Your students probably already know the basics (nouns, verbs, and adjectives), but adverbs can sometimes get overlooked. Like all grammar skills, adverbs are best taught with a consistent routine and a mix of engaging activities. Below, I’ll walk you through exactly how to teach adverbs to your third graders. So let’s get into it: What are adverbs, and how do you teach them effectively in 3rd grade?
What are Adverbs?
Adverbs are words that describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. When they describe verbs, they can tell when, where, how, or how often. When adverbs describe adjectives or other adverbs, they tell how much.
Examples of Adverbs
| Type of Adverb | Examples |
|---|---|
| Adverbs that tell when | today, after, before, soon, yesterday, later, tonight, already |
| Adverbs that tell where | outside, inside, near, there, behind, below, downstairs |
| Adverbs that tell how | slowly, happily, easily, quietly, quickly, carefully, secretly, peacefully |
| Adverbs that tell how often | always, usually, never, often, rarely, once, daily, sometimes |
| Adverbs that tell how much | very, really, extremely, completely, almost, barely, too, totally |
How to Teach Adverbs
Are you wondering exactly how to teach adverbs to your third graders? As with all subjects, students thrive with a consistent routine and familiar activities. When planning how to teach adverbs to my 3rd graders, I always keep the same weekly schedule and similar activities/games. With the help of a teaching slides, centers, and individual work, your students will be familiar with the routine and confident in identifying and using adverbs in no time!
Develop a Weekly Routine
As stated previously, I follow the same weekly routine whenever I introduce a new grammar concept, and it’s made a big difference in my classroom. Mondays kick things off with a focused mini-lesson and whole group practice to lay the foundation.
On Tuesdays, students work with a partner to reinforce the skill, and I use a quick exit slip to check for early understanding. Wednesdays are always a hit as students are able to rotate through fun and hands-on center activities that let them practice in a more interactive and collaborative way.
Thursdays are all about application. We tie the grammar skill into our reading and writing (see the Grammar Gazette below) so students can see how it works in context. Then on Fridays, we wrap up the week with a quick assessment to check for mastery.
Keep Practice Activities Consistent
Consistency leads to the best learning (and less time transitioning and teaching expectations). By keeping the practice activities consistent each week, you are able to maximize your already limited grammar block. Without having to explain new directions, I can typically fit each daily lesson into a 15-minute block.
So, without further ado, here are the best activities to teach adverbs to your third graders!
Use Visuals & Teaching Slides
When introducing adverbs at the start of the week, I always kick things off with an engaging PowerPoint. This approach helps differentiate for visual and auditory learners by clearly showing and explaining what adverbs are and how they function in a sentence.
Adverbs teaching slides source
But as every teacher knows, the slides alone are never enough. I make sure to build in plenty of movement and interaction to keep students engaged.
As we move through the presentation, we break things up with corner sorts to categorize different types of adverbs, whiteboard practice for quick checks of understanding, and plenty of turn-and-talk moments to encourage discussion and peer learning.
Complete Word Sorts
Word sorts are a simple yet powerful way to reinforce grammar skills, and they work especially well when teaching adverbs. You can have students sort adverbs by type (such as when, where, or how) or have them distinguish between adverbs and other parts of speech like adjectives or verbs.
Play Grammar Games with Task Cards
Grammar games are a fantastic way to boost engagement and reinforce understanding and adverbs are no exception! Incorporating adverb-focused games into your weekly literacy centers gives students extra practice in a fun, low-pressure setting. What student doesn’t love a game?!
I love using task cards in a variety of different games as they offer tons of flexibility. Throughout the year, I rotate between a few familiar games to keep things consistent, such as Roam the Room, memory match, Go Fish, or a classic board game setup. In every game, they would still be identifying the adverb, just with a different set of game rules.
By keeping the game structure the same and simply switching out the content, students can dive right into practicing without needing to learn new rules each time.
Read and Write with a Grammar Gazette
Each week on Thursdays, my students get the chance to see the grammar skill in action. We use a fun news-style passage (what I call the Grammar Gazette) that’s packed with examples of adverbs in context. Students hunt for adverbs in the text, identify how they’re used, and discuss how they add detail or clarify meaning.
Afterward, they take what they’ve learned and apply it to their own writing by adding adverbs to strengthen sentences, describe actions more clearly, or show when and how something happened. It’s a great way to bridge the gap between isolated practice and real-world application.
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Books and Videos to Help Teach Adverbs
I love to include videos and mentor texts for teaching new grammar skills to help drive the concept home. It’s great for kids to see the information in a variety of formats and delivered in various ways.
Here are some of the best books and videos to use as you plan out how to teach adverbs to your 3rd graders!
1. Up, Up and Away: A Book about Adverbs (World of Language)
by Ruth Heller
This quick and easy read is perfect for students to see adverbs in action. It rhymes and the adverbs are large (and uppercase), which makes for an engaging read!
I like to have it available for students to use year-round so they can get ideas of different adverbs to use in their own writing.
2. Dearly, Nearly, Insincerely: What Is an Adverb? (Words Are CATegorical ®)
One of 27 books in the Words Are CATegorical series, Dearly, Nearly, Insincerely: What is an Adverb? is a must in your grammar collection.
Similar to the first book on this list, the adverbs are identifiable as they are large and brightly colored. My students especially love the fun illustrations in this series!
3. The Adverb Song | MC Grammar
I love it when I find an MC Grammar song to reinforce my weekly grammar skills! This adverb song is short, catchy, and fun!
I guarantee your students will want to listen to it more than once!
4. Adverbs for Kids | How, When, Where, and How Often
This video is a bit longer and great if your students need a bit more practice. Tutoring Hour always does a fantastic job of using fun graphics while showing the skill in action.
3rd Grade Adverbs Unit
I hope you found ideas for how to teach adverbs, and that these tips and tricks are helpful in designing your perfect grammar schedule! If you’d like to make it even simpler, be sure to check out my complete 3rd-grade adverbs unit.
If you’re a second-grade teacher, I have a 2nd-grade adverbs unit as well. Each week inside the units comes with a done-for-you lesson plan, PowerPoint lessons and practice slides, task cards, a Grammar Gazette reading passage, a full-page grammar poster, and an assessment.
Happy teaching!
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