Sunday, August 27, 2017

Grammar -- The Sentence & 8 Parts of Speech

WEEK 1

THE SENTENCE
A sentence is
a unit of words
simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex
made of a subject and a verb, and a complete thought
Subject
The simple subject is the singular noun or plural nouns that do the action of the verb.
The complete subject is the simple subject with any modifiers.
Verb
The simple verb may consist of one word or a group of words.  These are the action words of the sentence.
The complete subject is also called the predicate.  It contains modifiers, direct objects, and indirect objects.
Fragment
A fragment often looks like a sentence with a capital letter and an end punctuation.  However, it is missing a subject, a verb, or a complete thought.
The Run-on
A Run-on sentence is two or more sentences improperly joined by wrong puncutaion, no punctuation, or a conjunction that needs help from some kind of punctuation. 
Correcting a Run-on sentence
1.      Make two sentences.
2.      Join the two clauses by using a comma and a coordinating conjunction.
3.      Join the two clauses with a semicolon.
4.      Join the two clauses with a semicolon and a connector with a comma (but not a coordinating conjunction.
5.      Subordinate one of the clauses.






8 PARTS OF SPEECH
Verb
Verbs are commonly action words.  Verbs are in the following categories:
            Action, State of being, Linking, Groups of words
Verbs have voice
            Active:  the action of the verb is performed by the subject of the sentence.
            Passive:  the action of the verb is performed upon the subject of the sentence.
Agreement in number
            Singular subjects and singular verbs; plural subjects and plural verbs
All sentences have verbs
            Imperative sentences may appear to be missing the subject, but it is an understood “you.”
All verbs have four principal parts:
            1) present stem – e.g. look
            2) past tense – e.g. looked
            3) past participle – e.g. looked
            4) present participle – e.g. looking
Noun
Nouns are words, phrases or clauses that name a person, place, thing, idea, or quality.
Categories for nouns:  common, proper, compound, collective, as adverbs, concrete, abstract, countable, non-countable, verbal nouns (gerunds),
A noun can be used in a sentence as a: subject, direct object, indirect object, object of a preposition, predicate noun

Pronoun
A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun.  An antecedent is a word or group of words to which a pronoun refers.  If the antecedent is singular, the pronoun must be singular.  If the antecedent is plural, then the pronoun must be plural.
The various types of pronouns:  Personal (Subjective case, Objective case, Possessive case), Reflexive or intensive, Demonstrative, Relative, Interrogative, Extended, Indefinite

Adjective
An adjective is a word, phrase, or clause that modifies (changes, limits, describes, transforms, qualifies) a noun or pronoun.
Adjectives anwer the following questions:  Which one? What kind of? and How many?
Adjectives may be placed before the noun, after the noun, or after a state of being or linking verb.

Adverb
An adverb is a word, phrase, or clause that modifies (changes, limits, describes, transforms, qualifies) a verb, an adjective, or another adverb.
Adverbs answer the following questions:  How? When? Where? To what extent? How much? How often?


Preposition
A preposition is a word that links a noun or pronoun with some other word (usually a noun or a verb).
A preposition always comes before the noun (object of the preposition)
Prepositional phrases can be adjectival or adverbial.


Conjunction
A conjunction is a word or words used to join other words, phrases, or clauses.
Coordinating conjunctions:  for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so (“FANBOYS”)
Correlative conjunctions:  either … or; neither … nor; not only … but also; both … and; etc.
Adverbial conjunctions:  although, if, because, since (these join subordinate clauses)


Interjection

An interjection is a word or group of words expressing emotion or feeling.

Writing 3 Class Notes -- Week 1 (August 24)

Greetings!

We had a great first class for our 2017 school year!  This is a great group with both returning and new students; I'm looking forward to spending time with them.

This first week of classes is about taking care of the business regarding how the class is run.  I handed out a lot of papers, which you will find attached to this e-mail, inserted into the blog and on Dropbox.  As I told the students, they have multiple ways to find assignments and handouts should they be missing any.

We began the class with a Quick Write, which we will do every week.  The purpose of the Quick Write is to get the students in a writing mood.  Most of these are light-hearted; often they are connected to a current even or something that happened on that day in history, and sometimes they are of a more serious tone.  The topic for today's Quick Write was the fact that it is National Waffle Day, in honor of Cornelius Swarhout who obtained the first waffle iron patent.  Students could write anything about waffles, breakfast foods, or favorite fair foods.  

