Painting with Participles

 A form of a verb that can function independently as an adjective.

 “Hissing their forked red tongues and coiling their cold bodies, the diamond- scaled snakes attacked their prey.”  Twisting her corpse colored body and screaming her half-eaten head off, Kim slowly became a day fearing zombie.

 Find a Partner  Partner 1: get a pen and paper  Partner 2: do two actions (ex. scream like a girl and spell your name with your hips)  Partner 1: write down descriptive words about your partners actions  Switch roles

 Return to your seats  Using the descriptions you wrote down, compose a participle sentence to describe what you saw.  ex. Screaming like a deranged monkey and dancing without a bit of rhythm, Kim tried to get her class to understand participles.

 Hold your number  Find the corresponding number on the blacktop  Do the task I yell out (ex. run to the finish line while scratching your head and waving your arms) and return to the start line  Sit down  Wait for all group members finish the task and return to start line.  The team with all members sitting first is the winner

 Using participles, write a sentence describing your participation in the race.  Share your sentence with your group.  Give feedback to others in the group.  All group members must have a correct sentence to advance to the next race.

 Find eight sentences in chapter two of your novella you would like to improve  Change the structure to reflect the participle sentence style.  Highlight these sentences on your next typed draft. note: these sentences will be used to measure your mastery of essential skill 1: Sentence Structure

 “Hissing, slithering, and coiling, the diamond- scaled snakes attacked their prey.”  “Flying through the air on the wings of a dream, the Olympic long jumper thrust the weight of his whole body forward” (Cathleen Conry).  "Their hair in curlers and their heads wrapped in loud scarves, young mothers, fattish in trousers, lounge about in the speed-wash, smoking cigarettes, eating candy, drinking pop, thumbing magazines, and screaming at their children above the whir and rumble of the machines." (William Gass, "In the Heart of the Heart of the Country")William Gass