Teaching parts of speech in upper elementary deserves more than a quick review. Discover why these foundational skills matter, how they support more advanced grammar instruction, and what to look for before moving on.
Nouns? They learned those in first grade. Verbs? Surely, they know those by now. Adjectives? We have standards to cover, and the pacing guide is already staring us down. That said, it can be tempting to give parts of speech a quick review, check the box, and move on, but there is one little problem with that plan: just because a skill has been taught doesn’t mean it has been mastered.
That is why I’m so passionate about teaching parts of speech in upper elementary and deliberately spending time on them at the beginning of the year. Not a race through eight definitions. Not one worksheet where everyone circles a noun and underlines a verb. I want to know whether students actually understand the jobs words do in sentences, because the grammar instruction that comes next depends on that understanding. Read that again: The grammar instruction that comes next depends on that understanding!!
The Back-to-School Assumption That Creates Problems Later
At the beginning of the year, you’re building routines, getting to know students, and figuring out where instruction should begin. Meanwhile, your grade-level standards are waiting, and nobody wants to feel behind before September is even over. I understand the temptation to start with the next big skill on the list. But when students struggle with that skill, the first question shouldn’t always be, “How can I teach this lesson again?” Sometimes it needs to be, “What does a student need to understand before this lesson will make sense?”
Take subjects and predicates. A student might successfully underline the subject in a handful of practiced examples but become confused when the subject is a pronoun or when several words make up the complete subject. Another student may locate an action verb but struggle to distinguish it from a helping verb. Those are different misunderstandings, and handing both students another subjects-and-predicates worksheet won’t necessarily address either one.
Let me ask you a question. Do your students struggle to maintain grammar skills or apply them in writing? If I were to answer those questions in my early years of teaching, the answer would definitely have been a HUGE yes!! Those two answers are why I don’t treat parts of speech as something students should automatically have mastered just because they’ve encountered them before.
Some will need a refresher; others will need more explicit instruction, more examples, and more chances to explain their thinking. The goal isn’t to review for review’s sake. It’s to find out what students understand well enough to use when the sentences and skills become more complex. If you’ve ever wondered why a skill seems to disappear from one lesson to the next, I talk more about that in 3 Reasons Grammar Skills Disappear.
Why Teaching Parts of Speech in Upper Elementary Deserves More Time
This is the thinking behind skill stacking in grammar: before students can confidently learn a more complex grammar skill, they need the smaller understandings that support it. Parts of speech are a central foundation in that progression. Knowing what a noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, adverb, conjunction, or preposition does gives students language and understanding they will use throughout the year. It doesn’t mean every punctuation mistake traces back to parts of speech, but it does mean we should pay attention when a later skill relies on word-level knowledge students may not have yet.
Here are a few of the connections I want teachers to see:
- Nouns and pronouns → subjects and noun work. Students who recognize how nouns and pronouns function are better prepared to identify simple subjects and understand singular, plural, concrete, and abstract nouns.
- Verbs → predicates and verb forms. Recognizing verbs prepares students to examine action, linking, and helping verbs, then work with simple and progressive verb tenses.
- Helping verbs → progressive tense and modal auxiliaries. Students need to notice what a helping verb contributes before they can reason about a verb phrase such as is running or the meaning of might run.
- Adjectives → order of adjectives. Before deciding which adjective belongs first, students need to recognize the words modifying a noun.
- Conjunctions → combining ideas. Understanding what conjunctions connect supports later work with clauses and compound sentences.
Think about teaching progressive verb tense. You can model is jumping, was jumping, and will be jumping all morning, but if a student doesn’t recognize the helping verb and main verb working together, the pattern may become something to memorize rather than understand. That student might need a stronger grasp of verbs before more progressive-tense practice will do much good. That is skill stacking in action: you don’t automatically start the whole lesson over; you identify the understanding that may be missing and teach there.
This is why spending a little more time on parts of speech at the beginning of the year isn’t wasted time. You are preparing students for the instruction you know is coming, rather than discovering the same missing knowledge halfway through every new unit.
Let’s look at what this means in practice. In The BUILD Framework, I take a grade-level grammar skill and work backward to identify the knowledge students need before they can master it. Here’s an example using the fourth-grade skill Commas Before Conjunctions.
Notice how far back we have to go to reach the foundation: nouns, pronouns, and verbs. If students are struggling with commas before conjunctions, another comma worksheet might not address what’s actually missing. We need to figure out which layer of understanding needs attention.
If you’d rather have that instructional groundwork already mapped out for you, that’s what I provide inside Beyond BUILD 4th Grade Membership.
Teach Parts of Speech Explicitly, Not Just as Labels
Now, I’m not suggesting that you spend weeks having students memorize definitions. Students should know the terminology, of course, but being able to recite “an adjective describes a noun” isn’t enough. They need to recognize what a word is doing in an actual sentence, and they need to explain how they know. That means modeling your thinking, comparing examples, asking students to justify their choices, and revisiting the skill in different sentence contexts.
For example, try putting these sentences side by side:
- The fast runner smiled.
- The runner moved fast.
- We fast every Friday.
Ask students to find fast in all 3 sentences. Is it doing the same job? In the first sentence, fast describes the noun runner, so it’s an adjective. In the second, it tells how the runner moved, so it’s an adverb. In the third sentence, it’s acting as the verb. The word stays the same, but its job changes depending on how it’s used in the sentence. That’s why students need to understand what words do, not just memorize which part of speech they belong to.
