Mini Lesson 18: Not only, but also...

Mini Lesson #18:

Not only, but also/ Neither, nor/ Either, or

Audience: 10th graders

Engage: Gain the students attention with a PowerPoint presentation and some humor. Making them take a pre-test and a after test, to see if they know, their grammar.

Explore: Students will learn when to use, Not only, but also/ Neither, nor/ Either, or, in the right context.

Explain: I will explain to the students the rules of each of the conjunctions. Showing them when to use which one.

Expand: Students will then use their knowledge of the conjunctions in a quiz provided for them.

Evaluate: At the end of class students will take a quiz to see if the material is understood.

E-search: For homework the students will take an online quiz at:
http://www.grammar_quizzes.com/conj-paired.html


by: Lara NP

"History: Middle Ages"

The Middle Ages also referred to as the "Medieval era", was a period of time in which grammar was evolved but not fully understood. During this period, Latin Grammar was the primary focus for medieval scholars.

As Latin rose during this time, it soon became a very important language needed in society. During The Middle Ages children used instructional methods including Latin, and Colloquium, better known as "Conversations". As time passed, scholars focused more on English speakers; there was an increase in interest among them. One contribution made during this period was known as "speculative grammar", a belief that language referred to the many things in the world. A person could then relate a "word" to something similar in society. Most people were concerned with questions like; "How do words match mental perceptions of things?"

An important representative during this time was Thomas of Erfurt's. This German scholar theorized several ideas. One idea was that a word should coincide with other adjacent words. Typically, the word order in a sentence would follow a "subject object verb" agreement. Latin is very flexible when choosing the order of words in a sentence.

Overall, Latin is an important aspect to The Middle Ages. A lot of information has been obtained regarding its use and structure. Today, a lot of what people inquire in their own language, has some similarities to other languages. Latin is an important contribution to grammar.

Mini Lesson "The Dash"

Audience= 5th grade students

1. E (engage): Gaining the students attention with humor and power point presentation. The students will be asked questions to determine their knowledge of the dash.

2. E (explore): The students will learn what dashes are and why they are used.

3. E (explain): I will explain the rules and exceptions of using the dash.

4. E (expand): The students will apply what they have learned with the examples sentences provided.

5. E (evaluate): The students will take a brief quiz in class to determine if the material is understood.

6. E (e-search): The students will be given an online quiz as homework.

Homework: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/cgi-shl/quiz.pl/punct_quiz.htm

Blog Summary 17: Grammar Without Grammar

The responses are due on Monday, March 30th, at class time.
____________________________________

by Julia Longueville

All of us from time to time have wondered why we need to know the rules of grammar. While proper sentence structure and grammar are important for good writing, is it really necessary to know the names of prepositions, subjects, adjectives, etc? While some people believe that these terms are important for communicating about writing, the author of “Grammar Without Grammar,” has her doubts.

This particular teacher started out being forced to teach grammar. Her students did not grasp it well and she even had some bad reviews from the parents about it. They did not understand how learning this information made them into better writers, especially since they were having such a hard time applying this knowledge to their own writing. Throughout the next couple of years, this teacher tried many different methods of grammar instruction, desperate to find something that worked that would help her students! Finally, she found a winner.This teacher, like most good teachers, was mainly focused on making her students’ writing better.

In order to do this and teach proper grammar, she decided to take the drills out of her grammar instruction. She dropped all of the terms. Her main form of grammar instruction was through something called imitation. Sentences from different magazines or novels from the class were taken and one by one put up on the board. The students would be given a moment to analyze these sentences and then were instructed to created a sentence in the same format.

By imitating different styles and sentence patterns, these students began to realize what a more effective sentence looked like. They did this everyday, each time creating more and more types of sentences that they could use in their writing. Sure enough, they began developing more complex sentences and understood what and was not acceptable in sentence structure.This particular teacher believes her tactics of using imitation to be a success. She claims that although her students do not know the terms of grammar they know how to use it.

Is knowing how to use grammar properly in writing the only thing that is important in grammar instruction? Do you think that imitation is an effective tool in teaching grammar? Are old-school grammar drills a thing of the past? How will you teach your students?

Grammar Instruction: What Teachers Say

There has been much debate on the teaching of grammar in schools. Long ago it was thought that grammar had no real bearing on ones writing, but now some would disagree with that assumption. In fact, grammar is an important aspect in ones writing. Without the knowledge of basic grammatical concepts like nouns, verbs, pronouns and punctuation, one would not be able to write correctly. Formerly, an interview was done with twenty-five teachers on their thoughts and views of grammar. Each instructor had their own way of teaching grammar; in fact, almost all the instructors that were interviewed agreed on the best way to help an individual understand the concept of grammar.

