ADVERBS!
How many ways can actions –verbs—and qualities –adjectives—be described
using adverbs?
by
Carmen Sánchez Sadek, Ph.D.
English & Creative Writing Skills
7th – 8th Grade
Work-in-Progress
April 7, 2008
The Institute for Standards Curricula & Assessments at United Teachers Los Angeles
©Do Not Circulate, Duplicate or Publish without permission from the Institute for Standards, Curricula, and Assessments, 1999
106751893
Last printed 2/17/2016 5:43:00 AM
Institute for Standards, Curricula, and Assessments
Unit Lessons
Unit Instructor: Carmen Sánchez Sadek, Ph.D.
7th
and 8th
Subject: English & Creative Writing Skills
Gr:
Date 04/07/08
Unit Text:
Web-Sites on Adverbs, any grammar text
Assessment Text (if any): Teacher-created
Central Question(s): How many ways can actions –verbs—and qualities –adjectives—be described using adverbs?
Kind of Assessment:
Instructional Programs (e.g., Advanced Placement, Sp. Ed., Hi Point)…)
Create a Picture Book of Adverbs
“Regular” English and Creative Writing Skills classes
with many Spanish-speaking English Learners
No. Students:
3 classes with
a total of 80 students
1. Continuum of Concepts and Skills to Learn. The concepts and skills that students are expected to have mastered 1) before studying
this unit are under the column “Previous,” 2) upon completion of this unit are under “Present”, and 3) will learn after this unit are under
“Next.”
Previous
Standards Assessed in This Unit
Ss need to develop an ample
vocabulary and need to extensive
use the dictionary and thesaurus to
master as many words as possible.
Each word is a concept and
extensive vocabulary development
is also cognitive development.
Ss need to develop the motivation
to master new words, use new
words, and revise their writing to
select the word that precisely
conveys the intended meaning.
1.0 Writing Strategies – Evaluation and Revision
1.6 Revise writing for word choice……..
Ss need the motivation and
creativity to move away from
“traditional” forms of
presentations. The Picture Book of
Adverbs also incorporates creative
formats of presentations. In
2.0 Writing Application
2.5.a. Presents information purposefully and succinctly
2.5.b. Follow…format for the type of document
(Picture Book of Adverbs)
2.6.b. Include all the factors and variables to b e considered
(Categories of Adverbs)
Next
Ss need to continue to develop an
ample vocabulary and extensive
dictionary and thesaurus skills to
master as many words as possible.
Each word is a concept and
extensive vocabulary development
is also cognitive development.
Ss need to develop the
motivation to master new words,
use new words, and revise their
writing to select the word that
precisely conveys the intended
meaning.
Ss need to continually develop
the motivation and creativity to
move away from “traditional”
forms of presentations.
Eventually Ss may work in a
totally virtual environment. The
(c) Proprietary material. Not for distribution, duplication, publication without explicit permission of the Institute for Standards, Curricula andAssessments.
*Adapted by the Institute for Standards Curricula, and Assessments from the Greenwich Japanese School Lesson Study Plans, 2000
2
106751893
Last printed 2/17/16 5:43 AM
Institute for Standards, Curricula, and Assessments
addition, Ss need to develop
classification skills, especially
based on the features of reality.
The Categories of Adverbs help Ss
master and apply organization of
knowledge skills.
2.6.c. Use formatting techniques to aid comprehension
Learning the different parts of
speech helps Ss with sentence
elaboration and variety. The
Writing Process helps Ss improve
their knowledge and application of
English Language Conventions.
1.0 Written and Oral English Language Conventions
Sentence Structure
1.1 Use correct and varied sentence type
Punctuation and Capitalization
1.5 Use correct punctuation and capitalization
Spelling
1.6 Use correct spelling conventions
Picture Book of many topics
may also incorporate many
different virtual formats of
electronic presentations. In
addition, Ss need to continually
develop classification skills,
especially based on the features
of reality. The Categories of
different types of knowledge and
skills help Ss master and
continue to apply organization of
knowledge skills.
