Grammar
Welcome!
 In your notes please answer the following questions, in
complete sentences:
1.
What is the most difficult grammatical concept for highschool students? (Commas? Spelling? Apostrophes?)
2.
Why do think this is so?
Today’s Objective:
Define and give
examples of a noun,
pronoun, verb, and
adjective.
Noun: a person, place, thing or idea.
 The lion in the cage growled at the zookeeper.
 Proper nouns get capitalized, common nouns
are not.
 Singular nouns are just one, plural nouns are
more than one.
Examples
 Playing Xbox is a great way to relieve stress
and have fun.
 We are all so excited to be back in school!
 Mr. Hauser is always going to Subway for
lunch. I am jealous!
Pronouns: a word used in place of a noun
 When the battery wears down, we recharge it.
 The pronoun “it” refers to the word “battery”
 The word a pronoun replaces is called its
antecedent.
Examples of pronouns/antecedents
 I love your positive attitude! I can’t get enough of it!
 What is the pronoun and what is its antecedent (the noun it replaces?)
1.
Almonds are so delicious! That’s why I am always eating them.
2.
Jeremaiah was so excited that he jumped for joy.
3.
The students start getting squirmy when they don’t get a stretch
break.
Verbs: words that usually express
action or being
 The horses exercise every day.
 The family eats dinner every day.
 I have a headache.
 She was so bored.
Verb conjugations
 Base form:
 Past Tense: add “ed” or
change irregulars
 Past participle:
 Present participle: add
 Usually I (walk, ride, etc).
 Yesterday I (walked, rode).
 I have (walked, ridden) before.
 I am (walking, riding) now.
“ing”
 -s form
 Usually he/she/it (walks, rides).
Adjectives: modify or describe a noun
or pronoun
 The frisky horse knocked off the experienced rider.
 The stale Takis hurt my rotten teeth.
 The unpopular decision made the crowd very unhappy.
 The, a, and an also qualify as adjectives: The evidence will
prove the man is guilty.
Adjective examples
 Use adjectives in four different sentences. Underline the
adjective and CIRCLE the noun it modifies.
 EX: This book is incredible!
EXIT TICKET
On a small piece of paper,
write one sentence that
contains all four parts of
speech discussed in class: a
noun, a pronoun, a verb, and
an adjective.
Welcome!
 Please ask your neighbor “What is a pronoun? What is an antecedent?”
 Then, take out a piece of paper, write your name and number it from 1-5.
 Next to each number write “P__________ A ____________.”
 Your paper should look like this:
Name
1. P
2. P
3. P
4. P
5. P
A
A
A
A
A
Pronoun/Antecedent Quiz
 For each sentence, write down the pronoun and the
antecedent on your piece of paper.
1. He was so excited to leave that Frank forgot his coat.
2. The excited bunny quickly ate his dinner.
3. Sometimes the students do so well that Mr. Hauser gives
them positive BTS points.
4. Nancy and I cooked dinner, then we watched a movie.
5. My homework is so easy that it is hilarious.
Objective
Title a new heading in your
notes “Parts of a Sentence.”
Most go subject-verb-object.
So what makes a sentence?
 Every sentence needs a subject (the person or thing doing the
action) and a verb (the action itself).
 We also call sentences (with subjects and verbs) independent
clauses or simple sentences because they make sense
independent of any other phrase.
 The predicate is another name for any part of the sentence that
is NOT the subject.
Subjects
The subject names who or what the
sentence is about
 Simple Subject: always one and only one noun
or pronoun.
 Complete Subject: Simple subject plus any
modifiers (descriptors)
The Complete Subject
 Complete Subjects contain adjectives and extra nouns, too!
 Floods are dangerous.
 The devastating effects of floods can last for years.
 Sometimes, books are made into movies.
 Exciting books with popular appeal are made into movies.
Give it a shot 
 Write TWO sentences about a happy memory. For each one,
underline the subject (who is doing the action).
 When I was younger, my whole family would drive to Lake
Havasu in Arizona.
Complete
 We would hang out on the water, cook on the grill, and
watch lots of movies. Simple
 Now write whether each subject is simple or complete.
