Action Verbs Lesson Plan
In this action verbs lesson plan, students will learn what action verbs are and how to use action verbs to talk about various activities. This lesson plan is ideal for teaching action verbs in English to kids and beginner English language learners. All the materials needed for this action verbs lesson plan are included below.
Action Verbs Lesson Plan
1. Warm Up And Introduction
A fun way to warm up the class and introduce the concept of action verbs is to perform various actions and elicit the verbs from the students. For example, you can jump up in the air and elicit the action verb “jump” from the students or clap your hands and elicit “clap.” Do this with 5 to 6 action verbs and write them on the board once the students guess them correctly.
Next, explain to students that the words you have written on the board are action verbs and that they are used to describe what the subject of a sentence is doing or has done. Explain that these actions can be a physical action (jump) or a mental action (think). Once students have an understanding of what action verbs are, ask them what other action verbs they know and write those on the board.
2. Introduce Common Action Verbs
Next, it’s time to teach students some common action verbs. For this, you can use this action verbs PowerPoint or these action verb flashcards. Show the action verb pictures to the students and ask them to repeat after you. Then, ask them to say each of the action verbs on their own. Once students have practiced enough, you can play a fun game to reinforce their learning.
Choose a student and ask them to come to the front of the class. Show this student one of the flashcards without revealing it to the rest of the class. The student should then act out the action depicted on the flashcard, and the other students should guess what action verb it is. The student who guesses correctly gets to come to the front and act out the next action verb.
3. Sentence Practice
Once students have learned enough action verbs, show them how to make sentences using these action verbs. Write an action verb on the board and then write 3-4 different sentences using that verb. The sentences you teach will depend on the level of your students, so adapt the sentences to suit your class’s needs. Here are some examples you can use with the action verb “jump”:
- I can jump.
- I can jump high.
- She is jumping.
- They jump every day.
- He jumped over the puddle.
Next, do the same with other action verbs. Elicit sentences from your students and then have the whole class repeat after you. Once they have practiced making sentences enough, it’s time for a fun board game.
4. Pair Work – Action Verbs Board Game
Download and print this board game and make enough copies so each pair of students has one board game. Students will take turns flicking their erasers up the board game. If the eraser lands on an action verb, the student must make a sentence with that action verb. If that student successfully makes a sentence, then they can color in that area. Then, it’s the other students’ turn. Once all areas have been colored in, the student with the most areas is the winner. Here are some more action verb board games you can try.
5. Complete A Worksheet
Next, it’s time to reinforce what students have learned with an action verb worksheet. Download and print this worksheet and give one to each student. To complete the worksheet, students must write the correct action verb next to the corresponding picture. For higher level students, you can also ask them to write a sentence containing the action verb next to each picture. Here are some more action verb worksheets you can use.
6. Action Verbs Guessing Game
The final activity in this action verbs lesson plan is a fun guessing game. To play, simply play the video in class. There are ten rounds and in each round students will see a picture of an action hidden behind some colored shapes. Students must guess the action verb before the picture is revealed. For more activity videos like this, head on over to our classroom games page.
7. Review
A great way to review your action verb lesson plan is to have students line up at the door and, before they leave, show each student an action verb flashcard. Ask them to make a sentence with the action verb. To make it even more fun, you can tell them that whatever sentence they make, you will try to act it out. This way, students get one last chance to practice their action verbs and have a memorable and engaging end to the lesson. It also encourages them to think creatively and reinforces their understanding in a playful manner. This review activity helps ensure that students leave the class with a solid grasp of action verbs and a smile on their faces.
Related Resources
Thanks for reading! I hope your students enjoy this action verbs lesson. Before you go, here are some more resources for teaching action verbs that were not used in this lesson plan:
Action Verbs Quiz
Action Verbs Practice Exercises