CONJUNCTION

NOUN ADVERB

VERB
gramma r
ti on

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E N G L I S H L E S S O N P LANS F I L I P I N O L E S S O N P LANS L ITE RAC Y STRATEGIES

Grammar Awareness

Teaching Adverbs

G ram m ar is a n essential This guide discusses

c o m p o n e n t o f lan guage learning. the explicit teaching
To enable learners t o use a variety of adverbs,
of lang uage items accurately particularly adverbs of
a n d ap pr op r i a t e ly in different manner, and
contexts, it is i m p o r t a n t t o help how to sequence
t he m co nnect g r a m m a r items adverbs.
a n d structur es with t he
comm unicative f unct ions they
perform. In d o i n g so, learners will
ga in a b et t e r u nd e r s t a n d i n g o f ti on
how, why a n d when t o use
pa r t ic u lar la ngu age items a n d
si
ep o
struct ures a n d develop a n VERB
awareness o f how t he items make
m eaning in t he texts.

grammar NOUN pr CONJUNCTION

PRONOUN ADVERB

AWARENESS
GRAM MAR
Table o f Contents:

Background/Research Base 2
Purpose/Benefits 3
Description/Procedure 3
How Teachers Can Make
t h e Strategy Work 7
Applications Across
t he Cur riculum 7
 Grammar Awareness

Teaching Adverbs

Background / Research Base

There are two mai n a pp ro ac he s t o g r a m m a r

teaching. These are t he deductive a n d inductive
approach. In t he deductive approach, a rule is
presented a n d the language is p r o d u c e d based
o n t he rule. O n t he o t h e r hand, in t he inductive
approach, t he rule is t o b e inferred by students in
t he f orm of guide d discovery (Cotter, n.d.). However,
teachers c a n integrate b o t h ap p ro ac he s in t eaching
g r a m m a r based o n students’ learning styles a n d
t he context of teaching.

The research has indicated that the on Forms (attention to

explicit analysis of grammar was forms in meaning-focused
more beneficial than the indirect, lessons) approaches
implicit treatment of grammar. produced similar outcomes.
More specifically, Norris and Ortega
(2000) argued that: The first argument supports the
direct teaching of grammar
1.explicit types of instruction are and the second one specifies
more effective than implicit
further that a grammatical
types, and,
syllabus is not necessarily a
2.Focus on Form (exclusive focus negative factor. (Norris &
on meaning and content) and Ortega, 2000).
Focus

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Purpose / Benefits
form of learner-centered guided
discovery can still be integrated in
The deductive approach the presentation phase.
involves these components:
presentation, practice and
production (PPP). Description / Procedure
PPP allows teachers to first
model the use of the grammar The teaching of adverbs follows the
structure and then gives explicit instruction and the Gradual
students opportunities to Release of Responsibility
practice these through guided Instructional Framework (GRRIF)
activities. which moves from teacher
Nonetheless, the PPP model modeling, guided practice to
does not exclude the use of independent practice.
inductive approaches since
BOX 1: DEFINITION, POSITION, SEQUENCE OF ADVERBS
some
Adverbs o f m a n n e r are usually f o r me d f r o m adjectives by a d d i n g –ly:

Examples:
b a d > badly q ui et > quietly s u d d e n > suddenly

b u t there are sometimes c ha ng es in spelling:

easy > easily gentle > gently

If a n adjective ends in –ly we use t h e p h ra s e in a …. way t o express manner:

Silly > He b e h a v e d in a silly way.

Friendly > She spoke in a friendly way.

A few a dve rb s of m a n n e r have t he same f o r m as t he adjective:

They all worked hard.

She usually arrives late.
I h at e driving fast.

Note: ha rdl y a n d lately have dif ferent meanings:

He c o u l d hardly walk = It wa s difficult fo r h im t o wa lk.
I haven’t seen J o h n lately = I h a ven ’t seen J o h n recently.

We o f t e n use phrases with like as adverbials of manner:

She slept like a baby.

He r a n like a rabbit .

Adverbs have man y different meanings a n d functions. They are

especially i m p o r t a n t f o r in di ca t in g t he time, manner, place, degree a n d
frequency o f something.

time I never get u p early a t the weekends.

manner Walk across the r o a d carefully!
place When we g o t there, the tickets h a d sold out.
degree It’s rather cold, isn’t it?
frequency I’m always losing my keys.

Gr a m m a r Awa r e n e s s | Te a c h i n g Ad v e r b s 3
 POSITION OF ADVERBS AND VERBS

Adverbs are often f o u n d between the subject a n d its verb:

We a lways mee t fo r lunch a t 1

p.m. I completely forgot his name.

