Mechanics of Language

1. Mechanics of Language Parts of Speech, Usage, and Grammar Presentation

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc

3. Parts of Speech Review • Noun: A person, place, thing, or idea • Verb: Words that refer to actions or states of being. • Pronoun: A word that takes the place of a noun. • He, She, You, Him, It, Yours, Theirs, etc. • Adjective: Words that describe nouns and pronouns.

4. Parts of Speech Review • Adverb: Words that give more information about a verb, adverb, or adjective. • Nearby, often, later, happily, sometimes, frequently, very, -ly words • Preposition: Words that tell how nouns and pronouns relate to other words in a sentence. • About, around, between, over, from, for, until, with, during, since, like, as, etc. • Conjunction: Word that joins words or groups of words. • And, or, but, nor, if, although, etc. • Interjection: A short exclamation of emotions. • Oh! Uh-oh, Aha, Duh, etc.

5. Parts of Speech Practice • Write a verb. • Text • Add a noun. • Students text. • Add an adjective. • Mischievous students text. • Add another adjective. • Mischievous off-task students text. • Add an adverb. • Mischievous off-task students text stealthily.

6. Subject & Predicate • Subject: The person, place, thing, or idea that the sentence is about. It performs the action of the verb. • Predicate: Tells what the subject is doing or what condition it is in (verb); everything else.

7. Phrases vs. Clauses • Phrases: Group of words (not a complete sentence). It does not contain both a subject and a predicate. • “Texting friends” • “To finish this PowerPoint” • “Across the room” • “Filled with wonder” • “The bored students”

8. Phrases vs. Clauses • Clauses: A group of words that has a subject (topic) and a predicate (tells what the subject is doing/what condition it is in). • Independent Clause: Contains a subject and predicate that expresses a complete thought. It can stand alone as a complete sentence. • Dependent (or Subordinate) Clause: Contains a subject and predicate, but does not express a complete thought. It cannot stand alone as a complete sentence. • Usually a dependent clause has a subordinate conjuction, such as: after, although, as, as if, because, before, even if, even though, if, in order to, since, though, unless, until, whatever, when, whenever, whether, and while.

10. Common Punctuation Errors • Sentence Fragment: The use of a dependent clause as a complete sentence. • Example: Which is so fun. • How can you fix it? • Combine it with another sentence to form a complete sentence. • Sometimes, you can remove the subordinate conjunction (which, while, because, etc.) to make the sentence complete.

11. Common Punctuation Errors • Run-on Sentence: Two independent clauses fused together without a conjunction. • Example: Learning about grammar is helpful it is fun too. • How can you fix it? • Separate the independent clauses by forming two sentences. • “Learning about grammar is helpful. It is fun too!” • Combine the independent clauses using a conjunction (and, but, although, while, etc.) • “Although learning about grammar is fun, it is helpful too.”

12. Comma Splice , Independent clause Independent clause

13. Common Punctuation Errors • Comma Splice: The use of a comma between two independent clauses. • Example: I love learning about grammar, it is so fun! • Correct: I love learning about grammar; it is so fun. • Correct: I love learning about grammar. It is so fun. • How can you fix it? • Separate the sentences with a period or a semi-colon. • Add a conjunction to make one of the independent clauses a dependent clause.

14. How to Fix a Comma Splice ; Independent clause Independent clause

16. Punctuation: Apostrophe Use apostrophes for the following tasks: • Contractions (Can’t, don’t, I’ll, etc.) • Possessive Nouns • Singular Possessive Nouns (Add “’s” to the end of the word) • Plural Possessive Nouns (Add an apostrophe after the “s”) • Plurals of Letters, Signs, Words, Symbols, and sometimes Numbers/Decades • Ex. This year I hope to make straight A’s. • This is why we use an apostrophe for this rule: “Mississippi is spelled with four is, four ss, and two ps.” • Ex. Mississippi is spelled with four i’s, four s’s, and two p’s.

18. Punctuation: Colon Use colons for the following tasks: • A full sentence that introduces a list • For your unit test, memorize the qualities of a good claim: contestability, reasonability, interpretation, significance, and preciseness. • INCORECT USE OF A COLON • Do not use a colon after any words that are part of the “To Be” verb (am, is, was, were, being, etc.). • Things that are broken in my classroom are my Infinite Campus gradebook, my SMART Board, and my door stop. • Headings in a professional letter or email • Dear Chairman of the Board: • Ratios (21:1) • Time (3:10pm is our favorite time of day.) • Headings (Danger: Shark spotted in the water!)

20. Punctuation: Comma Use commas for the following tasks: • Separate three or more independent clauses • Ms. Smith teaches AP Literature, Ms. Whitney teaches AP Language, and Ms. Mamayan teaches Rhetoric. • After a dependent clause that comes before an independent clause • Because this lesson is so boring, students are drooling on the desks. • Between adjectives that describe the same noun • Literature is her favorite subject because of the fascinating, weird, complicated books she reads for class. • Around phrases/clauses that give additional, but not necessary information. • In 1828 the city of Philadelphia, which is in Pennsylvania, tried to sell the Liberty Bell for scrap metal.

21. Punctuation: Comma Use commas for the following tasks: • After mild interjections • No, I refuse to do my homework because I want to fail this class. • Oh, I didn’t know I had to read books for Literature class. • To separate two of the same words • When business went down, down went the stock. • Separate three or more items in a series • I ate bacon, eggs, hash browns, and a protein shake for breakfast; I guess I was hungry.

22. Punctuation: Comma Use commas for the following tasks: • At the end of a direct quotation unless it is the end of the sentence • “Stay afterschool for detention,” I said, “but please bring gloves to scrub the gum off the bottom of the desks.” • Before/after/around a noun of direct address. • I beg you, Ms. Brooks, please stop talking.

24. Punctuation: Ellipsis Use ellipses to omit information from a direct quote Examples: • “Three dots in a row is called an ellipsis. Use an ellipsis to show where you left words out of a quotation.” • “Three dots in a row…show you left words out of a quotation” (Terban 85). • “Three dots in a row...show you left words out of a quotation” (Terban 85). • Do: • Insert one space between each of the three ellipsis points. • Insert a space before and after the ellipsis points. • Include the sentence’s ending punctuation followed by the ellipsis. • Don’t: • Use ellipsis points at the beginning or end of a direct quotation (except in rare instances). • Use ellipses to make a quote say something other than what the author originally intended. • Leave out the spaces before and after the ellipsis points or between them.

26. Partner Workshop • Choose a partner in class and follow these directions: • On your own rough draft on the top, write what kind of feedback you are looking for. • What did you struggle with? What could you use support for? • Read each other’s essays and provide written feedback as you read. • In your groups, discuss the following questions: • Are the claims CRISP (Contestable, Reasonable, Interpretative, Significant, Precise)? Why or why not? • Does the author use SPARTA (Sufficient, Precise, Accurate, Representative, Trustworthy, Authoritative) evidence? Why or why not? • Evaluate the source credibility of the evidence provided using the CRAAP Test (Currency, Relevance, Accuracy, Authority, Purpose). • Does the commentary connect the evidence to the claim? Is there effective commentary for each claim and piece of evidence?