Objects
 Objects receive the action of a sentence.
 The boy kicked the ball.
 The dog chased the boy.
 The hungry cat clawed the bag of dry food.
Give it a Shot!
 Write three sentences following the examples below. Circle
the subject (the one doing the action) and underline the object
(the one receiving the action).
We did our homework together.
Dana kicked off her shoes as soon as she got home.
They never leave their house.
Prepositions
 Preposition – a word that describes relationships
between other words in a sentence
(EX: at, by, for, from, in, of, to, or with)
 These parts of speech always begin prepositional
phrases.
 JUST LIKE ADJECTIVES these phrases modify
nouns or verbs.
Prepositional Phrases
 The hut had walls of mud.
 James walked his dog on a leash.
 In time, you will adjust to the school year.
 During a mudslide, the terrain can change rapidly.
Review:
Copy the sentence into your notes. Identify as
many parts of speech as you can. Also, identify
the subject, verb, preposition, and
prepositional phrase.
You will learn to recognize
sentence structure over time.
Welcome!
 Please label the following sentence with the terms we’ve been
discussing this week in class: noun, pronoun, verb, adjective,
preposition, subject, predicate, object, and prepositional
phrase.
Sitting on the bed, the
sleepy puppy drank from
the large water bowl.
Welcome!
 In your notes, title a new heading Parallelism and
copy down the following sentence:
Doris bought a sweet hoodie, a new
hat, and an awesome necklace.
 Use your knowledge of parts of speech to identify
each word in that sentence (Hint: “a” is an article)
Parts of Speech
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Doris
bought
a
sweet
hoodie,
a
new
hat,
and
an
awesome
necklace.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
noun
verb
article
adjective
noun
article
adjective
noun
conjuction
article
adjective
noun
Parallelism
 That sentence follows parallelism: the repetition of the same
syntactical structures (phrases, words, sentences) in a series
 Check this non parallel nonsense!
 Doris bought a sweet hoodie, a new hat, and she found an
awesome necklace.
 Extra pronoun, extra verb, EXTRA CONFUSING
 It throws off the established structure
Parallelism
 Which patterns in terms of parts of speech (nouns, verbs,
adjectives) are repeated in Doris’ next adventure?
 Doris survived a huge tornado, crash-landed a
jumbo jet, travelled a vast countryside, and
defeated an evil witch.
 Verb (past), article, adjective, noun
 Each item follows this blue, red, green pattern
Parallelism: Fix it!
 Step 1 – Find each part of speech
 Step 2 – Change words so the items match
1. Bradley is only interested in eating
McDonald’s and his motorcycle.
Parallelism: Fix it!
 Step 1 – Find each part of speech
 Step 2 – Change words so the items match
1. She hates to study and going to work.
2. At work, Thelma wore a new dress,
hat, and her favorite briefcase.
Homophones
 1. Its – possessive form of pronoun “it”: The dog scratched its head.
 2. It’s – contraction of it is.
 3. They’re – contraction of they are.
 4. Their – possessive form of pronoun “they”: They ate their




dinner.
5. There – a place
8. too – also, in excess of: I want to go too. There is too much!
9.effect – noun, the result of some action: The effects of it were
great!
10. affect – verb, to have an impact on something: The movie will
affect you.
Homophones
 11. your – possessive form of pronoun you
 12. you’re – contraction of you are
 15. farther – requiring more physical distance
 16. further – requiring more time or volume
 17. lie – to rest yourself : I must lie down.
 18. lay – to put down an object: I must lay the book down.
Today’s Objective
Understand subject-
verb agreement and
give examples.
S-V Agreement
 In English (and most languages) the number
and person (1st, 2nd, 3rd) determines how we
change the verb.
 That’s why I sing (1st person) is different from
He sings (3rd person).
 When the subject (who the sentence is about)
correctly matches the verb (sing vs. sings) we
say they agree.
S-V Agreement
 I am early.
 You were so tired.
S-V Agreement
 They have a cool house.
 I be late.
 You was sleepy.
