheered
mentioned
voiced
VIVID VERBS FOR YELL:
screamed
shouted
shrieked
yelped
wailed
honked
scolded
bellowed
VIVID VERBS FOR SMILED
beamed
grinned
simpered
smirked
VIVID VERBS FOR CRIED
cried
wailed
sobbed
whimpered
whined
bawled
weeped
blubbered
boohoo
sniveled
Step 2: Next, students were given a copy of the rubric they would be graded on and
we discussed each category on the rubric. Students were also told that they would
have the opportunity to grade other students after cheers were videotaped.
Step 3:Then we split up in groups of 2 or 3 and started writing our cheers. Students
were given two days to write and rehearse their cheers with their partners.
Step 4:Next, students had dress rehearsals in front of the class. Pom poms were
available for studentsʼ use.
Step 5:We videotaped all of the cheers. I used a Flip Video Camera with a tripod.
Step 6: After I edited and uploaded the cheers on to our classroom website, students
had the opportunity to view each cheer and grade other studentsʼ cheers.