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A one-month CRASH COURSE

in the basics of grammar

that students should have learned

long before they came to high school!

 

 

Paul C. Pinza

Westmont High School

Fall 2002

 

mailto:gakmama@hotmail.com

(408) 378-1500 ext. 6252

 

*** NOTE: The lessons herein are structured according to a block schedule --- 90 minute class periods, the first 20 of which are devoted to silent reading. Teachers on a standard schedule should know that one ìdayî of this packet will actually cover two calendar days within a 50 minute class structure.

 

 



This ribbon indicates the specific Language Arts standard addressed by each part of the ìBoot Campî.

           

The first number indicates grade level.  9th/10th grade standards are listed as ì10î.

 

The letter indicates the area of the standard. ìRî = Reading,

ìWî = Writing, ìCî = Conventions, and ìSî = Listen/Speaking.

 

 

The final number references the specific standard addressed.

 

 

 

 

DAY ONE: Distinguishing between complete sentences and fragments.

 

LESSON A: Identifying Nouns.

 

MATERIALS: A small stack of Post-It notes for each student.

(Cut a regular stack into strips to create multiple packs.)

 

ACTIVITY: Each student gets one minute to find and label as many nouns in the room as possible. To label a noun, write the name of the noun on a Post-It and sticks it onto the noun. No repeat labeling is allowed! If someone labels the chair ìchairî, you canít do the same. You can, however, label it ìfurnitureî.

 

AFTERWARDS: Clean up Post-Itís. Introduce the nature of abstract nouns --- nouns like justice, peace, thought, and idea that cannot be labeled.

 

 

 

 

 

                         LESSON B: Identifying Verbs.

 

MATERIALS: A 2-minute video clip of an active sports highlight OR the requisite sports equipment for a quick game amongst the class. (Basketball and soccer are pretty easy to set up, provided you have the field space.)

 

ACTIVITY: Each student watches the video clip and lists as many actions as they see. Anything that anyone does is listed. Each entry on the list should be one word long; the word should describe the action occurring.

 

VARIATIONS:    I. Show the video twice ñ once on ìMuteî, then a second time with the play-by-play. Students can add the announcersí verbs to their list.

 

     II. Choose students to record their own audio play-by-play while the rest of the class plays the sport. Play back the announcersí later, and create the verb list from that.

 

AFTERWARDS: List everyoneís verbs on the board. You could also sort them into two categories to introduce the concept of transitive vs. intransitive action verbs.

 

 



LESSON C: Identifying Adjectives.

 

MATERIALS: A series of vivid pictures or pieces of art. These can be mounted on posterboards, copied into packets, or put into a PowerPoint presentation.

 

ACTIVITY: Each student views each picture and describes what they see (these can be written or oral descriptions). As the descriptions are shared, list only the adjectives on the board. 

 

AFTERWARDS: See if students can remember the items that connect to each adjective. What do the items have in common? Theyíre all nouns.

 



LESSON D: Identifying Adverbs.

 

MATERIALS: Exercise C on p. 53 of the grammar exercises in the back of this packet.

 

ACTIVITY - LECTURE: Show students how adverbs can describe verbs and other adjectives. Show them how adding ì-lyî to most adjectives changes them into adverbs. Then show them exceptions: ìlonelyî and ìonlyî, for instance.

 

EVALUATION (Lessons A- D): Students complete Exercise C on p. 53.

[ Remember, kids, if you can tell a noun from a verb, you should be able to distinguish the adjectives from the adverbs! ]

 

AFTERWARDS: Debrief answers and see if students need to review nouns vs. verbs or adjectives vs. adverbs.

 

 

LESSON E: Identifying Subjects and Verbs (Predicates).

 

MATERIALS: Sentence Exercise A on p. 74 of the grammar exercises in the back of this packet.

 

ACTIVITY - LECTURE: Explain that every sentence has at least one noun that acts as the ìmain characterî of the sentence. This noun (or combination of nouns) is called the Subject, and it is one of the two essential elements in a sentence.

 

Every sentence also has a primary action (or combination of actions) that the Subject performs. This Verb(s) is the other essential part of a sentence.

 

Therefore, every single word in a sentence has to be a part of the Subject or the Verb (also known as the Predicate). If a word ñ say, and adjective ñ describes what the ìmain characterî looks like, than itís part of the Subject. If another word ñ say, an adverb ñ describes the action being performed, then itís part of the Predicate.

 

Generally speaking, you can find the Subject and Predicate right next to each other in most sentences. The Subject comes first, and when it ends, the Predicate usually begins. In essence, you can divide every sentence into two halves ñ the Subject half and the Predicate half.

