Article
ATSUSHI TOMURA/GETTY IMAGES
Grammar Bot,

Grammar Cop’s Winning Olympic Facts

Learn about the Olympic Games as you practice subject/verb agreement.

 

Note: We sent this issue to press before events around the world were cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, have now been postponed until 2021.

From the May/June 2020 Issue
Featured Skill: Vocabulary and Grammar, Writing and Editing,
Common Core Standards
  • Anchor Standards
    L.1
  • Grade 4
    L.4.1
  • Grade 5
    L.5.1
  • Grade 6
    L.6.1
TEKS Standards
  • Grade 4
    4.11d
  • Grade 5
    5.11d
  • Grade 6
    6.10d

Presentation View
See Student View
Download and Print
Printable Article

Grammar Cop’s Rules:

1. If the subject of a sentence is one person or thing (singular), the verb must be singular. In most cases, add -s or -es to the verb.

Example: The athlete wins a gold medal. 

 

2. When the subject is plural, the verb must be plural. Do not add an ending to the verb.

Example: The fans cheer. 

 

3.A subject and verb must match, even if there are words in between them.

Example: Each of the teams practices a lot. 

 

4. Be careful of these tricky verbs: is/are, has/have, does/do.

Directions: Choose the correct choice of verb in the sentences below.

1. It’s Summer Olympics season again! Every four years, top athletes from around the world meets/meet in a city to compete. This year, the Games is/are in Tokyo, Japan.

IMAGE DEPOT PRO/GETTY IMAGES

 2. Each of the countries competing sends/send its fastest, strongest, and most-skilled athletes to participate.

3. Before the Games begin, a torch is lit in Greece and the flame is brought to the host city. Mount Everest and outer space is/are two places an Olympic torch has/have been on its journey to the big event.

SEAN M. HAFFEY/GETTY IMAGES

4. One of the youngest athletes this summer will likely be Sky Brown, a 12-year-old British skateboarder who also loves/love to surf.

5. The first Olympic Games were in Greece 3,000 years ago and had only one sport: running. Athletes at the 2020 Games has/have more than 45 sports to participate in.

PETER DAZELEY/GETTY IMAGES

6. Every one of the medals to be awarded in Tokyo is/are made from recycled electronics, including 6 million cell phones.

TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

7. What’s better than winning gold? How does/do winning the most gold medals at a single Olympics sound? Michael Phelps holds the record—in 2008 he won eight.

SHANNON STENT/GETTY IMAGES   

8. This year there is/are going to be some brand-new Olympic sports—including surfing. With all of Japan’s beaches, it’s sure to make a big splash!

Create your own Olympics. Imagine you got to plan your own Olympics. What would the events be? Video games? LEGO robots? Dancing? Baking? Write out your plan and then draw a poster inviting people to attend.


This article was originally published in the May/June 2020 issue.

Activities (1)
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Activities (1) Download All Activities
Skills Activities
Answer Key (1)
Can't-Miss Teaching Extras

Although the Summer Olympics have been postponed to 2021, students can meet the athletes who qualified for Olympics’ Team USA on this website. Challenge students to find athletes who hail from your state! 

Bring the ancient Olympics to life with this webpage from DKFindOut.

Meet Skye Brown (and check out her impressive skateboarding skills) in this inspiring video from The TODAY Show.

This video montage of Olympic opening ceremonies will spark your students’ curiosity about Olympic history and get them excited for Tokyo 2021!

Text-to-Speech