Learning the different parts of
speech –forever-- helps Ss with
sentence elaboration and variety.
The Writing Process –use very
extensively in other upper
grades-- helps Ss improve their
knowledge and application of
English Language Conventions.
2. Overview of Unit
The main goal of this unit is to improve and enhance the English writing skills of mostly English Learners in the 8th grade in order for
students to write –based on the observation of the reality they may be attempting to describe—accurate, precise, succinct and purposeful
sentences and paragraphs that include adverbs. The question this units tries to answer is: How many ways can actions –verbs—and
qualities –adjectives—be described using adverbs? Students will read about adverbs in their Literature textbook. Many other sources of
information will be provided, especially Web Sites relating to adverbs. As a result of their readings and research, students will be able to
identify categories of adverbs. Through these categories, students will identify sources of sentence elaboration and enhancement as their
descriptions become precise and, still, succinct.
(c) Proprietary material. Not for distribution, duplication, publication without explicit permission of the Institute for Standards, Curricula andAssessments.
*Adapted by the Institute for Standards Curricula, and Assessments from the Greenwich Japanese School Lesson Study Plans, 2000
3
106751893
Last printed 2/17/16 5:43 AM
Institute for Standards, Curricula, and Assessments
3. Assessments
Students, to demonstrate understanding of the grammatical concept of adverbs, application of this concept to the observation of
reality, and mastery of the many categories of adverbs, create a Picture Book of Adverbs based on a single theme or topic.
Students select 20 pictures relating to their chosen topic then write a sentence describing each of the pictures and using at least
one adverb or adverbial phrase per sentence. Students check their 20 sentences to insure that they have included at least one
adverb from each of the categories studied. The intended purposes of the lessons in this unit are (1) to develop vocabulary –learn
and master new adverbs and adverbial phrases, (2) learn and master the technical grammatical categories relating to the parts of
speech, especially the differences between adjectives and adverbs, (3) perceive, observe reality through pictures and the details in
the picture, and (4) succinctly describe in writing, using sentences with at least one adverb or adverbial phrase, the perceived
reality. It is hoped that students, as they continue to master writing skills, elaborate their sentences to accurately and precisely,
yet succinctly and purposefully, write grade-level or above essays and written assignments.
4. Description of Class
My three 8th grade English and Creative Writing Skills classes at Foshay Learning Center include mostly Spanish-speaking
English Learners, a few who have passed the assessment for exiting the English as a Second Language (ESL) Program and have
also reclassified to Fluent English Proficient (FEP) students, but mostly my students are still classified as Limited English
Proficient (LEP) students working towards re-classification as FEP’s. There are some, very few, African-American students in
my classes who may come from non-Standard-English Dialect homes, including American-born students whose parents are
speakers other dialects of English, such as Belizean. My students tend to perform mostly at the BASIC LEVEL in the Los
Angeles Unified School District’s Periodic Assessments, a series of 3 tests on Reading and Writing Skills in preparation for statemandated and federal assessment instruments. Their performance ranges from Far-Below-Basic to Proficient with very few
students reaching the Advanced level. Foshay Learning Center is a K-12 Title I School, located within severe poverty areas of
Los Angeles and close to the University of Southern California, with which Foshay has an instructional relationship, especially at
the high school level. All students will be studying this unit but for purposes of video-taping and analysis of assessment results,
probably only one class will be considered. My 8th grade students, at this time, are extremely excited about culminating from
Middle School and moving on to many other high schools in the area. Since the study of grammar and the emphasis on writing
skills will dominate many of their English classes in high school and beyond, I truly hope that this unit will remind them that the
study of grammar is the study of how we use words and phrases to talk about reality.
5. What Was Redesigned and Why. (This is written after you have taught the units and assessed the students. List the specific skills and
concepts students have mastered and not mastered. For the Not Mastered list, describe the activity that will help them master it next time.
Include what you learned about your teaching and your students’ learning and about designing lessons and assessments.)
(c) Proprietary material. Not for distribution, duplication, publication without explicit permission of the Institute for Standards, Curricula andAssessments.
