A Complete Thought
Nine weeks exams start tomorrow. Some of my kids take it tomorrow, and some take it Friday. Today we spent the entire day reviewing and working on a rather rigorous "study guide."
They did a fair job. Most of them, anyway.
Some of them just aren't going to catch on no matter what I do. Need an example of why I think this? I can think of a few. First, a little background.
I taught them three methods for fixing run-on sentences. They are:
1. Use a semicolon between the two complete thoughts,
2. Use a comma and a conjunction between the two complete thoughts, or
3. Put a period at the end of the first complete thought and capitalize the first word of the second one, making the run-on into two separate sentences.
(Yes, I realize there's a fourth method. I was just trying to keep it simple because I didn't think they'd use the fourth method, which involves words like "therefore" and "however." Those aren't really in their vocab yet.)
They also have been practicing fixing fragments. When talking about fragments, I told them that a fragment is a piece of a sentence. I used the illustration of a broken lamp. If I drop my mother's lamp and it breaks into pieces, I have fragments of that lamp in the floor. To make it whole again, I have to glue the pieces together to make it complete. A fragment of a sentence needs some missing piece that it has to have in order to be complete. Simple enough?
Read on. But first, stop to thank the good Lord for your 8th grade English teacher, who helped give you the ability.
Another treasure of 8th grade English is author's purpose: to inform, to entertain, to persuade, or to express.
They also have to know the story elements, which are character, setting, plot, etc.
We've practiced these things for so long that I honestly don't know how else to present it or how else to get them to practice it.
So (to get to the point) imagine my pain when I ask a child to tell me one of the story elements, and he says, "Comma and a conjunction." Or when another one says, "Author's purpose!"
Or when I ask someone what the author's purpose is, and they say, "A semicolon."
Or when we've written down and identified and provided examples for all three methods for fixing run-ons, and a kid who has apparently been asleep suddenly looks up and raises her hand like she's just figured out something brand new, and loudly declares that the way to fix a broken climax is to glue it together, like Mamma's lamp.
Orrrr when I give them a fragment to rewrite, and they stick a semicolon in there randomly.
They can't identify an independent clause because an independent clause is a complete thought, and none of them has ever had one.
They did a fair job. Most of them, anyway.
Some of them just aren't going to catch on no matter what I do. Need an example of why I think this? I can think of a few. First, a little background.
I taught them three methods for fixing run-on sentences. They are:
1. Use a semicolon between the two complete thoughts,
2. Use a comma and a conjunction between the two complete thoughts, or
3. Put a period at the end of the first complete thought and capitalize the first word of the second one, making the run-on into two separate sentences.
(Yes, I realize there's a fourth method. I was just trying to keep it simple because I didn't think they'd use the fourth method, which involves words like "therefore" and "however." Those aren't really in their vocab yet.)
They also have been practicing fixing fragments. When talking about fragments, I told them that a fragment is a piece of a sentence. I used the illustration of a broken lamp. If I drop my mother's lamp and it breaks into pieces, I have fragments of that lamp in the floor. To make it whole again, I have to glue the pieces together to make it complete. A fragment of a sentence needs some missing piece that it has to have in order to be complete. Simple enough?
Read on. But first, stop to thank the good Lord for your 8th grade English teacher, who helped give you the ability.
Another treasure of 8th grade English is author's purpose: to inform, to entertain, to persuade, or to express.
They also have to know the story elements, which are character, setting, plot, etc.
We've practiced these things for so long that I honestly don't know how else to present it or how else to get them to practice it.
So (to get to the point) imagine my pain when I ask a child to tell me one of the story elements, and he says, "Comma and a conjunction." Or when another one says, "Author's purpose!"
Or when I ask someone what the author's purpose is, and they say, "A semicolon."
Or when we've written down and identified and provided examples for all three methods for fixing run-ons, and a kid who has apparently been asleep suddenly looks up and raises her hand like she's just figured out something brand new, and loudly declares that the way to fix a broken climax is to glue it together, like Mamma's lamp.
Orrrr when I give them a fragment to rewrite, and they stick a semicolon in there randomly.
They can't identify an independent clause because an independent clause is a complete thought, and none of them has ever had one.
Labels: Good Old Fashioned Bitchin', teacher life
Never give up.
Posted by
Betty |
9:22 PM
Next to using prepositions to end sentences with, I love expressing my innermost thoughts with fragments. In the morning. In the evening. Ain't I got fun? I LOVE using fragments. Because I can.
Posted by
Hillbilly Mom |
10:41 PM