Aug. 7, 2012 What can we do to help them understand? Robbie Faulkner “Grammar Made Easy” by Harriett Stoker and Tammy Crouch Adapted from Robbie’s presentation

 start with nouns, verbs, noun markers—articles (K-2) ( students don’t have to know it to be introduced to it.)  “When I see an article, I know a noun is coming.”  start with prepositions (3 rd )  article, adjective, noun (3-8 th )  Skills become progressively complex

 Words that are ALWAYS verbs  Words that are ALWAYS adverbs- too, quite, very, always, never, not, almost) (a quote they use “not is not a verb, never is never a verb…they are both adverbs!”)  Questions that only adverbs answer- (Harriett starts this with, “When I say adverb, you say…” students quote-”how, when, where, why, and to what extent.”  Questions that only adjectives answer- Harriett starts this with, “What are the questions that only an adjective answers?” and students quote, “What kind, which one and how many?”  6 functions of a noun or pronoun- subject, direct object, indirect object, object of preposition, predicate nominative, appositive  Harriett gives students list of pronouns  Common/proper nouns (be able to list these)

 Prepositions- (use Preposition Bingo-first day of school, monthly, and give students a list of prepositions that they are quizzed on and allowed to use any other time throughout the year)  “When I see an article, I know a noun is coming.”  “article, adjective, noun” is another article/noun pattern  Every preposition must have an object (quote it often)  “I know that the object of the preposition is either a ____ or a ____.” **students say noun/pronoun and identify it… I ask “How did you know?”  “The peace sign”( 98% of the time the verb phrase splits with the subject in the middle)  lots of adverbs end in –ly  functions (what are things noun/pronoun can do?) **create your own schedule to address your needs

Why do we put prepositional phrases in jail? Because they give us trouble, may cause us to pick the wrong subject Say hello to linking verbs: (they have to LINK) For vivid writing, Harriett uses a triangle type of writing: flowers The flowers The dancing flowers The dancing field of flowers The boy ran. The cute boy ran quickly. The cute little boy ran quickly. The cute little boy ran quickly down the road.

Harriett gives students a “Pronoun Study Sheet” that contains the information from the next 3 slides: What is a pronoun? o A pronoun is a word used in the place of a noun.  The word the pronoun refers to is called the antecedent  I, he, she, we, they, it, you, me, him, her, us, them are commonly used pronouns Types of pronouns: Personal Pronouns o A personal pronoun refers to:  First Person (the one speaking)-  I, me, my, mine, we, us, our, ours  Second Person (the one spoken to)-  you, your, yours  Third Person (the one spoken about)-  he, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its, they, them, their, theirs

Reflexive Pronouns o A reflexive pronoun refers to the subject and functions as a complement or an object of a preposition  First Person-  myself, ourselves  Second Person-  yourself, yourselves  Third Person-  himself, herself, itself, themselves Intensive Pronouns o An intensive pronoun emphasize a noun or another pronoun  First Person-  myself, ourselves  Second Person-  yourself, yourselves  Third Person-  himself, herself, itself, themselves

Demonstrative Pronouns o A demonstrative pronoun points out a person, a place, a thing, or an idea.  this, that, these, those Interrogative Pronouns o An interrogative pronoun introduces a question  what, which, who, whom, whose Relative Pronouns o A relative pronoun introduces a subordinate clause  that, which, who, whom, whose Indefinite Pronouns o An indefinite pronoun refers to a person, a place, or an idea that may or may not be specifically named allbotheverythingneitherother anothereachfewnobodyseveral anyeach othermanynonesome anybodyeithermoreno othersomebody anyoneeverybodymostnothingsomeone anythingeveryonemuchonesomething

Harriett has the students write, on the back of their tests: (about whatever skill they have covered and should know…) 1. sentence with interjection and punctuate correctly 1. write adjective/noun 1. a gerund phrase 2. an infinitive clause, phrase Why put prepositional phrases in jail? Harriett has them to list on their paper, when writing, (at top of paper)what she expects to see: figurative language vivid description adjective/noun, etc. Harriett always tells them before hand that they are going to be seeing new skills. Follow-up workshop is possible– just