They ca n also come between a n auxiliary verb (such as be o r have) a n d a main verb:

The concert was suddenly cancelled.

He h a d quickly eaten his dinner.

SEQUENCE OF ADVERBS

There is a basic order in which adverbs will a p p e a r when there is more t h a n one.

Verb Manner Place Frequency Time Purpose

Beth in the every before t o keep in
enthusiastically
swims pool evening dusk shape

Dad into every before to get a

impatiently
walks town morning work newspaper

Joe in his every after

naps room afternoon lunch

The teaching of adverbs follows the Students can play the game in
explicit instruction and the Gradual two or more teams. Call one
Release of Responsibility student from each team to
Instructional Framework (GRRIF) pick out a verb first to
which moves from teacher ‘pantomime’ or act out and
modeling, guided practice to let his team guess what the
independent practice. verb is. Then, once guessed
Step 1. Introduction (5 correctly, let the
minutes) student act out the adverb for
Let students play a charades / its matching verb. Give time
pantomime game. Create two sets limits for each team to guess
of cards; each set should be on a before calling a second student
different colored paper. Make at from any team. You might give
least one card per student in each each student's team the first
color. Index cards or paper cut to 3 chance to guess the verb and
x 5 inches works well adverb he or she is acting out.
If a teammate does not guess
• Create a set of verb cards o n cards of
the word by
one color, a t least one verb c ard pe r the end of a set time limit, then
student. (ex. Laugh, paint, pray, wipe, anyone on another team can
wash)
call out the word and win
• Create a set of adverb cards o n cards points.
of an oth er color. (ex. Lazily, happily,
gently, rapidly, madly)
Take note of the answers
• Stack the verb cards upside down in
one pile; stack the adverb cards in
students give during the
an oth er pile. game.

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Step 2. Teaching/ Modeling BOX 2: WHAT ADVERBS TELL
(15-20 minutes)

Adverbs
Write a sentence on the board
with no modifiers based on the
game played.
Adverbs describe verbs,
She paints.
adjectives, or another adverb.
Ask a student to act out the Adverbs tell:
sentence. Add an adverb to the
When? Where? How? How Often?
sentence and have the student act
it out again. after inside quickly always
yesterday outside slowly sometimes
She paints rapidly. now here sadly never
later there loudly often
Change the adverb and, once soon away easily once
more, have the student act it out. near happily twice
early
Underline the adverb in the ° Many adverbs end in -ly.
sentence and label it as an adverb. ° Adverbs can come before or after a verb

adverb • She quickly walked to the store.

She paints rapidly. • She walked to the store quickly.

Tell students that today we are

going to learn about adverbs.

Ask students how adding an

adverb changed the initial Let students in pairs or groups
sentence. Help them understand write answers. Challenge your
the rule that students to see how many
an adverb is a descriptive word additional adverbs they can come
that modifies or qualifies a up with to describe either the
verb, adjective, or another adjective or the word itself. For
adverb. example, if you challenge the
Adverbs express a time, place, students to use adjectives to
manner, degree, or frequency (see describe the "happy dog" they
Box 3). Discuss as well how the could come up with additional
sequence of adverbs follows rules adverbs like the "always very"
in sentence construction. happy dog.
Always and very are both adverbs
Step 3. Guided Practice describing the adjective happy
(10 minutes) which is describing the dog.

Give the students questions to You could also divide students into
answer using adverbs of teams and have a competition to
manner. see who can create the best
How fast do you eat? sentence; let a few students in the
What is something you do quickly? class
What is something you rarely do? serve as judges. Students can also
What is something you can do complete the activity individually
easily? and share their sentences with the
class. Identify the adverbs as a class
when students finish the activity.
Gr a m m a r Awa r e n e s s | Te a c h i n g Ad v e r b s 5
 Step 4. Independent Practice
(10-15 minutes)

Review the definition of an adverb Write an example sentence in each

on the Anchor chart. Let students section (e.g. Joe cheerfully jumped out of
create an Adverb Word Bank. (See bed; I'll take out the garbage later; The
sample below). Ask your students dog is playing outside; She is very
to volunteer other adverbs that excited for the party.) Underline the
can be added to each column in adverb in each example sentence.
the word bank and write them.

BOX 3: ADVERBS ANCHOR CHART

ADVERB WORD BANK

LOCATION/ PLACE TIME MANNER DEGREE FREQUENCY
Adverbs of place Adverbs of time Adverbs Adverbs of Adverbs o f
illustrate where the provide more of manner degree tell f requency tell
verb is happening. i n f o r ma ti o n provide mo re t he level o f how o f t e n
a b o u t when a n i n f o r ma t i o n intensity o f a t he verb
a c t i o n takes a b o u t how verb, adjective, occurs.
place. a verb is o r even a n o t h e r
done. adverb.

