Ms. Lara • English Department grammar
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UNIT GOALS |
COLLEGE READINESS STANDARDS: ENGLISH (2 |
This is an ongoing unit that focuses on incorporating grammar instruction into the language arts curriculum. |
1 • Identify the focus of a simple essay, applying that knowledge to add a sentence that sharpens that focus or to determine if an essay has met a specified goal
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| 2 • Delete material primarily because it disturbs the flow and development of the paragraph | |
| 3 • Add a sentence to accomplish a fairly straightforward purpose such as illustrating a given statement | |
STATE GOALS |
4 • Determine the need for conjunctive adverbs or phrases to create subtle logical connections between sentences (e.g., therefore, however, in addition) |
| 3.A.5 Produce grammatically correct documents using standard manuscript specifications for a variety of purposes and audiences. 3.B.5 Using contemporary technology, produce documents of publication quality for specific purposes and audiences; exhibit clarity of focus, logic of organization, appropriate elaboration and support and overall coherence . |
5 • Rearrange the sentences in a fairly uncomplicated paragraph for the sake of logic. |
| 6 • Add a sentence to introduce or conclude the essay or to provide a transition between paragraphs when the essay is fairly straightforward | |
| 7 • Revise a phrase that is redundant in terms of the meaning and logic of the entire sentence | |
| 8 • Identify and correct ambiguous pronoun references | |
| 9 • Use the word or phrase most appropriate in terms of the content of the sentence and tone of the essay | |
| 10 • Revise to avoid faulty placement of phrases and faulty coordination and subordination of clauses in sentences with subtle structural problems | |
| 11 • Maintain consistent verb tense and pronoun person on the basis of the preceding clause or sentence | |
| 12 • Ensure that a pronoun agrees with its antecedent when the two occur in separate clauses or sentences | |
| 13 • Identify the correct past and past participle forms of irregular and infrequently used verbs and form present-perfect verbs by using have rather than of | |
LINKS |
14 • Use punctuation to set off complex parenthetical phrases |
| Interactive Grammar Quizzes | 15 • Recognize and delete unnecessary commas based on a careful reading of a complicated sentence (e.g., between elements of a compound subject or a compound verb joined by and) |
| Guide to Grammar and Writing | |
| Image Grammar Strategies | 16 • Use apostrophes to indicate simple possessive nouns |
| Index of Techniques | 17 • Recognize inappropriate uses of colons and semicolons |
| Adjectives Out of Order | ACTIVITIES |
| The OWL at Purdue | • Revise. Students will revise the weak or inappropriate verbs (especially to have, to be, to get) replacing them with more precise, powerful verbs. • Identify Patterns of Usage or Error in Writing. Students underline all instances of the verb to be in their writing. They then work on revising their sentences to include action verbs. • Students underline all the common nouns in their writing, writing two or three alternatives to the noun over the original word. Alternatives must be more precise, more detailed than the original. • Grammar Brainstorms. Draw on the board or have students divide a page into three columns with NOUNS, VERBS, and ADJECTIVES at the top of each. Students will read a text and generate as many active verbs, nouns, and adjectives that they might use to write about this subject. Then, students will use as many of the words as they can in a descriptive writing activity. • Work on Grammatical Synthesis. Students will generate a list of adjectives that could be used to describe a character. Students will use the list to write a character sketch. • Paragraph Scramble. Students will rebuild a paragraph after the sentences have been scrambled. • Change the Point of View. Students will rewrite a paragraph changing the tense. • Create an Artist's Image Palette. Students will construct an "Artist's Image Palette," a collection of words and phrases used by professional authors to create powerful mental images. Then they will group these phrases in one of the several categories: Mood: reflective, humorous, fearful, stressful, relaxed, anxious, nervous, loving, angry, etc. Activity: conflict descriptions (interactions with others, nature, animals, and so on), setting descriptions (city scenes, country scenes, wilderness scenes, interior scenes), character descriptions (facial features, dress, speech, actions). Traditional parts of speech: noun images (people, places, buildings, objects, animals), verb images (actions, movements), adjective images (characteristics such as color, shape, size, sensory details). Brush strokes: appositives, absolutes, participles, adjectives out of order, action verbs.
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| The Tongue Untied | |
| Calendar 2006-2007 | |