Chapter 14: How to teach simple adjectives creatively using technology & traditional resources

Chapter 14: How to teach simple adjectives creatively using technology & traditional resources

Date/Time: 28th May Tuesday 6:53 pm &  28th May 2024 Tuesday 10:30 pm

This is an interesting blog post about teaching a simple concept “Adjectives” using both traditional and technology resources. This is based on my experience of voluntarily working at Ranaa Child Welfare Foundation -  a school for street children in Peshawar. The post will share some ideas to teach “Adjectives” to learners and some resources that educators can use in their classrooms. 

The lesson started with discussing nouns and it was good to see students come up with examples of nouns by looking at their classroom. They remembered the definition well. This was followed by asking students to explain or describe a noun using words. We did a small activity where students described their fellow peers using words. For example a student could be kind, caring, hard working, tall or short, happy or sad etc. Students understood these words were actually adjectives. This was followed by a worksheet task where students were supposed to identify adjectives and nouns from a group of words. They were asked  to encircle or tick the adjectives. Students were able to do the task with assistance from the teacher.

The nest task was interesting, students had to create a pattern on an umbrella drawing and then color it. Students came up with different designs on the umbrella and colored it well. The colored umbrellas looked amazing and these were then pasted on the classroom windows. This was not the only task, each student was supposed to come up with three adjectives to describe their umbrellas. Students came up with words like pretty, beautiful, thick, thin, small, big etc for their umbrella. This was a good activity which helped build clarity about the adjectives.

In the next activity students were given puzzle pieces and asked to create any object of choice and list three adjectives to explain or describe their objects. Students are very creative and were able to create amazing objects using the puzzle pieces. A student made a chair and table, and came up with adjectives for the table.chair. A student made a balloon , a tree and a plane. They were able to think about adjectives to describe their objects. It was a good start. Overall it was a good lesson that was focused on teaching the adjectives using both technology and traditional resources. Also only a few students in the end were able to create the objects using puzzle pieces, most students had left due to time. Also the worksheet seemed difficult for some students in class. 

I thought I would need to make a change to the lesson plan, separating the traditional and technology activities in class, so students can focus on the tasks. If they spend more time on the traditional tasks, they have hardly any time left for the technology tasks and vice versa. I  need to stop rushing on the activities, each activity needs time. I may be able to do the activities quickly but the students need time. This lesson needs to be continued but with a change in the activities.  

One of the activities could be to cook or bake something and use adjectives to describe the food cooked or baked. It would require resources. We could do a sandwich making activity where students make sandwiches in class and then describe their sandwiches using the adjectives. The adjectives can be written in an adjective diary or notebook. They could also make apple juice or banana juice and describe the juice using adjectives. The idea came while exploring a link. This would be a hands-on activity where students actually work with real ingredients and create something. They will remember this always. 

Another interesting activity coud be to use the blocks to teach adjectives, students could write the adjectives on the blocks. Students can work in groups of 3 students and can be given a few objects, they can then write the adjectives for the assigned objects. They could also be given a vocabulary bank to choose the most appropriate adjectives. This would also be a hands-on practical activity in class. I am sure the students would like this activity. I would need blocks and markers for the students to write the adjectives. And a worksheet with lists of adjectives.

Another interesting activity could be to use online games to reinforce the concept of adjectives. I came across an interesting link where the students have to identify the adjectives in sentences by clicking on the adjectives. The good thing is the get feedback on the answer , the time is calculated for the whole activity and the score is  generated. This is basically a quiz to reinforce the taught concept and students can practice as many times they want. They will learn new vocabulary for the adjectives while solving the quiz. 

Another interesting activity could be clicking on the adjectives and nouns in a sentence. There is a link online where students can practice the sorting of adjectives and nouns by clicking on the words in the sentences. This was interesting, since they get feedback about the right or wrong answer. The feedback helps move forward. Usually there are no issues with education games online, but there can be a chance of erros. For example while playing the above online game about adjectives, when I clicked on the noun container, it highlighted it as wrong in red. Similarly when I clicked on the word cake it highlighted it as incorrect, whereas cake falls in the noun category, it's an object. Whereas a container is an object and falls in the noun category. The teacher should be present while students play the game to ensure students have clarity. But such drills practice games to help learn the concept at times. 

They could also play a word crossword puzzle game, where they highlight by dragging the letters that form an adjective. This would be a little more challenging then the previous online game. Similarly I found another online game where the students need to click the correct image that shows the right adjectives. It is more of a visual learning experience. This is a simple game but would lead to enhanced learning about adjectives. Another activity could be created in Google Drawings, an image can be given with letters , students can write adjectives to describe the object. It can be a pair activity. But students would need laptops to complete the activity. Thai work would be saved, can be edited and teachers can add comments on the work too. 

These are some good ideas to teach adjectives using traditional and technology resources and I think they are worth trying. This would require access to resources including laptops, internet connection, worksheets, cooking and baking ingredients etc. I would enjoy the lessons if my teachers had planned a creative lesson this way. The times are different. Our students have access to resources that we did not have a few years back. They have access to knowledge in more ways we cannot even imagine. Even the teachers have access to more resources than they had before. But it was good to not only reflect on the previous lesson but to search for new resources and activities to teach adjectives.

Enjoy reading till my next post soon InnShaaAllah.

Regards and prayers

Sheeba Ajmal