 

EVALUATION (Lesson E): Students complete Exercise A on p. 74. [ Students can follow the given directions or simply draw a line to indicate the ìborderî between Subject and Predicate. ]

 

AFTERWARDS: Debrief answers. Students may be confused by prepositional phrases and helping verbs. Donít use those terms yet; rather, get them to see that those words modify the subject or verb. Emphasize the relationships of these words to the Subject or Verb.

 

<< TIP >> If a student consistently misidentifies nouns and verbs, show them how the word doesnít work in its incorrect context. If ìsocietyî is selected as a verb, ask the student if s/he spends most Saturday nights ìsocietingî. If ìsatî is a noun, ask how much a pack of ìsatsî costs at the store.

 

LESSON F: Distinguishing between complete sentences and fragments.

 

MATERIALS: Exercise B on p. 76 of the grammar exercises in the back of this packet.

 

ACTIVITY - LECTURE: Now we know that each complete sentence must have two parts: the Subject and the Predicate.  If a group of words doesnít have one of these elements, it is NOT a sentence! It is called a fragment. One should always write in complete sentences, never in fragments.

 

EVALUATION (Lesson F): Students complete Exercise B on p. 76.

[ Alternate directions: Classify each item as a ìsentenceî or a ìfragmentî. If itís a fragment, tell me which part is missing: ìSubjectî, ìPredicateî, or ìbothî. ]

 

AFTERWARDS: Debrief answers. Anyone who scored less than seven out of ten correct needs extra attention.

 

 

DAY TWO: Identifying multi-word modifiers; Placing all modifiers.

 

SET FOR THE DAY:  Each student must write one unique POSITIVE quality about him/herself on a sheet of paper. It can be a specific skill they have, an experience theyíve had, or an outstanding achievement. Theyíre going to keep this slip until later in the day.

 

    

LESSON A: Placing adjectives and adverbs.

 

MATERIALS: Writing Exercise from p. 54 (possibly transferred to an overhead or a TV via Scan Converter).

 

ACTIVITY: Each student takes a turn inserting adjectives and adverbs into the sentences of the exercise. 

 

AFTERWARDS: Point out that, while adverbs can go before or after the verb they describe, adjectives MUST go before their ìpartnerî noun. Now, here are some other modifiers that precede nounsÖ.

 

 

    

LESSON B: Identifying and using determiners.

 

MATERIALS: ìDeterminersî handout in the back of this packet (which can also be used as an overhead transperancy).

 

ACTIVITY - LECTURE: Determiners are used to clarify references to nouns. Most of the time, they wonít tell you how the noun looks, sounds, smells, etc. Rather, determiners kind of ìpoint outî which noun is being discussed.

 

There are three basic types of determiners:

Articles ñ ìaî, ìanî, ìtheî

Demonstratives ñ ìthisî, ìthatî, ìtheseî, ìthoseî [hereís a good spot to remind students about singular vs. plural!]

Possessive Pronouns ñ ìmyî, ìyourî, ìhisî, ìherî, ìitsî, ìourî, ìtheirî [remember the spellings of ìitsî and ìtheirî!] You can also create a possessive by adding apostrophes. ( ís after all singulars and plurals that donít end in ìsî; 

í after all plurals ending in ìsî.)

 

Why do you need to know this? Because every singular noun in a sentence must have a determiner before it!

 

AFTERWARDS: Give students sample sentences and have them identify the determiners. Have them say the sentences without the determiners. Notice that they now sound like Neanderthal cave(wo)men!

 

 

    

LESSON C: Identifying and placing prepositions.

 

MATERIALS: Various objects ñ one for each student.

 

ACTIVITY: Students put their heads down while objects are hidden about the room (or the hiding could be done before class). Each student is assigned an object to find. Once they find that object, they must return to his/her desk and write down exactly where the object was found.  In addition, each student should write down a descriptive sentence about his/her object. You must use more than one word to describe the object. ìThe frisbee is brokenî is not acceptable, but ìthe frisbee has many cracksî is.

 

 

 

Once everyone completes their scavenger hunt, students share where their objects were found. Write each response on the board as a prepositional phrase. Explain that prepositions indicate the position of a noun in relationship to another noun. That second noun is the object of the preposition. Prepositions always follow the noun they describe.

 

AFTERWARDS: Have students re-read their objectsí hiding places, and ask them to identify the preposition and the object in their responses. Give students a list of prepositions to memorize within a week!!!

 

 

    

LESSON D: Identifying and placing relative pronouns (and their clauses).

 

MATERIALS: The ìunique qualityî sheet that was filled out at the beginning of the day.

    

ACTIVITY: Each student will now trade objects with another student. When the trading occurs, the receiver must copy down two pieces of information from the giver: 1) the giverís multi-word description of the object, and 2) the unique quality that the giver wrote at the start of class. Thus, each student will receive a new object, a description of that object, and a unique quality about the objectís original owner.

