In-Class Activity, Apr. 29: Tom Swifties

Tom Swifties - Using Adverbs Abundantly



Today, we are going to work on our last grammar topic of the semester: the overuse of adverbs!!!!


First task (everyone on his/her own):
Go to the following website and learn what "Tom Swifties" are.


Task 2:

Get together in groups of 3-4. Go to the following webpage. Your group's task is to create a 5-item test for another group that this group has to solve. Get the emails of the other group's members, and email them your quiz. The group that solves most of the 5 items it gets from another group wins!! You need to retype the Tom Swifties that you find on the webpage, but you leave out the last word, i.e., the pun, for the group to fill in the blank. Don't invent them yourself yet!!!

Examples:

1. How do you start a model-T Ford without a battery?" asked Tom _____________ .

(answer: CRANKILY)

2. "I have to wear this cast for another six weeks," said Tom _________________ .

(answer: DISJOINTEDLY)

3. "I'm shocked," said Tom _____________________ .

(answer: ELECTRICALLY)


You should select sentences that people are able to guess when they think hard.

EMAIL me your 5-item quiz (with solutions). Only one per group, please! Indicate your group members names in this email (because you'll all get participation points for the quiz).


Task 3:

Now, invent 1-3 Tom Swifties on your own!!! Publish them as a comment to this blog.

Brazil's Piraha Tribe: Keeping it Short and Sweet

Imagine living in a world without history or a concept of numbers. Imagine living in a world without the use of dependent clauses, but instead, only short and stubby independent clauses. For Brazil's Piraha Tribe, this is not imaginary--it is reality. This phenomenon has the whole linguistic world abuzz; causing debate on the effects this language has on its people. Of all of the linguistic scholars, however, none other can claim as high a level of expertise as Britian's Daniel Everett. Since 1977, Everett has spent a combined total of over seven years living with and studying the people of the Piraha Tribe. Some of his findings have been both facinating, and above all, shocking.

The first abnormality Everett noticed about the Pirahan language was the lack of the subordinate clause. Little description is ever given in a sentence, thus, there is no need for the dependent clause. In America, if one would like to speak to another once he himself had finished eating, he might say, "When I have finished my meal, I would like to speak with you." In the Pirahan Tribe, however, Everett says that they would simply say, "I finish eating, I speak with you."

Just as baffling to Everett was the complete lack of numbers in their society. They base their count on either "a lot" or "a little"--using concepts of "all," "most," and "every." They do not have a words to describe a specified amount, but they do not count anyway according to Everett. This has led to the belief that they lack to concept of exact numbers all together. To test this, Everett tried to teach them Portugese numbers. After several months, not a single person could count to ten.

What has Everett concluded thus far? "The language is created by the culture," he says. He goes on to explain that they live in a carpe diem society, where the only thing that matters is the here and now. This also goes along with the tribe's theological views. When asked about a diety, they simply respond with, "everything is the same, things always are." However they may be seen by the world, they could not care less. They just continue to live day by day on their own, simple terms.

How do you view this language? Do you think they are too simple or that the rest of the world is too complex? Do you think their system poses any problems for them?

Another planned languge: Klingon

Due Date: Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
______________________________________________

Please post your comments about the Klingon language (another "planned language," next to Esperanto....) on this blog!

Prompt was on Livetext. Here's the reading again.

1. Engage- I will have a sentence with an incorrect verb form on the board.

2. Explore- I will ask the students to identify what is wrong with the sentence.

3. Explain- After the students have identified what is wrong I will ask if anyone knows why it is wrong as well. I will then go on to explain why it is wrong.

4. Expand- I will then go over multiple examples of sentences where there are subject and verb agreement problems. I will ask the students for examples they themselves have written. After that I will further explain cases in which the meaning of a sentence may be lost with incorrect subject/verb usage and the need for singular subjects with singular verbs and plural subjects with plural verbs.

5. Evaluate- We will take a short quiz together and go over the answers as a group.

6. E-search- The quiz will be emailed out to the students so they will need to use the computer and the internet in order to participate.

Dangling Modifiers

7th grade English

1. Engage- Picture of Dangling Man
2. Explore- I will ask the students to tell me what a dangling modifier is and give them the opportunity to figure out ways to fix a dangling modifier.
3. Explain- I will explain what a dangling modifier is and give some examples. I will also show the students some possible ways to fix a dangling modifier.
4. Expand- I will put five sentences up on the board and they must identify where the dangling modifier is and how to fix it.
5. Evaluate- The students must complete the quiz and show me their grades.
6. E-search- The mini-lesson is given via powerpoint and the students must take an online quiz.
http://wwwnew.towson.edu/ows/exercisedmm.htm

Jacqueline Bessette

Links to Our WebQuests

1. Lara Nederveen Pieterse: Brooklynisms

2. Julia Longueville: 1920's Slang

3. Lauryn Fisherkeller: 1920's Slang

4. Nadia Aldroubi: 1980's Slang

5. Henry Phillips: Drug Slang

6. Jennifer Bond: Coal Miners' Slang

7. Nathan Maul: Baseball Slang

8. Diana Howell: Medical Slang

9. Emilie Collier: Teen Slang

10. Jacqueline Bessette: 1920's Slang

11. Romona Jackson: Hip Hop Slang

12. Adam Chadderton: Teenagers and Drug Slang

13. Sara Childers: Police Slang

14. Megan Caraballo: 1920's Slang

15. Monica Brennan: Prison Slang

16. Daniel Sokolowski: Baseball Slang

Tenses

¢Audience: 6th graders

¢Engage: Gain the students attention with a PowerPoint presentation. Before the presentation I will ask the class to list as many of the tenses they know.

¢Explore: Students will learn how to recognize what verb tense is being used.

¢Explain: I will explain to the students the rules of each basic verb tense. I will show an explanation for each one in depth.

¢Expand: Their knowledge will be expanded by numerous examples of each tense and applying it to the homework.

¢Evaluate: At the end of class students get into groups and come up with their own creative sentences for the assigned tense.

¢E-search: For homework the students will find an advertisement online or in a magazine and identify what verb tense is being used.