Grammar for Next Year
Critical Thinking Questions about Grammar
http://www.criticalthinking.org/page.cfm?PageID=463&CategoryID=63
1. What are some rules a person would have to know to speak English?
2. How do humans acquire language? At what age? Explain exactly how it is done. What do you remember about your own language acquisition?
3. Are all people taught grammar and, if so, at what age do they learn it? If there are younger children at home, how are they learning (did they learn), and what mistakes did they make? Why did he say that? Why was it a mistake?
4. Who determines what correct English will be? What implications does this have for society?
5. What is the definition of syntax? (OK to use the dictionary.) Does word order matter in English? (For example, does the sentence, "Help my dog eat," and the sentence, "Help eat my dog," mean the same thing?) If someone in your group speaks another language, find out if word order is important in the construction of their language.
6. What are the implications for a person who can not speak at all? How do they communicate? How important is language of any kind to a person?
7. What are some things you would like to know about language that you were never taught?
Sequence of Grammar Rules/Parts of Speech
Quarter 1: Parts of Speech
Nouns
Pronouns
Verbs
Interjections
Adjectives
Adverbs
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Quarter 2: Grammar Concepts
Subject-Verb Agreement
Direct/Indirect Objects
Run-ons/ Fragments
Quarter 3: Punctuation
End punctuation
Commas
Semi-colons
Colons
Sample Lesson Plans: Monday August 29
Materials:
Noun handouts
Envelopes filled with words on slips of paper
Basic Skills in English, Blue Level, McDougal, Little
I. Teach the Rule for the week. Handouts of the following will be provided for students to put in their grammar notebooks to keep.
Noun – a word that names a person, place, or thing.
Rule of Thumb: You can see if you can put “the” in front of the word if it’s a noun and it makes sense.
People: doctor, Jill, girl, father
Places: Chicago, Mexico, school, library, park
Things: book, building, love, loyalty
Non-examples: walk, run, pretty, around, etc.
Activity: Let students work in pairs to create lists of nouns in each category. Call on students to share their examples.
II. Provide an engaging activity for students to collaborate to identify nouns.
Activity: Students are put in groups, and each group gets an envelope filled with words, as well as the categories “Noun” and “Other”. The words in the envelope should be words they know, not new ones they should learn as vocabulary words. They need to sort the words in the envelope as either nouns or other words. Teacher walks around to help or direct.
Students finished early can try a noun quiz on one of the websites on School Loop.
III. Independent Practice/Exit Slip
Underline the nouns in the following sentences.
1. The library has received new books to loan.
2. Carlos likes Chinese food.
3. Maria bought Dad a birthday present.
Today’s Date: Tuesday, August 30, 2010Word of the day:
innate—(adj.) inborn; something one is born with
Example: Marcos has an innate talent for organization.
1. Write the above information in your journal.
2. Come up with your own sentence and write it in your journal.
Materials for today:
Grammar Notebook/Pencil! / Today’s Class Work:
1. Word of the Day
2. Grammar work
3. Checkpoint Preparation: Main Idea
Grammar:
Noun—A noun is a person, place, or thing.
Ms. Boice (person)
school (place)
pencil (thing)
Underline all the nouns in the sentences below.
1. The car zoomed around the corner on two wheels.
2. The sun went behind the clouds, and it began to rain.
3. The student went to the library after school to study for the English test.
Special Announcements:
Checkpoint Test Thursday!
Wednesday August 31
Lesson plan for Wednesday Early Release, 30 min. per class
Students will be introduced to ePals. They use their time on Wednesdays to write to the other classmates. They use what they’ve learned about grammar to practice effective communication with students their own age. They will be given a prompt some days, other days they will be replying to emails from ePals classmates.
The first prompt will be to introduce themselves to their ePal. We’ll also discuss letter writing during this time.
Thursday, Sept 1
After completing the bellwork, students will write a journal entry paragraph on a prompt. This is a part of their grade for the grammar notebook. They will then go back and identify the nouns in their paragraph.
Friday, Sept 2
After completing the bellwork, students will read a practice ACT passage together and answer corresponding questions. Gradually throughout the year, they will be able to do the passage on their own.