 

Now, students must combine all of the information they just received into one sentence. Relative pronouns must be used to do this. Show students how the pronouns can be used to add descriptive details about various nouns. Like prepositions, these clauses always begin after the noun they modify. Each relative pronoun has a specific purpose:

Use ìthatî to describe singular things and unique plural things (see below).

Use ìwhichî to describe plural things with common qualities (see below).

Use ìwhoî to describe people as the subject of a clause. (More on that later.)

Use ìwhomî to describe people as the object in a clause. (More on that later.)

Use ìwhoseî to describe things belonging to a specified person.

Use ìwhereî to describe places.

 

Further notice the difference between ìthatî and ìwhichî  when applied to plural nouns.

The planets, which revolve around the sun, Ö.            All planets revolve around the sun.

The planets that revolve around the sunÖ Other planets do not revolve around the sun.

    

Once complete, the studentsí sentences regarding their objects and trading partners should look something like this:

 

ìThe student who ____(unique quality)___ gave me a ____(object)____ that ___(object description)__________.î

 

 

EVALUATIONS:

          Lesson C ñ Exercise B, p. 59 (identify prep. phrases);

       Exercise C, p. 60 (prepositions vs. adverbs)

 

Lesson D ñ Write a series of ten sentences that describe specific people, places, and things that are special to you. Use as many different relative pronouns as you can in the series. Some samples:

 

     ìMy room is the only place where I feel safe.î

     ìMy father is the only person whom I completely trust.î

     ìMy Uncle Tony is the only person who can make perfect raviolis.î

     ìMy teddy bear is the only toy that I have kept from my childhood.î

 

 

DAY THREE: Recognizing sentence patterns and identifying their components.

 

SET FOR THE DAY: Wear an outfit that is RADICALLY DIFFERENT from what you wore during Day Two. Also, the sentences that students wrote yesterday after the scavenger hunt should be available.

 

    

LESSON A: Using linking verbs and complements.

 

MATERIALS: none [Tinker Toys are optional; theyíre a good visual aid.]

 

ACTIVITY: Students complete the following sentences on a sheet of paper:

     ìMr. Pinza is __________________.î (fill in the blank however you wish)

     ìYesterday, Mr. Pinza seemed _________________.î (personality description)

     ìYesterday, Mr. Pinza looked _________________.î (appearance description)

     ìToday, Mr. Pinza appears __________________.î (appearance description)

     ìToday, Mr. Pinza has become _________________.î (personality description)

 

Students share their sentences. Write some good examples on the board. Point out that each sentence is structured the same: Subject, then Verb, then either a noun or adjective that describes the Subject.

 

Are these verbs actions, like the ones we saw in the sports clip two days ago? No. They help describe the subject. This is a new kind of verb called a Linking Verb because it links the Subject to a word or phrase that describes it. That word or phrase is a Complement.

 

AFTERWARDS: Begin a list of basic sentence structures on the board. Today, weíll learn five of them. The first one: SUBJECT + LINKING VERB + COMPLEMENT. Assign a small list of Linking Verbs that every student must memorize!!!

 

 

    

LESSON B: Identifying intransitive verbs.

 

MATERIALS: none [Tinker Toys are optional; theyíre a good visual aid.]

 

ACTIVITY: Imagine that you are standing in the desert, all alone, with nothing around you. Youíre also in the nude. In thirty seconds, list all of the actions that you can perform while standing alone, in the nude, in the desert.

 

Students share answers. List as many verbs as possible on the board. Point out that forming a sentence is pretty easy with any of these verbs ñ just add a subject.

 

You see, some actions can be performed without any extra objects. The verbs that are used to describe these actions are called Intransitive Verbs.  You donít have to add anything after these verbs in order to form a sentence. You might add adverbs, prepositions and such, but itís not required.

 

AFTERWARDS: Add a second sentence pattern to the list: SUBJECT + INTRANSITIVE VERB. 

 

    

LESSON C: Distinguishing between transitive and intransitive verbs.

 

MATERIALS: Exercise B on p. 34.

 

ACTIVITY - LECTURE: Other actions that require a separate object or ìpropî are called Transitive Verbs. We see a lot of these kinds of verbs in sports: ìShe passes the ballî, ìHe swings the batî, ìShe shoots the puckî, ìHe tackles the runnerî, ìShe breaks her serveî. (By the way, can you identify the sport in each sentence?)

 

Many times, the verb in question NEEDS another object in order to retain its meaning. Look at the last example. If we take away that last noun (her serve), the sentence is ìShe breaks.î Does it sound like sheís playing tennis? No, it sounds like sheís collapsing. You need that extra noun for the sentence to have meaning ñ she breaks the serve, breaks a vase, breaks a window, breaks her leg, etc. That extra noun is called a Direct Object.

