Many students like games. One game that serves as a refresher is "Toss the Noun." Teachers can begin the game by tossing a bean bag to a student after saying a noun. Each student must say a different noun, then pass the bean bag to another student. If a student drops the bean bag or calls out a word that is not a noun, he must sit down. The last person standing wins.
Many middle school students struggle with the case of a noun, or how a noun is used in a clause or phrase. A noun can be the subject and be in the nominative case, an object and be in the objective case or be possessive and in the possessive case. The easiest way to explain the different cases is to create sentences that use the three cases and ask students to identify them, then write their own sentences using the various cases.
Abstract nouns, or nouns that don't employ the five senses, are often difficult for middle school students to grasp. Use symbolism to explain abstract nouns. Students can look at or draw symbols and match up abstract nouns to the symbols. For example, a heart could be the symbol and students could use abstract nouns to tell what it means: kindness, happiness or love.
Pronouns, or words that take the place of other pronouns or nouns, are a common subject in middle school English class. English teachers can set up stations in the classroom to teach students about pronouns. For example, one station can display objects and ask students to write sentences using pronouns and antecedents discussing the objects. At the next station, students can use possessive pronouns and write about something they own. The other two stations can be activities where students use personal pronouns and object pronouns.