Adverb, adjective and noun clauses are all different, but can easily be confused for one another. Noun clauses are dependent clauses that act as the subject, object or complement of the subject to answer the question of "who" in a sentence. Conversely, adverb clauses answer the question of "when," "where" and "why," while adjective clauses answer the question of "which one." One game to help students differentiate between the clauses is a jumble. Teachers can present students with sentences and ask them to identify the proper clause and what makes it that clause.
Another game that can help students identify proper noun clauses is a clause match game. For example, the teacher presents a number of sentences, leaving the verb blank. Students then draw from a collection of verbs and match each verb with their proper sentence. One sentence may read: "Experts (blank) exercise is important for good health." Students would have to find the correct verb for the sentence and use it in a way representative of a noun clause.
Adverb clauses are typically joined by words such as "because," "since" and "as." One game to help students link adverb clauses together in a sentence is one that allows students to finish a sentence accordingly. For example, the teacher could start a sentence with "I sing" and ask students to finish the sentence to demonstrate an adverb clause using connecting words such as "because," "since" and "as." The game allows students to get creative with their answers.
One fun game you can play to reinforce clauses is an adaptation of the popular television game show "Jeopardy!" Students divide into groups and select sentences of varying point totals. As the teacher reads the sentence, students must identify the clause and why it's either a noun, adjective or adverb clause. Clues with higher point totals should be more difficult clauses to identify.