 They has a nice car.
S-V do NOT Agree
Subject-Verb
Agreement
Some Practice
 Conjugate (change) these verbs to fit in the following blanks:
eat, ride, sleep, drive
 First Person
 Second Person
 Third Person
Singular
I _____.
You _____.
He/She/It _____.
Plural
We _____.
You (guys) _____.
They _____.
S-V Agreement - Quirks
If more than one singular subjects are joined with and treat
them as plural.
 Jan and Julie often run together.
 You and I are friends
Treat indefinite pronouns (words that do not refer to specific
people) as singular, words like anybody, someone, something,
everyone.
 Everyone on the team supports the other.
 Nobody in the room cares about the heat.
Welcome!
Please ask your neighbor all about
coordinating conjunctions and
compound sentences.
Then take out a half sheet of paper
and number it from 1-4
Compound Sentence Quiz
1. What is an independent clause?
2. What is a coordinating conjunction?
3. Give as many examples of a
coordinating conjunction as possible
(there are only seven!).
4. Where does the comma go in a
compound sentence?
Welcome! Lists
Please copy the following rule into a new section of
your notes titled “Lists”.
Separate three or more items in a list with commas
and the word and before the final item.
She read books
, , ,
novels
plays
and song lyrics.
Write your own list sentence following this example.
A Note: The “Oxford” Comma
A Note: The “Oxford” Comma
“This book is dedicated to my
parents, Ayn Rand & God.”
The Rule: ALWAYS put the
comma before and.
Lists
No comma is needed for two
things in a list, just the word and.
EX: I like soda and pizza.
(no comma)
The Colon
Use a colon (:) before a formal list of items, especially
after expressions like as follows or the following.
EX: I love steak for the following reasons: it’s tasty, it’s
tender, and it’s thrilling.
NOTE: Of course, three or more items in a list must be
separated by a comma.
Lists with a colon
“the following” “as follows”
The reasons music is great
are as follows: it soothes, it
excites, and it rocks.
BREAK
TIME
The Semicolon
 Colons and Semicolons have very different functions.
 semicolons (;) separate independent clauses (full ideas, simple
sentences, subject/verb) when they are closely related in content.
 EX: When we went to Denver I wanted to see the ball park
; my
brother wanted to go to Elitch Gardens.
 Both of these sentences are about the same idea. Therefore, we can tell
the reader that by joining them with a semicolon.
Notes on the semicolon
 When we went to Denver I wanted to see the ball park; my
brother wanted to go to Elitch Gardens.
 A period and a capital letter would break this in two. That’s OK
and technically correct, but the semicolon lets the reader know
those two ideas are closely related.
 Give it a shot! Tell me what you and a family member both
ordered at a restaurant, separating the two clauses (complete
sentences) with a semicolon.
 EX: At Root Down in the Highlands, I ordered the lamb sliders;
my wife ordered the pesto risotto
Semicolon examples
 At BWW I ordered the mango habanero wings; my cousin
ordered the hot wings.
 At El Chino I ordered the smothered burrito; my sister
ordered some shrimp tacos.
 At the Italian restaurant in New York, I ordered the veal; my
mom ordered a salad.
Coordinating Conjunctions
Linking words like:
 For
 And
 Nor
 But
 Or
 Yet
 So
Compound Sentences
EX:You shouldn’t try to pet rabid dogs, nor should you stick your face
in a campfire.
EX:You can try to pass your classes, or you can bribe your teachers…
Mr. Hauser really likes chocolate.
EX: I was really sleepy, so I washed up and went to bed.
Coordinating Conjunctions and
Compound Sentences
Classwork/Homework



four more examples of closely related independent clauses
linked by a semicolon.
four examples of compound sentences using the FANBOYS
as coordinating conjunctions.
four examples of a colon before a list, especially using the
expressions as follows or the following.
TWELVE sentences total
APOSTRO
PHES
Welcome!
First: Please take your seat, title a heading in
your notes “Apostrophes.”
Next: Describe what an apostrophe is.
Last: List every circumstance you can think
of when one would use an apostrophe.
