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The Teaching Home
E-MAIL NEWSLETTER
Information, Inspiration, and Encouragement
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Number 34
April 19, 2003
Cindy Short and Sue Welch, editors
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You are welcome to forward this newsletter in its entirety.
Table of Contents
15-Part Series on Basic Skills: Grammar
How To Teach Grammar
Capitalization, Punctuation, and Usage
Online Grammar Resources
Grammar Teaching Tips
Recommended Resources
Sentence Combining for Composition
Teaching Home Back Issues
Basic Cozy Grammar Course
Easy Grammar
Grapevine Studies Bible Curriculum
Sunny Side Up: Humorous Anecdote
Greetings!
May the Lord bless you and your family as we remember
Jesus Christ's atoning death for our sins and His glorious
resurrection that demonstrated His power to give us eternal
life through faith in Him.
Sincerely,
Pat, Sue, Heather, Holly, and Brian Welch
The Teaching Home is a 22-year-old, home-school family business.
http://www.TeachingHome.com
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Sentence Combining for Composition:
Significantly Impact Your Child's Writing Skill.
* Teaches and models complete and concise sentence structure.
* Directly applies and reinforces all grammatical constructions.
* Encourages creative experiences with language.
* Sequenced program for elementary school students.
* 5 Levels. Each level contains:
34-36 weeks of activities; two 10-15 minute lessons per week.
An objective and two models for each lesson.
* Available on CD for Windows applications.
For more information or to order, contact:
Robert Skaife, 25447 Diablo Ln., Rio Verde AZ 85263
RTschumi@aol.com 480-471-3184 / fax: 480-471-3590
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15-Part Series on Basic Skills
by Cindy Short and Sue Welch, editors
Our 15-part series is written to help you evaluate your
children's skill levels and help them improve in those areas.
Topics are listed with the newsletter number in parenthesis.
These can be viewed in our Newsletter Archives at
http://www.teachinghome.com/newsletters.
1. Listening (#18)
2. Word Analysis/Phonics (#19)
3. Vocabulary (#21)
4. Reading Comprehension: Knowledge (#23)
5. Reading Comprehension (#25 & #26)
6. Reading Comprehension: Analysis & Synthesis (#28)
7. Reading Comprehension: Application (#29)
8. Reading Comprehension: Evaluation (#30)
9. Spelling (#32)
10. Grammar (This Issue)
11. Writing
12. Penmanship
13. Math: Concepts & Computation
14. Math: Problem Solving
15. Thinking Skills, Logic, and Speech
Grammar:
Capitalization, Punctuation, and Usage
Learning grammar is not an end in itself. It is a means of
improving communication.
Understanding the correct grammatical form and structure
of words and sentences enables you to communicate clearly and
precisely and to comprehend the communications of others.
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Select from 51 Never-Out-of-Date Back Issues
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Each Issue Is Pictured and All Articles Are Listed
Practical How-Tos & Teaching Tips
Visit the Teaching Home Website for:
Frequently Asked Questions Concerning Home Schooling.
http://www.TeachingHome.com/started/q&a/index.cfm
Articles on Home-School Basics.
http://www.TeachingHome.com/started/index.cfm
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How To Teach Grammar
Capitalization, Punctuation, and Usage
Motivation
__ Teach your children that the purpose of correct grammar is to
facilitate clear understanding in the communication process.
__ Demonstrate the misunderstanding that can result from
incorrect usage by giving examples (e.g., an incomplete sentence,
"is coming at 5:00" or dangling participle, "waiting for the
train, the newsstand caught my eye.")
__ Explain that the use of correct grammar is a mark of education
and incorrect grammar shows the lack of it.
__ Bible studies can include sentence structure to better
understand the meaning of the passage.
Tools
__ Use a good grammar textbook or handbook as a reference book.
__ Use grammar workbooks for practice.
__ Christian texts and workbooks will provide edifying text as
examples and questions.
http://www.teachinghome.com/resources/results.cfm
__ A good dictionary will give you usage information (e.g.,
which preposition to use after a given verb).
The American Heritage Book of English Usage.
http://www.bartleby.com/64/1.html
Correct Speech
__ Since most of grammar usage is picked up as children learn to
speak, make sure that you are modeling correct grammar.
__ Gently correct your child's spoken mistakes when you are not
in public by repeating the complete sentence back to your child
in the corrected form (e.g., your child says, "Me and Dad are
going." You say, "You mean, 'Dad and I are going.'") Explain
in advance that you will be doing this to teach him correct
grammar usage.
Cross-Curricular Studies
__ Grammar rules can be used as penmanship practice.
__ Use grammar lessons in your writing assignments (e.g., ask for
certain kinds of sentences or parts of speech to be used).
__ Mark grammar mistakes in your child's writing and have him
rewrite the assignment correctly.
Multi-Grade Teaching
__ You can teach much of basic grammar to children of various
ages at the same time.
__ It is better for your child to completely master one
comprehensive grammar text than to get only bits and pieces
all the way through school.
__ Because of the repetition and rotation of subject matter in
grammar texts, you may want to just do every third year
thoroughly, including your children who are at that time in
grades just below, at, or above that level.
__ Some of your children may love working with words and want
to go further than the basics in grammar.
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The Painless Alternative: Basic Cozy Grammar Course
This comprehensive, easy-to-follow curriculum
works for multiple learning styles and ages. Relaxed
English grammar tutorials come complete with two videos
and reproducible workbook containing exercises, tests,
and answer key. 15 National and International Awards.
http://www.CozyGrammar.com
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How To Teach Grammar
Capitalization, Punctuation, and Usage (cont.)
