![[Lesson Plans Banner]](/US/en/digital/edu/images/bannerLessonPlans.gif)
Lights-Camera-ACTION VERBS!
MaryLou M. Shortess
Farmersville Elementary School, Easton, Pennsylvania
Subject: Language Arts
Grade: 1
"One child volunteered to bring her toy telephone to illustrate
the verb 'call.' The next morning, she proceeded to haul a real
princess telephone with all sorts of dangling wires from her bookbag,
explaining that 'we couldn't find my telephone this morning, so
Daddy just took this one off the wall.'"
Purpose and Description of Project
In this project, MaryLou Shortess' 22 first-graders created their
own learning materials by dramatizing for the camera demonstration
of 24 action verbs in the future, present progressive, and past
tenses. Slides and prints of these verb dramatizations were used
in the class in both group and individual situations for matching
tenses (Brandy will eat her lunch, is eating her lunch, ate her
lunch), sequencing, reading, writing, and especially for spelling.
"Every child had the chance to become a starring actor or
actress as I photographed them," notes Shortess, who adds
that "they became real hams in the process" and "were
eager to use the slides and prints." As a result, the teacher
reports, tests showed "tremendous spelling growth,"
and the children also evinced great pride in the fact that they
had produced materials that would also be used by other classes
and shared with their parents.
Activities
The teacher began by selecting 24 action verbs in four categories-base
words unchanged when adding endings, base words ending with silent
"e," base words requiring the doubling of the final
consonant before adding an ending, and base words with irregularly
spelled past tenses. Using words not on the project list, she
then defined action verbs and got the children involved in discussing
how the words could be illustrated through dramatic action. Then
the children were assigned one of the project verbs to take home
and discuss with their families how it could be illustrated.
Shortess showed the children how the camera worked and photographed
the individual children doing their assigned actions in the present
progressive tense. The children critiqued the resulting slides
and tried to come up with more creative ways to show a viewer
what they intended, with future and past tense verbs, including
the use of props. Prints were then made of the slides and laminated
for use with accompanying sentences mounted on posterboard. The
sentences, which could be made into little action stories, were
used with the prints by small groups and individuals for matching,
sequencing, and reading to each other and the teacher.
The class also used words from the slides and prints for their
"Dandy Dozen" spelling lessons, which included writing
the words for home study, using them in sentences, spelling words
with a friend, and taking a spelling test dictated by the teacher.
Reviews required matching the three tenses of the base word and
determining how to add a particular ending.
The final activity was an open house for parents that spotlighted
the children's materials, both slides and prints, and included
a brief slide/narrative presentation the teacher had put together
about the project.
Materials, Resources, and Expenses
The teacher received some initial advice from the school audiovisual
director about film and lighting and was also assisted by her
husband, who photographed aspects of the project in which she
played a direct part for the slide/narrative. Equipment and materials
included the teacher's Nikon FG 35 mm camera with flash, KODAK
64 Slide Film in 36-exposure rolls, posterboard sentence cards,
and clear contact to laminate the cards and the prints made from
the slides.
Outcomes and Adaptability
Pre- and post-tests revealed that the children progressed enormously
in their ability to spell the three forms of the 24 action verbs
studied, reports. Shortess' initial average score was 33 percent
accuracy, which shot up to an average score of 95 percent by the
end of the project. The children also scored at a 92 percent accuracy
rate on words that had not been taught but that illustrated the
same basic ways that endings are added. Even more impressive than
the scores, says Shortess, "is the enthusiasm and delight
which I have seen evidenced in the children's work on this project."
Shortess suggests that the project could be used without change
for grades one through three and for remedial work with older
children. And with variations, she believes that the approach
is adaptable to all grade levels.