5. Elementary Rules of Usage I Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding ‘s Do not break sentences in two Use the proper case of Pronoun Do not join independent clauses with a comma Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. Ed. Edward A Tenney. 4th ed. 1919. New York: Pearson Education Company, 1959. Print.
6. Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding ‘s Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. For example, Lewis’s car Ryan’s sweater Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. Ed. Edward A Tenney. 4th ed. 1919. New York: Pearson Education Company, 1959. Print.
7. Do not break sentences in two In other words do not use periods as commas. He was an amazing player. A man who had played soccer all over the world. Do not break sentences in two In other words do not use periods as commas. He was an amazing player. A man who had played soccer all over the world. He was an amazing player, a man who had played soccer all over the world. Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. Ed. Edward A Tenney. 4th ed. 1919. New York: Pearson Education Company, 1959. Print.
8. Use the proper case of pronoun The personal pronouns, as well as the pronoun who, change forms as they function as subject or object. Who calls? Give this cookie to whoever looks hungry. Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. Ed. Edward A Tenney. 4th ed. 1919. New York: Pearson Education Company, 1959. Print.
9. Do not join independent clauses with a comma If two or more clauses grammatically complete and not joined by a conjunction are to form a single compound sentence, the proper mark of punctuation is a semi-colon. (Shrunk & White pg.5) Ms. Rieger’s anecdotes are entertaining, they are full of humorous details. Ms. Rieger’s anecdotes are entertaining; they are full of humorous details. Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. Ed. Edward A Tenney. 4th ed. 1919. New York: Pearson Education Company, 1959. Print.
10. Principles of Composition II Choose a suitable design and hold to it Use the active voice Use definite specific, concrete, language Express coordinate ideas in similar form Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. Ed. Edward A Tenney. 4th ed. 1919. New York: Pearson Education Company, 1959. Print.
11. Choose a suitable design and hold to it Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. Ed. Edward A Tenney. 4th ed. 1919. New York: Pearson Education Company, 1959. Print.
12. Use the active voice My first concert will always be remembered by me. I shall always remember my first concert. Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. Ed. Edward A Tenney. 4th ed. 1919. New York: Pearson Education Company, 1959. Print.
13. Use definite, specific, concrete language Prefer the specific to the general, the definite to the vague, and the concrete to the abstract. (Shrunk and White pg.21) Ohmann, Richard. "Use Definite, Specific, Concrete Language." College English 41.4 (1979): 390-97. JSTOR. National Council of Teachers of English. Web. 2 Mar. 2010.
14. Express coordinate ideas in similar form Strunk, William, Jr., and E. B. White. The Elements of Style. Ed. Edward A Tenney. 4th ed. 1919. New York: Pearson Education Company, 1959. Print.
15. Unclear focus and relevance Insufficient proofreading and revision Poor attitude towards writing Lack of style III Common Problems a Young Writer Might Face
16. Unclear focus and relevance Freedman, Sarah Warshauer. “Student Characteristics and Essay Test Writing Performance.” Research in the Teaching of English 17.4 (1983): 313-325. JSTOR. Web. 1 Dec. 2009.
29. “To supplement the English/writing curriculum of Mr. Powers 8th grade English class with research conducted regarding various writing topics and techniques”
31. Breakdown of the Ning 1.) Students complete assignments given to them by either me or Mr. Powers. 2.) Students then upload their finished word document, with their first name and last initial included in the title, to the Ning page “John Panaccio’s Writing Tutorial Service” 3.) After reviewing each individual submission I print out the essays I feel I can improve with my feedback and conference with those student’s when I visit the Middle School. ( I do so bi-weekly.)
32. Assignment #1 – Practice PSSA Prompt “Many people like to borrow clothes, shoes, iPods, and other items. However, if borrowed items get lost or damaged, people can end up having arguments. Write an essay explaining how to resolve this problem”
34. Assignment #3 – Differentiated Instruction “Prompt 1-” “Prompt 2-” “Prompt 3-” After completing a K-W-L regarding the specific topic assigned, students will be separated into corresponding groups with each group asked to respond to a different prompt.
35. “How to be a successful Writer” Power Point Presentation
Notas do Editor
Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names ending in –es and –is, such as the possessive Jesus’ The pronominal possessives hers, its, theirs, yours, and ours have no apostrophes. But indefinite pronouns use the apostrophe to show possession. one’s rights somebody else’s backpackA common error is to write it’s for its, or vice versa. The first (it’s) is a contradiction, meaning “it is”. The second (its) is a possessive.
Use the period to mark the end of a complete sentence that is neither interrogative nor exclamatory.Use the comma when denoting an appositive,(a break within a sentence that supplements and adds information to the subject),denoting a series, or if your subject has two or more adjectives describing it. In this example the first period should be replaced by a comma and the following word begun with a lower case letter. However an exception to this rule would be the use of an emphatic word or expression such as: Again and again he called out. No reply.
The singular personal pronouns relating to the subject include I, you, he, she, it. The singular personal pronouns relating to the object include me, you, him, her, it. The plural personal pronouns relating to the subject include we, you they. The plural personal pronouns include us, you, them.In the second example, whoever is the subject of looks hungry; the object of the preposition to is the entire clause whoever looks hungry. Pronouns used as subjects or predicate nominatives (nominative case): I, you, he, she, it, we, they, whoPronouns used as objects (objective case): me, you, him, her, it, us, them, whomThis is why we would say “I like her” not “me like she”.
