33
KISS Grammar
/ View ofToledo
c. 1597
by
EL GRECO
The
Metropolitan
Museum
of Art,
New York
A Level One Workbook
Analysis Keys & Notes for Teachers
Free, from the KISS Grammar Web Site
www.KISSGrammar.org
This is the “Teachers’ Book” for a KISS Level One workbook. There will be nine of these books, one each for students in grades three through eleven. (Students who have started KISS in one grade should not repeat Level One in the next grade. Eventually, they should be able to pick up with whatever KISS Level they were working on in one grade in the KISS book for the next grade. Although the instructional materials are the same, the texts of which most exercises are based change with the grade levels.)
This book contains some suggestions for teaching KISS Level One and the analysis keys for the exercises. The keys in this book have been numbered to match the students’ workbook. Note that in the printable books, instructional materials (and special notes for teachers) appear in green text in the table of contents. The red text in the ToC leads to the background materials that are in the “Master Books.”
© Ed Vavra
Oct. 28 2012
Contents
Exercises in brackets have no analysis keys.
Introduction for Teachers and Parents 6
Applying KISS to Students’ Own Reading and Writing 7
KISS Level 1.1. Identifying Subjects and Finite Verbs 7
Notes for Teachers 7
Additional Methods for Identifying Subjects and Finite Verbs 11
Ex. 1 - Is It a Sentence? Adapted from Voyages in English - Fifth Year 15
Ex. 2 - From Heidi by Johanna Spyri 16
Ex. 3 - From Lassie, Come Home by Eric Knight 17
Ex. 4. a. From Lassie, Come Home by Eric Knight 18
[Ex. 4. b. - Writing Sentences with Modal Helping Verbs] 19
Ex. 5 - From Heidi by Johanna Spyri 19
Ex. 6 - From “How Brave Walter Hunted Wolves” 21
Ex. 7 - From The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett 22
Ex. 8 a - From Heidi by Johanna Spyri 23
Ex. 8 b – “Horse Sense,” by a Sixth-Grade Writer 24
Ex. 9 - Just for Fun - Why the English language is so hard to learn (# 1) 25
KISS Level 1. 2. Adding Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives, Adverbs and Phrases 26
Notes for Teachers 26
Ex. 1.a. Identifying Nouns and Pronouns - From Alice in Wonderland 31
Ex. 1.b. Based on “Perseus” by Charles Kingsley 34
[Ex. 2 * Number - Creating Plurals] 36
[Ex. 3 * Number - Irregular Plurals] 36
Ex. 4. Replacing Nouns with Pronouns - From Growth in English: Seventh Year 36
Ex. 5.a. From Heidi by Johanna Spyri (Ex. 1) 36
Ex. 5.b. From Heidi by Johanna Spyri (Ex. 2) 38
Ex. 6.a. Identifying Phrases 10 Sentences from “The Gorgon’s Head” 39
Ex. 6.b. Identifying Phrases A Passage from “The Gorgon's Head” 42
Ex. 7 Possessive Nouns and Pronouns Function as Adjectives 44
Ex. 8. Fill in the Blanks: From Heidi by Johanna Spyri 45
[Ex. 9 Adjectives (Synonyms)] 46
[Ex. 10 Adjectives (Antonyms)] 46
Ex. 11.a. Adapted from The Mother Tongue, Book II 46
Ex. 11.b. Based on The Queen of the Pirate Isle, by Bret Harte 47
Ex. 12 From John Steinbeck’s The Red Pony 48
KISS Level 1. 3. Adding Complements (PA, PN, IO, DO) 50
Notes for Teachers—The Grammarians’ Secret 50
Ex. 1 a - From The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett 58
Ex. 1 b - From the Writing of Sixth Graders 58
Ex. 1.c - From Heidi by Johanna Spyri 59
Ex. 1.d - Based on The Queen of the Pirate Isle, by Bret Harte 60
Ex. 2 - Based on Introductory Lessons in English Grammar 61
Ex. 3 - Based on Introductory Lessons in English Grammar 61
Ex. 4 - From Heidi by Johanna Spyri 62
Ex. 5. - From Heidi by Johanna Spyri 62
Ex. 6 - From Heidi by Johanna Spyri 63
Ex. 7 - From Heidi by Johanna Spyri 64
Predicate Adjective or Part of the Verb Phrase? (Background for Teachers) 65
Ex. 8 - Based on “The Nightingale” From Stories from Hans Andersen 66
[Ex. 9 - Writing Sentences with Complements] 66
Ex. 10 - A Passage for Analysis, From Chapter 22 of Heidi by Johanna Spyri 66
Ex. 11 - Just for Fun: Tongue Twisters 67
KISS Level 1.4. - Coordinating Conjunctions and Compounds 68
Notes for Teachers 68
Ex. 1 - From The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett 71
