Transcript How to Present Sentence Structure to Kids

Sentence
Rhythm
Victoria Brand
Naomi Javorsek
Alissa Shepardson
What is Sentence Rhythm?
•The most distinctive and automatic feature of
any language
•Language consists of a regular beat
•Rhythm is described as valleys and peaks
•Loudest/stressed syllables are represented by
peaks
•Peaks and valleys of a sentence coincide with the
message we are trying to make in our sentence
Continued…
• Typically, only one part of multiple syllable words is
going to be stressed
• Stress relies on the context in which the word is in
Example:
-“Did you hear what happened? Barbara wrecked her
motorcycle yesterday.”
Or
-“The accident happened today?”
-“No, Barbara wrecked her motorcycle yesterday.”
What is Rhythm?
•Rhythm is timing patterns among syllables.
•Every time new information is presented, it is usually
stressed.
General emphasized and de-emphasized words:
Content words
(emphasized)
nouns (cat, book, Mary)
main verbs (make, run, study)
adjectives (good, happy, many)
adverbs (quickly, often, really)
question words
(who, what, when, where, how, why)
demonstrative pronouns
(this, that, these, those)
Structure words
(de-emphasized)
pronouns
(he, she, it, they)
prepositions (in, on, of, at)
articles (a, an, the)
"to-be" verbs (am, is, are, was)
"to-have" verbs (has, have, had)
conjunctions (and, but, so, since)
auxiliary verbs (do, can, may, will)
Sentence Focus
•
•
Any word in a sentence can be a focus
Loudest stress = main point of focus
Example:
John is leaving Paris next week.
1. (Emphasize the person)
2. (Emphasize the time)
3. (Emphasize the truth)
4. (Emphasize the place)
5. (Emphasize the action)
How to Present
Sentence Structure
to Kids
Review Word Stress
• Before presenting Sentence Rhythm,
make sure students have a good grasp
of word stress (usually around grade 3
or 4)
• Examples:
– Baby- stress falls on first syllable
– Repeat- stress falls on second syllable
– Appointment- stress falls on middle
syllable
Presenting Sentence Rhythm
• In English, certain words in a sentence are
stressed.
• Adults in this picture show stressed words and
children show unstressed words in a sentence
What is Stressed?
• Stressed:
– Nouns: (cat, book, Sally, Italy)
– Verbs: (jump, talk, see)
– Adjectives: (happy, big, funny)
– Adverbs: (quickly, often, loudly)
– Questions: (who, what, where)
– Demonstratives: (this, that, those)
– Negatives: (no ,never, can’t)
How to Explain?
• Explain to students that stressed words are
big, long, loud, or slow
• Unstressed words are small, short, quiet, or
fast
• Doesn’t matter which is presented as long
as the words chosen are opposites of each
other
* Note: by using small or short, “small”
words like cat may not be stressed by kids.
How to Present?
• Say a sentence
-A man is walking in the park.
• Tell students number of claps allowed for the
sentence (3)
• Have students clap out the sentence only using
# of claps allowed
• Students should clap out the stressed words
(man, walking, park)
• With some practice students will get better