Print out and laminate around 40 words in a font large enough to be seen from halfway across the room. Be sure to have several of each part of speech included in the words. Tape all of the words randomly to the board or to one wall of the classroom. Divide the class into four teams, push desks out of the way and line up the teams. On your mark, have students run to the board and grab one word, then run back to their team. The goal is for a team to get be the fastest to obtain one word for each part of speech.
Some student may already be familiar with the word game Mad Libs, so have them demonstrate how it works for the other children. Bring in a book of Mad Libs to play as a class until students get the hang of it. Then divide students into small groups and give each group some Mad Libs to fill in. Older students will enjoy writing their own Mad Libs to play with their friends. Read some of the funniest stories aloud as a group.
Create sets of flashcards with words on them, or use flashcards that you already use in your class. Have students play a game with the cards as if they were playing “Go Fish, “ but using parts of speech. For instance, a students would ask, “Greg, do you have any adjectives?” Greg would hand over the card with the word “sweet” or would say “Go fish” if he did not have any adjectives. Ask students to gather four or more of each part of speech, depending on the number of flashcards available.
As a class, play a game of charades in which a student acts out a verb and adverb while the class attempts to guess the word. The result will be some silly miming and silly guessing, but will make students wrack their brains for words. Try unusual pairings of words, such as “skating sleepily” or climbing frantically” when the students get good at the game.