Ex. 2 - From Lassie, Come Home by Eric Knight 72
Ex. 3 - From At the Back of the North Wind, by George Macdonald 73
[Ex. 4 - Writing Sentences with Compounds] 74
Ex. 5 - From Heidi by Johanna Spyri 74
Ex. 6 - From “How Brave Walter Hunted Wolves” 77
Ex. 7 - A Riddle Poem from At the Back of the North Wind 78
KISS Level 1. 5. Adding Simple Prepositional Phrases 79
Notes for Teachers 79
Ex. 1 - Fill in the Blanks - Adapted from Introductory Lessons 84
Ex. 2. a. - Based on Introductory Lessons in English Grammar 84
Ex. 2. b. - From My Book of Favorite Fairy Tales by Edric Vredenburg 85
Ex. 3 - Mama Skunk 87
Ex. 4 - From Heidi by Johanna Spyri 88
Ex. 5 - Compound Objects of Prepositions 89
Ex. 6 - Notes for Teachers on Separated Objects of Prepositions 90
Ex. 6 - Based on Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell 92
[Ex. 7 - Writing Sentences with Compound Objects of Prepositions] 94
Ex. 8 - Adapted from Voyages in English - Fifth Year 94
Ex. 9 - From “Jack and His Golden Box” 94
Exercise 10 - The Logic of Prepositional Phrases 96
Ex. 10. a. - From Lassie, Come Home by Eric Knight 96
Ex. 10. b. - From My Book of Favorite Fairy Tales by Edric Vredenburg 98
[Ex. 11 - Adding Prepositional Phrases of Time and Space] 100
Ex. 12. Notes for Teachers: The Branching of Adverbial Prepositional Phrases 100
[Ex. 12. a - Style—Left-, Right-, and Mid-Branching Prepositional Phrases] 102
Ex. 12. b – “The Sheep and the Pig” from The ÆSOP for Children 102
Ex. 13 - Similes from The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien 105
Ex. 14. a. - Aesop’s “The Swallow and the Crow” 106
Ex. 14. b. From “Blue Beard” 106
[Ex. 15 - Write, Revise, Edit, and Analyze (Describing an Event)] 107
KISS Level 1. 6. Case, Number, and Tense 107
Notes for Teachers 107
Ex. 1. Antecedents of Pronouns 110
Ex. 2 Fill in the Blanks – From “The Happy Prince,” by Oscar Wilde 112
Ex. 3. Pronouns as Subjects – From A Book of Myths, by Jean Lang 116
Ex. 4.a. Person, Number, and Case – Adapted from English for Use 118
Ex. 4.b. “The Story of the First Diamonds” by Florence Holbrook 119
Ex. 5 Pronouns: The Gender Question – From: Growth in English 120
[Ex. 6.a Writing Sentences with Personal Pronouns] 122
[Ex. 6.b Personal Pronouns (Recipe Roster)] 122
[Ex. 7.a. Pronouns as Predicate Nouns--Adapted from Voyages in English] 122
Ex. 7.b. Pronouns as Predicate Nouns Adapted from The New College Grammar] 122
[Ex. 7.c. Pronouns as Predicate Nouns - * A Research Project] 124
Ex. 8.a. Identifying Tenses: From Lassie, Come Home, by Eric Knight 124
Ex. 8.b. From A Book of Myths, by Jean Lang 125
Ex. 9. From Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson 126
KISS Level 1. 7. Punctuation and Capitalization 128
Notes for Teachers 128
Ex. 1 - “Dear John” -- The Importance of Correct Punctuation 131
Ex. 2 - Based on The Heroes, by Charles Kingsley 133
Ex. 3 - Capitalization 133
Ex. 4 - Commas in a Series: Based on “How Perseus Vowed a Rash Vow” 134
Ex. 5 - Commas in Addresses and Dates: From Voyages in English - Fifth Year 136
Ex. 6 - Apostrophes to Show Possession, From Heidi by Johanna Spyri 137
Ex. 7 - Apostrophes in Contractions, From Heidi by Johanna Spyri 138
Ex. 8 - Quotation Marks 139
Ex. 9 - Replacing Punctuation & Capitalization, From Heidi by Johanna Spyri 140
[Ex. 10 - Creating an Exercise] 141
KISS Level 1.8. - Vocabulary and Logic 141
Notes for Teachers 141
Abstract and Concrete Words - Notes for Teachers 144
[Ex. 1 - Adapted from Child-Story Readers: Wonder Stories] 146
[Ex. 2 - Common and Proper Nouns - Adapted from Voyages in English] 146
[Ex. 3 - Synonyms] 146
[Ex. 4 - Antonyms] 146
Ex. 5 - FiB - Adapted from Voyages in English - Fifth Year 146
Ex. 6 - The Logic of Words and Phrases [Notes for Teachers] 147
[Ex. 7 - Suffixes] 148
[Ex. 8 - Prefixes] 148
[Ex. 9 - Roots] 148
Appendix 148
The KISS Grammar Toolbox 148
Using the KISS Analysis Keys 150
Creating Directions for Your Students 151
Conjugation of the Verb “To Discover” 153
Introduction for Teachers and Parents
The study of grammar is a science.
