ADJECTIVES-THURD GRADE

Using
Adjectives
Differently

Well-placed adjectives

© A Better Way To Teach 2022

Would You Rather?

Would you rather live
with orange, powdery
Cheetos residue on your
right hand for a year or
have a smelly donkey as
your primary means of
transportation for a year?

© A Better Way to Teach 2020

Would You Rather?

Would you rather
wake up to find your
car filled with grape
jelly or your bedroom
filled with shaved
cats?

© A Better Way to Teach 2020

Would You Rather?

Would you rather live
with orange, powdery
Cheetos residue on your
right hand for a year or
have a smelly donkey as
your primary means of
transportation for a year?

© A Better Way to Teach 2020

These are
adjectives!
Notice how
they add detail
to your writing.

Would You Rather?

Would you rather
wake up to find your
car filled with grape
jelly or your bedroom
filled with shaved
cats?

© A Better Way to Teach 2020

These are
adjectives!
Notice how
they add detail
to your writing.

Adjectives

➔

Definition
A word or phrase used to
modify or describe a noun

➔

Examples
undaunted quarterback
hilarious comedian
frail Bernie Sanders
determined students

➔

Use in a sentence
The undaunted quarterback
hobbled off the field.

Tip

If a word can be used
to describe your
teacher, it’s an
adjective.

Ms. Davis is…..witty,
interesting, amazing,
endearing....

© A Better Way to Teach 2021

Adjective Phrases

➔

Definition
A group of words including an
adjective and its complements.
The whole phrase functions as an
adjective

➔

Examples

Filled with pride

Disgusted by the food

Tip

Opening adjectives
and opening
adjective phrases
will make your
writing more
interesting!

Adjective Phrases

➔

Examples

Filled with pride, Kendrick Lamar
accepted the award.

Disgusted by the food, Meghan Markle
shoved her plate away from her.

“Pale and downcast, he assembled
the citizens of the island inside the
fortress and spoke to them.”

Alexandre Dumas

The Count of Monte Cristo

(182)

Observe

What do you notice about the
sentence?

What are the opening adjectives?
Who are they
describing/modifying?

What do you imagine the subject
might be about to tell his citizens?

“Blind with despair, I fired again.”

Leif Enger
Peace Like a River
(13)

Observe

What is the adjective phrase in
this sentence?

What do you imagine is
happening in this scene?

Delayed Adjectives

➔

Definition

An adjective placed after the word it is
describing is a delayed adjective.

A delayed adjective can be a single word
or it can be the first word that comes in an
adjective phrase.

➔

Examples

◆

hopeful

◆

scared

◆

eager to graduate

◆

disheartened by her mother’s glare

◆

humorous in class

Tip

Using delayed
adjectives is another
way to make your
writing interesting
and increase fluency.

© A Better Way To Teach 2020

Delayed Adjectives

➔

Examples

Steph Curry, flawless as usual,
nailed the 3 pointer.

Brie Larson, exhausted from the
endless rehearsal, recited her
lines again.

She wanted her music to be like
Dolly Parton’s music, captivating
and strong.

Tip

Carefully select your
adjectives. Using too
many adjectives makes
your writing wordy and
your reader will find it
uninteresting.

© A Better Way To Teach 2020

“A trumpet call, clear and
beautiful, floated into the
stagnant air.”

George Orwell

1984

(20)

Observe

What adjectives do
you notice in the
sentence?

Clue: there are four.

© A Better Way To Teach 2020

“The two princes, both pale as
death, measured each other with
their eyes, and appeared to be
about to spring on each other.”

Alexandre Dumas

The Man in the Iron Mask

(138)

Observe

What do you notice
about the sentence?

What adjectives do you
see?

Is there anything else
that makes the sentence
interesting?

© A Better Way To Teach 2020

Take out your independent reading
book.

Skim through a few pages and
underline or highlight the adjectives
and adjective phrases you notice.

Challenge

Can you find a sentence
with multiple adjective
phrases?

Can you find a sentence
with an opening
adjective or opening
adjective phrase?

Mentor Sentence
“Vivid, beautiful hallucinations flashed
through his mind.”

