Students imagine that the two players they have described battle it out in the Wimbledon final on centre court. Who would win?
Students write a report of the match, making sure they use capital letters at the beginning of proper nouns.
Words and phrases they could include in the report are:
-
... was in excellent form at Wimbledon this year. He/she ...
-
In the first set... / In the second set... / In the final set ...
-
The forehand / backhand / serve / volley of ... was outstanding.
-
A sudden injury in the ... set caused ...
-
... took £... in prize money.
3. Extension activities
Students rewrite their Wimbledon final reports using lower case letters at the beginning of proper nouns. They pass them onto another student who adds the capital letters.
Students write an entry in an encyclopedia for an imaginary country or land. They create names for the capital city, other major cities, rivers and an adjective to describe the inhabitants' nationality.
Introduce students to other types of nouns using this poem:
A noun's the name of any thing;
A tennis ball, table or a ring.
Almost everything you touch or see
Is a common noun, like hand or knee.
Proper nouns put names to faces;
They're used for people and for places.
If you're writing about Henman's sweater
Then Henman starts with a capital letter.
A collective noun is a group of things;
A flock of sheep or a pair of wings.
The shape of an abstract noun you can't guess.
They are thoughts or feelings like happiness.
Ask students to make a list of tennis related nouns under the headings:
-
Common nouns e.g. ball
-
Proper nouns e.g. Roger Federer
-
Abstract nouns e.g. success
Ask students to match these collective nouns to the correct group of animals:
Ace the tennis quiz
