Parts of speech seems to be one of those skills that teachers constantly have to review year after year. To keep it fun and engaging, I created a parts of speech review that works with colored Jenga blocks. Keep reading for all the details and get the review printables for free!
Amazon affiliate links provided if you wish to purchase the Jenga blocks mentioned on this post.
Parts of Speech Review Materials:
For this review, you will need:
Colored Jenga blocks —> I buy the precolored ones from Amazon here.
Parts of speech directions and sentences cards—> available for free at the end of this post
Basic Directions for Playing:
To play this game, the students will select sentence cards and then choose a color to move (by allowing free choice or having them roll a die included in most sets). Based on the color of the block they choose to move, the students will answer or complete a task with the sentence on the card they chose.
Here are the specific student directions:
Directions: Select a sentence. Choose a block to remove. Complete the task that matches the color of the block that you want to remove with the sentence on the card. Repeat with each turn.
I have provided two direction versions so you can choose the review that best works with your students. The sentences provided work best for 4th and 5th graders and may be too advanced for most 3rd graders.
4th Grade Version:
Purple: Identify a noun in the sentence.
Blue: Identify a verb in the sentence.
Green: Identify an adjective in the sentence.
Yellow: Identify an adverb in the sentence.
Pink: Circle the subject of the sentence.
Red: Underline the predicate of the sentence.
5th Grade Version:
Purple: Identify a noun in the sentence. Replace it with a pronoun.
Blue: Identify a verb in the sentence. Determine if the verb is an action verb, linking verb, or helping verb.
Green: Identify an adjective in the sentence. Determine if the adjective tells which one, how many, or what kind.
Yellow: Identify an adverb in the sentence. Determine if the adverb tells how, how often, when, or where.
Pink: Determine if the sentence has a preposition. If so, write it.
Red: Determine if the sentence has a coordinating conjunction. If so, write it.
Tips for Playing the Jenga Parts of Speech Review:
Tip 1: Have all of the students do the work at the same time (with their specific sentences and tasks) and then move their pieces at the same time. This will keep all of the students on task and working.
Tip 2: Keep your groups relatively small. If you have multiple Jenga games, then you can have several games going on at a time. If you only have one Jenga game, then you could play this game at your teacher table or place it in a literacy center.
Tip 3: For added accountability, have the students record their work on a piece of paper or on the recording sheet included in the download.
How Can I Get this Jenga Parts of Speech Review for FREE?
MORE Jenga Games!
This parts of speech Jenga review would make a great whole-group game (if you have multiple sets of the Jenga blocks). However, it also works great as a literacy center. Click here for even more ideas for reading centers for 4th and 5th graders.