After these beginning exercises, we got down to business with all of the handouts.  We went over, at length, my Classroom Policies for this class that included conduct, communication, and grading.  I especially talked about electronics and cell phone use in class.  More and more students have smart phones, and some find it difficult to keep them stowed away during class.  This year, if I suspect a student is using his/her phone, I will ask and then confiscate the phone if needed.  Parents will get an e-mail if this happens.  The students were in agreement with me, and I don't anticipate this being a problem with this class.

I have 3 goals for this class:
1)  to learn research writing skills
2)  to write a lengthy, well-researched paper
3)  to learn about themselves as writers, researchers, and students


In addition to laying a foundation  for the semester's class, we talked for a while about choosing topics for their papers.  Another topic of discussion was the significance of coming up with a strong thesis statement.  We didn't get to grammar this week.  No worries; we'll do double next week.

In addition to the Classroom Policies, students received the Writing 3 Syllabus, 30 Steps to a Research Paper, "Why I'm Interested" handout, and a double-sided worksheet about choosing a topic.

For next week, they are to skim Steps 1 - 6 and to think about topics and possible thesis statements.  The following week they will write a short response to why they are interested in their chosen topics.

Assignments for Next Week
-- Review Steps 1 - 6 in 30 Steps
-- Narrow Your Topic Worksheet 
-- Surveying Your Topic Worksheet

Links for this Week:
Class Notes
Classroom Policies
Week 1:  Steps 1 - 7
Writing 3 Syllabus
30 Steps to a Research Paper
Narrow Your Topic
Surveying Your Topic


Have a great weekend!
Mrs. Prichard

Writing 3 Syllabus (2017)



Week
Step
Discussion Topic
Worksheets Due
Writing Due
Grammar Discussion
Week 1
8/24
1.                   
Understanding the thesis-driven paper


The Sentence & 8 Parts of Speech
2.                   
Identify possible subjects
3.                   
Read general sources
4.                   
Narrow the subject
5.                   
Select your topic
6.                   
Form leading research questions
Week 2
8/31
7.                   
Formulate working thesis
r Narrowing Your Topic
r Surveying Your Topic
r Narrow your topic ideas to 2 options with 4 leading questions for each.

Types of Sentences
8.                   
Make research plan
9.                   
Write proposal
10.               
Brainstorm/Cluster/Free-write
Week 3
9/7
11.               
Find sources (print & electronic)
r CL:  Evaluating Your Own Topic
r Interest Paper
Phrases, Pt. 1
12.               
Evaluate sources
13.               
Prepare working bibliography
Week 4
9/14
14.               
Research & take notes
r Evaluating Sources
r Evaluating Online Sources
r Practice Creating Note Cards
r Practice Creating Bibliography Cards
r Research Proposal
Phrases, Pt. 2
15.               
Paraphrase, summarize, quote sources
16.               
Organize information
17.               
Make a running/ informal outline
Week 5
9/21
18.               
Develop detailed outline
r CL:  Evaluating Your Own Note Cards
r Writing Your Own Thesis Statement
r Evaluating Sample Thesis Statements
r Informal outline
Clauses, Pt. 1

19.               
Write first draft #1
Week 6
9/28
20.               
Prepare works cited in MLA style
r Creating an Outline
r Evaluating a Sample Outline
r Evaluating Sample Introductions
r Evaluating Sample Approaches
r Detailed outline
Clauses, Pt. 2
21.               
First draft of presentation plan
Week 7
10/5
22.               
Peer edit

r Rough Draft #1
Coordination and Subordination
Week 8
10/12
23.               
Revise rough draft #1
r CL:  Evaluating and Editing Your Own Paper

r Works Cited draft #1
r Peer Edit
Parallel Structure
Week 9
10/26
24.               
Finalize presentation plans
r Evaluating Your Draft

r Initial Presentation plan
Agreement:  Subject/Verb
25.               
Prepare visuals for presentation
26.               
Rough Draft #2
Week 10
11/2
27.               
Finalize works cited page
TBD
r Rough Draft #2
r Final presentation plan;
Agreement:  Noun/Pronoun
Week 11
11/9
28.               
Proofread
TBD
r Works cited draft #2

Punctuation & Capitalization
Week 12
11/16

Proofread
TBD
r Rough Draft #3 (opt)
Sentence Combining
Week 13, 14, 15
11/30, 12/7, 12/14
29.               
Presentation

r Presentations
r Final Draft
Sentence Combining
30.               
Final Draft

* Most of the worksheets are from the Glencoe/McGraw Hill book, Research Paper and Report Writing Grades 9 – 12 (http://www.glencoe.com/sites/common_assets/workbooks/language_arts/rprw/912rprw.pdf).  These will be designated by the page number on the worksheet.