 

So, how do you tell whether a verb is Transitive or Intransitive? If you can perform the action in the nude, in the desert, the verb is Intransitive. If the action requires an extra ìpropî (Direct Object), then it is Transitive.

 

EVALUATION: Exercise B, p. 34. [ Items #1 and #5 are difficult; 1 is Intransitive despite the prepositional phrase, and 5 is Transitive despite the abstract Direct Object ìwayî. ]

 

 

AFTERWARDS: Add a third sentence pattern: SUBJECT + TRANSITIVE VERB + DIRECT OBJECT.

 

 

    

LESSON D: Distinguishing between direct and indirect objects.

 

MATERIALS: a variety of interesting objects, one per student.

 

ACTIVITY: Hand out the interesting objects to a few students. Ask them to summarize what just happened. (ìWhatís that?î A hat. ìWho gave it to you?î You did. ìWho am I?î The teacher. ìSo say that all in one sentence.î The teacher gave me a hat.) Write these last sentences on the board. Ask students to identify the Direct Object. Notice that thereís another noun left over. Why? Because some transitive verbs (like ìto giveî) require TWO different nouns to make a complete sentence!

 

The item which is given is the Direct Object, but the person to whom it is given is the Indirect Object. Hereís a pneumonic device:  ìI owe you $100.î The Indirect Object is right after the ìI Oî in the sentence: ìyouî! The Direct Object is the 100 DOllars.

 

Now, start tossing other objects to students who donít have any. Have them summarize the action in a sentence, then figure out what the Direct and Indirect Objects are.

 

AFTERWARDS: Add a fourth sentence pattern: SUBJECT + TRANSITIVE VERB + INDIRECT OBJECT + DIRECT OBJECT.

 

Notice that this pattern can be switched around with the preposition ìtoî:

SUBJECT + TRANSITIVE VERB + DIRECT OBJECT + ìTOî + INDIRECT OBJECT.

 

 

 

 

    

LESSON E: Identifying objective complements.

 

MATERIALS: Exercise C on p. 90.

 

ACTIVITY - LECTURE: Look at the sentences you wrote earlier today: ìMr. Pinza is handsomeî, ìMr. Pinza seemed wiseî, etc. Letís re-write these sentences so that the authors are the subject. ìGeorgianna called Mr. Pinza handsomeî, ìLarry considered Mr. Pinza wiseî, etc.

 

Students should be able to identify the parts of this sentence. ìLarryî is the subject, ìconsideredî is the verb, ìMr. Pinzaî is now a direct object (since he is being considered). What is ìwiseî? What was ìwiseî in the original sentence? A complement! Itís still a complement in the new sentence, and it still describes Mr. Pinza. The only difference is that Mr. Pinza is now a Direct Object and not the Subject. Technically, this makes ìwiseî an Objective Complement whereas it was a Subjective Complement originally.

 

Add a fifth basic sentence pattern: SUBJECT + TRANSITIVE VERB + DIRECT OBJECT + OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENT.

 

EVALUATION: Exercise C, p. 90. Have students identify every part of the sentence pattern: SUBJECT, VERB, DIRECT OBJECT, OBJ. COMPLEMENT. They donít have to include all the adjectives, determiners, etc., but they need to identify those four components of every sentence.

 

AFTERWARDS: Debrief answers. Note who has trouble wading through the modifiers and pulling out the key elements of the pattern.

 

EVALUATION OF LESSONS A ñ E: Exercise A, p. 95. For each sentence, have students identify the basic pattern, then list the words that comprise each essential element.

Example: Molly handed me her report on antiques.

Response 1: S-TV-IO-DO

Response 2: S = Molly, TV = handed, IO = me, DO = report

 

*** For further practice in sentence patterns, show students how to diagram sentences. A brief tutorial in sentence diagramming appears on the next two pages.

 

 

 

SENTENCE DIAGRAMMING



Isolate the Subject and Verb.      



 

 

 

2A. For Linking Verbs, add the Subjective Complement.

 



 



 

 

 

2B. For Intransitive Verbs, skip to Step 4.

2C. For Transitive Verbs, add the Direct Object.





 



 

 

 

3A. Add Indirect Object, if necessary.





 





 



 

 

 

3B. Add Objective Complement, if necessary.







 

 

 

 

4A. Add prepositional phrases below the noun they describe.

 











 

 



 

4B. Adjectives, determiners, and adverbs go below the respective words that they modify.

 













 



 

 

 

 

DAY FOUR: Identifying and using different verb tenses.

 

 

    

LESSON A: Defining the present, past, and future tenses.

 

MATERIALS: Flash cards, magnets, or other visual cues that can be re-used to show spelling changes (ìedî, ìwillî). A PowerPoint on verb tenses can also be useful.

