Comparatives and Superlatives
Cards for -er and -est adjective forms.
Session summary (SOAP)
Stays on this screen. Nothing is saved or sent.
Mark a card Correct, Correct with cue or Incorrect and the summary writes itself here.
How to run it
Make the comparison real. Line up three objects and ask which is big, which is bigger, which is biggest, so the three forms attach to something visible rather than to a card. Then ask for a sentence with the middle form, which is the harder one because it needs a than — bigger than what is the question students most often leave unanswered. Eight minutes is a full pass with objects.
Cueing ladder
Start at the top. Add support one step at a time.
- IndependentPresent the item and wait 5 seconds of quiet before helping.Log as correct
- HintStress the part of the sentence that changes, or point to the word ending.Log as cued
- Sentence starterSay the first half of the sentence and let the student finish it.Log as cued
- ModelSay the correct form in the whole sentence; the student repeats it.Log as cued
Adjust it
Give a sentence starter every time, and do fewer cards.
Ask for a new sentence of the student's own with the same form, with no card to lean on.
Matching IEP goal
Given sentence cards, Student will produce the target grammatical form in sentences in 8 of 10 opportunities across 3 consecutive sessions, given no more than an indirect cue.
Send it home through the parent portal →About this activity
Twelve adjectives shown in all three degrees at once: big, bigger, biggest; tall, taller, tallest; happy, happier, happiest; hot, hotter, hottest; nice, nicer, nicest; funny, funnier, funniest. Showing all three together is deliberate — the -est form is what makes the -er form meaningful, and teaching the two separately produces students who use the superlative for any comparison.
What to listen for
Listen for the missing than. He is taller is incomplete in a way students rarely notice, and supplying the comparison object is part of the target. Watch the spelling patterns: hot doubles to hotter, nice drops the e for nicer, funny changes y to i for funnier. Those three changes account for almost every error in this set.
Carrying it home
Families can compare things all day without it being a lesson — who has more, which is the biggest, which one is hotter. Answering in a full sentence is the only extra step needed.
What's in this activity
- big / bigger / biggest
- tall / taller / tallest
- fast / faster / fastest
- happy / happier / happiest
- small / smaller / smallest
- loud / louder / loudest
- long / longer / longest
- cold / colder / coldest
- hot / hotter / hottest
- nice / nicer / nicest
- funny / funnier / funniest
- +1 more
Questions
- What ages is this for?
- First through fourth grade. The board with -er against more is the next step once these regular forms are secure.
- Is it free?
- Yes, all twelve sets play with no login.
- My student uses 'biggest' when comparing two things. Is that a concern?
- It is a normal stage. Superlatives are learned first because they are more emphatic, and the fix is usually making the two-item comparison explicit — bigger than this one — rather than more practice on the forms.
Use this board with your caseload
With a free account, every correct, cued and incorrect mark is saved to the student and scored against their IEP goal, with the data written up for you. Assign it as home practice through the parent portal.
Track progress freeFree for SLPs. No card, no trial clock.