Teaching notes for grade 7 grammar scope and sequence
I. Verb- the core of any sentence that shows action or state of being (chapter 10/12)
A.) One word command sentences are possible Stop! Listen! Move! (The subject of every
command sentence is YOU understood.) Recognize a command sentence as one that starts with
a present tense verb.
Stop at the corner. Listen for the sound of a train. Move two blocks to the left.
B.) How do you find a verb in a sentence?
1.Ask yourself: Can I do it? If the answer is YES= the word is likely a verb
2.Look for two verb endings AKA suffixes: -ed or –ing
3.Memorize the helping verbs! THEY ARE ALWAYS VERBS, ALONE OR WITH OTHER WORDS:
am, are, be, being, been, can, could, do, did, does, has, have, had, is, may, might, must,
shall, should, will, would, was, were (23 total)
4.Look for the LINKING VERB. It won’t show action but rather that something IS or EXISTS.
Remember the acronym BAGS- becomes, appears, grows, seems
5. Sometimes, it takes more than one word to express the verb of the sentence. A single verb
made of more than one word is called a VERB PHRASE. The formula for a verb phrase is as
follows: helping verb (s) + main verb= verb phrase
might go, has become, could have been following
II.
Subject- whom or what the sentence is about (chapter 10- review chapter 11-nouns and
pronouns if necessary)
A.) Must be a noun or a pronoun
B.) How do you find a subject in a sentence?
1. Find the verb first.
2. Ask yourself: Who or what (whatever the verb is)? The answer= the subject
Recently I visited the harbor in Baltimore. verb= visited Who or what visited? subject=I=
pronoun, a word that takes the place of a noun
Somehow Josie and Jesse had gotten lost in the woods for several hours. verb= had gotten
Who or what visited? subject= Josie and Jesse=noun (Yes, there can be two subjects that “go with”
one verb…that kind of subject is called COMPOUND.)
WHY DO WE HAVE TO BE ABLE TO FIND A SUBJECT AND A VERB OUT OF A SENTENCE?
1. The subject and the verb affect punctuation in sentences.
2. Making the subject and verb match up or “agree” affects conventions of language or usage.
3. Analyzing sentences helps the brain detects patterns, which is a logical thinking skill.
III. Compound parts (chapter 10-compound subjects and verbs, chapter 12- conjunctions, chapter 16compound sentences, and chapter 23- commas and semi-colons in compound sentences)
A. Two or more of some element
Words-----mail+box= mailbox
Subjects----- Tracy and Bob are at the beach.
Verbs-------- My mom wrote and sent me a check for fifty dollars.
Sentences----- Somebody loaned me a textbook, but I lost it on the train.
B.
Conjunctions- parts of speech that join words, phrases, or clauses in sentences
1. Coordinate: “co-“ means equal FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
*Teach coordinate conjunctions through using a seesaw graphic- a diagonal line across a
triangle. In the triangle, write one of the FANBOYS. Stress that this type of conjunction needs to join two
things that balance for a seesaw to work, therefore, the pattern would be word to word, phrase to
phrase, or clause to clause. Ask the students to think if a seesaw would work if the thinnest student in
the class were to sit across from a heavier student. Draw the analogy that this would be like a word to a
clause connection, which logically doesn’t make sense.
old but cheerful (words----no commas) from the senator or by the President (phrases------no commas)
She dislikes him, yet he loves her. (commas) balance-the grammar structure on one side is same as
the structure on the other side.
C.
Another word for a group of words that has a subject and a verb is a CLAUSE.
D. Punctuation connection
1. Neither compound subjects nor compound verbs require commas between
them.
2. Tracy and Bob wrote and sent ---compound parts-no commas between
E.
Compound sentence-punctuation connection
1. A sentence that has two clauses joined by a coordinate conjunction (FANBOYS)
requires a comma to separate the two clauses. This is called a COMPOUND
sentence.
Somebody loaned me a textbook (clause 1= s: somebody v:loaned)
but I lost it on the train. (clause 2= s: I v:lost) conjunction=but
2. Tip to remember the punctuation- alphabetically comma comes before
conjunction m before n-comma before conjunction
3. Tip to decide whether to put a comma before the conjunction or not- put
your finger over the conjunction. Look to the left; is there a clause? If so,
look to the right. Is there a clause? Only punctuate with a comma if the
answer to both questions is YES.
