Grammar Archives - The Teachers' Library

Using Participles to Describe

Lauren Crowley — Sat, 04 Mar 2017 14:35:57 +0000

When teaching students to write descriptively, I make sure to model for them different grammatical constructions for them to implement in their own writing. I try to limit the amount of grammar jargon I throw at them, but sometimes it’s just not possible to discuss certain sentence structures without certain academic vocabulary.

I use this PowerPoint to introduce them to the specifics of grammatical structures that most of them are in habit of reading all the time, but need an explicit push to incorporate into their own writing. Having miniature white boards makes checking their work a bit more engaging and interactive, as well as giving other students the benefit of seeing and editing others’ work.

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We finish the lesson by making a participle foldable to add into their interactive notebooks.

To reinforce what may be new information, especially for ELLs, I have two worksheets that separate the present from past participles, and show how both kinds of participles can be used as modifiers, either as adjectives or phrases.

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[insert_php]
// INSTRUCTIONS: array(“url”,”title”,”type”,”size”),
// AND only the last array() line does NOT have a comma at the end
$downloads = array(
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/present-participles-modifiers.pdf”,”Download present participle worksheet”,”pdf”,”1mb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/present-participles-modifiers.docx”,”Download present participle worksheet”,”docx”,”192kb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/past-participles-modifers.pdf”,”Download past participle worksheet”,”pdf”,”1mb”),
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/past-participles-modifiers.docx”,”Download past participle worksheet”,”docx”,”192kb”),
);
insertDownloads($downloads);
[/insert_php]

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Combing Sentences With Present Participles

Lauren Crowley — Thu, 02 Mar 2017 15:27:46 +0000

Always encouraging my students to write in more concise sentences, I find it helpful to show them various ways to combine sentences while maintaining clarity. One way to do this is by using participle phrases. Many of the pre-made worksheets I find combine present and past participles into one exercise, and my students, many of whom are ELL, find this confusing and overwhelming. I like to teach them about present participles first, as they are easy and regular. I show them how participles can not only be used in verb phrases, but also as modifiers, either as adjectives or participles phrases.

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Get the PowerPoint and accompanying participle foldable for interactive notebooks here!

[insert_php]
// INSTRUCTIONS: array(“url”,”title”,”type”,”size”),
// AND only the last array() line does NOT have a comma at the end
$downloads = array(
array(“https://www.theteacherslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/combining-sentences-present-participle.pdf”,”Download Combining Sentences with Present Participles Worksheet”,”pdf”,”843kb”)
);
insertDownloads($downloads);
[/insert_php]

The post Combing Sentences With Present Participles appeared first on The Teachers' Library.

Expanding Sentences with Semicolons, Commas, Parentheses, and Dashes

Lauren Crowley — Mon, 13 Feb 2017 06:44:24 +0000

If your students are anything like mine, they overuse parentheses (where they learned this, I have no idea!) and they view semi-colons to be as about as foreign as hieroglyphics. Although punctuation needs continual revision, reinforcement, and practice throughout the year, I have included a PowerPoint that I use to bring everyone to a baseline of rules for the four common punctuation marks needed to expand sentences concisely and coherently.

If students are unfamiliar with independent and dependent clauses, or compound and complex sentences, I have uploaded another PowerPoint to introduce these grammar concepts.

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A great place to find free, printable worksheets is:

http://www.k12reader.com/subject/grammar/punctuation/semicolon/

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Simple, Compound, Complex Sentences

Lauren Crowley — Sun, 12 Feb 2017 14:35:28 +0000

I probably don’t teach as much grammatical jargon as some other ELA teachers; however, I have found that most of my students have a shaky understanding of how to use commas, and sentence types are an essential component of this learning process. The learning objective of this lesson is to be able to correctly punctuate increasingly sophisticated sentences.

I’ve included a PowerPoint that I use to break down simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences. I often take the time to make my own worksheets from scratch when teaching grammar, but there are plenty of great resources online for this particular topic. Here are some my go to places:

http://englishlinx.com/sentences/complex_sentences/

https://www.superteacherworksheets.com/sentences.html

http://www.ereadingworksheets.com/languageartsworksheets/sentence-structure/sentence-structure-worksheets/

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Plural vs Possessive Worksheet

Lauren Crowley — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 10:47:21 +0000

The post Plural vs Possessive Worksheet appeared first on The Teachers' Library.