 

ACTIVITY: POP QUIZ!!!     Complete the following sentences on a separate sheet of paper! (Yes, you must write out the entire sentence with the blanks filled in!)

 

We study _________________ during the first month of Mr. Pinzaís class.

Every student ______________ during the first twenty minutes of class.

Most students bring two ______ and a binder to class every day.

You cannot wear ______ in Mr. Pinzaís classroom.

[invent other questions to reinforce your class rules, but keep the structure of the sentences the same. List five in the present tense, five in the past tense, and five in the future tense if you can.]

 

Debrief the answers, then examine the verbs. Notice that in items 1-5, every verb describes a rule in the class. Thus, the actions ñ the verbs ñ refer to things that occur on a regular basis. Actions or conditions that occur on a regular basis are described using the Present Tense. In most cases, you donít change the verbís spelling for the Present Tense.

 

Now letís look at items 6-10. They all describe events that occurred a while ago ñ yesterday, last week, two days ago, etc. Actions that occurred a while ago are described using the Past Tense. Notice that the verbsí spellings have changed; in most cases, you must add ìedî (Show the flash card!) to the end of the verb to change it to the Past Tense.

 

Finally, what do items 11-15 have in common? They all describe events that are about to occur. Notice that, in nearly every instance, the verbs have the word ìwillî (flash card) before them. By adding ìwillî, you change the verb into the Future Tense, which is used to describe actions that have not happened yet.

 

AFTERWARDS: RECAP:  Use Present Tense to describe actions that occur on a regular basis; spelling wonít change in most cases.

Use Past Tense to describe actions that have already happened; add ìedî after the verb. Use Future Tense to describe actions that have not happened yet; add ìwillî before the verb.

    

LESSON B: Defining and recognizing gerunds, infinitives, and past participles.

 

MATERIALS: Flash cards, magnets, or other visual cues that can be re-used to show spelling changes (ìedî, ìingî, ìtoî). A PowerPoint on verb tenses can also be useful. It would also be really cool if you could set up a small, quick cooking demonstration.

 

ACTIVITY: If you can, do a quick cooking demonstration in your classroom. Write on the board: ìCooking 101 - How to Cook Jelloî.

 

After the demo, letís pause and reflect. We started with sugar, water, and some colored powder. In the end, it all turned into Jello. In a similar way, you can turn verbs into other parts of speech by adding certain ingredients.

 

Write this sentence: ìMr. Pinza cooked Jello this afternoon.î Whatís the verb in this sentence? ìCookedî. Whatís the tense ñ Present, Past, or Future? Past.

 

Write this sentence: ìToday we learned how to cook Jello.î Is ìcookedî still the verb? No! Itís actually part of a Direct Object: ìhow to cook Jelloî. How does a verb become a direct object? When you add ìtoî before a verb, you make it an Infinitive. This allows you to place the verb in other areas of the sentence.

 

Now write this sentence: ìI thought I was in a cooking class.î Weíve changed ìcookî to ìcookingî now. Is ìcookingî a verb here? No! Itís an adjective, describing ìclassî. How can that be? When you add ì-ingî to the end of a verb, you create a Gerund. Gerunds can be used as adjectives or nouns, like in the sentence ìCooking is fun.î

 

One more sentence to write: ìAfter twenty minutes, the cooked Jello started steaming.î What part of speech is ìcookedî? Itís an adjective again! This time we added ìedî to the end, just like in the Past Tense. This is also called a Past Participle, which can be used as an adjective.

 

AFTERWARDS: RECAP:  So far, weíve learned six ways to ìcookî our verbs and change their meanings:

Present Tense = the raw verb. No change in spelling. Describes actions that occur on a regular basis.

Past Tense = add ìedî after the verb to describe actions that have already happened Future Tense = add ìwillî before the verb to describe actions that havenít happened yet.

Infinitive = add ìtoî before the verb to place it in other sentence areas.

Past Participle = for regular verbs, use the Past Tense as an adjective.

Gerund = add ìingî after the verb to use it as an adjective or noun.

 

    

LESSON C: Defining and using progressive and perfect verb tenses.

 

MATERIALS: Flash cards, magnets, or other visual cues that can be re-used to show spelling changes (ìedî, ìingî, ìhaveî, ìhasî, ìamî, ìareî, ìisî). A PowerPoint on verb tenses can also be useful.

 

ACTIVITY - LECTURE: Now that you have some recipes under your belt, weíre going to combine them a bit to give you six more verb tenses. All of these are verbs, used to describe specific actions at specific moments.

