Course: Composition 9 / 9 Honors
Length of Unit: December / January
Unit of Study: Sentence Structure
Overarching Enduring Understanding(s)
Students will engage with various articles and other pieces of literature, attempting to identify and understand the contents of sentences by
identifying words and phrases therein grammatically as various parts of sentences. Using this information, students will be better able to
understand various kinds of writing by breaking sentences down into their component parts. These skills will be demonstrated by
performance on classwork, quizzes, and tests and in clear and coherent writing.
All literature and speech is intended to communicate meaning. The meanings of sentences can be ascertained by identifying the major
grammatical components of these sentences.
Content Specific Enduring Understanding(s)
 Closely read sentences and understand them by breaking them down into their component portions.
 Understand that every sentence seeks to communicate the action or state of being of a subject.
Essential Questions (overarching)
How do writers and speakers organize sentences in order to communicate meaning?
Essential Questions (content specific)
How does understanding the parts of a sentence assist readers to efficiently comprehend complex ideas?
Topic 1: Sentence Structure
a) Essential to know:
 How to read a sentence and break it down into its component parts: verb, subject, complement.
 Definitions of subjects, predicates, direct objects, indirect objects, predicate nominatives, and predicate adjectives.
 How the different sentence parts are context-dependent and mutually dependent.
o I.e., No indirect objects without direct objects; no direct objects without action verbs.
 There are no subjects in prepositional phrases.
 That understanding the different kinds of complements possible with different kinds of verbs can give you a clue as to the purpose
and meaning of an otherwise complicated sentence.
 That simplicity and concision are essential to clear writing.
 That grammar and content are not separate, but mutually dependent.
 MLA Format for take-home assignments.
b) Worth being familiar with:
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That use of the passive voice unnecessarily complicates the typical subject-verb relationship and always leads to unclear writing.
That certain kinds of verb forms can be used as nouns and thus subjects.
That eliminating words by focusing on the essential parts of a sentence (Subject and Verb) can often lead to clearer writing.
That attempting to eliminate unnecessary prepositional phrases and modifiers can clarify writing.
That working to properly place prepositional phrases and modifiers can clarify writing.
That shortening sentences by eliminating some conjunctions can clarify writing.
That a sentence can be inverted so that the subject sits on the right side of the verb.
That it is possible to have multiple subjects, verbs, and complements.
That the subject of an imperative sentence is always “you,” as it is necessarily a direct command to a listener.
c) Teaching Strategies/Learning Activities:
 Pre-teaching
o For each section of unit, have students complete diagnostic exercises from textbook.
 PowerPoint presentation
 Guided exercises with teacher
o Exercises in textbook, online, and in PDFs
 Independently completed exercises (classwork)
o Exercises in textbook, online, and in PDFs
d) Materials:
 Prentice Hall’s Writing and Grammar: Communication in Action (Gold Level)
 The Holy Bible (New International Version)
 Bernard Evslin’s Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of the Greek Myths
e) Formative Assessments:
 Content quizzes (Subjects and Predicates, Uncommon Subjects and Predicates, Direct and Indirect Objects, Subject and Object
Complements)
 Classwork assignments
 Short essay
o One-paragraph essay comparing the weakness and punishment of Icarus to the weakness and punishment of the builders of
the Tower of Babel.
 Students asked to label certain parts of sentences.
f) Summative Assessment:
 Examination concerning all parts of sentences.
o Students provided an article excerpt broken up into 33 separate sentences with certain words highlighted. They are
asked to label each highlighted word as a subject, a verb, a direct object, an indirect object, an object complement, a
predicate nominative, or a predicate adjective.
g) Standards Addressed:
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CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well
as inferences drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and
connotative meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language evokes
a sense of time and place; how it sets a formal or informal tone).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.10 By the end of grade 9, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the
grades 9-10 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning
and relevant and sufficient evidence.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1c Use words, phrases, and clauses to link the major sections of the text, create cohesion, and clarify
the relationships between claim(s) and reasons, between reasons and evidence, and between claim(s) and counterclaims.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.1d Establish and maintain a formal style and objective tone while attending to the norms and
conventions of the discipline in which they are writing.
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CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and
information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2b Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions, concrete
details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s knowledge of the topic.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate
to task, purpose, and audience.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or
speaking.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.1a Use parallel structure.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.1b Use various types of phrases (noun, verb, adjectival, adverbial, participial, prepositional, absolute)
and clauses (independent, dependent; noun, relative, adverbial) to convey specific meanings and add variety and interest to writing
or presentations.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and
spelling when writing.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.2c Spell correctly.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.3 Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make
effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.3a Write and edit work so that it conforms to the guidelines in a style manual (e.g., MLA Handbook,
Turabian’s Manual for Writers) appropriate for the discipline and writing type.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.9-10.4b Identify and correctly use patterns of word changes that indicate different meanings or parts of
speech (e.g., analyze, analysis, analytical; advocate, advocacy).