A Collective of Nouns

Fourth-graders learned about collective nouns, which describe a group of people, places, or things. Some are general - a class of students or a team of players. But others can be quirky and actually work like adjectives - a splash of mermaids or a crash of rhinos. They might describe a noun's appearance, characteristics, habitat, actions, or sound.

Students used the dictionary and their brains to figure out how some terms go together, then typed a few of their discoveries below:

scurry of squirrels	Squirrels scurry along.
bask of crocodiles	Crocodiles like to bask in sun.
tangle of Gorgons	Gorgons have snakes for hair, and the snakes look like tangles.
pandemonium of parrots	A parrot has a loud screech.
leer of jack o'lanterns	A jack o'lantern has nasty glance.
aurora of polar bears	They both come from polar regions.

Next up, the kids will come up with collective nouns for themselves. In the meantime, here are a couple of games that will test your knowledge of collective nouns.

Online matching game

Printable "board" game