An adverb is a word that describes a verb, adjective, or another adverb. When learning about adverbs, children often confuse adjectives with adverbs. Adjectives are words that describe other nouns. This may be hard to explain to young children, which is why it needs to be repeated several times. A fun activity involving adverbs will make learning about them more interesting and children will be more likely to retain the information.
Explain to your child that adverbs are words that describe verbs. Review with her that a verb is an action word. Write down several examples of verbs, such as "kick," "run," "sing" and "dance" on a sheet of paper, using a pen or pencil.
Write down an adverb to go with each verb, such as "always kick," "run quickly," "sing loudly" and "dance everywhere." Explain that adverbs can describe where, when and how often an action takes place, as well as how the action is done. Ask her to make up sentences using the phrases you wrote on the sheet of paper.
Explain that adverbs can also describe adjectives, which are words that describe nouns. Review that nouns are words that name people, places and things. Write down a few nouns on your sheet of paper, such as "dog," "girl," "mother" and "school." Add an adjective to each word, such as "playful dog," "silly girl," "loving mother" and "small school."
Write down an adverb to describe your adjectives, such as "always playful dog," "silly girl inside," "always loving mother" and "small school outside." Explain that adjectives describe how a noun feels, sounds, looks or tastes, how it acts, and how much or how many of them there are. Ask her to make up sentences using the phrases you wrote on the sheet of paper.
Give her a fresh piece of paper and a pen or pencil. Ask her to write down all of the adverbs that she hears as you read from a book.
Read slowly, so your child has time to process the words and write down any adverbs. Check her work after each full page of reading to see how many she found. Give her a prize or treat every time she finds all of the adverbs on a page.
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Sondra Hubbard started writing professionally in 2009. She is knowledgeable in many subjects, including pets and pet supplies, photography and parenting. She currently writes online for Luxurious Pet Supplies, and Cat Trees and Pet Supplies. She studied towards a Bachelor of Science in business management at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.