Instruction about adjectives for middle schoolers or upper elementary kids often appears as part of a lesson in descriptive writing – add some adjectives to this paragraph, replace these overused adjectives with more interesting ones, etc. And practice writing descriptively can definitely lead to improvement in student’s creative writing skills.

But that isn’t quite all that these middle graders need to know about adjectives. According to the language standards in the common core, there are specific grammar skills that kids at this level still need to master.

The main ones, for adjectives as well as other parts of speech, seem to be these (but they are very general!):

• Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing and speaking.
• Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.

Here are a couple more:

• Order adjectives within sentences according to conventional patterns.
• Use a comma to separate coordinate adjectives.

And then they are the writing ones which range from this one for the fourth grade:

• Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.

through this one for the seventh:

• Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to capture the action and convey experiences and events.

(All of the above standards are quoted from the Common Core State Standards.)

Beyond these specifics, there are adjective situations that just bear reviewing in the middle grades.  I’m guessing that you’ll find some areas within one of more of these topics that your kids could use a refresher on, maybe sandwiched inside a lesson on revising or editing.

• Common and proper adjectives
• Comparative and superlative adjectives
• Predicate adjectives

My Adjectives Slide Presentation and Adjectives Task Cards address these standards and topics that apply especially to students from grade four through seven.  I’ll show you some samples.

Predicate Adjective Slides

Fill-in-the-Blanks Note Sheet

Middle graders may benefit from taking notes as they watch an informational slide presentation such as this one, but at this age it can be difficult for the kids to know just what to write down.  To address this problem, I’ve put together a page of fill-in-the-blank notes to guide students’ note taking.  And I also have a completed note page to differentiate for students who may need that option.

What is the difference between the PowerPoint and the Easel versions (both are included in this one resource)?  The PowerPoint is designed mainly for whole-class viewing or for informational purposes with an answer key slide following each slide that has questions. The Easel version, on the other hand, is designed especially for students’ independent use. In this version, the students can answer right on the slides using answer boxes or moveable pieces that are already in place, and the answer key slides have been removed.

Common and Proper Adjectives in the Printable Version of the Task Cards

Comparative and Superlative Adjectives in a Digital Version

My task card sets include both printable and digital versions.  (Actually, there are two digital choices too – TPT’s Easel or Google slides.  Each comes with the printable PDF.)  The PDF is set up with two large cards per page.  (These cards have a lot of content!) An answer sheet is included for students to record their answers. The digital versions, with one card per slide, are ready for student to answer digitally.

And that’s it for adjectives!  Next on my agenda will be resources for teaching adverbs. Below  you can see links to the other parts of speech that I’ve worked on so far – each one focusing on specifics that middle graders will need to learn.

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