Grammar

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Grammar

• Dr. Peterson
• Spring 2004

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What are the components of grammar?

• Parts of speech
• Parts of sentences
• Types of sentences
• Capitalization and Punctuation
• Usage

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Eight Parts of Speech

• Noun
• A word used to name something- a person, place,
  or a thing.
• Examples Abraham Lincoln, pilot, United States,
  sandwich, courage
• Pronoun
• A word used in place of a noun.
• Examples I, you, it, me , who

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Parts of Speech (cont.)

• Adjective
• A word used to describe a noun or a pronoun.
• Examples the, American, fastest,
  slippery-fingered, better.
• Verb
• A word used to show action or state of being.
• Examples eat, saw, is, are, will

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Parts of Speech (cont.)

• Adverb
• A word used to modify a verb, an adjective, or
  another verb. An adverb tells how, when, where,
  why, how often, and how much.
• Examples quickly, now, outside, well, loudly
• Preposition
• A word or group of words used to show position,
  direction, or how two words or ideas are related
  to each other.
• Examples at, with, to, from, between

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Parts of Speech (cont.)

• Conjunction
• A word used to connect words and groups of words.
• Examples and, but, or, because, when
• Interjection
• A word or phrase used to express strong emotion
  and set off by commas or an exclamation point.
• Examples Wow! Hey, how are you? Cool, dude!

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Parts of Sentences

• A sentence is made up of one or more words to
  express a complete thought and, to express the
  thought, must have a subject and a predicate.
• The dog ran after the cat.
• Subject predicate

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Types of Sentences

• Simple
• Contains only one independent clause
• An independent clause presents a complete thought
  and can stand alone as a sentence.
• Example Mary has horrible taste in clothes.
• Compound
• Made up of two or more independent clauses.
• Example Mary has horrible taste in clothes and
  the clothes she picks make her look old.

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Types of Sentences

• Complex
• Contains one independent clause and one or more
  dependent clauses.
• A dependent clause does not express a complete
  thought and cannot stand alone as a sentence (it
  depends on the meaning expressed in the
  independent clause).
• Example Mary is a poor dresser because she has
  no one to guide her.
• Mary is a poor dresser, but has no one to blame
  but herself.

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Types of Sentences

• Compound-Complex
• Contains two or more independent clauses and one
  or more dependent clauses.
• Example Mary is a poor dresser and she looks
  old because she doesnt care enough to improve.

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Types of Sentences

• Imperative
• Makes a command
• Example Go with me to find my dog.
• Ends in a period
• Exclamatory
• Communicates strong emotion or surprise
• Example I found my dog!
• Ends in an exclamation point

• Declarative
• Makes a statement
• Example My dog is brown.
• Ends in a period
• Interrogative
• Asks questions
• Example Where is my brown dog?
• Ends in a question mark

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Capitalization

• Upper elementary grades, students can often
  overcapitalize or capitalize too many words in a
  sentence.
• Attributed to the fact that students have
  difficulty differentiating between common and
  proper nouns.

• Students learn that capital letters divide
  sentences and signal important words within
  sentences.
• Capital letters also express loudness of speech
  or intensity of emotion because they stand out
  visually.
• Preschool years usually write in all capital
  letters. Kindergarten transition and learn to
  recognize and write upper and lower case letters.

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Punctuation

• Marks that signal pauses in speech.
• Signal grammatical boundaries and express
  meaning.
• Some punctuation marks indicate sentence
  boundaries. (e.g., periods, question marks,
  exclamation point).
• Grammatical units are expressed through the use
  of commas, semicolons, and colons within
  sentences.
• Express meaning within sentences through the use
  of quotation marks and apostrophes.
• Learning to use punctuation is a developmental
  process.

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Usage

• Nonstandard English
• Influenced through dialects
• Slang
• Double negatives
• Usage errors listed on page 547 in Tompkins.
• Standard English
• Book language
• The language of school
• Language of privilege and prestige

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Teaching Grammar in the Elementary Grades

• Minilessons
• Concept books
• Sentence Collection
• Sentence Manipulation
• New Versions of Books
• Posters
• Proofreading
• Standard English Alternative

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Why Teach Grammar?

• Standard English is the mark of an educated
  person.
• Students should know how to use Standard English.
• Help student understand sentence structure and
  form sentences to express their thoughts.
• Parents expect that it will be taught.
• Improves students oral and written language if
  integrated with reading and writing and not
  taught out of context.
• Teach grammar through authentic reading and
  writing instruction.