Silly Sentence Swap
- Grade band
- K-1
- Duration
- 30 minutes
- Skill
- Nouns vs. verbs
- Standards
- L.K.1b — Use frequently occurring nouns and verbs.
- Materials
- Naming-words / action-words picture cards (printable, included)
- Crayons or markers
- Chart paper or whiteboard
Learning objectives
- Students will be able to sort words into naming words (nouns) and action words (verbs).
- Students will be able to identify the naming word and the action word in a simple spoken sentence.
- Students will be able to select a naming word or an action word to complete each blank in a story frame.
Lesson procedure
- Warm-up (5 minutes) — I Do. Say a simple sentence aloud, like "The dog runs." Ask: "What is this sentence about?" (the dog) and "What is the dog doing?" (running). Repeat with two more sentences, pointing out that every sentence needs a naming word and an action word.
- Picture-card sort (10 minutes) — We Do. In pairs or small groups, students sort the picture cards into two piles: naming words and action words. Circulate and ask each group to say one card aloud and explain why it belongs in its pile.
- Whole-class check (5 minutes) — We Do. Tape a "Naming Words" column and an "Action Words" column on the board. Have groups take turns bringing up one card and placing it in the right column, saying the word as they place it.
- Story frame (8 minutes) — We Do. As a whole class, read the story frame aloud one blank at a time. For each blank, ask a volunteer whether it needs a naming word or an action word, then take a suggestion and write it in. Read the finished story aloud together.
- Share-out (2 minutes) — Closure. Ask two or three students: "What's one naming word from our story? What's one action word?"
Printable worksheet
Part 1: Sort the cards. Cut out the picture cards on the last page of this worksheet, then place or tape each one into the correct box below.
| Naming Words | Action Words |
|---|---|
Part 2: Fill in the story. For each blank, write a naming word (N) or an action word (V) as marked.
One day, a silly (N) went to the park.
It started to (V) all around the swings.
A (N) saw it and began to (V) too.
Soon, everyone at the (N) was laughing and having a wonderful time.
Part 3: Picture cards. Cut apart the 10 cards below.
Try it on your smartboard
The same card sort, on screen. Drag each card into the correct box — works with touch, a stylus, or a mouse. Reload the page to reset.
Naming Words
Action Words
Background for the teacher
At this age, "noun" and "verb" are just labels for two ideas kids already use constantly without naming them: things, and what things do. A naming word (noun) answers "what is it?" — dog, teacher, ball, playground. An action word (verb) answers "what is it doing?" — run, jump, laugh, eat. Keep the vocabulary consistent: use "naming word" and "action word" throughout the lesson, and introduce "noun" and "verb" only as a side note if your class is ready for it.
The most common mix-up at this age isn't confusing nouns and verbs conceptually — it's that some words can be both, depending on how they're used ("swim" can be an action or, less often, a naming word for a place to swim). Don't chase that complexity today. Pick unambiguous examples for the sort, and if a student offers a tricky word, praise the thinking and set it aside for another day.
Differentiation
Support: Reduce the card sort to six cards instead of ten, and read each card aloud with the student before they place it, so the sort relies on listening rather than independent reading.
Extension: Ask early finishers to think of one more naming word and one more action word not on the cards, draw a quick picture for each, and add them to the correct column.
ELL support: The picture cards already carry the meaning without relying on text — lean into that. Preview the 10 words with gestures (mime the actions) before the sort, and accept a student pointing to or physically acting out a word as a valid response, not just saying it.
IEP/504 support: Offer the sort as a two-card-at-a-time task instead of all ten at once, and allow students to tell you their story-frame answers aloud for you to scribe rather than requiring independent writing.
Answer key (for teachers)
Part 1 — Sort the cards. Naming words: dog, ball, teacher, playground, book, backpack. Action words: run, jump, laugh, swim.
Part 2 — Story frame. Open-ended: any naming word is correct in an (N) blank and any action word is correct in a (V) blank. There is no single right answer — accept anything that fits the label and makes sense read aloud.
Digital extension (optional)
For more practice spotting naming words and action words in a fun context, try a fill-in-the-blank story in Giggle Gaps, a free web app where kids fill in labeled blanks to build a silly story. Each blank is labeled with the word type it needs, so the naming-word-vs-action-word distinction from today's lesson carries straight over.