Change the questions you ask your students. Instead of asking only, “What part of speech is this?” ask, “Which word is it giving us information about?” Follow with, “How does that help you determine its job?” Those questions make student thinking visible. They also help you spot whether a student understands the function or is making a lucky guess.
You can use the same reasoning when students encounter a word that can have different jobs: We will paint the fence and The paint dried. In the first sentence, paint is a verb; in the second, it’s a noun. That’s a much more useful conversation than telling students a word belongs to one category regardless of the sentence.
And please don’t feel you have to squeeze all of this into the first week of school. The amount of time you spend should be guided by what your students show you. A student who understands the basics may be ready to apply them in more complex sentences; a student who doesn’t needs explicit teaching and practice before moving on.
Take Parts of Speech Beyond the Grammar Worksheet
We also need students to use parts of speech when they write. Being able to identify a verb in someone else’s sentence and knowing how to choose a more precise verb in your own writing are related skills, but they aren’t the same thing. That transfer deserves attention.
Start with a simple sentence: The dog ran. Ask, “What do we want the reader to know about the dog?” Changing dog to golden retriever adds specificity. Then ask, “How did the dog move?” Depending on the intended meaning, students might choose sprinted, trotted, or wandered. Each verb communicates something different. This isn’t about making the sentence longer or declaring every ordinary verb weak. It’s about choosing words with purpose.
You can also return to a sentence a student has already written and ask them to make one intentional change using a part of speech they’ve studied. Have them explain what changed for the reader. When a student can identify the word, explain its job, and use that knowledge to revise, you’re seeing far more understanding than you would from a completed identification worksheet alone.
What Should You Do Before Moving to the Next Grammar Skill?
Before moving on, I want to see more than correct answers on a familiar page. Can students identify the part of speech in a sentence they haven’t practiced? Can they explain which word it modifies or what role it plays? Can they distinguish similar-looking examples? Can they use what they know when reading or revising a sentence? Those responses help you decide whether the class is ready for the next layer or whether a particular group needs more time.
That doesn’t mean every child must perform perfectly on every part of speech before you teach anything else. It means you’re making an instructional decision based on evidence instead of on the assumption that students should already know it. There’s a difference, and it matters.
Free Parts of Speech Resources for Your Classroom
If you’re planning your beginning-of-year grammar instruction or realizing midyear that a foundational skill needs attention, I want you to have something useful to start with. Use the free resources below to support explicit instruction and help students talk about what words do in sentences.
- The BUILD Framework Skill Stacking Video – Free Download
- 4 Fun Activities – Nouns, Adjectives, Pronouns – Free Download (PDF)
- 4 Fun Activities – Verbs & Adverbs – Free Download (PDF)
- Teaching Tip & Objectives – Members Only
- Anchor Charts – Members Only
- Whole Group PowerPoint – Members Only
- Google Lessons – Members Only
- Guided Notes – Members Only
- Daily Lessons – Members Only
- Grammar Quick Writes – Members Only
- Practice Skill Cards – Members Only
- Unit Exam – Members Only
Frequently Asked Questions About Teaching Parts of Speech
Should upper elementary students already know the parts of speech?
Students typically encounter nouns, verbs, adjectives, and other parts of speech in earlier grades, but that doesn’t mean they’ve mastered them. Some students can identify these words in familiar examples but struggle to explain their functions in more complex sentences. A purposeful review helps you determine what students understand and which foundational skills need additional instruction.
How much time should I spend reviewing parts of speech?
For fourth grade, I recommend spending approximately two weeks reviewing parts of speech at the beginning of the school year. During the first week, focus on nouns, pronouns, and adjectives. These skills naturally belong together because pronouns can replace nouns, and adjectives describe nouns and pronouns. During the second week, move into verbs and adverbs so students can explore how those words work together.
For fifth grade, I typically recommend one week of review, depending on students’ understanding. Third grade is different because so much of the grammar curriculum focuses on developing these foundational skills. Third-grade teachers are doing the important work of preparing students for the more advanced grammar instruction they’ll encounter in fourth and fifth grade.
Of course, these are recommendations, not rigid timelines. If your students need additional instruction, give them that time. The goal is to build understanding, not simply finish the review.
Why do students struggle with grammar skills they’ve already learned?
Sometimes students remember a definition or rule without fully understanding how to apply it. Other times, a more advanced grammar skill depends on foundational knowledge that hasn’t been mastered. For example, students who struggle with progressive verb tense may need additional instruction on helping verbs and main verbs. Identifying the missing understanding can be more effective than simply repeating the same grade-level lesson.
How can I tell whether students really understand parts of speech?
Move beyond asking students to circle nouns or underline verbs. Give them unfamiliar sentences, ask them to explain the job a word is doing, and compare examples where the same word functions differently. You can also have students use specific parts of speech to revise their writing and explain how their choices change the meaning. These responses provide stronger evidence of understanding than identification alone.
Want to See How Grammar Skills Fit Together?
Parts of speech are where I like to begin, but understanding the connections shouldn’t stop there. Every time you teach a new grammar skill, it helps to know which smaller skills students need in place, what those understandings look like, and where to go back when something isn’t clicking. That’s why I created The BUILD Framework course: to help teachers think through grammar instruction as a connected progression rather than a collection of unrelated lessons.
If you want to understand skill stacking more deeply and plan grammar instruction with those connections in mind, explore The BUILD Framework course.
Because the next time a student struggles with a grade-level grammar skill, I don’t want your only option to be teaching the exact same lesson again. I want you to be able to recognize what may be missing—and know where to go next.
