Word Class Silos

A big truck rumbled up the farm road. It was full of words.

"Delivery for the word silos!" called the driver.

Spike and Suzy ran to the three tall silos behind the shed. One had a picture of a ball. One had a picture of a running dog. One had a picture of a rainbow.

"This silo is for nouns," said Suzy, tapping the first one. "Nouns are naming words. People, places, animals and things."

"This one is for verbs," said Spike. "Doing words, like run, jump and eat."

"And this one is for adjectives," said Suzy. "Describing words. Big, green, fluffy."

Little Thunder stamped his hooves. "I'll help!"

He grabbed the first word. "Milk! That's easy. It's a thing you drink, so it's a noun." Into the noun silo it went.

The next sentence on the card said: "Every morning, we milk the cows."

Little Thunder stopped. "Wait. Here, milk is something you do."

"So in this sentence, it's a verb," said Spike. "Some words can change jobs. You have to read the whole sentence to decide."

Little Thunder read carefully after that. "The hungry calf drinks." Hungry was a describing word, so it went in the adjective silo. Drinks was a doing word, into the verb silo. Calf was a naming word, into the noun silo.

"The farmer will water the garden." Little Thunder grinned. "Water is a verb this time!"

"The water is cold." He paused. "And here it's a noun, and cold is an adjective."

By the afternoon, every word was sorted. Spike counted. "Not one mistake."

The truck driver honked. "Same time next week?"

"Yes, please," said Little Thunder. "Bring some tricky ones!"