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.

Writing 3 Classroom Policies (2017)

Classroom Policies

Classroom Conduct

·         As we explore the various aspects of writing, we’ll engage in whole-class and small group discussions.  Be polite and respectful of each other’s time and comments.

·         We only meet once a week and need to make the most of our time.  Come to class prepared and with the appropriate materials (books, notebook, pens, etc.).  Avoid unrelated and unnecessary conversations and activities that will distract us from learning.  Turn off ALL electronic devices.  (They may be confiscated until the end of the CHAT school day.)

Communication

·         Weekly updates that include the material covered and upcoming assignments will be sent to the e-mail addresses that parents submitted when registering for the class.  I will also collect e-mail addresses from students.  I prefer to communicate via e-mail, but can be reached on my cell phone if the concern is urgent.  (507/581-0270)

·         I’m using two more on-line resources in addition to the e-mails: a blog and a document storage site, Dropbox.  Here’s how they will work:

–  Writing 3 – www.chatwriting3.blogspot.com.  The blog entries will contain the same information from the e-mail updates.  I’m hoping these entries will serve as a consolidation and reference for our weekly lessons for the semester.  Hopefully we can avoid forgotten assignments or missing e-mails.

–  Google Drive –Most of the handouts will be available on a shared folder in Google Drive either as Word documents or PDF files.  Parents and students will receive an e-mail and be invited to view the “Writing 3” folder.  These documents can be downloaded and printed from home computers.

–  MyGradeBook – www.mygradebook.com. This is an online grade book on which I will enter the grades and scores for completed assignments.  Parents and students can log in to check progress.  Note:  Scores may not be immediately added to the website; feel free to contact me for any questions.

–  Note:  I prefer to receive assignments as attachments to e-mails or shared as a Google document.

Grading

·         This class is concerned with both the process of writing a research paper and the resulting final product.  The assignments are incremental steps of the process and should be handed in on-time.  These assignments can be handed in at class time (Thursday afternoon) or by midnight on the following Sunday and not be considered late.  Late assignments will not only receive a reduced score, but could hinder the student’s progress.

·         We will do some in-class grammar and vocabulary work and some outside homework will be given.

·         Accumulating points is the NOT an important aspect of this class.  My goal is that students grow as learners and writers; this is not always reflected in classroom points.  However, points are a helpful indicator of diligence, improvement, and, to some extent, quality.

·         Points will be given for the following activities:

– Participation – 5 pt. /day.  This includes good attitudes, helpful comments in the discussions, respect of others, Quick Writes, and College Essays.

– Assigned steps of the process – 5 to 10 pt., depending on the assignment with a reduction in points for late work.

– Final paper & presentation – 200 points divided into the following categories:  Format, Mechanics, Organization, Content, Thesis/Position, and Presentation.

– The students have been given a Rubric (scoring guide) for the research paper.

·         The students have packets of weekly handouts explaining the various steps in writing a research paper.  Occasionally they will need to do more reading in their handbooks or online.

·         Writing a research paper is an involved process to which each student will respond according to his/her personality and learning style.  I’m aware that analytical thinkers will love the step by step process and global thinkers will find it more challenging.  An important goal of this class is that students would become more aware of themselves as learners, researchers and writers.  This self-awareness will help them immensely in further areas of study.

Welcome to Writing 3, 2017

Greetings Parents!

Registrations are coming in, and Kim Nelson has sent out updated class rosters to the tutors.  I'm excited to see this class fill up with familiar and new faces. For those who are new to my classes, I will use e-mails and this blog, Writing 3,  to keep parents and students informed and connected.  If you are curious about the class, feel free to peruse past blog posts, especially the Weekly Class Notes.

No book purchases are required for this class.  I have writing handbooks/manuals for the students to use for the semester that will help them with the format for their papers.  Your supply fee for the class is to cover the multitude of handouts that I have for them that will guide them through the writing process.

The only items your student needs to bring to class, along with some paper and a pen/pencil, is a notebook or folder to keep track of assignments, handouts, worksheets, and class notes.  In the past, I've used Dropbox as storage for handouts for the class.  This year I am using Google Docs.  Shortly, you will receive an invitation to join the shared Google Docs folder with all of the study guides, handouts, worksheets, etc.

I also use My GradeBook, an online gradebook, for keeping track of assignments and grades.  You will be getting a link to that account also. 

Looking forward to the Fall classes!

Tammy Prichard