Explain the most basic ideas of what participial phrases are and why they're used. Essentially, they are short phrases, offset by commas, that can occur in three places within a sentence. They occur at the beginning of a sentence, right before the main clause; in the middle of a sentence, right after the noun being modified or at the end of a sentence, right after the main clause. Participial phrases serve as adjectives or adverbs in order to modify the sentence's main verb or in some cases, a noun. Also, they must relate to the sentence's subject.
Write out examples of participial phrases. Underline the participial phrase itself and have your fourth graders practice identifying them with you. A mere definition of what a participial phrase is can be a bit confusing by itself. By having your fourth graders reading them --even writing out their own-- you will ensure that they will readily know them by sight. Give examples that show the various ways participial phrases appear in sentences, for instance:
Beginning Participial Phrases: Walking out the door, John left the party early.
Middle Participial Phrases: John, angry with his friend, left the party early.
Ending Participial Phrases: John left the party early, angered by his friend's behavior.
Write out full sentences including participial phrases but leave out all the commas. Have your fourth graders practice inserting the commas where needed to separate the participial phrase from the main clause. This is a good exercise that will help them learn to easily spot participial phrases without having to rely on looking for commas. Try having them identify the subject of the sentence as well by underlining it. An example sentence should appear as follows:
Looking around nervously the criminal walked into the bank.