Mini Lesson: Semi-Colons & Colons

Mini Lesson is for 11th grade students.


Engage: The students will be engaged in this lesson by viewing an introductory video on the topic at hand.

Video

Explore: We will explore the many different uses and rules for incorporating these two punctuation marks into sentences.

Explain: I will explain to the class the correct/incorrect ways of using semi-colons and colons through examples.

Expand: In addition to the rules, specific examples pertaining to the rules will be given in order to enhance comprehension.

Evaluate: Once informed, the class will take a quiz covering the basic rules and functions of the colon and semi-colon. We will do this activity as a class.

E-Search: After the quiz, students will be asked to complete homework, covering the rules of semi-colons and colons.

Mini Lesson: Plural vs. Possessive "S" and Abbreviation "S"

A mini-lesson over Plural vs. Possessive "S" and Abbreviation "S."
For sixth-grade students.

Engage: The students will watch a short youtube video over plural nouns to engage the students and help introduce the topic of our the mini lesson, which is Plural vs. Possessive "S" and Abbreviation "S."



Explore: We will explore the different rules that apply to the plural and possessive nouns. We will covers the basic grammar rules that are needed to use the plural, possessive and abbreviation "S" correctly.

Explain: I will explain how to use the grammar rules correctly and give examples to show the student's the correct way to use Plural vs. Possessive "S" and Abbreviation "S."

Expand: We will do two separate quizzes in class related to the mini lesson. Once relates to the plural and possessive "S" and another quiz over Abbreviation "S."


Evaluate: Take the two quizzes during the powerpoint together as a class to test the student's knowledge.

E-Search: The student's will go online and take the following exercise in plural and possessive nouns. This quiz will test them on what they have learned during our mini-lesson.
Link to quiz

For Homework: (The Evaluate and E-Search steps)
For homework the students will complete a quiz over plural and possessive nouns to help them gain further knowledge on the topic.
Link to quiz

Mini-Lesson: The dash

The dash mini-lesson. For high school freshman students.

Engage: Ask students how many dashes there are. And introduce the BrainPop movie.

Explore: Before showing the video have students write down a sentence using a dash correctly. As they watch the video ask them to identify whether they used the dash correctly or not and what type of dash they used.

Explain: Show the Brainpop video ( http://www.brainpop.com/english/grammar/hyphensanddashes/ )

Expand: Do the BrainPop quiz in class

Evaluate: Assign students sentences from Cracked.com and cbssports.com (below) for homework and have them identify what type or dash/hyphen is being used and explain why that type is being used.

E-Search: Have students go online and find five sentences using hyphens or dashes and explain why it uses that particular type of dash or hyphen. Same basic assignment as above, only they are required to find their own sentences or create their own.

For Homework: (The Evaluate and E-Search steps) Identify what type of dash or hyphen is being used in each sentence and explain why that type is being used. (Please note: some sentences may contain more than one type, identify each). Also, find 5 sentences of your own and do the same thing.

1.) Fresh off scoring a game-high 21 points -- including a pair of critical three-pointers -- to help the Orange into the Sweet 16 with a 78-67 win against Arizona State, Devendorf smiled and laughed easily.

2.) Dell has found a way to make money off of America’s racism and/or xenophobia because now –for an additional fee– you also have the option of being connected to a customer service technician “right here in America."

3.) Sometimes, this even happens to us real writers - by which I mean myself - and we find ourselves unwittingly crossing territory already covered by the pathetic Plebeians - by which I mean everybody else.

4.) His phone number is 555-555-1362.

5.) I've got basketball practice 3-5 p.m.

Students must then find 5 sentences online and do the same thing as above. Students will have 10 sentences total (the 5 provided and the five they find.)

Mini Lesson: Style

Writing Style

Style is an intrinsic, yet elusive quality in all writing.The cartoon at the left riffs on the fact that, although many different writing styles exist, and hold value in their own right, each situation calls for a distinct one.





Read this passage from Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five and think about how the author uses style to convey meaning. Remember, style equals more than just the sum of the words and punctuation marks.




“{Billy}....turned on the television. He came slightly unstuck in time, saw the late movie backwards, then forwards again. It was a movie about American bombers in the Second World War and the gallant men who flew them. Seen backwards by Billy, the story went like this:


American planes, full of holes and wounded men and corpses took off backwards from an airfield in England. Over France, a few German fighter planes flew at them backwards, sucked bullets and shell fragments from some of the planes and crewmen. They did the same for wrecked American bombers on the ground, and those planes flew up backwards to join the formation . . .


When the bombers got back to their base, the steel cylinders were taken from the racks and shipped back to the United States of America, where factories were operating night and day, dismantling the cylinders, separating the dangerous contents into minerals. Touchingly, it was mainly women who did this work. The minerals were then shipped to specialists in remote areas. It was their business to put them into the ground, to hide them cleverly, so they would never hurt anybody again.”

Engage: Video clip, select visual media via powerpoint, and verbal prompting used to elicit and maintain engagement
Explore: Personal reading and analysis of a passage from a popular book allows students to explore knowledge and unknowns about style
Explain: A short lecture on types and features of style, along with a description of professional style, gives information to fill in unknowns and emphasize relevancy
Extend: The Paramedic Method is introduced as a procedure for making writing more concise, consistent with the professional style
Evaluate: Students use the Paramedic Method to edit sample sentences in professional style
E-search: Students must visit This website on proofreading and read sections 1-5. They must then analyze their own writing styles by proofreading their recent English papers. As an assignment, they must create a list of errors or conventions used consistently and incorrectly throughout the paper, and, for each item on this list, detail a short strategy they could use to correct the errors. They must also identify several conventions considered "correct" in professional writing, such as specific punctuation patterns, that characterize their personal style. The pages assigned, along with those on Sentence Variety, Punctuation, and Appropriate Language offer explanations of aspects of good professional writing, and offer suggestions for improvement. Students should also apply the Paramedic Method where applicable.