• everywhere • lately • politely • h ard ly • never

• here • recenty • beautif ully • very • always

Step 5. Application 1. PLAY SIMON SAYS

One f un way t o teach adverbs is t o play “Simon

Have students read a Says”. However, instead of “Simon” issuing verb
newspaper article and commands t o walk forward f our steps, for
underline each adverb that example, “Simon” a d d s a n adverb t o the verb.
The c o mma n d could then be, “Walk forward
they find. crazily f our steps.” Put u p a list of adverbs o n
Sample Activities the b o a r d t o give students some help when
they first begin playing. As they become bet t er
a t thinking of adverbs, remove the list from
Some learner-centered activities the board. Have a student volunteer t o write
that teachers can integrate in the list of adverbs o n the board. When the
the explicit instructional plan game
is over, students ca n copy the sentences down
are included here. a n d circle o r highlight the adverb in each
2. ADD
one.TO SENTENCES

Put a simple sentence o n the b o a r d such as,

“She eats lunch.” Students t hen a d d adjectives
a n d adverbs t o the sentence. You might
have them come t o the b o a r d a n d a d d t o
the sentence with different-colored chalk o r
markers, o r you could give t hem c ard stock with
t a pe o n the ba ck t o write t heir words o n before
they a d d t hem t o the simple sentence. You
could also divide students int o teams a n d have
a compet ition t o see who c an create the best
sentence; let a few students in the class serve
as judges. Students c a n also complete the
activity individually a n d share their sentences
with the class. Identify the adverbs as a class
when students finish the activity.

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3. SCAVENGER HUNT How Teachers Can Make
The Strategy Work
A fu n adverb activity for middle school begins
with writing sentences with adjectives a n d
adverbs o n c a rd stock of different colors, o r Teaching adverbs, like
using different-colored ink for each sentence. teaching any part of speech,
There should be one word c ard for each student
in the class. Hide the cards a r o u n d the room
involves helping students
in safe locations. Have students move t hro ug h understand the structure of
the ro om looking for the different cards. Each adverbs within the context of
student should have only one card. When
students find all of the cards, have t hem find
the sentence and within the
oth er students with the same color card. Then context of the English
students should arrange their cards int o a language as a whole.
sentence a n d write it o n the board. After they
write their sentences o n the board, they circle
By making the lessons fun
the adverbs. The first team t o finish wins the and engaging, students are
game. You ca n also d o this activity o n worksheets more likely to begin to
by having students identify the adverbs o n it.
Tell the students how many adverbs are o n the
understand how adverbs
worksheet, a n d make sure there are adjectives o n function as a grammatical
it, too, t o make the activity more challenging. The tool and are going to be
winner is the first student who identifies all of the
adverbs correctly.
more comfortable
incorporating adverbs into
4. CREATING A their own sentences and into
LIST
the language Across
Applications they use daily.
The
Provide your students with a verb, adverb, o r
a n adjective. Tell them t o write down a n adverb Curriculum
t h a t describes the word you give them. Then
write down each student’s word o n the board.
The class c an vote o n the most creative one. Grammar skills are
Then give students a n adjective a n d a noun. essential in all writing
Students should then come u p with as many
tasks across content areas,
adverbs as they ca n t o describe the subject you
gave them. For example, if you write “sad even though its explicit
clown” o n the board, the winner of this game teaching may be facilitated
would mostly in ELA.
be the student who could come u p with the
longest adverb chain t o describe t he sad clown.
Someone might write “never a very sad clown,”
for example.

References

The British Council. (n.d.) Adverbs. Learn English. Norris, J., & Ortega, L. (2000). Effectiveness of L2
Retrieved from https://learnenglish.britishcouncil. instruction: A research synthesis a n d
org/english-grammar/adverbials-manner o n 2 quantitative meta-analysis. Language Learning,
February 2019. 50, 417-528.

Cambridge Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved from https:// Norman, L. (n.d.) Creative ways t o teach adverbs.
dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british- Retrieved from https://www.theclassroom.com/
grammar/about-adjectives-and-adverbs/adverbs creative-ways-teach-adverbs-8572851.html o n 2
o n 2 February 2019. February 2019.
Oxford Dictionaries. Retrieved from https://
Cotter, T. (n.d.) Planning a grammar lesson. British en.oxfo rddictionaries.com/grammar/positions-of-
Council Teaching English. Retrieved from adverbs o n 2 February 2019.
https://
https://www.theclassroom.com/cre
www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/planning-a-
ative-ways-teach- adverbs-8572851.html
grammar-lesson o n 2 February 2019.

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