 

**Progressive verbs are used to describe actions that take a long time to complete.**

Present Progressive is used to describe actions that are happening right this very second. What are you doing right now? You are taking notes. Thatís an example of Present Progressive. The way you form the Present Progressive tense depends on what the subject of your sentence is:

If your subject is ìIî, the formula is {ìamî + the Gerund of the verb}

If your subject is ìyouî, the formula is {ìareî + Gerund}

For all other singular subjects, use {ìisî + Gerund}

For all plural subjects, use {ìareî + Gerund}

 

Past Progressive is used to describe actions that have already finished, but they took a while to complete. Often, this tense is used to describe what you were doing when something else happens: I was taking notes when the bell rang. The way you form the Past Progressive tense depends on what the subject of your sentence is:

If your subject is ìIî, the formula is {ìwasî + the Gerund of the verb}

If your subject is ìyouî, the formula is {ìwereî + Gerund}

For all other singular subjects, use {ìwasî + Gerund}

For all plural subjects, use {ìwereî + Gerund}

 

Future Progressive is used to describe actions that have not happened yet, but they will be going on for a while. When will you start to drive?  I will be driving in about two years. Thatís an example of Future Progressive ñ you havenít begun to drive yet, but when you do, youíll keep driving for a while. The Future Progressive tense is formed using this formula: {ìwill beî + the Gerund of the verb}

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Perfect verbs are used to describe actions that may or may not be completed.**

Present Perfect is used to describe two things: 1) actions that were completed at an unspecified time. She has washed her hair. When? We donít know. 2) actions that started in the past but continue to the present. I have worked her for four years. The way you form the Present Perfect tense depends on the subject of your sentence:

If the subject is ìIî or ìyouî, use the formula {ìhaveî + Past Participle}.

For all other singular subjects, use {ìhasî + Past Participle}

For all plural subjects, use {ìhaveî + Past Participle}

 

Past Perfect is often used to describe actions that were finished before a different action took place. I had gotten straight Aís before I took Mr. Pinzaís class. Sometimes the actions happen very close together: Mario had played the game for four hours when he finally conquered the last level. The Past Perfect tense is formed using this formula: {ìhadî + Past Participle}.

 

Future Perfect is used to describe actions that will be finished at a specific point in the future. We will have learned six verb tenses by the end of this lesson. In some cases, the action hasnít even started yet. I will have completed three book reports by the end of the semester.  The Future Perfect tense is formed using this formula: {ìwill haveî + Past Participle}

 

 

AFTERWARDS: Use the enclosed ìPeriodic Tableî to review the verb tenses.

 

EVALUATION (Lessons A-C): Verb Tenses worksheet.

 

 

 

DAY FIVE: Identifying subject pronouns and conjugating verbs (including irregulars).

 

SET FOR THE DAY: QUIZ on prepositions (you asked them to memorize them on Day 2).

 

    

LESSON A: Defining the subject pronouns.

 

MATERIALS: 2-3 Burger King crowns, a knightís outfit (sword, shield, helmet), 2-3 spare chairs.

 

ACTIVITY: Choose a student volunteer to be king/queen for a day. In order to ascend the throne, they must stand on the chair and pronounce to all in the land that s/he is the king/queen. ìI am the king!î Write the sentence on the board, then give the ruler the crown. S/he must sit on the throne throughout the exercise.

 

Choose a second volunteer (opposite gender, if possible) to be the royal knight of the court. In order to earn his/her shield, sword, etc., the student must kneel before the royalty. Then the would-be knight must announce that s/he will only serve the king/queen: ìYou are the only king I will serve.î  Write the sentence on the board, and award the knight his/her accessories.

 

Choose a third volunteer to be the town crier. S/he must run around the room announcing the identities of the king/queen and the knight. The crier need not use full names; they can simply point and say: ìHe is the king. She is the knight.î Write these sentences (grouped closely together) on the board as the crier cries.

 

Review the sentences on the board. How many kings/queens are there? One, so the subject of every sentence is singular. Who was the first person to get a high place in the kingdom? The king. So his sentenceís subject ñ the pronoun ìIî ñ will be declared the first person singular pronoun. The knight was the second person to earn a job in the kingdom, so the subject of his sentence ñ ìyouî ñ will be the second person singular pronoun. The town crier has several sentences: ìMike is the king. He is the knight. She is the queen.î There are actually three third person singular pronouns: ìheî, ìsheî, and ìitî. Every other singular subject would also be considered third person.

 

These are all the singular subject pronouns, but what if we had more than one ruler? Choose 1-2 more volunteers whoíd like to be king/queen for a day. Let all the royalty stand on their thrones and announce that they are the kings/queens. Their pronouncements must include ALL rulers as the subject: ìWe are the kings and queens!î Write the sentence on the board.

 

Now the knight must re-proclaim his/her loyalty. S/he must tell ALL the kings/queens that they are his/her only masters. ìYou are the only kings and queens I will serve.î Write this on the board.

 

Finally, the town crier must re-announce the new hierarchy. Again, s/he can use names if desired, but it isnít required. ìThey are the rulers!î Write this on the board.

