Subject-verb agreement can be a tricky grammatical concept to learn in middle school. The rules can be quite overwhelming for students. More so if your middle-schoolers are solving the same old grammar worksheets with huge chunks of text in English class.
If that’s the case with your students, it may be time to try new ways to make learning more engaging and fun. Along with some online grammar games and board games, subject-verb agreement activities are a great way to achieve this. Hence, we are sharing some fun, easy-to-do activities to bring back your students’ lost interest and strengthen their concepts of subject-verb agreement. So, let’s begin!
In grammar, subject-verb agreement means that there should always be an agreement between the subject (noun/pronoun) and the verb in the sentence. So if the noun is singular, the verb must also bear the singular form. And if the noun is plural, the verb must also be in the plural form.
To give you an example,
“A bird flies in the sky.”
“Birds fly in the sky.”
In the first sentence, the noun “bird” is singular, and hence the verb “flies” is in singular form.
But in the second sentence, the noun “birds” is plural, so the verb “fly” is also in the plural form.
Here, we would like to reiterate that the rules applied to turn verbs to their singular or plural form are quite the opposite of what we use to turn nouns singular and plural. That’s another reason why students struggle with subject-verb agreement.
Generally, a singular noun doesn’t have an -s/-es/-ies in the end, but a plural noun does. For example, the words ‘church‘ and ‘dog’ are singular. They do not have an -s/-es/-ies in the end. But, their plural forms are ‘churches’ and ‘dogs,’ and they do have an -es and -s in the end.
On the contrary, when we want to convert a verb into a singular or plural, we do exactly the opposite. By adding an -s/-es/-ies, we can make a verb singular, and by removing it, we turn it into a plural. So, the word ‘flies’ with -ies is in its singular form, whereas ‘fly’ without an -s/-es/-ies is plural.
READ : 8 Cool Google Extensions For TeachersThe example given above is just a basic example of subject-verb agreement. Several other rules define this grammatical concept. No wonder students get confused and eventually lose interest in the topic. Here’s where our subject-verb agreement activities can come into the picture.
Collage-making is an interesting activity that shifts focus from regular learning activities to something more practical. Ask your students to bring old magazines from home. Kids can use sentence cutouts from these magazines to make individual collages on chart paper.
To make the activity more substantial, students can use markers to highlight subjects and verbs in the sentences. You can even use a color code, say yellow for highlighting subjects and green for highlighting verbs. Before wrapping up, students can put their collages on display in the classroom.
Take your students to the school library and let them borrow a book for this activity. The next step will be finding ten sentences following each subject-verb agreement rule and noting them on paper. This activity will help students understand the subject-verb agreement concept by seeing how rules are applied in different sentences.
For instance, students can find ten sentences following the singular subject-verb agreement rule, ten for plural subject-verb agreement, ten sentences where singular subjects are joined by “and,” and so on. This will give them a good round of practice to see how different rules apply in language.
Divide your students into pairs and ask them to create a fun subject-verb agreement challenge for each other. Give them five Q-cards each so they can prepare the challenge for their partner. Every card must have a sentence, and each sentence must have a noun and a verb. But in place of the verb, there must be a blank for the partner to fill.
When kids have prepared for the challenge, they can exchange their Q-cards and get on to work. After ten minutes, have them swap the cards again and check their partner’s answers. They can even give a score if they like. Finish off by discussing sentences that students didn’t get right.
This is one of the several fun sentence-building activities to learn sentence structure and practice grammar concepts. Write five sentences on a piece of paper and cut out individual words with scissors. Place them in a box and mix them all together.
READ : 7 Common Applications Of Area And Perimeter In Daily LifeCall one student at a time and ask them to build five sentences with the words provided. Remind them to apply the rules of subject-verb agreement when forming sentences. This activity may be a bit time-consuming as students will need time to manipulate the words. So, plan accordingly.
Give your students a good practice session through this fun yet challenging activity. Prepare enough chits to match the total number of students in your class. Write a sentence aligning with the concept of subject-verb agreement in every chit. Fold the chits and place them in a jar. Pass the jar around in your class and ensure every student gets a chance.
Have them pick a chit and read the sentence aloud. They must now identify if the sentence has correct subject-verb agreement or is wrong. If they say it’s wrong, ask them to rectify the mistake and say it correctly. At this point, discuss the correct answer with the rest of the class.
Conduct this activity after you have taught all subject-verb agreement rules to your students. Use this as a reinforcement activity in which students will make posters containing subject-verb agreement rules and their examples.
You can form small groups of 4-5 students for this activity and tell them about it a day or two in advance so they can brainstorm ideas and bring along the stuff they need for poster making. When done, students can put up their work on a classroom wall for display.
One of the best ways to have students practice any topic is to make them write. To find a picture that has a lot of activities going on. For instance, it could be a picture of a marketplace or a park. Show the image on your classroom screen and ask students to write a short passage on what’s happening in the picture.
They can mention things like – “The boy runs on the grass,” or “The man and woman walk to the store,” etc. Remind them to form as many sentences as possible with correct subject-verb agreement because that is the focus of the activity. Review their passages and suggest improvements.
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Kids love stories no matter what their age. So, use this as an engagement strategy to sneak in some learning. Give your students a week to write a short story on any subject of their choice. Have them bring in their stories and exchange them so another student can read them.
While doing so, it will be the job of the reader to take up the role of a proofreader and find subject-verb agreement errors and other errors, if any, in the story. They can mark the errors and share them with the author, who will then make corrections and prepare the story’s final draft. Students can then read their stories to the entire class and have a good time.
Incorporating subject-verb agreement activities into the middle school curriculum is an effective way to enhance students’ grammar skills. As students get the opportunity to engage in interactive exercises, they develop a solid understanding of the relationship between subjects and verbs and the importance of matching them correctly.
The activities listed above not only make learning more enjoyable but also let students practice identifying and correcting subject-verb agreement errors. By learning the proper usage of this linguistic concept, students will improve their grammar skills which will help them excel in spoken and written communication. This will ultimately equip your students with the language tools they need for success in high school, college, and professional life.
I am Priyanka Sonkushre, a writer and blogger. I am the person behind “One Loving Mama,” a mom blog. Equipped with a Bachelor’s degree along with an MBA, my healthcare background helps me deeply understand learning difficulties. I know how challenging it can be for parents to find the right resources to help their children excel in life. So, here I am to blend my healthcare expertise with my parenting experience to create valuable and helpful resources for parents and teachers supporting children with learning differences. If you wish, you can follow me on Facebook and LinkedIn.