4. Two clauses in a compound sentence can also be joined by a semi-colon(;)
IF the writer wants to use that mark instead of a comma FANBOYS. Why
would a writer want to do that? to create sentence variety AKA “sound and
look smarter”
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IV.Clauses (chapter 15)
A. Two kinds- independent and dependent
B. Independent- chunk of words that has a subject and a verb and that can stand alone
1. Simple sentence
2. Each clause in a compound sentence
C. Dependent- chunk of words that has a subject and a verb but cannot stand alone
1. Why can’t it stand alone? It’s introduced by a subordinate conjunction.
2. “Sub” means under…in this case, under in grammatical value, unable to stand
alone
3. Some common subordinate conjunctions- because, since, when, if, although,
unless …(that’s a starter list; check the list in the grammar text)
4. Dependent clause = subordinate clause
5. Punctuation connection: A sentence that has at least one dependent and one
independent clause is called a COMPLEX sentence.
A.) If the pattern is dependent clause before independent clause, separate
the clauses by placing a comma where one clause ends and the next
begins. (HINT: These sentences start with a subordinate conjunction.)
The way this sentence after letter A is written illustrates the rule; IF=
subordinate conjunction.
B.) Do not use a comma to separate an independent clause from a dependent
clause when the subordinate conjunction is in the middle. (NEVER write a
comma before conjunctions like “because” in the middle of the sentence.)
The way this sentence after letter B is written illustrates the rule; WHEN is
the subordinate conjunction.
V.Types of sentences (This should be review; emphasis on punctuation usage.) (chapter 16)
A.) Simple- one clause
1. Possible patterns:
a) One subject and one verb
b) Two subjects (no comma between) and one verb (COMPOUND
SUBJECT)
c) One subject and two verbs (different verbs not a verb phrase)
COMPOUND VERB
d) Two subjects (no comma between) and two verbs (no comma
between) COMPOUND SUBJECTS AND COMPOUND VERBS
B.) Compound-two independent clauses in one sentence
1. Possible patterns:
a) clause 1 semi-colon (;) clause 2
b) clause 1 comma (,) FANBOYS clause 2
for, and, not, but, or, yet, so
C.) Complex- one independent clause and one dependent clause one
1. Possible patterns:
a) SUBORDINATE CONJUNCTION dependent clause COMMA,
independent clause
b) Independent clause SUBORDINATE CONJUNCTION (no comma)
dependent clause
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VI. Prepositions and prepositional phrases (chapter 12 and chapter )
A) preposition- a word that shows a relationship between a phrase and some word(s)
in the sentence
B) How do I know if a word is a preposition?
1) Draw a cube.
2) Draw a flower in relation to the cube….examples- over, under, inside, near. Just
draw the flower. Make the students name the relationship.
3) Write “The flower is in (or some other relationship suggested by students) the
box.” Ask the students to underline the word group (PHRASE) that explains the
relationship. in the box.
4) Draw a bee in relation to the cube. Write “The bee is above the flower.”
Underline the prepositional phrase. above the flower.
5) Pattern: prepositional phrase= preposition + object of the preposition
6) Object of the preposition must be a noun or a pronoun (end the prepositional
phrases after the noun or pronoun) THIS PATTERN IS THE REASON FOR THE
RULE, “DO NOT END A SENTENCE WITH A PREPOSITION.” How can a
preposition be the last word in a sentence if it MUST start a phrase?
7) Memorize them in opposite pairs: up-down, over-under, above-below, insideoutside…
8) Why do students have to know how to identify a prepositional phrase?
A) In order to make a subject match up with a verb in some sentences,
writers must mentally delete the phrase so that they don’t make the verb
match up with the object of the preposition but with the subject of the
sentence. ( deleting= squiggling out….squiggle it just a little bit)
B) Proficient and advanced writers know how to create sentence variety by
starting some sentences in a paragraph with prepositional phrases.
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VII.Subject-verb agreement (chapter 17)
A)definition of the concept: A conventions of language system that helps a writer make
the verb “go with” or agree with the subject of the sentence. It involves PRESENT TENSE
VERBS.
B) How to teach agreement (basic background)
subject
verb
singular
DO NOT end in S
End in S
plural
End in S
DO NOT end in S
The letter “s” for ease of pronunciation is usually in one part but not the other.