Writing can be a difficult task if the proper instruction is not taught. Students do not generally learn how to write given only the basic concepts of grammar. However, some students only write what is heard and not what is actually correct. One stated that the students can't go by what sounds right because they have no good role model. Therefore, the teachers must engage the students in their own writings so that they can see what mistakes they are making.

According to some of the instructors that participated in the interview with Brenda Petruzzella, several instructors felt that the most effective way to teach grammar was through individualized learning. They felt that most students would benefit from grammar if they were shown what mistakes they were making. However, in order to learn grammar one must understand the basic forms of writing like nouns, verbs, punctuation, and more. Amoung the many concepts of approaching grammar, many felt that sentence diagramming and sentence combining would benefit their students. The more and more students practice diagramming typical errors in writing, the easier it can be to pick out their own mistakes.

All in all, students must understand basic concepts so that they can apply these rules to their own writings. Students seem to benefit most with constant peer revision. But, peer revision is not always available since the amount of time that is needed with each student will vary. Practice makes perfect and the more one does something, the better he/she will get. So it is understood that grammar is vitally important to students whether they are going to teach English or not. At some point in their education, correct grammar will be needed so why not take the time to teach the mechanics and usages of it?

Do you feel that grammar is an important part of our education? Do instructors teach grammar effectively?

Slang of Insider Groups: WebQuests

We are going to create a Lesson Plan again; this time focusing on the 6th big E, the E-Search. We will also have a big chunk of Engage and Explore in our Learning Cycle.
________________________________________

Today, we are going to learn a new software tool: WebQuests.

These are meant to be online lesson plans that teachers can use in class, providing their students with links to do research about certain topics. (This is point 6 from our Learning Cycle, the "e-search.") The kids go on a "quest" on www and expand their previous knowledge.

The WebQuests have several different steps the kids have to follow, and they also offer a rubric at the end, so the kids know what they will be graded for. Also, they have a welcome page that explains the topic and what they are going to do.

Our task: WE ARE CREATING A WEBQUEST LESSON PLAN ABOUT THE TOPIC "SLANG."


PROMPT 1:

Read the following 1-page excerpt from the DIARY of a medical intern, written by Perri Klass. In it, she explains how she had to learn a "totally new language" in order to understand the slang of nurses and doctors. It is like a "secret language," so that the patients won't know what is wrong with them when the medical staff talks about them. Beware - some expressions are quite offensive!

PROMPT 2:

Choose a topic from the following list of slang dictionaries (or google your own topic) - it needs to be the special language/dictionary of ONE group of society.

1. soldiers' slang
2. prison slang
3. Cockney Rhyming Slang (London, England)
4. police slang
5. computer slang
6. railroad slang
7. 1920s slang
8. 1960s slang
9. Mountainbike slang
10. Australian slang
11. Death slang
12. Antarcic slang
13. drug slang

or ANY other slang dictionary you want to find on your own!!!
Last semester's students found such interesting slangs as Nadsat (from A Clockwork Orange), skateboarders' slang, etc....

(Attention: AAE is no SLANG! Dialects are no slang, either. Invented languages like Esperanto and Klingon are no forms of slang, either.)

When you have chosen your topic (and your dictionary of a certain slang), you have the FIRST COMPONENT of your WebQuest lesson plan. Here's an overview of all the components you need:

COMPONENTS of WEBQUEST lesson plan:

1. a link to your slang dictionary

2. a welcome page (Intro) that tells the kids (address them; let me know their grade level) what the topic of your lesson is (which group you're talking about)

3. a TASK page that tells the kids what the purpose of your lesson is (why they need to learn about it), and what they will do. This is your "table of content."

4. an assignment page (Process) with e-search assignments (working links!!!) for the kids. Here, you need to tell them how to present their findings (such as, to write down what they researched on a piece of paper, fill in a study guide that you prepare, do a ppt presentation, etc.).

4. a grading rubric



For task 4, the PROCESS, you should have the following components:

3.1 I expect you to define the word SLANG for your students, so they are able to tell the difference between LANGUAGE, SLANG, ACCENT, and DIALECT. If you want, you can define other key terms, such as LINGO or JARGON, too.

You can also make them write down their own definitions, and then let them click on a link to an online dictionary that defines those terms correctly.

