Purpose:

To practice using descriptive adjectives and adverbs

Preparation time: 

5 minutes

Materials:

Paper and pencil (optional)

Preparation:

Generate simple sentences with a subject, verb and one additional part to round off the predicate (a direct object, indirect object or prepositional phrase).

For example:

The boy ran to the store.

The cat chased the mouse.

Procedure:

1.  Write the sentence on the board. Have the students write the sentence on their papers.

                   The boy ran to the store.

2.      Ask a student to suggest a word that can be added to the sentence:

                   e.g. skinny       

                  The skinny boy ran to the store.

3.      Have the students write the new sentence on their papers.

4.      Ask another student for another word that can be added to the sentence:

                   e.g. quickly 

                  The skinny boy quickly ran to the store.

5.      Have the students write the new sentence on their papers.

6.      Continue adding words until the sentence becomes unwieldy. You may set a goal of adding 10 words. The sentence should ALWAYS be logical.

Variations:

Students can do this individually, in pairs or in teams.

You may wish to provide a list of adjectives and adverbs from which the students can choose.