 

Now we have our plural subject pronouns: first person plural pronoun ñ ìweî, second person plural pronoun ñ ìyouî, third person plural pronoun ñ ìtheyî. All other plural subjects would also be considered third person.

 

AFTERWARDS: Clean up. Review the six subject pronouns w/ their corresponding ìpersonageî. You can mention how books are narrated in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd person. (Choose Your Own Adventures are written in second person.) You can also mention that some Southern dialects use a different pronoun in the second person plural: ìyíallî.

 

 

    

LESSON B: Conjugating ìto beî across all tenses.

 

MATERIALS: Empty Verb Conjugation worksheets ñ probably 3-5, depending on whether you use them for homework.

 

ACTIVITY: Fill out the Subject Pronoun column of the worksheet. Using the sentences on the board, lead the class through the ìPresentî column of the worksheet.

 

Subject

PronounPresentIamyouarehe,she,itisweareyou (yíall)aretheyare

To fill out the ìPastî column, think of what youíll tell your parents about this class when you get home. ìI was kingî, ìYou were kingî, etc. For the ìFutureî column, pretend that youíre predicting the next king/queen: ìI will be king.î

 

Skip down to the bottom section. What is the Infinitive of this verb? Whatís that song from The Lion King? I Just Canít Wait To Be King! The Infinitive is ìto beî! Whatís the Gerund? ìbeingî. Whatís the Past Participle? Complete this sentence: I would have ____ king if Mr. Pinza had called on me. The Past Participle is ìbeenî, which is different from the past tense.

 

In fact, you may have noticed that many of this verbís forms donít follow the usual pattern. Thatís because ìto beî is an Irregular Verb. Now that we know the irregular gerund and past participle, students can complete the Progressive and Perfect tenses.

 

AFTERWARDS: Explain that the Progressive tenses arenít typically used with ìto beî. Instead of saying ìI am being on timeî, ìShe was being a leaderî, or ìThey will be being victoriousî, we would typically use the regular tenses: ìI am on timeî, ìShe was a leaderî, ìThey will be victoriousî.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

LESSON C: Conjugating irregular verbs across all tenses.

 

MATERIALS: Irregular Verb handout, empty Verb Conjugation worksheets (if needed)

 

ACTIVITY: Hand out the Irregular Verb sheet. Point out how many verbs are irregular in one way or another. Assign each student a different verb from the sheet, and walk them through the steps of conjugating on a blank Conjugation worksheet:

Find the verb youíre assigned on the Irregular Verb sheet.

Fill in the Present, the Past, the Gerund (Present Participle), and the Past Participle on the Conjugation worksheet by copying them directly from the Irregular Verb listing.

Using the rules and formulas you already know, fill in the rest of the Conjugation worksheet.

 

Repeat this process until everyone can conjugate an irregular verb on their own.

 

AFTERWARDS: Exercise F, p. 193 is a good homework assignment. It helps students figure out which irregular forms are correct at what times.

 

 

DAY SIX: Using periods, commas, exclamation points, and question marks.

 

    

LESSON A: Distinguishing between declarative, exclamatory, and interrogative sentences.

MATERIALS: none

 

ACTIVITY: Have your students take dictation; they must write down the sentence you say.

 

ìThis is a declarative sentence.î Say it a few times so students can copy it down. Once they have, ask students one by one what a declarative sentence is. Ask them to define it. They will probably have no idea, so ask them what an exclamatory sentence is. Again, theyíll probably have no idea. Thatís when you scream at them:

 

ìI canít believe you donít know what an exclamatory sentence is!î Make them write down this sentence. Repeat it, yelling each time. Again, ask students to define what an exclamatory sentence is. When that fails, ask them what the difference is between the first, declarative sentence and the second, exclamatory sentence. Hopefully, someone will note the difference in the amount of emotion and the punctuation.

 

Finally, they write down this sentence: ìDoes anyone know what an interrogative sentence is?î Repeat it so the students can copy, then direct the question at students individually. Ask them if the last sentence they wrote is interrogative. How can they tell that it is?

 

Once the students have deduced the answers, write the definitions on the board for them to copy:

Declarative: an ordinary statement. Always ends with a period. (.)

Exclamatory: an excited, emotional statement Always ends with an exclamation point. (!)

Interrogative: a question. Always ends with a question mark. (?)

 

AFTERWARDS: You might want to assure them that they need not know the terms ìdeclarativeî, ìexclamatoryî, and ìinterrogativeî so long as they always punctuate these sentences correctly.

 

 

    

LESSON B: Using commas correctly.

 

MATERIALS: If desired, you could project the sentences listed below on an overhead transparency or on a TV via Scan Converter. You could also just write them on the board.

