Have students pick a picture from an old magazine. Tell them that the more elaborate the picture, the easier the assignment will be. Give students construction paper or white computer paper and have them glue their picture to the paper. Give them five minutes to use just adjectives to describe the picture.
Give each student an envelope full of words that comprise every part of speech. Include punctuation pieces in the envelopes. Tell each student to make a sentence with all of the words in his envelope. Tell students to use the words correctly in a sentence, which must make sense. Once students have made their sentences, give them tape or glue and allow them to finalize their sentences on paper. Have them write their sentences on the board and label each part of speech.
Many middle-school computers have Microsoft PowerPoint or similar slide-show software. In this activity, students will divide into groups and create a presentation devoted to just one of all eight parts of speech. Every group is assigned a different part of speech and will create two slides defining the part of speech and providing examples. Each group will be assigned a different background slide color for the slides; this will help separate each group and each part of speech. At the end of the project, each group will present the part of speech it was assigned.
Students will type a one-page story, using all eight parts of speech at least once, and print it out. The student will go back and take out 15 words, replacing them with blanks. The student will print this copy out and will neatly write in the part of speech required in the blank spots. Each student asks the class for the parts of speech in the missing blanks, and each student will read his or her story to the class.