Week 2: Verbs rule!

EEL families,

Greetings! What wonderful children you are raising! The energy today inspired me (and overwhelmed me -- 18 students is A LOT, even if that is a banned word...). I admire teachers who manage 30 students at a time day after day and actually accomplish something! Whew!

During our 45 minutes of EEL, we focused on verbs. Specifically, we introduced Week 2 memory work and zeroed in on

• the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs,


• the idea that verbs have "person" (1st, 2nd and 3rd),


• the idea that verbs have "number" (singular and plural),


• and the idea that verbs tell time (or tense -- past, present, future).

We also touched briefly on the irregular verbs chart (D), much of which the students will begin memorizing in Foundations shortly.

At home, spend time talking about these basic verb characteristics and discovering whether you can find verbs together in sentences. Choose a piece of literature you both enjoy, pick a paragraph, and start searching for verbs. For beginners, choose a piece of writing with simple sentence structures. For the more advanced students, select something more complex. By the end of the week, challenge yourselves with more difficult material. As you find the verbs, begin asking

• Is this a transitive or intransitive verb?


• Is it 1st, 2nd or 3rd person?


• Is it singular or plural?


• Is it expressing past, present, or future tense?


• Can I find a sentence where my main verb has a helping verb?

Use the basics of your verbs chart (C) and last week's chart (A) to help launch these conversations and review your memory work. But remember, we will revisit verbs every single week all year long, so we have plenty of time to delve more deeply into the finer details.

If you're feeling really brave, flip the idea around and work with your student to write a few basic sentences with verbs of choice. For instance, an example of a 2nd person singular, intransitive, past tense verb would be "You played." Not as difficult as it sounds, is it? Have fun with it! Language can be delightful if we approach it with wonder.

Speaking of delight and wonder, the kids chose superb quality adjectives and other words to describe America in their IEW poems. After hearing them read aloud today, I am anticipating a fantastic year of writing! Their assignment this week is another poem. The structure assigns writing about either Native Americans or European explorers; the style hones in on strong verbs and -ly words. We discussed the lesson during class. At home, you'll want to

• Brainstorm verbs and possibly begin a rough draft on Wednesday;


• Finish the rough draft, including -ly words, Thursday;


• Revise and polish Friday;


• Write or type the final, illustrate it, complete the checklist and practice reading aloud on Monday;


• Bring it to class on Tuesday with your checklist attached and name on it!

Looking forward to Tuesday!

Mrs. Erin