Languages Arts WebQuest: Nouns
Lights, Camera, Action! It’s time for you to become a star in this language arts webquest, made especially for grades 2 to 4 students. Embark on an acting journey as you practice some songs and act out a play. Enjoy learning about nouns as you play some games and perform some exercises.
Introduction and Preparation
You and some of your classmates were chosen to join a special English Drama club. Your first lesson—NOUNS. Your drama coach lets you have some fun first with noun games! You have a blast playing different noun games while reviewing this lesson and enhancing your skills in identifying various nouns, differentiating proper from common nouns, and forming the plural of singular nouns.
Tasks
Then he asks you to check out some scripts for stories that the group can act out. Once you have chosen a story, these are the tasks you need to finish:
1. Remember that nouns are naming words for people, places, things, and animals. Underline all the nouns used in the script. Then compare answers with your clubmates to check if you missed some words.
2. Plan the play as a group. On a large piece of Manila paper or Cartolina, make and fill out a chart with three columns: Characters (People and Animals), Settings (Places), and Props (Things).
3. Review proper and common nouns. Try to answer an exercise and then play a game too, so as to hone your skill! Then go back to your chart and together underline the proper nouns with a red crayon and the common nouns with a blue crayon.
4. Review singular and plural nouns. Go back once again to your lists and along with the group, encircle the singular nouns with a yellow crayon and the plural nouns with a green crayon. Afterwards, as an individual exercise this time, choose five singular nouns and write them down on another piece of paper. Beside each word, write its plural form. Compare answers with the others to double-check.
5. Finally, your drama coach asks you to choose roles among yourselves and gather in a circle. Print out copies of the script so each student has one. Then practice reading your lines with the proper volume, intonation, and emotion. When you are all ready, you can try to perform the play by acting out the roles with imaginary backdrops and props.
Scripts, Songs, and Strips
Your drama coach applauds your efforts! “Great work, everyone!” he says. “However, we need to add some more life to this short play so that the kids who will watch us will really be entertained and will learn a lot about nouns too!”
“What about the real backdrops and props?” you ask. The coach replies, “Don’t worry. The students in the Artists for Drama Club will take care of those things.”
Everyone smiles. One of your clubmates quips, “They will surely do a good job! They are so talented!”
The coach nods his head in agreement. Then he adds, “But right now, we have to add some songs to our script, as well as strips of paper as labels for the different characters, settings, and things.”
You all get to work immediately, excited to come up with a wonderful play. Here are the new tasks:
1. Choose a song about nouns and practice singing it. Then decide in which part of the script the song can be inserted.
2. Together with your group, create a song you can use at the end of the play for the finale. Underline all the nouns used.
3. Cut out strips of colored paper and use black pentel pen to write labels for the characters and settings that show proper and common nouns (e.g. Ria (proper)- sister (common), Timmy (proper)- dog (common), Willow National Park (proper)- park (common), GreenWoods Elementary School (proper)- school (common)). Then do the same for the props to be used, but instead show singular and plural nouns (e.g. tree (singular)- trees (plural), bicycle (singular)- bicycles (plural), truck (singular)- trucks (plural)).
Congratulations! You are now ready to perform the play in front of an audience, completing this language arts webquest. Good luck and enjoy!