APOSTROPHES: CONTRACTIONS
 contraction – The combination of two or more words
 The apostrophe will take the place of the letters that get left out
when the words combine.
1.
2.
3.
Subtract the space
subtract letters (usually a vowel a,e,I,o,u)
add the apostrophe
do not – space – o +apostrophe = don’t
did not – space – o + apostrophe = didn’t
was not – space – o + apostrophe = wasn’t
Now you try!
 were not –
 would not –
 does not –
 could not  What about “Who is”?
 who’s
 where is –
 how is –
 we are –
 where vs. were vs. we’re
Removing more than one letter:
I have –
we have –
you have –
you had –
they had -
Possession
 We also use apostrophes to show who or what owns or
possesses something else
 To show what a SINGULAR NOUN possesses, add
’s
 EXAMPLE:
 The bag belonging to Gemma is Gemma’s bag.
 The class that Ms. Bloom owns is Ms. Bloom’s class.
 The nose on the monkey is the monkey’s nose.
 To show what a PLURAL NOUN possesses,
add ‘ after the
s (s’)
 The football belonging to the boys is the
boys’ football.
 The bags belonging to the ladies are the
ladies’ bags
Welcome!
Please have out your notes
on apostrophes and be
ready to listen when the
bell rings
Apostrophes and POSSESSION
 Apostrophes are also used to show that something belongs
to somebody or something. We call this possession.
Contractions all the time, right?
NOPE!
 Casual and informal. OK on most assignments.
 But, they do not belong in any formal written
composition (essays, formal letters, college
writing)
Welcome!
Please turn in your homophone
packets to the spinny chair and
format a half-sheet of paper
titled “Apostrophe Quiz”
numbered from 1-10.
Apostrophe Quiz
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
boy’s
cat’s
brothers’
lady’s
chimps’
child’s
Jenny’s mother’s
Mr. Happy’s
ladies’
men’s
Wrapping up
 Contractions – Two words smushed together.
Apostrophe substituted for missing words:
doesn’t, I’ve, etc.
 Singular possession: ‘s: Mr. Hauser’s dog, the
book’s cover
 Plural possession: s’: The students’ books, the
pencils’ erasers
CAPITALIZATION
Capitalization
 Making the BIGGER version of a letter.
a –A
c-C
q–Q
 Write as many situations you can thank of in
which you use a capital letter instead of a
lowercase.
Sentence Starters
Every sentence must begin
with a capital letter.
 After every period there MUST be a capital
letter.
 Paragraphs must begin with capital letters.
Proper Nouns
 proper noun: a type of noun that refers to a
specific person, place, or thing. NAMES
 Common nouns refer to classes of things
(cat, trash, stone, etc.), not specific ones.
Common vs. Proper Nouns
Common Noun
 a canyon
 a city
 a river
 a planet
 a language
Proper Noun
 The Grand Canyon
 Aurora
 Platte River
 Earth
 Spanish
Book and Movie Titles
 Books and movies must be underlined and
capitalized.
 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
 The Fault in Our Stars
 Twilight
 The Hunger Games
 Mockingjay
Exit Ticket:
 Name
 On a scrap of paper, give three situations in
which you would need to write a capital
letter.
QUOTATION
MARKS
Future Novelists Welcome!
 Please have your homework ([semi]colon and compound
sentences) out where I can check it.
 Discuss the following issue in your table groups, please have one
person write down what you decide is correct.
List every rule you can think of for using
“quotation marks.” What are they? When
do you need them? How do you use them?
What other punctuation is needed?
Quotation Mark Rules
 When citing something. EX: online materials
 Used for dialogue, beginning and end
 Sarcasm, when meant to be the opposite
 Some sort of punctuation before, usually a comma
 First word in a quotation is capitalized
Quotation Mark Rules
Use them to enclose a direct quotation- a
person’s exact words
2. Begin a direct quotation with a capital letter
1.
2.
Quotation marks in the air need punctuation on the
ground, especially commas to offset from the rest of the
sentence.
3.
2.
3.
4.
