Announcements
If you have not yet paid for checklist copies, please bring $6 with you next week. Thanks!
Class Overview
We introduced the imperative sentence with the understood you. We practiced changing declarative sentences into imperative sentences. For instance, Miss Zielny speaks, becomes, Speak. The colossal toddler stomped on an unsuspecting ant, became, Stomp! or rather Don't Stomp if you prefer.
From the imperative sentence, we moved on to interjections. We talked about how the interjection is not really part of the grammar of a sentence, except to add emotion. I explained that if we use an exclamation point after an interjection, it demands more emotion than a plain comma after an interjection.
Finally, we launched into the task sheet. You will be using this tool throughout the rest of the year. Either make copies and have your student "task" sentences in pencil and then move on to another sentence with another task sheet, or slip the task sheet into a page protector and use dry erase or vis-a-vis.
Assignments
Grammar (Drill Section)
Review memory work through week 4 and charts A-F.
Dialectic (Understanding Section)
Practice changing some declarative sentences into imperative.
Add an interjections to the beginning of a sentence.
Task Sheets
First year students: try tasks 1-2, then 3-4 if you and your student are comfortable. Remember that writing a dictated sentence is a huge skill to undertake. Then checking spelling and the elements of a sentence can be exhausting. If 1-2 overwhelms, know that you are still in a good place. Be willing to gauge where your child is and work with him at that level. There will be much more time to move deeper in this curriculum. (No crying in Essentials).
Second and third year students: Take on the task sheet! If you have never done task 5, try it. Dust out the cobweb build-up from summer and rewrite those sentences according to purpose, structure, and with modifiers. Third year kids, even tackle the active and passive voice element.
Remember that task #6 is the Quid et Quo tool.
Suggested sentences are in the checklists as well as in the back of the mom folder that we handed out at orientation.
Here are a few in increasing difficulty:
Mom laughed.
Time flew.
Hope soared.
Wow! You won.
Dance.
Ryan and Andrew aimed carefully at the target.
A colossal toddler stomped an an unsuspecting ant.
Oh my goodness! Because the baby didn't know better, she sharply yanked my hair and spit up on my silk shirt.
Wow! If you task the last sentence, please bring it in for me to see!
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Week 3: Nouns and Avoiding Repetition
Announcements:
Next week during the first hour of Foundations, Tina and I will be available in the sanctuary for Q and A about Essentials. If you are overwhelmed or confused, or just need a bit of clarification, please come. For those who cannot be there due to tutoring, please talk with us and we will gladly set up another time to meet.
Class Focus:
Overview of nouns and pronouns (charts E, F)
Explanation of two of the sentence purposes, declarative and exclamatory
Introduction of Grammar Rule #12a,b (pronoun rules)
These are from the gray sheets at the back of the student binder that are not page protected.
Memory Work (Grammar)
Remember that this is the foundation of Essentials. Do this if you do nothing else. This is where first year students live, before diving any deeper into understanding.
1) Review: Charts A, and C, (Sentence Classification, Verbs) or alternate between charts and weekly memory work (flashcards).
2) Introduce and drill charts E and F ( Nouns, Pronouns).
Remember only to go as deep as your child is ready.
Young, first year students don't have to go further than chart A and the main definitions at the top of charts C, E, and F. Anything more is gravy.
Second and third year students should be filling in much more of each chart, at lease major divisions and subdivisions, if not details. Review those pronoun songs (on blog sidebar, http://essentialsofgreensboro.blogspot.com) to practice the types of pronouns: Nominative, objective, possessive, reflexive, relative, demonstrative, interrogative, and indefinite.
Understanding (Dialectic)
1) Usage
In class, we discussed that nouns and pronouns perform different roles, or have usage, in a sentence. The role that the students need to comprehend during these first weeks is the "subject" role. The student should be able to identify a noun or pronoun used as a subject. They should also be able to identify other nouns or pronouns in a sentence, though not necessarily the function of that noun or pronoun. For example,
It remains her pride and joy.
I expect students to know that both "It" and "her" are pronouns and that "It" is used as the subject of the sentence. I do not expect the students to know that "her" is used as a possessive pronoun adjective, describing a predicate nominative phrase (unless they are second or third year students, in which case, they need to dust off the cobwebs that crowded in there during the summer and dive right in).
2) Type
Noun types are fun. Banter about the difference between proper and common, concrete and abstract. Come up with examples of collective and compound nouns.
