Engaging Grammar: Practical Advice for Real Classrooms Presented by Amy Benjamin www.amybenjamin.com Part Five: On Your Feet! “ I’ve never known a person who wasn’t interested in language.” -Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct

Grammar on Your Feet: The “Word Cards” may be used to establish the same concepts as the “Reading Rods.” Other uses: Act out the “reversibility” of adjectives: If two adjectives can exchange places, then you DO need a comma between them; if not, then you DON’T. (AWESOME, FUZZY) Act out the movability of adverbs (YESTERDAY, TODAY) and prepositional phrases (AT NIGHT, IN THE POND) 3.Act out the partnership between the subject and the verb. 4. Act out what happens when two clauses (subject-verb partnerships) combine to make a compound sentence. (THE HANDSOME PRINCE APPEARED, (AND, BUT, SO) THE PRINCESS RAN AWAY.

Use Post-It Notes for necessary additions and deletions (editing). Grammar on Your Feet: The “Word Cards” may be used to establish the same concepts as the “Reading Rods.” Other uses: Act out the fact that modifiers, though important, do not form the core of the sentence (ask modifiers to sit down). Act out the difference between an intransitive verb (verb that does not need a direct object: WADDLE) and a transitive verb (verb that needs or wants a direct object: WANT, LIKE). 7. Act out the concept that singular countable nouns (PANDA) require a noun marker (THE). Non-countable nouns (MUD) and plurals (PENGUINS) do not require noun markers. 8. Use YESTERDAY and TODAY to locate the verb: the word that changes when you change the “time zone” is the verb. 9. Use SOMETHING to illustrate that a pronoun replaces the noun + its modifiers, not just the noun.

Index of Word Cards for Grammar on your Feet Independent Clauses (PINK): A handsome prince appeared The princess ran away Verbs (YELLOW): waddle, fly (intransitive) like, want (transitive) Nouns (GREEN): panda, monkey (countable) penguins, birds (countable, plural) mud (non-countable) Adjectives (RED): awesome, fuzzy Adverbs (ORANGE): yesterday, today Prepositional phrases (ORANGE): in the pond, at night Conjunctions: (BLUE), but, so Conjunctive adverbs (PURPLE): moreover, furthermore; however; therefore Noun marker: (RED) the Punctuation: (WHITE) period, comma, semicolon S (for plural nouns and singular third person verb form

a handsome prince appeared This is an independent clause: It can stand alone as a complete sentence.

the princess ran away This is an independent clause: It can stand alone as a complete sentence.

penguins This is a count noun: It takes S to make it plural

waddle This is an intransitive verb: It does not want a direct object.

,and ,but ,so These are the most common coordinating conjunctions: Along with a comma, they can join two independent clauses to create a compound sentences. Most professional writers begin sentences with coordinating conjunctions FOR EMPHASIS. Many teachers do not want you to begin sentences with coordinating conjunctions. Follow your teacher’s expectations.

the This is the most common noun marker: When you see this word, expect a noun structure (single noun, noun phrase, or noun clause.

s When S is added to a word, it could mean: Plural form of a noun Singular form of a verb, to match the third person singular subject With apostrophe, possessive form of a noun

in the pond This is a prepositional phrase: It gives “where” information.

at night This is a prepositional phrase: It gives “when” information.

awesome This is an adjective: It answers the question WHAT KIND?

fuzzy This is an adjective: It answers the question WHAT KIND?

today This word will help you locate the verb. This is an adverb: It answers one of these questions: WHEN? WHERE? WHY? HOW? TO WHAT EXTENT? HOW OFTEN?

yesterday This word will help you locate the verb. This is an adverb: It answers one of these questions: WHEN? WHERE? WHY? HOW? TO WHAT EXTENT? HOW OFTEN?

mud This is a npn-count noun: It doesn’t like to add S to make it plural

panda This is a count noun: It takes S to form the plural.

monkey This is a count noun: It takes S to form the plural.

birds This is a count noun: It takes S to form the plural.

want This is a transitive verb: It wants a direct object.

like This is a transitive verb: It wants a direct object.

fly This is an in transitive verb: It does not direct object.

Something This is how you can tell where a nominal beings and ends. (By a nominal, we mean a noun, a noun phrase, or a noun clause.

moreover furthermore however therefore These are conjunctive adverbs: They can easily begin sentences. With commas around them, they can move within their own clauses. They CANNOT join two independent clauses UNLESS you also have a semicolon (not a comma).