“Itis also equally correct to write such a sentence as two sentences, replacing the semicolons with periods.” (Shrunk and White Ms. Rieger’s anecdotes are entertaining. They are full of humorous details.If a conjunction is inserted, the proper mark of punctuation is comma. Mrs. Rieger’s anecdotes are entertaining, for they are full of hilarious characters.
Principles of Composition, or in other words rules by which to write by. In order to have the most easily comprehensible
No matter what kind of writing it may be, every form of composition has a basic underlying structure. Different writers with different ideas and styles will stick to or deviate from this design as they see fit. To be effective, writing must follow the thoughts of the writer closely but not necessarily in the same order these thoughts occur. There are an infinite amount of designs and different strategies work better with kinds of writing. For example a love letter may have no design at all but simply be an outpouring, a flood of emotion. While a doctoral thesis may have a very constrictive design determined by a professor or university. Most forms of composition are somewhat vague and flexible but all have skeletons with which the writer can build upon. The more clearly the writer understands the specific skeleton the greater chances of success.
“The active voice is usually more direct and vigorous than the passive” (Shrunk and White pg.18) The first example, which uses the passive voice, is neither bold nor concise. The second example is much more forceful, direct, and easier to comprehend. We can not discard passive voice altogether for it can be useful and is sometimes necessary. The passive voice can be useful when writing scientifically such as in lab reports or when composing political speeches. But the active voice is immediate and engaging. It can draw the reader in and involve them more with the content.
It is the general consensus of those who study writing that the best way to capture and hold a readers attention is to use definite, specific, concrete language. It is a basic strategy and may not apply in every situation, but as a general rule of thumb using concrete language can effectively improve one’s writing. Tame, colorless, hesitating language can distract and sometimes confuse the reader leaving him or her disinterested. Some of history’s greatest authors, a few of which include Shakespeare, Dante, and Homer, have been successful in part due to their focus on particulars and only the important details. Their concrete language painted vibrant pictures that stuck with audiences and still inspire readers to this day.
In other words express ideas that are alike in content and function in an outwardly similar, easily recognizable way. In the English language this principle is referred to as parallel construction. Parallel construction, also called parallelism, can be defined as the balance of two or more similar words, phrases, or clauses. Parallelism is essential to readability. Many unskilled writers often violate this principle when they decide to constantly vary their forms of expression. When a writer repeats a statement for emphasis there is sometimes a need to vary his or her form. But other than that exception a writer should attempt to follow the principle of parallel form.
Even the best of writers can lose focus and stray off topic. It takes a level of intellectual discipline to make sure that what you are saying is relevant to your topic. In other words for one’s writing to be effective one must have a clear focus. Focus in writing means, among other things, maintaining a central idea throughout one’s composition piece. Without a clear focus whatever you write doesn’t have and effective meaning. There is no point so to say. If a writer learns to state a clear focus early in a piece of writing, readers have a much easier time following the progression ofthe writer’s ideas.
English teachers everywhere agree that students who do not proofread their work generally receive lower grades. If a student simply read over his or her paper one time they can often correct awkward, run-on, and grammatically incorrect sentences.
The ability to know one’s audience and to be able to clearly communicate what you would like to say to that audience is a valuable skill.
Knowing what a truly well-written paper is composed off is an utterly necessary skill when it comes to being a good writer. Somewhere along the line, whether it be in ones academic or work-related career, every writer needs to write some sort of essay, dissertation, thesis, etc.
Withoutthe proper grammar and mechanics any piece of writing appears uninformed and dull.
But by the most important characteristic of a superior writer is a deep love of reading…
But these students are not only learning this techniques and strategies so that they can apply them at a later date. These students will be applying these skills very soon as the 8th grade will soon begin its PSSA testing. By assigning practice PSSA prompts in order to examine these students writing abilities not only am I helping the students develop superior writing habits but preparing them for a very important test which effects not only the student but that students entire school district.
**Still need to add picture above
This activity was just a general overview of the class
I’ve asked my students to participate in a peer review activity using the next small writing assignment given to hem by Mr. Powers. I personally reviewed the students’ previous prompts and held individual conferences with the majority of them. I touched upon the fact that although it is vital that they re-read any work that they plan on submitting it is also important to that they have a second pair of eyes take a look. Over the past couple weeks I have been that second set of eyes pointing out the student’s imperfections as well as applauding them for what they do correctly. I hope that by showing them how valuable a resource a peer editor can be they will choose to take advantage of the opportunity later in their writing careers.
For my differentiated instruction assignment I will first be utilizing what is known as a K-W-L chart. The KWL chart acts as a sort of pretest determining what each individual student knows about any given topic. The general assignment, insert example assignment here, is then broken down into 3 separate but equal assignment which require students to perform at whatever level the pre-test determined.
After Mr. Powers’ students complete all three activities I am going to take my research and findings and use the information to create a presentation designed to re-visit some of the most noticeable and appalling inconsistencies with their writing. The notes that I’ve taken regarding their strengths and weaknesses as a class are going to directly influence this instructional PowerPoint.
![Writing Workshop ,[object Object]](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/writingworkshopslides-100406084141-phpapp01/85/Writing-Workshop-Slides-1-320.jpg)