*Adapted by the Institute for Standards Curricula, and Assessments from the Greenwich Japanese School Lesson Study Plans, 2000
4
106751893
Last printed 2/17/16 5:43 AM
Institute for Standards, Curricula, and Assessments
6. List the Student Reading Materials.
The following Web Sites provide very useful information for students to understand the grammatical concept of adverb and the
many categories of adverbs that have been identified.
http://www.english4today.com/englishgrammar/grammar/ADVERBS13.cfm
http://www.peakenglish.com/reference/cgram/adv_types.jsp
http://grammar.uoregon.edu/adverbs/adverbs.html
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/adverbs/xadvb4.htm
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/410/grammar/adverb.htm
http://www.uottawa.ca/academic/arts/writcent/hypergrammar/adverbs.html
http://www.theramonitor.com/list_of_adverbs.html
http://newton.uor.edu/facultyfolder/rider/adverbs.htm
LISTS of ADVERBS
http://marksesl.com/grammar/Adverb_Chart.htm
http://www.magma.ca/~raksim/estonian/adverbslist.html
http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/conjunctiveadverb.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv279.shtml
http://www.answers.com/topic/adverbial-clause
http://www.usingenglish.com/glossary/adverbial.html
Difficult examples
http://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_adverbs.htmhttp://esl.about.com/library/grammar/blgr_adverbs.htm
http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/wmbaskervill/bl-wmbaskervill-grammar-syntax-adverbs.htm
Technical Examples
http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~xtag/tech-report/node173.html
Any grammar book or textbook may be used with this unit.
7. Sources Used
Institute for Standards, Curricula and Assessments at United Teachers Los Angeles
(c) Proprietary material. Not for distribution, duplication, publication without explicit permission of the Institute for Standards, Curricula andAssessments.
*Adapted by the Institute for Standards Curricula, and Assessments from the Greenwich Japanese School Lesson Study Plans, 2000
5
106751893
Last printed 2/17/16 5:43 AM
Institute for Standards, Curricula, and Assessments
8. The Lessons. (Write a succinct title that captures the main skill/concept of the lesson. Add or delete rows as needed.)
Lesson No.
Lesson Title
Materials (Titles of reading, graphic organizer, supplies…)
1
Review of NOUN Categories (Previous Unit) through the description of
pictures. Writing varied sentences using precise vocabulary of NOUNS.
Lots of pictures, 24 categories of NOUNS (Previous Unit)
2
Review of ADJECTIVES and Development of Picture Mural of
Adjectives throughout the classroom using pictures. Writing varied and
elaborate sentences describing pictures, using one or, preferably, more
than one adjectives per sentence. Use of dictionary and thesaurus.
Lots of pictures to develop understanding of adjectives.
Recognizing morphological categories of adjectives
through lists of adjectives with specific morphological
features: reserved, amazing, pretty, beautiful, etc.
3
Writing elaborate sentences with adjectives.
Lists of adjectives,; use of dictionary and thesaurus.
4
Introduction of actions –Verbs-- through pictures..
Lots of pictures. Dictionary and Thesaurus
5
Adverbs – Introduction through charades
Lists of adverbs and categories of adverbs.
6
Selecting pictures that can be described using adverbs
7
Web Sites of Categories of Adverbs. Use of dictionary and thesaurus
Lots and lots of pictures. Continuing with charades of
adverbs.
Lots of pictures. Lists of adverbs grouped by categories.
8
Posting pictures where adverbs can be identified and named. Writing
sentences using one or, preferably more than one adverb per sentence.
Lots of pictures. Lists of adverbs grouped by categories.
Classroom Mural of Adverbs (pictures and sentences)
9
EOUA –Three day assessment instrument
EOUA Picture Book of Adverbs
10
Sharing booklets
Show Desktop.scf
(c) Proprietary material. Not for distribution, duplication, publication without explicit permission of the Institute for Standards, Curricula andAssessments.
*Adapted by the Institute for Standards Curricula, and Assessments from the Greenwich Japanese School Lesson Study Plans, 2000
6
106751893
Last printed 2/17/16 5:43 AM