Anyone have good gestures for noun, verb, adjective, etc?

Here are a few thoughts --

When I get stuck on a gesture -- I go to the American Sign Language Website (just google there are several)-- it often gives me an idea -- Also students are GREAT generators of gestures! It seems like some people are just fantastic for coming up with gestures and others struggle -- I am sure it has to do with individual learning styles

Good luck and POWER to the teachers! Your students are so LUCKY to have someone like you who makes learn fun, powerful and passionate!!!

M Larkin

Hi! Sorry it took so long, to reply to this (I've been in the process of moving), I can definitely help with this one!

noun -- a person (point to yourself), a place (point somewhere in the room), a thing (make big gnarly hands and hunch over like a hideous 'thing'), or an idea (make a lightbulb 'ding' over your head with your hands)

action verb-- an action or something you do (make running arms or some other active gesture)
helping verb -- (link your hands together)

adjective -- modifies a noun (flip your hair and glance in a mirror like you're beautifying yourself)

adverb -- modifies a verb, tells you how (shrug shoulders and look very puzzled), when (point to your watch), or where (shade your eyes like you're looking in the distance)

subject and predicate-- these go together, and my students learn the gestures and their position as parts of a sentence... you need two hands. subject comes first--put your fist out in front of you to the students' left (it's easier for them to mirror you if you do things oppposite...so I use my right hand and it goes to my right, their left)-- predicate comes last -- put your fist out in front of you to your students' right, next to the subject fist.
Then put them together to make a complete sentence. If you use it enough, your students will begin to associate the position in the air, and the right or left hand, with subject or predicate.

Those are great, thanks Jackie! My wife started Whole Brain Teaching this week, and she came up with an alternate adjective gesture that I thought I'd share.

An adjective describes a noun (make a circle in the air to indicate that the description goes "around" its noun), by telling what it looks like (point to eyes with index finger and wiggle it), smells like (nose), tastes like (mouth), or sounds like (ears), or what kind (put one hand out to the side, palm up) or how many (put the other hand out the same way to the opposite side, so that you end by shrugging your shoulders). I like that this one includes the senses.

I like that idea! I am just beginning and am a little nervous about what/how to use signs so that students relate and remember them. They need to make sense.