Methods
__ Teach the basic rules of grammar, capitalization, punctuation,
and usage; post and review these rules; then hold your
children accountable to use them consistently.
__ Although diagramming has largely been dropped in grammar
study, it can be fun and teach logic in the construction of
written thinking (writing).
__ Learning a foreign language emphasizes the importance and
function of grammar in any language.
Editing
__ Teach and use the common proof reader's marks for correcting
rough drafts of writing.
http://www.inkwelleditorial.com/proofreaders_marks.htm
Grammar Proofing.
http://www.muw.edu/~kdunk/proof.html
Proofreaders' and Teachers' Marks for Electronic Text.
http://www.wku.edu/~kuhlenschmidt/proofread.htm
__ Copy or type sentences or paragraphs without capitalization,
punctuation, or correct usage, and have your child correct
the passage either with proof reader's marks or by rewriting
or correcting on a word processor or e-mail.
__ Copy and paste educational reading or Scripture *
from the internet into an e-mail message. Then delete the
capitalization and punctuation and change the correct usage.
Have your child correct as above. Keep a copy of the
original as an answer key. * http://www.crosswalk.com
The Basics
__ These are some of the areas of grammar that account for the
most common and obvious errors.
* Incomplete or Run-on Sentences
* Subject/Verb Agreement
* Irregular Verb Tenses
(some of these are different in British usage)
* Use of Pronouns and Antecedents
(e.g., "Send an invitation to him [not he] and his sister."
and "A child should brush his [not their] teeth daily.")
* Use of Modifiers
* Double Negatives
* Redundancies
* Homonyms
* Plural Forms
* Word Order in Sentences
British English
__ Be aware that there are some differences in British
punctuation (e.g., periods can be outside quote marks) and
nomenclature (a "period" is called a "full stop").
http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000193.htm
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar
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Easy Grammar: A Solid, Successful Grammar Program
Easy Grammar teaching texts introduce concepts
step-by-step. Prepositional Approach!
* Unit reviews & tests.
* Cumulative reviews & tests.
Daily Grams: 10-minute daily reviews.
* Now at grade level: 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, etc.
* Revised & improved.
Reproducible for student use.
http://www.easygrammar.com
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Online Grammar Resources
Lessons and practice sheets from Purdue University.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar
Guide to Grammar and Writing.
http://www.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar
The Online English Grammar.
http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/index.cfm
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation.
http://www.grammarbook.com
Daily Grammar. E-mail grammar lessons.
http://www.dailygrammar.com
The Grammar Slammer.
http://englishplus.com/grammar
Grammar Bytes.
http://www.chompchomp.com/menu.htm
Fundamentals of English Grammar: Description and Use.
http://www.engl.niu.edu/dhardy/grammarbook/title.html
Game to practice parts of speech.
http://www6.funbrain.com/grammar
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Bible Curriculum: Easy to Prepare and Effective To Teach
Teach your children (K-12) the major characters and
events of the Bible using timelines and interactive
chronological lessons in 15-20 minutes a day. Great for
multi-level teaching! Free Sample Lessons on our website.
http://www.grapevinestudies.com
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Grammar Teaching Tips
Visualize Capitalization
When teaching your child capitalization rules, show him a
globe or atlas with all the place names capitalized and a phone
book with all peoples' names capitalized.
Verb Tenses
Insert verb tenses into a sing-song form:
I (sing).
She (sings).
Yesterday we (sang).
Right now we are (singing).
And we have (sung) before.
With some irregular verbs, you may need to slow down the
ditty and insert a direct object.
I (ring) the bell.
She (rings) the bell.
Yesterday we (rang) the bell.
Right now we are (ringing) the bell.
And we have (rung) the bell before.
Add different tenses as you study them, e.g.:
"By tomorrow, we will have (rung) the bell six times"
for future perfect tense.
Parts of Speech
The first letters of the following sentence provide clues
for the eight parts of speech:
Nancy And Paula Are
Very Pretty Indian Children.
Noun, Adjective, Pronoun, Adverb,
Verb, Preposition, Interjection, Conjunction.
Parts of Speech Rhyme
A Noun's the name of anything
As school or garden, hoop, or swing.
Adjectives tell what kind of noun
As great, small, pretty, white, or brown.
Instead of nouns, the Pronouns stand
Your face, its ball, his hand.
A Preposition stands before a noun
As in or through the town.
Verbs tell of something being done,
You read, count, sing, laugh, jump, or run.
How things are done the Adverbs tell
As slowly, quickly, ill, or well.
Conjunctions join words together
As men and women; wind or weather.
An Interjection shows surprise
As oh, how pretty; ah, how wise.
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http://www.spelling.org
Your Source for New & Used Curriculum on the Web!
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Unless The Lord . . . Magazine
http://www.unlessthelordmagazine.com
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Sunny Side Up: Something's Fishy
My nephew Curtis was asking his grandfather where his
ancestors came from. My father-in-law answered, "They came
from Wales."
Curtis, who had apparently been informed about creation vs.
evolution, looked and sounded quite indignant as he replied,
"They did not come from whales; they came from God!"
Sent by L. Edwards, Tennessee
You are also invited to submit your humorous anecdote.
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God Loves You.
Because we were separated from God by sin, Jesus Christ died
in our place, then rose to life again. If we trust Jesus Christ
as our Savior and Lord, He will give us eternal life.
"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that
not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of
works, that no one should boast" (Eph. 2:8, 9).
http://www.TeachingHome.com/about/salvation.cfm
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