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understand and use comparatives and superlatives 
Description:
The child will understand and use comparatives (ending in "-er") and superlatives (ending in "-est").
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| Early years skill: | not specified |
| Early years typical range: | not specified |
| P-scales/Curriculum skill: | Maths Shape Space and Measures |
| P-scales/Curriculum level: | L1b |
| TAP skill: | Understanding of Language/Comprehension |
| TAP level: | TAP56 |
| Pre/Nat. Curriculum Area: | not specified |
| Pre/Nat. Curiculum Standard: | not specified |
| Section: | Primary (5-11yrs) info |
| Activity/strategy name and materials required | How to do the activity | Key principles for doing the activity and comments |
|---|---|---|
| About my class Classroom equipment: Pencil, Paper, Etc. Prompt cards with the key words (as indicated in the text of the activity) written on. | 1. Working with a group of children, help the group to line up in order of height. 2. Ask one child to identify the tallest (or biggest) and shortest (or smallest) person. Help as necessary. 3. Give the tallest person a card that says "tallest", and give the shortest person a card that says "shortest". 4. Explain that 'taller' means "more tall". Find two children who have quite different heights. Say e.g. "Martin is taller than Fatima". Explain that 'shorter' means "more short". Say e.g. "Fatima is shorter than Martin" 5. Ask each child to identify one person who is taller and shorter than themselves. 6. You can repeat this activity comparing other features such as: biggest/smallest shoes longest/shortest hair widest/narrowest hand span heaviest/lightest person person who can jump the longest/ shortest distance person who lives nearest to/furthest from school most/fewest brothers and sisters most/fewest letters in the name longest/shortest hair oldest/youngest person or anything else you think of! | This is a group activity. This work could be tied in with practical maths activities such as measuring and weighing people. You could make a graph or table to record the information. It is easier to make comparisons between two people (or things) that are very different, rather than things that are quite similar (e.g. a very tall and a very short person, rather than two people who are almost the same height.) |
| Sort the pencils Selection of pencils | 1. Ask the child to sort pencils into order of length. 2. Ask them to identify the longest and shortest pencil. Give help/prompts as necessary. 3. Ask them to identify a pencil that is longer or shorter than the pencil you indicate. | An activity for individuals. |
| Order of age Pictures showing people at different stages of life (e.g. baby, toddler, young child, older child, teenager, young adult, middle aged adult, old adult) | 1. First ask the child to put the pictures in order of age. 2. You can make prompt cards showing the words "oldest" and "youngest" if you like. 3. Ask the child to identify the oldest and youngest person and to put the cards in the correct place if appropriate. 4. Ask them to identify a person who is older or younger than the person you indicate. | An activity for individuals. This could be linked to a Science or PSHE activity about growth and development. You could use pictures from an animal's life cycle as well as a human's. |
| Superlative pass the parcel Pass the parcel consisting of the following: A small prize in the centre (a bag of sweets/raisins etc. which the group can share is a good idea). Several layers of paper, each one needs a sticky label with a description on it. Each description needs to contain a superlative e.g.: the oldest person the youngest person the tallest person the shortest person the person with the biggest feet the person with the smallest feet. the person with the longest hair the person with the shortest hair the person who was born furthest away the person who was born nearest the person who lives furthest away the person who lives nearest the person who has the most brothers and sisters the person who has the fewest brothers and sisters the person who speaks the most different languages the person who has had fewest turns at the game anything else you can think of! | 1. Provide the group with the parcel. 2. Explain that they need to read the description on the label, work out who is being described, then pass the parcel to them. 3. Give the parcel to one person and help them read the description. 4. Help the group work out who is being described. 5. Help the child holding the parcel pass it on to the right person. 6. That person removes one layer of paper, reads the next description and passes it on, and so on. 7. At the end of the game, encourage the winner to share the prize, if appropriate. | This is a group activity. This activity requires a significant amount of preparation. If you use alternate coloured paper to wrap each layer, it is easier for the children to see when they have got all the paper off. Make sure you have access to a bin when you are playing the game! |
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