Hi all. I am new to blogging so please be patient with me. I teach several classes this year at HERO and the information I post for all of my classes will be here.
Click on the category in the right column to see all posts related to your class.
Click the page in the right hand column for class description.
I encourage you to post any comments because others may have the same questions as you do. However, you may also email me at ERLLFL@msn.com .
#5 clausal openers
Clausal openers are like www.asia clauses, but now they are at the beginning of the sentence.
Be careful when using “since” as an opener. If you can substitute the word “because” for “since”, it is valid as a #5 opener (or as a www.asia if it’s mid-sentence). For example:
Since it looks like it may rain, you should bring your umbrella.
Because it looks like it may rain, you should bring your umbrella.
Bring your umbrella since it looks as if it may rain.
Bring your umbrella because it looks as if it may rain.
If you cannot substitute “because” for “since”, it is probably functioning as a preposition.
Since noon, it’s been pouring rain.
It has been pouring raining since noon.
*In any paper, any clausal word (when, while, where, etc.) may be counted once as a www.asia dress-up and once as a #5 clausal opener, but they may not be in the same paragraph. For example, do not use “if” as a dress-up in the same paragraph that you used it as a #5 opener.
The same rule applies to #3 -ly openers and -ly adverbs. For example, do not use “finally” as an -ly dress-up in the same paragraph that you use it as a #3 opener.
Reminders about clinchers:
A title clincher only reflects the title of your paper.
This is the type of clincher we use in papers whose purpose is to summarize a narrative, as in “The Fox and the Crow” and “The Bat and the Nightingale” assignments.
Most of the papers you write will use topic clinchers and final clinchers.
A topic clincher reflects the topic sentence of that same paragraph. (The topic of a paragraph is found in the first sentence and was represented by a Roman numeral in your outline.) In most papers, every paragraph will have a topic clincher except the last paragraph, which has a final clincher.
A final clincher is only used in the very last paragraph. It is like a topic clincher in that it reflects the topic sentences of that same [last] paragraph, but it also reflects the title. The final clincher is the last sentence of the paper.
To mark your clinchers, circle the repeated or reflected words both in the clincher and in the title or topic sentence.
You can take this online quiz to test your cat knowledge.
http://homeschooling.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://www.nhm.org/cats/lotto/index.htm
A who/which clause is an adjectival clause found in the middle of a sentence. The entire w/w clause acts like an adjective, which modifies a noun or pronoun. A w/w clause should come immediately after the noun or pronoun it modifies. The w/w clause is set off with commas.
Recall that any clause is a group of related words that has a subject and a verb. In a w/w clause, the subject of that clause is either ‘who” or “which”. Use “who” when referencing a person or a animal that is personified; use “which” to reference everything else.
Examples:
* Jeremy, who is wearing a red shirt, usually wears blue or grey.
“Who is wearing a red shirt” is the w/w clause. Note that it comes immediately after the noun it modifies, “Jeremy”.
* I visited the International Wolf Center, which is located in Ely, Minnesota.
“Which is located in Ely, Minnesota” is the w/w clause. It modifies International Wolf Center.
* I’ll share my cookies with you, who has no dessert in your lunchbox.
“Who has no dessert in your lunchbox” is the w/w clause. It modifies “you”.
Incorrect examples:
* Who is coming with us?
There is nothing in the sentence before the word “who” that can be modified.
* I don’t know which pair of shoes to wear.
In this example, “know” is a verb, so “which pair of shoes to wear” cannot be an adjectival clause and thus is not a w/w clause. Another clue that this is not a w/w clause is that you cannot put a comma between “know” and “which”.
Grades 5-6 homework has two parts.
Part one is to define these vocabulary words. I told the classes that I would post on the blog the list of words that they need to define, in case someone didn’t get them all written down. The students will need to look up the words on their own in a dictionary to get the definitions. If students do not have a dictionary, they may, with parental permission, get the definitions via the web.
Part two is to answer the “What do you remember?” questions found on page 11 of the text. We did not discuss all of these items in class, so they will need to use the text to complete the questions. Students should write their answers on notebook paper.
Grades 3-4 homework is to define these vocabulary words. I told the classes that I would post on the blog the list of words that they need to define, in case someone didn’t get them all written down. The students will need to look up the words on their own in a dictionary to get the definitions.
If students do not have a dictionary, they may, with parental permission, get the definitions via the web.
What a deal! The current Scholastic book order form at HERO offers Island of the Blue Dolphins for just $4.00, no tax. It’s on page 4 of the September Arrow form.
I’m still playing with the best way to present my blog. I changed the front page from the only the Welcome” page to also include all of my most recent posts. You may still click on the category in the right colums to see only those posts that relate to your class. Leave a comment to let me know if you prefer the old front page or the new one.
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