Harvey's Elementary Grammar and Composition · Lesson 6–7 · Part 1: Part I: The elementary course

5. Parts of speech and the noun

Goal: Your child knows that words are sorted into parts of speech and can tell common nouns from proper nouns.

⏱ About 30 minutes · 7 steps

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You'll need

  • The book, open to this lesson
  • Paper and a pencil (or a slate)

What's in the book

Lesson 6 introduces parts of speech with "Scholars study." Lesson 7 is an oral lesson on nouns, defining nouns, common nouns and proper nouns, with a list of words to sort and names to write.

The lesson, step by step

  1. Review

    Ask your child to write one sentence using quotation marks correctly.

  2. Words come in classes

    Read:

    Parts of Speech are the classes into which words are divided according to their meaning and use.

    SayLike sorting laundry into piles, we sort words by what they do. Today's pile is names.

  3. Names are nouns

    Read:

    A Noun is a name; as boy, John, railroad.

    Ask your child to name ten things in the room. Every one is a noun.

  4. Common and proper

    Read both definitions:

    A Common Noun is a name which may be applied to any one of a class of objects; as bird, door, lightning.

    A Proper Noun is the name of some particular person, place, people, or thing; as, Susan, Rome, American, Mars.

    Say"City" fits every city. "Chicago" fits just one. Proper nouns begin with capital letters.

  5. Sort the book's list

    Read the list on the page and sort each word aloud:

    Rain. Snow. College. Augusta. Palestine.

    Ask: Is it the name of any one of a kind, or of one particular thing?

  6. Write some names

    The book asks for names: five kinds of fruit, five kinds of grain, three articles of clothing, six large cities, five large rivers, seven school-mates, and more. Pick three or four of these and write them. Check capitals: cities, rivers and people need them.

  7. Use it today

    In today's reading, point out three common nouns and three proper nouns.

Afterwards

Finish the rest of the name lists on a second day.

Answers to the book's problems

Common nouns: rain, snow, college, barn, minute, volcano, slate, organ, steeple, railroad, church, thunder, hour, lesson, temple. Proper nouns: Augusta, Palestine, Sarah, Black Sea, Lake Erie, April, Boston, Indianapolis, Vesuvius, Niagara Falls. Name lists will vary; check that names of cities, rivers, mountains and people start with capital letters.

Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.

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