Transcript a strange and gloomy cake decorator

Engaging Grammar: Practical Advice for Real Classrooms
Presented by Amy Benjamin
www.amybenjamin.com
“ I’ve never known a person
who wasn’t interested in language.”
-Steven Pinker, The Language
Instinct
I
teaching grammar.
I never “really” learned it.
Shouldn’t they already
have had this in the
lower grades?
Do kids really have to learn
all these terms?
I loved it! I thought
diagramming sentences
was fun!
There’s no interesting
way to teach grammar.
It’s just drill and workbook.
M
Seeing Grammar With New Eyes
Visuals
Manipulatives
Role-Play
Problem-solving
Wordplay
Inquiry
Respect for Language Change and Variation
Inductive Reasoning
High Level of Student Engagement
Sentence Renovation: Four Forms
16 Cards:
Lily (2)
is
commas (3)
period
the best athlete
at our school
wants to be
a senator
in the government
yearns
aspires
intends
our school’s
1.
2.
3.
4.
Additions
Deletions
Rearrangements
Replacements
Procedure:
As demonstrated, set up a group of students as two sentences:
Lily wants to be a senator in government.
Lily is the best athlete.
ADDITION: Add the prepositional phrase: “at our school” to “the best athlete” (The
prepositional phrase makes the sentence more specific.)
DELETION:
1. Delete “in the government” because it is redundant. (All senators serve
in some kind of government).
2. Create an appositive out of “the best athlete at our school” to eliminate
the sentence with the weak verb and create a single sentence
that has dimension (appositive)
REARRANGEMENT: Switch “Lily” and “the best athlete at our school”; switch
“at our school” and “the best athlete” (You will need a comma after
“at our school” if it begins the sentence.)
REPLACEMENT:
1. Replace the weak verb “wants” with “yearns,” “aspires,” “intends”
2. Replace “the best athlete at our school” with “our school’s best athlete”
(This change does not necessarily improve the sentence—it just
makes it a little different.)
The Language Tree
Adjective Branches:
very___________
Noun Branches:
Verb Branches:
very___________
very___________
the______________
can___________
can___________
very___________
the______________
the______________
the______________
the______________
the______________
very___________
can___________
can___________
can___________
can___________
Prepositional Phrase Branches:
in________________
on________________
at_______________
for________________
with________________
Topic: ______________________________
Sentence Patterns
S-V*
S-V-O**
Rocks explode.
Geologists study
rocks.
Rocks explode
spontaneously.
S-V-C***
Some rocks are expensive.
Granite is a kind of rock.
Diamonds are sparkly.
Geologists take rocks A kind of rock is granite.
seriously.
Granite is hard.
Diamonds sparkle
garishly.
*SV: Subject-Verb: This pattern uses an intransitive verb. Intransitive verbs take
no direct object.
**S-V-O: Subject-Verb-Object: This pattern uses a transitive verb. Transitive verbs
take direct objects. (Direct objects answer Who? Or What? They are used with
action verbs only.
***S-V-C: Subject-Verb-Complement: This pattern uses a linking verb.
Linking verbs take subject complements, which can be either nouns (and when
pronouns, are in the subjective case) or adjectives.
Now Entering the Complete Sentence Zone:
Test One: The “Guess What!” test
How it works: Say “Guess What!” in front of
a group of words. If the group of words
tells you “guess what!” then
you have a complete sentence!