Trick for remembering difference between concrete and abstract.
When you go to the art museum, you can touch the concrete floor, but you can't touch the abstract art.
Pronoun types aren't nearly as fun. They fall into the memory work category. They eventually need to be drilled, but you don't have to worry about this yet.
3) Number
We touched on the difference between singular and plural. Talk about this concept and ask your student to identify whether a word in a sentence is singular or plural.
4) Gender
They came up with male and female in class, but neuter was a foreign concept to some. You can point to objects in a room and explain that the paper, the window and the bookshelf are neuter. Good vocabulary word to introduce!
5) Case (Moms, unless your child is a third year student, this is only for you to understand.)
In the second class, I completely forgot what case was. In an effort to demonstrate that your tutor is learning right along with you, I'll give a synopsis of my findings (pp. 46-47 in EEL guide).
Nominative or subjective case includes pronouns used as the subject.
I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they can all be used as subjects. Me or him could not be subjects. They belong to the
Objective case (used as direct objects, indirect objects, objects of the preposition, or object complement nouns).
Possessive case refers to pronouns used as possessive noun adjectives
Other usages are appositive and nouns of direct address.
Have fun talking about all these subjects this week. Next week we introduce the task sheet! Fun!
Next week during the first hour of Foundations, Tina and I will be available in the sanctuary for Q and A about Essentials. If you are overwhelmed or confused, or just need a bit of clarification, please come. For those who cannot be there due to tutoring, please talk with us and we will gladly set up another time to meet.
Class Focus:
Overview of nouns and pronouns (charts E, F)
Explanation of two of the sentence purposes, declarative and exclamatory
Introduction of Grammar Rule #12a,b (pronoun rules)
These are from the gray sheets at the back of the student binder that are not page protected.
Memory Work (Grammar)
Remember that this is the foundation of Essentials. Do this if you do nothing else. This is where first year students live, before diving any deeper into understanding.
1) Review: Charts A, and C, (Sentence Classification, Verbs) or alternate between charts and weekly memory work (flashcards).
2) Introduce and drill charts E and F ( Nouns, Pronouns).
Remember only to go as deep as your child is ready.
Young, first year students don't have to go further than chart A and the main definitions at the top of charts C, E, and F. Anything more is gravy.
Second and third year students should be filling in much more of each chart, at lease major divisions and subdivisions, if not details. Review those pronoun songs (on blog sidebar, http://essentialsofgreensboro.blogspot.com) to practice the types of pronouns: Nominative, objective, possessive, reflexive, relative, demonstrative, interrogative, and indefinite.
Understanding (Dialectic)
1) Usage
In class, we discussed that nouns and pronouns perform different roles, or have usage, in a sentence. The role that the students need to comprehend during these first weeks is the "subject" role. The student should be able to identify a noun or pronoun used as a subject. They should also be able to identify other nouns or pronouns in a sentence, though not necessarily the function of that noun or pronoun. For example,
It remains her pride and joy.
I expect students to know that both "It" and "her" are pronouns and that "It" is used as the subject of the sentence. I do not expect the students to know that "her" is used as a possessive pronoun adjective, describing a predicate nominative phrase (unless they are second or third year students, in which case, they need to dust off the cobwebs that crowded in there during the summer and dive right in).
2) Type
Noun types are fun. Banter about the difference between proper and common, concrete and abstract. Come up with examples of collective and compound nouns.
Trick for remembering difference between concrete and abstract.
When you go to the art museum, you can touch the concrete floor, but you can't touch the abstract art.
Pronoun types aren't nearly as fun. They fall into the memory work category. They eventually need to be drilled, but you don't have to worry about this yet.
3) Number
We touched on the difference between singular and plural. Talk about this concept and ask your student to identify whether a word in a sentence is singular or plural.
4) Gender
They came up with male and female in class, but neuter was a foreign concept to some. You can point to objects in a room and explain that the paper, the window and the bookshelf are neuter. Good vocabulary word to introduce!
5) Case (Moms, unless your child is a third year student, this is only for you to understand.)
In the second class, I completely forgot what case was. In an effort to demonstrate that your tutor is learning right along with you, I'll give a synopsis of my findings (pp. 46-47 in EEL guide).
There is debate among grammarians concerning the English language truly having noun cases. The notion of a case of noun is derived from Latin, where nouns change their form (or endings) to reflect the role (e.g., family) that noun is playing in a sentence. In the English language, our nouns do not change endings, or form, to reflect their role in a sentence. Rather, a particular noun's role is determined more by word order, according to where the word is located in a sentence.So, in English, case refers to a noun's place in a sentence, or it's job, as demonstrated by the form it takes.