George Orwell

1984

(11)

Imitation Sentence

_______________,__________________
ideas filled his dreams.
________________,_________________
images haunted his nightmares.

Imitate

Write a sentence that is
similar to the mentor
sentence. Use one of
the sentence stems to
get you started. Fill in
the blanks with
appropriate adjectives.

© A Better Way To Teach 2021

Mentor Sentence
“We froze and heard the reverend’s
voice, jagged and intermittent.”

Leif Enger

Peace Like a River

(31)

Imitation Sentence

We froze and heard his mother’s voice,
____________________________________.

© A Better Way To Teach 2020

Mentor Sentence
“It seemed dreadful to see the great beast
lying there in agony, powerless to move and
yet powerless to die.”

George Orwell

“Shooting an Elephant”

Imitation Sentence
It seemed horrible to see the lonely dog,
unable to
________________________________.

It seemed horrible to see the wounded
chicken, ________________________.

© A Better Way To Teach 2020

Write your own

Write your own sentences
similar in style to the
mentor sentence. Use
one of the the sentence
stems and fill in your own
delayed adjective
phrase(s).

Use different adjectives
than the original!

Your Turn

Watch the video and then write 2-3
sentences about the video.

●Write a sentence describing Elon
Musk with an opening adjective or an
opening adjective phrase.

●Write a sentence about Elon or about
his journey using at least one delayed
adjective.

AGAINST ALL ODDS - Elon Musk (Motivational Video)

© A Better Way To Teach 2022

Short Clip (7:12)

Evaluate and Share

Look back over all the sentences
you wrote today. Which one is the
strongest? Put a star next to it.

© A Better Way To Teach 2020

“The most valuable of
all talents is that of
never using two words
when one will do.”

Thomas Jefferson

© A Better Way To Teach 2020

Multiple Choice

I read two books at school today.

• read

• books

• school

• two

Multiple Choice

The popcorn was hot and salty.

• The

• Popcorn

• and

• hot, salty

Multiple Choice

Amanda wore a big, red bow in her hair.

• big, red

• big

• red

• hair

Multiple Choice

She wore her warm coat to school.

• She wore

• her

• warm

• school

Multiple Choice

Timmy washed his sticky hands.

• sticky

• hands

• Timmy

• washed

Multiple Choice

The small dog barked at the cat.

• The dog

• small

• barked

• cat

Multiple Choice

Wendy brushed her long, brown hair.

• long, brown

• brown

• long

• Wendy

Multiple Choice

My favorite vegetable is green beans.

• vegetable

• favorite, green

• my

• beans

Multiple Choice

Connor took out a sharp pencil and his notebook.

• Connor

• out

• sharp

• notebook

Multiple Choice

Wear comfortable shoes to the zoo.

• shoes

• zoo

• comfortable

• to

Multiple Choice

Loud noises were coming from the children's bedroom.

• noises

• bedroom

• loud

• from

Multiple Choice

Her red hair blew in the wind.

• wind

• red

• blew

• in the

Multiple Choice

She pulled the soft blanket up to her chin.

• soft

• blanket

• chin

• she

Multiple Choice

Thomas wore a blue bathrobe over his pajamas.

• pajamas

• bathrobe

• wore

• blue

Multiple Choice

I enjoyed the delicious dinner that mom cooked.

• enjoyed

• delicious

• mom

• cooked

Multiple Choice

Kara ate three cookies for dessert.

• three

• cookies

• ate

• dessert, Kara

Multiple Choice

The cute baby smiled at me!

• baby

• at me

• cute

• smiled

Multiple Choice

Daniel carried his heavy backpack all the way home.

• carried

• heavy

• home

• all the way

Multiple Choice

The bride wore a long, white dress.

• long, white

• dress

• bride

• wore, dress

Multiple Choice

Manny licked the sweet dough off the spoon.

• Manny

• sweet

• off

• spoon

Multiple Choice

The water in the bathtub was hot.

• water

• bathtub

• was

• hot

Multiple Select

Rita collected lots of colorful shells on the beach.

• colorful

• Rita

• beach

• shells