3.2 Create a brief text using the slang you're talking about (either, write it yourself, or use the translation engine on your website). Let the kids translate it into Standard Written English without looking at the dictionary for help. Then, give them the solutions in a later section of your webquest, to check their responses.

3.3 Give them the link to your dictionary, and invent their first assignment (e.g., create a 10-item dictionary with words chosen from it on their own, etc.)

3.4 Give them some kind of writing assignment about YOUR insider group's slang that you will grade with your grading rubric (prompt examples: "Write a short story using this slang." or "Write an essay about why it is important to learn a certain slang if one wants to "belong" to a group of insiders." or "Is it better to remain true to one's origins and speak one's own language, or does one have to adapt when joining a different group?" or "Why can the use of metaphors be good/bad sometimes?" or "If you were a patient, would you prefer that the doctors speak clear text with you, or wouldn't you mind them talk in secret language?" or "Is a secret language ment to INCLUDE or EXCLUDE people?" or "Develop your own secret society. Write a short essay about what kind of language you would use." BE CREATIVE!!!)

3.5 Create your Grading Rubric with the online functions that WebQuest offers.


SOFTWARE: modeling how to create WebQuests

Go to the homepage of WebQuest. You need to sign up and register for a "30 day free trial." Then, we'll model together how to create the background template and colors, etc. The online builder is pretty easy and self-explanatory, and will guide you through all steps. Remember to ALWAYS SAVE what you typed before you click on another field; otherwise, you'll lose everything!!! You can also insert pictures (which you should do, depending on the grade level you instruct.) IF you insert pictures, you have to hyperlink them to the page where you got them from; otherwise, it is plagiarism, since most photos on the Internet are copyrighted, and their owners could sue you for using them without permission!!!


TIMELINE for this project:
We will have at least three in-class workshops about our WebQuests, and will do the different components (such as the IL Learning Standards) together in class. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to make up.

If you need to, but cannot work on the computer at home, use our classroom before/after class, during my lunch break (12-1 on M/W/F when it is open), the Faner computer labs, or come to my office hours.

DUE DATE: posted on Lifetext. On that day, We will all put the links to our WebQuests on a blog thread I will create, so that we can view each other's works. Your peers will select three WebQuests of their choice and test-take them, grading them with our WEBQUEST GRADING RUBRIC published on Lifetext.


Here are a few links to sample WebQuests from last semester:

1. Beatnik Slang
2. 1960s Slang
3. Cockney Rhyming Slang

Mini Lesson: Lauryn Fisherkeller

ARTICLES: WHEN TO PUT THEM, AND WHY
There are two types of articles:
1.Definite
2.Indefinite

Definite = in the English language the definite article is “the”.

-“The” is considered invariable, so it does not depend on the number of the noun. Basically it can be singular or plural.

- “The” also refers to a specific thing when contrasted with “a” or “an”.

Indefinite = this article is opposite of the definite article
-Indefinite articles are singular and cannot be used with a plural noun. Some example of indefinite articles are “a, an, some, and any”
- The reason that “a, an, some, and any” are labeled as “indefinite” because they do not refer to a specific thing as “the” does.

GENERAL RULES

Use of “a” or “an”
Use "a" or "an" with a singular count noun when you mean "one of many," "any," "in general.
For example:
“I like a good television show (one of many television shows).
“Julie is a good Dancer (one of many dancers).

Use "a" or "an" the first time you use a noun in a paragraph
“I saw a movie last week.”
“A woman ran into the dark room.”

Use “the”
Use "the" with any noun when the meaning is specific; for example, when the noun names the only one (or one) of a kind.
For example:
“April was the first lady (‘the only first lady’).
“New York is the largest city in the United States (only one city can be ‘the largest’).
“Did you hear the broadcast (specific broadcast)?

Use "the" the second time you use that same noun in the same paragraph.
For example:
“I saw a movie last week. The movie was hilarious.”
“A man ran into the street. A car hit the man."


Don’t use “a,” “an,” or “the”
Don't Use "a," "an," or "the" with a non-count noun when you mean "any," "in general."
For example
“We believe in love (in general). “
“He gave me information (not specific).”

Don't Use "a," "an," or "the" with a plural count noun when you mean "some of many things," "any," "in general.
For Example:
" Movies are entertaining (some movies; movies in general).
“She likes men (in general).”

QUIZ

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/quizzes/cross/articles_quiz.htm


This quiz link is posted in the Grammar300 blog. Go there, and we will take it together.