Nominative or subjective case includes pronouns used as the subject.
I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they can all be used as subjects. Me or him could not be subjects. They belong to the
Objective case (used as direct objects, indirect objects, objects of the preposition, or object complement nouns).
Possessive case refers to pronouns used as possessive noun adjectives
Other usages are appositive and nouns of direct address.
Have fun talking about all these subjects this week. Next week we introduce the task sheet! Fun!
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Checklists, Instructions and Encouragement
I wanted to spell out the instructions I gave you for the checklists that most of you picked up on Tuesday.
There were 4 piles of paper
1. Checklists: consist of the main bulk of the copies (largest pile of papers)--These are the student pages.
2. Essentials Editing Exercises: These are numbered 1-12 and are two sided. Please collate these work pages with the student checklist. Each page (numbered by appropriate week) needs to be placed at the back of each week's first lesson (Wednesday).
3. Answer Keys: this packet contains all the Our Mother Tongue lesson answers as well as the forum sentences, parsed and diagrammed. This packet is intended for teacher use.
4. Synopsis Pages: this packet starts with the Forum Sentence synopsis, and also includes capitalization and punctuation rules overview, spelling rules overview, and all the optional vocabulary quizzes that go along with IEW vocabulary.
If you are overwhelmed by this resource and it doesn't contribute to peace of mind, please set it aside for a while and try it later, after further understanding makes it comfortable or when you get your sea legs with Essentials.
If you're overwhelmed, please revert to memory work only. Remember that the first couple of weeks are heavy for memory work, but pretty soon it will settle down to a reasonable pace. Also, understand that the memory work needs to be introduced right away, but that mastery will take some time. Be patient with yourself. If you feel tempted to cry, please breathe and scale back. Feel free to email me or call if you need a lifeline or need to understand how to scale back. Three quarters of the battle with Essentials is understanding how to approach it.
Have a blessed week everyone!
There were 4 piles of paper
1. Checklists: consist of the main bulk of the copies (largest pile of papers)--These are the student pages.
2. Essentials Editing Exercises: These are numbered 1-12 and are two sided. Please collate these work pages with the student checklist. Each page (numbered by appropriate week) needs to be placed at the back of each week's first lesson (Wednesday).
3. Answer Keys: this packet contains all the Our Mother Tongue lesson answers as well as the forum sentences, parsed and diagrammed. This packet is intended for teacher use.
4. Synopsis Pages: this packet starts with the Forum Sentence synopsis, and also includes capitalization and punctuation rules overview, spelling rules overview, and all the optional vocabulary quizzes that go along with IEW vocabulary.
If you are overwhelmed by this resource and it doesn't contribute to peace of mind, please set it aside for a while and try it later, after further understanding makes it comfortable or when you get your sea legs with Essentials.
If you're overwhelmed, please revert to memory work only. Remember that the first couple of weeks are heavy for memory work, but pretty soon it will settle down to a reasonable pace. Also, understand that the memory work needs to be introduced right away, but that mastery will take some time. Be patient with yourself. If you feel tempted to cry, please breathe and scale back. Feel free to email me or call if you need a lifeline or need to understand how to scale back. Three quarters of the battle with Essentials is understanding how to approach it.
Have a blessed week everyone!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Week 2: Vivacious Verbs
This week we did a big overview of Verbs. There is no crying in Essentials, but I know
that the overview weeks right at the beginning can overwhelm. Please hang in there. We will be slowing down and taking individual
bites of the proverbial elephant very soon.
Also, I want to remind you that there is a lot of memory work at the
beginning (first two-three weeks) and
then it levels off to a sustainable pace.
Assignments this week:
Memory Work (Grammar)
On the checklists, this is the “Drill” part.
First year students: Practice chart A again and work on the
definition of a verb (gray bar at top of chart C or in memory work). Cover week two memory work. Kids, use those flashcards!
Second year students: Practice chart A (Sentence
Classifications) on a blank sheet of paper.
Practice copying chart C (Verbs) using the blank chart C. Fill in as much as you can. Make sure you know the verb types, attributes,
and tense (made of a combination of time and form).
Third year students: Practice writing out charts A and C on
a blank sheet of paper.
Understanding (Dialectic)
For those of you using the checklists, this is the “Do”
section.
