Make It Fun to Identify Action Verbs!

This resource is an engaging whole-group game to practice recognizing and using verbs. You can also make it part of your guided writing group practice, add it to your classroom writing center, or use it for a fun English Language Arts lesson warm-up. Students will need BINGO counters to keep track of the words on their cards. 

To play, students listen to the calling card and cover the picture of the action verb if it appears on their BINGO board. 

The action words students will hear and identify in this game are:

• read
• climb
• eat
• sleep
• drink
• write
• cry
• jump
• sing
• drive 
• skate
• crawl

More Ways to Play This Action Verbs Game

Charades

Ditch the game boards and use the cards as charades prompts. Divide your class or small group into 2 teams. Teams will take turns sending up 1 student to act out the action verb on the card for their team while you keep score and hand the cards to the players. If after 30 seconds their team guesses the correct verb they get 1 point. Once every student has had their turn to act out a card, the game is over and the group with the highest points wins. 

Draw It! Warm-Up/Exit Game

This activity can also be used as a formative assessment. Pick a random assortment of calling cards and project them on the board for the whole class to see. Have each student pick 3 words and write them on a separate sheet of paper. Then, have the students draw a picture for each word, showing they’ve read the word and understand what it is.

Easily Prepare This Resource for Your Students

Print on cardstock for added durability and longevity. Place all pieces in a folder or large envelope for easy access. Use the drop-down icon on the Download button to choose between the PDF or Google Slides version of this resource.

This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a teacher in Michigan and a Teach Starter Collaborator. 

Looking for More Action Verb Resources?

Plus, we’ve got even more action verb activities & tools to get your students movin’ and groovin’!

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Action Verbs Picture Puzzle

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100 Action Verbs

Practice counting to 100 by 1’s and 10’s with this set of 24 action cards that get students moving, reading, and writing.