When a quote is interrupted with he said or James interrupted
the second part begins with a small letter
He said, “What’s happening?”
“I just finished the book,” he replied.
New paragraph for every new speaker
Memoir
Memoir procedure
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
6 words
Explain why it’s important
“One Step at a Time”
Plot
Setting
Grammar explanation
Putting it all together
Six Word Memoirs
 Please write a SIX word sentence on…
who you are as a student and
2. as a son/daughter/ grandchild
1.
 EX: (SIX words each)
Over-involved math whiz and historian
2. Quiet son in a bonkers family
1.
Six Word Memoirs – Who are you?
3. Country allegiance?
4. Age – What is special about your age?
5. Life Goals – Dream job? Future?
6. Spirituality and Religion
7. Social Groups – Athlete? D&D? Music?
“One Step at a Time”
 What did you notice?
 Tone of determination
 first person POV, narrator was the one who experienced it
 narrator’s perspective, “I” “me”








Voice, idea of author’s personality
“really trying” “the problem”
Diction, word choice of a teenager
FANBOYS
Capitalized proper nouns
descriptive language – Imagery
Parallelism
Active voice
Remember…
 The memoir from yesterday, about the child with speech
impediment, write as many details that you can remember
related to the various settings.
 Ms. Polly’s classroom/office/room
 decorations, inspirational and colorful posters, “forgotten
corner”
 Classroom
 teacher, other kids, needed to read, instead he st- st- stuttered.
 Debate competition
 judge wrote a note
Welcome!
setting (n) – the time, place, and social
environment that frame the characters
in a story
Show, Don’t Tell
 Telling involves listing adjectives to describe something. Showing
uses nouns and verbs to paint a more vivid picture.
 Shelly was five years old and scared of dogs.
 Adjectives
 Shelly reached up and grabbed her mother’s hand. She
trembled as the dog galloped in her direction.
"Mommy?" she whimpered.
 Nouns and verbs
Show, Don’t Tell - Setting
 It was hot.
 The fan blew the heavy air as the sweat dripped down my
face.
 The office was dull.
 The faded posters hung listlessly on the wall and the dreary
wallpaper was peeling at the corners.
Show, Don’t Tell - Setting
 Choose ONE setting that pertains to the memory you’ll be
exploring. Where did things happen? Name some things in the
room/area that you remember.
 Try to name PARTICULAR or SMALL things that should only be
in THAT setting. Things that are particular to those kinds of places.
 EX: clock
 projector
 speaker
 keyboard
Setting
 Add verbs (action words) to these different nouns
 Nouns with verbs:
 the clock ticks
 the projector whirs
 the speaker hisses
 the keyboard clickety-clacks
On a CLEAN sheet of paper…
 Please think back to the 6-Word Memoir you’ve been working on.
Explain why this is an important part of who you are.
 Why does it matter? Does this look different in other people? What
makes this special for you? How do you feel about this part of your
personality?
 EX:
When people turn on the radio, they usually just hear the
guitar as part of the song as a whole, or maybe not at all. When I listen to
the radio, the guitar is all I can hear. I’ve been playing for twenty years.
I’ve played in all different kinds of bands all across the country. This
instrument has become a big part of my life.
Put it all together
 Halfway down that SAME piece of paper, in the margin,
write the word BEGINNING
 On the other side of the paper, at the top, write MIDDLE
 Halfway down this side, write ENDING
The Grammar Stuff
 The memoir we’ve been working on is also an opportunity to
showcase the grammatical knowledge we’ve acquired.
 THAT MEANS the finished product must show your own
examples of:






Parts of speech
Parts of a sentence
Parallelism
Lists of items introduced with a colon
Knowledge of homophones
Proper use of apostrophes
Peer Editing
 You must read, annotate, and respond to TWO of your classmates’
papers. As you read:







Circle proper nouns
Circle semicolons
Circle colons
Circle there/their
Underline compound sentence
Underline parallel items
Underline usages of quotation marks
 When finished reading, please write:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Something he/she did well
One suggestion for improvement
The phrase “Your next draft will be awesome!”
