Latin Noun Declension File Folder Games & Cues {Printables} : Half a Hundred Acre Wood

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Several months ago, someone asked if I had a noun declension game like our verb conjugation file folder game. Since then, I’ve been working on this little somethin’ a little bit at a time (as much as a toddler and life full of other stuff will allow). And finally, it is finished (I think?)! First, let me tell you that our family has really loved learning Latin using Visual Latin. I’ve gained much greater retention of concepts with this program.

Okay, now a little bit about Latin noun declensions.

Latin comes in five different spelling groups called declensions. I liken this to the different spelling groups we have in English. For example, for some words, we add an “s” to make the word plural, in others we add an “es,” and in others we change the “y” to “i” and add “es.” Declensions are quite a bit more complicated than that, but recognizing them as spelling groups helps me to connect them with that which I already know in the English language.
Once you are working within a spelling group or declension, the Latin noun endings change according to the noun case, which are the duties or usages of nouns in a sentence. For example, a noun may act as the subject of the sentence, or it may act as the direct object. In Latin, the order of the words do not tell us what role the noun is playing in the sentence. It’s all about the endings. The changes in endings due to noun case are similar (in a far-fetched sort of way) to the endings of pronouns in English. If “He” is a subject, it ends in “e.” If it is used as a direct object, it would instead end in “im” as “him.” (Some of the base game board charts here were created to help learn which ending goes with each case within the declension that you’re practicing.)

Clear as mud? I thought so! I hope not! It’s my own layman’s way of understanding declensions and maybe it will help another person who is just learning Latin?

As I started pulling this together, I also decided to include some memory aids as we did a couple of years ago with the verb conjugation picture and story cues.

Because of my tendency towards indecisiveness, we have choices here….

Simple Latin Noun Declension Match-Up. You can print and laminate these to make cards and boards for matching the noun endings to the declensions/cases, or you can print the blank pages to place in a page protector to practice writing the noun endings…

The Latin Noun Declension Match-Up is designed as a simple match-up game.

(I apologize for the poor quality of these pictures AND for the fact that my cards do not have a dash in front of them. I printed my copy before I added the dashes.)

Although I’ve included a blank chart for each declension, you really only need one blank chart. (The 1st-2nd-3rd-4th-5th declension chart headings may be cut out as cards and placed over the heading of the blank chart if you choose to use this as a match-up game.) I’ve also included a couple of noun-cases “game boards” to help with relating the noun endings to the case.

This isn’t something I recommend for young students, but it’s helping me to learn which ending belongs with which case for each declension. (And I need all the help I can get.)

Latin Noun Declension File Folder Game. These can be printed and pasted into a file folder with a cardstock extension, or they can be laminated and taped together to create a trifold chart…

How do you make a file folder with an extension? It’s pretty simple! Just grab a file folder and a piece of cardstock. Line up the cardstock on the right side of the file folder and tape in place. (Make sure you have taped it so that it will fold easily.) Then adhere the charts onto the pages.

Instead of using a file folder and card extension, I laminated all three sheets and then taped them into a trifold chart.

The Latin Noun Declension File Folder Game with Picture Cues is for the younger children who may need the extra visual for matching the noun endings to the correct case. It’s pictured in the photo above the photo above. You will likely need the Latin Noun Declension Match-up with Picture Cues as a reference to understand the images and what they mean.

Latin Noun Declension Match-up with Picture/Story Cues and extra explanation. This works more as a reference, although it may also be used as a file folder or match-up game.

I’m not sure if my line of reasoning can be followed on the story cues. I tried to come up with a prompt that would help a child me to recall: a) which declension it is (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th), b) what sound it starts with, and c) what tune (sort-of-kind-of) we sing for that declension.

Latin Noun Declension Chart for Notebook. This is a simple single-page chart in color that you can place into your children’s notebooks. A very special thank you to Kristi Hofman for sending this to me to share with others on the world wide web!