10/25/07
Word Web Vocabulary Embraces Language Arts
Although Word Web Vocabulary's major focus obviously is on vocabulary, it also embraces the entire elements of the language arts. It is not possible for students to study vocabulary without writing, researching, understanding history and literature, etc. One of the important components of Word Web is its emphasis on students' using each week's vocabulary words for written work.
Many elements go into these activities. Not only must students indicate understanding of each word, they must also demonstrate mastery of standard English. In other words, studying Word Web is not an isolated activity. Many essentials of English are part of writing: Grammar, mechanics and punctuation.
You're probably familiar with my "Killing two birds with one stone" philosophy. When I headed a classroom, I did my best to combine two or more elements that needed constant drill into one assignment, such as rules governing punctuation, spelling, different sentence types, agreement of subjects and predicates, simple and compound subjects, compound and complex sentences and so on. You get the picture. I also wanted students to watch out for run-on sentences, sentence fragments and the other hazards of writing.
This time, let's just look at the basic types of sentences: Declarative, interrogative, exclamatory and imperative. What better way to review these than to require a specified number of students' sentences to conform to these four types? You can check for the proper end punctuation of each and whether their sentences actually contain a subject and a verb. You're getting vocabulary writing taken care of and you're either instructing or reviewing these sentence types.
Next time I'll offer suggestions on managing vocabulary with the many types of comma usage.
Of late, I've become aware of what I'm calling "garbled English." As some say on television, they are "ripped right out of the news." I plan to put a few of these in each of my Words.
Try these:
- Each of these victims thought that they were providing roadside assistance.
- The site where the boat sank was marked and was scheduled to be towed in the morning.
- If you suspect a friend is being abused, don't think it couldn't happen to them.
I think your classes might enjoy "fixing" these.
That’s my word for this time.
Ellie