 

ACTIVITY: Students will be asked to correct three sentences; in all three cases, the corrections needed will involve commas. After each sentence, the teacher will present a rule that applies to proper comma usage. Students will copy each rule down as it is introduced.

 

Before you begin to correct a sentence, you should always locate the main clause of the sentence. The main clause is basically the sentence pattern ñ the subject-verb chain that contains all of the essential elements. Review the sentence patterns with your students.

Now, youíre ready for the first rule of comma usage:

 

RULE #1 ñ Never use commas to separate parts of the main clause.

Another way to put it: Donít break the subject-verb chain with a comma.

 

 

 

 

Show the students the following sentence, exactly as it is written below:

 

The Taenaris macrops butterfly which feeds on ripe bananas has eyespots on itís wings that flash like the eyes of a predater.

 

Give students a chance to correct the sentence on their own. Share their corrections; there should be three of them. (Latin species names are underlined.) Commas should appear before ìwhichî and after ìbananasî. Notice that this phrase disrupts the subject-verb chain with extra information. When this happens, we put commas around the disrupting phrase to show that itís not part of the main clause.

 

RULE #2 ñ When a phrase interrupts the main clause with extra information, it must be surrounded by commas.

 

Next sentence: More then 2,000 years ago the Romans had toilets connected to sewers that carried away waist.

 

Again, three corrections. This time, the phrase with extra info appears at the beginning of the sentence. We call that an introductory phrase, and it needs a comma at the end (after ìagoî) to indicate that it is not part of the main clause.

 

RULE #3 ñ An introductory phrase must end with a comma.

 

Last sentence:  George and Moon Doggy who had only just met now laughed together about life love and parking lots.

 

Four commas are needed in this sentence. Two go after ìDoggyî and ìmetî, as per Rule #2. Two more go after ìlifeî and ìloveî because they are items in a list. Whenever you see a list in a sentence, thatís called parallel structure. We use commas in parallel structure only if the list has more than two items.

 

RULE #4 ñ PARALLEL STRUCTURE:

If the list contains two items, put a conjunction (and, or) between the items.

If the list contains more than two items, put a comma after every item except the last one. A conjunction should also go before the last item, but after the last comma.

 

AFTERWARDS: I strongly recommend use of the Daily Language Workouts by Writers Inc. After going over each dayís sentence, you should present a new grammatical rule, just as you did in this lesson. (Youíll have to write the rules; theyíre not included in the workbook.) This approach works very well; it improves the studentsí written grammar considerably. The sentences build on each other very nicely, so later in the year, you wonít be presenting new rules. The exercise will become a daily review.

 

 

 

DAY SEVEN: Review and/or catch up.

 

* Give a quiz on the linking verbs the students were given to memorize on Day 3.

 

* You may want to mention that the clauses formed by relative pronouns are known as subordinate clauses. These clauses modify parts of the main clause, but arenít considered part of the main.

 

DAY EIGHT: The exam!!! (included in this packet)

 

Final Thoughts:

 

If you use these materials in your class, please feel free to adapt them. Iíd love to hear about any ìbreakthroughsî you have as you tinker with these lessons. Please tell me about them by e-mail or phone (my info is on the front).

 

You may have noticed that spelling is conspicuously absent in this unit. Thatís because I really have no idea how to teach it. My feeling is this: if youíre unsure of a wordís spelling, check the dictionary. Thatís what adults do, so high-schoolers should do the same. Most of our students have a basic knowledge of spelling rules, but as their vocabulary grows, the rules become less reliable. Thus, I recommend exercises wherein a student must find the correct spelling of a misspelled word and copy it twenty times or the like. Thatís how adults learn a new word. We misspell it a couple of times, then we burn the correct answer into our minds through brute force. I firmly believe that memorization is the best way to learn correct spellings.

 

Finally, the site below has a very simple, very printable copy of ALL the Language Arts Standards. I highly recommend that you check ëem out. All those mistakes that we see youngsters make in their essays typically fall under elementary school standards. Thatís the whole reason I developed this Boot Camp. Hopefully, this packet will help you lay a foundation of grammatical bedrock for your students, so they may erect inspired, articulate essays upon it.

 

http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/score/stand/std.html

SUBJECT

 

VERB

 

SUBJECT

 

VERB

 

SUBJECTIVE COMPLEMENT

 

DIRECT OBJECT

 

VERB

 

SUBJECT

 

SUBJECT

 

VERB

 

DIRECT OBJECT

 

INDIRECT OBJECT

 

DIRECT OBJECT

 

VERB

 

SUBJECT

 

OBJECTIVE COMPLEMENT

 

DIRECT OBJECT

 

VERB

 

SUBJECT

 

OBJECT of the PREPOSITION

 

 

 

PREPOSITION

 

DIRECT OBJECT

 

VERB

 

SUBJECT

 

ADJECTIVE

 

ADVERB