Each part of speech has a unique function within a sentence but not all are required to make a complete sentence. In its most bare-bones form, a sentence needs a noun or pronoun and a verb. However, the other parts of speech help put meat on the sentence's bones. Verbs direct the action of a sentence and indicate when that action occurred in time. Nouns describe a person, place, thing or idea, and pronouns are a substitute for repetitive nouns. For example, instead of saying the noun "doctor," over and over again, the pronoun "he" or "she" can be used instead. Adverbs modify the meaning of verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. Adjectives describe nouns or other adjectives. For instance, the verb "to fly" will change in the presence of an adverb, such as "slowly" or "quickly." Similarly, the meaning of the noun "airplane" is changed by an adjective, such as "old" or "blue." Conjunctions, such as "and," "for" or "but," create a bridge between words or phrases. Articles indicate the number and specificity of a noun. Note that "a" -- the indefinite article -- is used with "noun" because it could be any noun whereas "the" -- the definite article -- is used with a specific number. Finally, prepositions "position" elements in a sentence in terms of time or space.
Focus on the parts of speech, such as verbs, conjunctions and prepositions, that create movement in a sentence. Review the concepts with students before beginning the project. In the first part of this project, have students write a verb onto a sheet of 8.5-by-11 inch paper and construct a simple paper airplane. To illustrate the role of spatial prepositions, have students create a runway and landing strip labeled as "before" and "after," respectively. A simple string attached to the paper airplane can illustrate a time-based preposition, such as "during." Then have students cut strips of paper, roughly 2-by-1/2 inch, and label them with conjunctions.
For this part of the project, have students create "passengers" for their verb planes. Review the concepts behind nouns, pronouns, articles, adjectives and adverbs before beginning. Make the passenger from two paper cubes that form its body and head, the first with folded 1-inch squares and the second with 1/2-inch squares. Passengers will represent either a noun or pronoun. The remaining three parts of speech will be represented as the passenger's "baggage." These bags can be made of rectangular strips of paper attached to the bottom of the paper airplane with paperclips.
Have students compose sentences of varying lengths with the verbs they have written on their paper planes. For instance, have some students write a sentence with less than five words, others with five to seven words and some with seven to 10 words. Allow students to use only one verb for this assignment. For each noun or pronoun used in the sentence, have students add a "passenger" to the plane. Passengers should be labeled and sit on the top, center seam of the paper airplane. If students used conjunctions to connect nouns, have them attach the rectangular strips with tape to the passengers. To secure the passengers, use a loop of clear tape on the bottom of each cube. For each adjective, adverb or article, have students label the rectangular slips and attach them to the bottom of the plane with paperclips. Use a hall or clear space in your classroom for the first flight. Have students stand on their runways and aim their planes toward their landing strips. Remember to attach one end of a ball of string to a few paper planes to illustrate prepositions denoting time. Those students with short sentences should experience a smoother flight than those overburdened with too many words. Use the flights as an opportunity to show that concise sentences are often more graceful than lengthy ones. You may also wish to illustrate the tense of verbs by having students cut flaps into their planes that cause the flight path to change. For instance, a plane that executes loops can illustrate a present progressive verb ending with "ing."