How? When? Where?
- Grade band
- 3
- Duration
- 40 minutes
- Skill
- Adverbs
- Standards
- L.3.1a — Explain the function of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in general and their functions in particular sentences.
- Materials
- Student worksheet (printable, included)
- Adverb sorting cards (printable, included)
- Open floor space for the acting-out step
Learning objectives
- Students will be able to identify adverbs in a sentence.
- Students will be able to sort adverbs by whether they answer how, when, or where.
- Students will be able to apply an adverb to modify a verb in an original sentence.
Lesson procedure
- Warm-up (5 minutes) — I Do. Write "The dog ran." on the board. Ask: "How did the dog run? When? Where?" Add a word for each answer (quickly, yesterday, outside) and read the expanded sentence aloud each time, pointing out how much more the reader now pictures.
- Act it out (10 minutes) — We Do. Pick a volunteer to act out a plain verb (walk, laugh, wave). Then give them an adverb card (quickly, quietly, carefully) and have them act out the verb again, modified. Ask the class to name the question the adverb answered (how/when/where). Repeat with 2-3 more volunteers.
- Sort the cards (12 minutes) — We Do. In small groups, students sort the adverb cards into three columns: How?, When?, Where? Circulate and ask groups to justify one placement per column.
- Story frame (10 minutes) — You Do. Students complete the worksheet story frame independently. Every blank in this story is an adverb — remind students that the other words in the story stay exactly as written, so they should focus only on how/when/where each action happens.
- Share-out (3 minutes) — Closure. A few students read their finished sentence aloud and name which question their adverb answered.
Printable worksheet
Part 1: Sort the cards. Cut out the adverb cards on the last page of this worksheet, then place or tape each one into the column for the question it answers.
| How? | When? | Where? |
|---|---|---|
Part 2: Adverb story frame. Fill in each blank with an adverb. Only the underlined words change — everything else in the story stays the same.
The squirrel moved ________ across the yard. It had buried an acorn there ________, and now it needed to find it again ________. It searched ________ under every leaf. ________, it found the acorn and scurried home ________.
Part 3: Adverb cards. Cut apart the 12 cards below.
Try it on your smartboard
The same card sort, on screen. Drag each card into the column for the question it answers — works with touch, a stylus, or a mouse. Reload the page to reset.
How?
When?
Where?
Background for the teacher
An adverb modifies a verb by answering one of three questions: how (quickly, quietly), when (yesterday, soon), or where (outside, nearby). Third graders usually recognize "-ly" words as adverbs easily but miss the ones that don't follow that pattern — "soon," "here," "often," "outside" are all adverbs with no "-ly" in sight. This lesson deliberately mixes both types so students learn to identify adverbs by function (what question they answer), not by spelling pattern.
The most common misconception at this age: students assume every "-ly" word is an adverb, which trips them up on words like "friendly" or "lonely" (both adjectives). Rather than explain that exception directly, let it surface naturally if a student proposes one of those words — ask "what question does it answer?" and let them discover it doesn't answer how, when, or where.
Differentiation
Support: Hand out only eight of the twelve cards for the sort, and pre-fill one example in each column so students have a model to match against.
Extension: Ask students to write one original sentence using two adverbs that answer two different questions (for example, one "when" and one "where"), then label which question each answers.
ELL support: Model the "act it out" step with heavy gesture and repetition, and accept a physical demonstration of an adverb (moving quickly vs. slowly) as evidence of understanding before requiring the word in writing.
IEP/504 support: Reduce the card sort to six cards instead of twelve, and allow the story frame to be completed with a partner or scribe instead of independently.
Answer key (for teachers)
Part 1 — Sort the cards. How?: quickly, quietly, carefully, loudly. When?: yesterday, soon, today, later. Where?: outside, nearby, everywhere, upstairs.
Part 2 — Adverb story frame. Open-ended: any adverb that fits the "how/when/where" of that blank is correct.
Digital extension (optional)
For more adverb practice, try a fill-in-the-blank story in Giggle Gaps. Adverb blanks are labeled clearly, and the app suggests example words if a student gets stuck deciding how, when, or where something happens.