Brain Cleary's Language Series

People are always looking for creative ways to teach English Language skills to students. Brian Cleary has found a creative way to teach elementary students parts of speech and various English language issues Cleary wanted to address.

I recently purchased a couple of his books for a relative. Looking through them, I was reminded at how creative his teaching methods are for engaging children in the topic. In Hairy, Scary, Ordinary: What Is an Adjective? (Words Are Categorical), the author does not start by defining an adjective. In fact, at the end he asks the child to define the word. Instead, he uses alternate colored text to highlight the adjectives he uses to describe the pictures. He demonstrates different types of adjectives in an effort to give children examples of ways adjectives are used. This would be a great way to help kids develop a definition of the word adjective.

The second book I found a copy of in this series was To Root to Toot to Parachute: What Is a Verb (Words Are Categorical). This book teaches children about verbs. The format is very similar to the adjective book. This is the strength of the series. Children are exposed to a variety of examples of the topic and then given a chance to create a definition.

While I would not suggest this series as your primary English series, it is a wonderful supplement to introduce or supplement an established program. It is a way to get students to formulate a definition and not just memorize one.