Nouns

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• English
• University

Nouns: Naming Words

What naming words do you know?

Use the children’s words to surface examples of people, places, animals and things before teaching the formal idea of a noun.

Our learning goal

I can spot a noun and say what it names.

What is a noun?

A noun is a naming word.

It can name a person, place, animal or thing.

Keep the idea very simple: noun = naming word. At this age, concrete examples matter more than formal grammar language.

Nouns name people

Examples of nouns for people:

• girl

• boy

• teacher

• doctor

• baby

Nouns name places

Examples of nouns for places:

• park

• school

• home

• shop

You can point to places in the classroom or school to reinforce that places are naming words too.

Nouns name animals and things

Examples of nouns:

• cat

• dog

• book

• chair

• apple

A noun can be in a sentence

Look at these sentences:

• Sam is running.

• The dog is wet.

• I can see a ball.

The bold words are nouns.

Briefly note that some nouns are names, like Sam, and some are general naming words, like dog or ball. No need to teach proper/common noun labels unless desired.

How to find a noun

Ask:

• Is it a name of a person?

• Is it a name of a place?

• Is it a name of an animal?

• Is it a name of a thing?

If yes, it is a noun.

This gives pupils a simple checking routine they can reuse when looking at words in sentences.

Which word is a noun?

A

run

B

dog

C

big

D

jump

Checks the core idea that a noun is a naming word. The distractors are common non-nouns children may confuse with naming words.

Fill in the naming words

A noun is a naming word. It can name a person, a place, an animal or a thing. In a sentence, words like Sam, dog and ball are nouns.

person

place

thing

nouns

run

happy

skip

blue

Echoes the exact lesson language from the content slides so pupils practise the key categories and the word noun.

Say one noun you remember.

Expected answer elements: pupils should give one naming word from the lesson or their own example, such as girl, school, cat, book, Sam or ball. Accept any valid noun.

What is one thing you learned about nouns?

What helped you find a noun today?

Glossary

noun - a naming word

person - a human being

place - where someone or something is

animal - a living creature like a cat or dog

thing - an object you can name

sentence - words put together to make sense

name - the word we use for a person, place, animal or thing