I covered compound subjects and compound verbs in
class. Please go over some examples of
these at home.
Also, I introduced intransitive and transitive verbs. Feel free to review this, but we will revisit
this in a few weeks, so don’t feel that you have to get this yet. I just wanted to put this on your radar.
For first year students using the checklists, please
disregard the Task Sheet check box. Just
take the designated sentences and dictate and check for spelling, punctuation,
and the five elements that make up a sentence (from chart A).
Second and third year students, dust off those Task Sheets
and get to it. The checklists start Quid
et Quo on week 5!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Week 1: Students start!
Students start!
Simple
Exclamatory
S/Vi
And an alliteration
Announcements this week:
1. Checklists: This week's checklists will come to you in electronic form because I failed to get the copies made (store was closed on Saturday of Labor Day weekend). If you are a second or third year Essentials student, go ahead and use the emailed checklist. If you are a first year Essentials student, please put the checklist on the shelf for the first couple of weeks and just work on the memory work. If you haven't already paid me, please bring $6 next week for your checklist workbook.
2. Blog: Please subscribe to this blog and Mrs. Gaines' blog. That way, each post will be delivered to your inbox once per day. Because Feedburner delivers only once per day, there may be delay. If I have posted, it will be immediately available on the blog, but might not be delivered to your email yet. If you are anxiously awaiting my next entry because you love this blog so much, you can always go directly to the blog. : ) Another advantage to going directly to the blog is that there are helpful links and grammar songs in the sidebar.
Assignments this week:
Memory Work (Grammar)
First Year Students: copy chart A, looking back and forth between the master and blank, and then take out a blank sheet of paper and see how much you can remember. To mix it up, use the memory work flashcards to drill--only study week 1. Work on writing out chart A every day this week.
Veteran Students: get to the place where you can take out a blank sheet of paper and write out the Sentence Classification Chart (Chart A) with ease. You already know this information: now master it.
Understanding (Dialectic)
1. Subjects/verbs
Moms, make sure your child has an understanding of subjects and verbs and has the ability to identify them in a simple sentence. You can cover compound subjects and implied subjects (those imperative sentences have implied "you" as their subject every time) if you want to. I will hit these next week.
Also, you can refer to chart B (112 Model Sentences-Simple) for examples of how the simple sentence can be configured to make all 7 sentence patterns.
2. Checklist (veteran students only)
Follow the checklist for a thorough review of week one. This will lead you through a "drill" portion and a "do" portion. The "do" portion is the dialectic part.
Simple
Exclamatory
S/Vi
And an alliteration
Announcements this week:
1. Checklists: This week's checklists will come to you in electronic form because I failed to get the copies made (store was closed on Saturday of Labor Day weekend). If you are a second or third year Essentials student, go ahead and use the emailed checklist. If you are a first year Essentials student, please put the checklist on the shelf for the first couple of weeks and just work on the memory work. If you haven't already paid me, please bring $6 next week for your checklist workbook.
2. Blog: Please subscribe to this blog and Mrs. Gaines' blog. That way, each post will be delivered to your inbox once per day. Because Feedburner delivers only once per day, there may be delay. If I have posted, it will be immediately available on the blog, but might not be delivered to your email yet. If you are anxiously awaiting my next entry because you love this blog so much, you can always go directly to the blog. : ) Another advantage to going directly to the blog is that there are helpful links and grammar songs in the sidebar.
Assignments this week:
Memory Work (Grammar)
First Year Students: copy chart A, looking back and forth between the master and blank, and then take out a blank sheet of paper and see how much you can remember. To mix it up, use the memory work flashcards to drill--only study week 1. Work on writing out chart A every day this week.
Veteran Students: get to the place where you can take out a blank sheet of paper and write out the Sentence Classification Chart (Chart A) with ease. You already know this information: now master it.
Understanding (Dialectic)
1. Subjects/verbs
Moms, make sure your child has an understanding of subjects and verbs and has the ability to identify them in a simple sentence. You can cover compound subjects and implied subjects (those imperative sentences have implied "you" as their subject every time) if you want to. I will hit these next week.
Also, you can refer to chart B (112 Model Sentences-Simple) for examples of how the simple sentence can be configured to make all 7 sentence patterns.
2. Checklist (veteran students only)
Follow the checklist for a thorough review of week one. This will lead you through a "drill" portion and a "do" portion. The "do" portion is the dialectic part.
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