Your name
Memoir Components
 Relates the thoughts and feelings of author
 First person perspective, telling his own story,




autobiographical
True story with some embellishments, fictionalized
starts in an interesting place, en medias res
Dialogue, speech, talking
conflict, obstacle to be overcome
 change for better or worse
 revelation – new understanding
Memoirs – Putting it all together…
Here’s my “end,” paired with my setting
Now, I sit, a high school teacher with his own classroom. The
clock ticks on the wall, the speakers hiss, and my keyboard
clickety-clacks away as I type. It’s bizarre to think how little
experiences shape our lives in such a big way. That one day as a
substitute changed my life. It pointed me towards a career that I
can feel good about, and there’s nothing more important.
Homework:
 Develop settings for the other parts of your “story” using the
same method we did in class:
 List nouns
 Pair up verbs
 Put them into sentences
Welcome!
 Please grab a rubric off my desk, take your
seat, and have your first draft out.
Today:
 Draft Check
 Rubric
 Peer Edits
 Revisions
 Final drafts due TOMORROW
Welcome!
 Please staple the following:
 CLEAN RUBRIC on top with your NAME
 FINAL DRAFT next
 FIRST DRAFT/peer letters on the bottom
 …and place on the front chair
 Once you have done this, write a few sentences in response to the
following questions.
1. What part of the vacation-writing process was the easiest?
1.
2.
brainstorming? outlining? drafting? revising?
What part of the process was the most difficult?
Welcome!
Please staple your rubric on top
of your final draft and turn it in
to the spinny chair here!
FreeWrite
 Please take 5 minutes to write on the following topic:
 Look back at the rubric elements below:
Conflict
Settings
Dialogue
Plot
Personal
revelation/realization
Mechanics
personal
thoughts/feelings
 Which element do you feel you will score the highest on? Why?
 Which element do you feel needs more work? Why?
 When you finish, tell me about your plans for the weekend 
Reading Logs and Silent Reading
Active vs Passive Voice
 In a sentence using active voice, the subject of the
sentence performs the action expressed in the verb.
 The dog bit the boy.
 Scientists have conducted experiments to test their
hypothesis.
 Watching the world through a windshield reminds me
of watching TV.
Passive Voice
 The action is performed on the subject rather than
the object(the colors are backwards!)
 The test was failed by the student.
 The brakes were slammed on by her.
 Your bicycle has been stolen by someone.
Give it a shot!
 Create some sentences in passive voice, then fix them into
active voice.
 EX: The boat was sailed by the deck-hand. (passive)
 The deck-hand sailed the boat. (active)
 EX: The solo was played by the guitar player. (passive)
 The guitar player played the solo. (active)
Active vs. Passive Voice
 The mile was ran by Ussain Bolt. (P)
 (A) Ussain Bolt ran the mile.
 The lesson was taught by the teacher. The teacher taught the




lesson
The boy scored a goal (A). A goal was scored by the boy (P).
The stranger’s candy was taken by Zach (P). Zach took the
stranger’s candy (A).
The dog was chased by the inhabitants of Mars (P). The
inhabitants of Mars chased the dog (A).
My mom woke me up (A). I was awoken by my mom (P).
Memoir Components
 Thoughts and feelings of the author
 Dialogue, speech, talking
 First person perspective, autobiographical, fictionalized
 Author shows goals, obstacle in author’s way
 needs to be overcome
 Revelation, new understanding that changes the author
 Focused on one aspect of the author’s life
Welcome!
 Please grab ONE laptop per group
 Sign in
 Open Word or another word processor
 Begin the digital draft of the rough draft you turned in
yesterday.
 This must be emailed to whauser@lotusschool.orgTODAY by
midnight!
 Send it in an email to yourself if you don’t finish in class
Memoirs – Putting it all together…
 Plot:
 Beginning (how I was)
 Middle (what happened?)
 End (how I changed or how I am now)
 Setting
 Showing not telling, using nouns and verbs to show
 In one, full paragraph, try to combine your beginning,
middle, and/or end with one of the settings you described
yesterday.