Do you remember all seven parts of speech? What makes an adjective different from an adverb? If you knew the difference, could you write or speak better? What if students could unravel the code of language like detectives sleuthing a mystery? Kids will learn how to identify and use the seven parts of speech in Fool’s Academy’s show “Grammar. . .Mysterious”.

Our objective is to get kids excited about figuring out the tenants of grammar. Scenes include: Noun and Verb Charades, Sculpting Students by Adjectives, Transforming Actions with Adverbs, The Magic of Prepositions, The Worlds Most Death Defying Cake Toss, and others. The cast will play many clown characters who all have a specific quirk relating to a part of speech. For example: Mrs. Lee is attached to adverbs because they almost always end in -ly.

During the scenes, Christina and WT will bring students on stage to demonstrate, participate, and help uncover the purposes of parts of speech. The show includes an array of mime, clown, acrobatics, and acting that leaves students with many memorable images and tactics for figuring out words they encounter every day. The students are frequently involved as an audience and as participants, making the show very active for everyone.

We designed this show to target grades 1-4 specifically in preparation for the 4th grade ELAS testing in NYC. We have found that younger students enjoy the clowning and acrobatics, and benefit from exposure to grammar. For 5th graders, the first half of the show is an entertaining review, and they are engaged in learning when we reach the more obscure parts of speech.