The teaching of grammar is an art.
Your primary objective in this level should be to enable your students to identify the most common constructions in English sentences. If, on the way to that objective, you and your students have time, you can have them explore some important points of punctuation, logic, and style. (I would suggest, however, that most of the most important aspects of punctuation, logic, and style in English sentences involve clauses, the subject of KISS Levels 3.1 and 3.2).
I strongly suggest you review the KISS Psycholinguistic Model with your students. (See the “Printable Books Page.”) The model changes the study of grammar into the study of how the human mind processes language, and it also validates (and sometimes challenges) the rules of punctuation.
General Reminders:
1. Although the ability to identify constructions is essential, once students have the ability, such exercises may become boring. You may therefore want to modify some of the directions. For example, punctuation exercises often ask students to identify constructions as well as fix the punctuation. You may want to change these to simply fixing and discussing the punctuation. The same is true for some of the exercises on logic.
2. Emphasize the systematic method. College instructors in math, electronics, and a number of other fields complain that students want the “answers” and ignore the methods by which they can find the answers. If you emphasize the method of systematic analysis (described in the students’ version), you will probably find that your students will do much better, much faster. And you will be helping them learn how to work systematically.
Applying KISS to Students’ Own Reading and Writing
The primary objective of KISS is to enable students to intelligently discuss the grammar of anything that they read and especially anything that they write. Those who understand KISS concepts could, theoretically, use the Master Books and then use only the students’ own writing for exercise materials. But particularly in classrooms, this would be impractical.Imagine the dilemma of a teacher with twenty students in classroom. The students have been given the instructional material on subjects and verbs, and then the students immediately all try to find the subjects and verbs in a short passage that they wrote. The teacher would go nuts trying to check all of this. In other words, it makes much more sense for the students to all do a few of the same exercise, an exercise that can then be reviewed in class. KISS primarily provides the latter type of exercises.
Teachers should regularly supplement these exercises by having students analyze short passages from their own writing. The students can simply apply the directions they have been using to the analysis of their own writing. (In other words, if they are working at KISS Level Three, they would analyze their own writing through clauses.) The students can then work in small groups to check and discuss each others’ work. How often teachers should do this is an aspect of the art of teaching. But the more you do this, the more that you will probably see interested, motivated students.
KISS Level 1.1. Identifying Subjects and Finite Verbs
Notes for Teachers
The key to enabling students to understand the structure of their own writing is to enable them to identify the subjects and finite verbs in it. Even if you have been fairly well-taught in grammar, the odds are that you have never heard of “finite” verbs. That’s because almost all instruction in grammar is really just an explanation of some grammatical terms. I am unaware of any grammar textbook that even claims to try to give students a practical understanding of grammar.
Consider the typical instructions about subjects and “verbs.” Students are given some basic definitions and are then asked to underline subjects once and “verbs” twice. But consider the sentence:
Swimming is good exercise.
“Swimming” fits the typical definition of a verb, and thus many students would underline it twice. But in this sentence, it is not a verb; it functions as a noun and is a subject. Or consider the sentence:
They went to the store to buy some bread.
Here again, “buy” fits the typical explanation of a verb, but in this case, it functions as an adverb. Or consider still another:
The way to win a man’s heart is through his stomach.
“Win” fits the typical definition of a verb, but in this case “to win” functions as an adjective to “way.”
As you will learn if you stay with KISS, verbs can function as nouns, adverbs, or adjectives. When they do so, they are called “verbals.” Those verbs that students are really expected to underline twice are called “finite.” Defining a “finite verb” for beginners is extremely difficult--the definitions require an understanding of other grammatical terms. But the ability to recognize finite verbs can be gained relatively easily by studying examples, or, in KISS practice, short exercises.