Jill has a scar on her leg. S=Jill (no S) V=has (S) singular subject-singular verb
Her legs are strong and muscular. S=legs (S) V=are (no S) plural subject-plural verb
B)Common singular helping verbs: is, was, has, does *Verbs end in S
Common plural helping verbs: are, were, have, do *Verbs do not end in S
C)How to create subject-verb agreement
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Find the verb.
Find the subject.
Say only those two words, subject first followed by verb.
If the subject is singular (usually no S), the verb must be singular (always S)
If the subject is plural (usually S), the verb must be plural (never an S)
If the sentence is in past or future tense, subject-verb agreement is NOT an issue of making the verb
match.
Pronoun subject rules must be memorized.
Students must “squiggle out” mentally or physically any prepositional phrases before verbs so that they
can correctly identify the subject that goes with the verb.
VIII.Complements (chapter 13)
A)definition- a noun, pronoun, or adjective that completes the subject and the verb. Completing
means acting as a receiver or completing a linking verb equation.
*Teach the receivers by verb type. Action verbs yield direct AND indirect objects; linking verbs yield
predicate nominatives OR predicate adjectives.
I) Action verb complements: direct objects (DO’s) and indirect objects (IO’s)
a) Action verbs yield only direct objects and indirect objects. (receivers of the action)
b) Direct objects (DO’s) and indirect objects (IO’s)= nouns or pronouns only
c) Patterns: Subject-Action Verb-Direct Object
OR Subject- Action Verb-Indirect Object-Direct Object
d) How to find direct and indirect objects
1.
Identify the verb. If it’s an action verb, proceed to ask the question: verb who or verb what?
Greg picked some daisies from the field. Picked what? Picked flowers- DIRECT OBJECT
pattern: S-V-DO
2. Not all action verb sentences have receivers. Direct objects are optional.
3. ONLY IF there is a direct object, proceed to look for an INDIRECT OBJECT. Ask the question-to
whom or for whom was the verb done? OR for whom or for what was the verb done?
He gave Danielle the wildflower bouquet. gave= action verb gave what? Bouquet=DO
to whom did he give it? Danielle=IO
pattern: S-V-IO-DO (Hint: Direct objects are things,
but indirect objects are usually people or living things.)
*Remember, direct objects are possible without indirect objects BUT indirect objects are not
possible without direct objects.
II. Linking verb complements: predicate nominatives (PN’s) OR predicate adjectives (PA’s)
NEVER HAVE BOTH IN THE SAME SENTENCE
A) Linking verb- a verb that does not show action but rather existence or being
Shelly might be the best candidate. might be- linking…you can’t might be something
Friends become stronger through the years. become- linking…you can’t act out
becoming
B) How to tell if a verb is a linking verb
1.Mentally substitute an equal mark for the linking verb. You then have an incomplete grammar
“equation” in which the subject = something on the other side of the verb, the complement.
2. Linking verbs- becomes, appears, grows, seems, is, are, was, were, will be….
C)Predicate nominative-noun that acts as a complement to the subject in a sentence containing
a linking verb
1. Find the linking verb.
2. Identify the subject that goes with it.
3. Translate the subject and verb into an equation where the verb has been replaced by an
equal mark.
(from above) Shelly=____________? The noun that goes into the blank= PN
Shelly= candidate (Both the subject and the complement AKA receiver mean the
same thing; they equal one another. This kind of relationship can only happen when the
sentence contains a linking verb.)
4. In a sentence where there are both an adjective and a noun after a linking verb, the
NOUN takes precedence. ( Nouns rule; adjectives drool!)
5. PN’s like other grammar structures can be COMPOUND.
In an emergency, the doctors became volunteers as well as leaders.
(S) doctors= volunteers/leaders (PN’s)
D)Predicate adjective- a describing word that acts as a complement to the subject in a sentence
containing a linking verb
How to find a predicate adjective…. Friends become stronger through the years.
1. Find the linking verb.
2. Identify the subject that goes with it.
3. Translate the subject and verb into an equation where the verb has been replaced by an equal mark.
(from above) Friends=______________________? The adjective that goes into the blank=PA
Friends= stronger (The subject is completed or described by the adjective stronger. This kind of
relationship can only happen when the sentence contains a linking verb.)
4. PA’s like other grammar structures can be COMPOUND.
Usually my aunt is both creative and independent in her decisions.
(S) aunt= creative/independent (PA’s)
IX. Underlining, italics, quotation marks (chapter 24)
* Teach in the context of reader response journaling as students write about texts they have
read. Use both in correctly citing evidence. Follow up with usage in research notes.