Building UP a Noun Phrase
Proper Nouns:
Dee Dee, Bailey, Curtis, Patrick, Zoe, Beverly, Wilma, Neville, Kilroy, Hamilton,
Patricia, Genevieve, Daphne, Bryce, Grant, Vincente, Fillmore, Stephen, Marcus,
Sylvester, Maurice, Griffith, Rosaleen, Ramona, Annabella, Jebediah, Johann,
Eden, Vander, Ernesto, Cornelius, Crockett, Marla, Nathaniel, Woody, Zoltan
Ramsey, Miranda, Manfred, Ziporah, Charlotte, Regan, Edmund, Owen, Jasper,
Burke, Sebastian, Herbert, Ziggy, Violet, Xander, Juolian, Josephine, Leo,
Indiana, Booker, Clifford, Clementine, Yolanda, Wendell, Murdock, Larkspur
Harper, Hester, Malcolm, Hattie Mae, Ezra, Jem, Barton, Maximillian, Aloysius,
Ignacio, Nestor, Randall, Dougal, Beatrice, Zephyr
Characteristics (Adjectives): Adjectives answer
stolid, strange, strong, strict, stubborn, studious, sophisticated, successful, sullen,
supercilious, superstitious, surly, suspicious, sweet, taciturn, tactful, talented,
talkative, tasteful, tenacious, tense, terrified, thankful, thoughtful, thoughtless,
threatening, thrifty, timid, touchy, trendy, trusting, trustworthy, truthful, uncouth,
unctuous, unfriendly, unruly, uncivilized, unscrupulous, unselfish, useful, valiant
versatile, vivacious, warm, watchful, weak, weary, weird, whimsical, wise,
wishy-washy, wistful, witty, worried, wrathful, wretched, wrong
naïve, neat, negligent, nervous, noisy, obedient, obliging, optimistic, peaceful,
pensive, persevering, persistent, pessimistic, petulant, picky, plain, pleasant,
pitiful, polite, pompous, poor, popular, quarrelsome, quick, quiet, quixotic,
rambunctious, rash, respectful, restless, retiring, rich, risk-taking, rowdy, rude, sad,
scornful, sarcastic, satisfied, scared, secretive, secure, sedate, self-centered,
selfish, self-reliant, sensitive, serious, shrewd, shy, silly, sincere, skillful,
slovenly, sly, smart, sneaky, snobbish, sociable, stingy
Characteristics (Adjectives):
gloomy, glum, gregarious, grateful, greedy, grouchy, grumpy, gullible, happy,
hard-hearted, hard-working, health-conscious, harried, hateful, haughty, helpful,
helpless, honest, hopeful, hospitable, humble, humorous, ignorant, imaginative,
immaculate, immature, impartial, impatient, impolite, impudent, impulsive,
independent, industrious, insistent, insolent, industrious, insistent, inventive,
jealous, jovial, joyful, lackadaisical, languid, lazy, light-hearted, lively, logical,
lonely, lucky, malicious, mean, messy, meticulous, mischievous, moody, mysterious
active, adventurous, affectionate, afraid, ambitious, amiable, angry, animated,
babyish, bewildered, blasé, bold, boorish, bored, bossy, brave, bright, brilliant,
busy, calm, candid, capable, careful, caustic, cautious, charismatic, conceited,
charming, cheerful, clever, clumsy, coarse, cold-hearted, courageous, cowardly,
cross, cultured, curious, dangerous, considerate, cooperative conscientious
Roles: (common nouns)
lifeguard, philosopher, scientist, shoemaker, matador, explorer, inventor,
court jester, makeup artist, treasure hunter, student, drangon slayer, carpenter,
jeweler, candymaker, ventriloquist, fisherman, nurse, banker, tyrant, butcher,
reporter, web designer, programmer
secret agent, flight attendant, cashier, beekeeper, gladiator, clockmaker,
superhero, innkeeper, botanist, magician’s assistant; racecar driver, wizard,
game show host, dentist, food taster, actor
cake decorator, sky-diver, birdwatcher, trapeze artist; librarian, stamp collector,
tight-rope walker; dog trainer, dishwasher, cyclist; bodyguard, prime suspect,
ichthyologist, manicurist, sheriff, piano tuner, stuntman, composer, tour guide,
principal, knight, exterminator, factory worker, roofer, sailor, impersonator,
park ranger, mathematician, balloonist, guitarist, welder, window washer,
weatherman, scout
juggler, cowboy, clown, astronaut, anesthesiologist, zookeeper, crossing guard,
vegetarian, seamstress, thief, comedian
Clarence was a strange and gloomy cake decorator.
Now, condense the sentence into a noun phrase
that has an appositive:
Clarence, a strange and gloomy cake decorator,
Verbs (actions):
hides, can hide, is hiding, could have been hiding, was hiding, may be hiding
turns, might turn, is turning, should have been turning, was turning, might be turning
smiled, may smile, has been smiling, was smiling, would be smiling, could have been smiling
enjoys, enjoyed, is enjoying, could be enjoying, could have enjoyed, may be enjoying
steals, stole, has stolen, is stealing, has been stealing, was stealing, might be stealing
kicks, kicked, has bee kicking, has kicked, should have been kicking, had been kicking
fix, fixed, has fixed, has been fixing, should have been fixing, had been fixing, was fixing
complains, has been complaining, has complained, was complaining, complained
notices, will notice, will be noticing, has noticed, noticed, might notice, should have noticed
Direct Object
(if needed)
If necessary, add a
noun (or pronoun)
that completes the
action.
Adverb
Add a word or words that
answer one of the
questions that adverbs
answer:
How? How often?
When? Where? Why?
Prepositional
Phrase
Add a prepositional
phrase that gives more
information about any
noun or verb in the
sentence.
(A preposition is a
word that will fit into
the frame
“Somewhere
____the rainbow.”