This
is the intermediate/advanced sentence structure tutorial.
We
will get started at 5:00.
Agenda:
·
Welcome/Introduction
·
Overview of the next eight
weeks.
Proposed schedule for each week.
·
Overview of clauses- main and subordinate
clauses
·
NEXT WEEK Overview of four
sentence types
Begin simple sentences
Wherever
we finish this week, we will pick up with next week.
WELCOME/INTRODUCTION
Allan
Haley
English
teacher at South Hill. I have taught here since 1993.
In
SHEC, I teach English Foundations 1,2,3,4,5,6,7, English 10,11,12
Before
that, I was at UBC.
Before
that, I taught in Japan.
8-week
practical guide to improving your sentence structure
practical
writing skills– useful in daily writing- school, life, work
This
will be aimed at students from around English Foundations 6 level up to Grade
12.
The
goal will be to get your sentence structure equal to the expectations of
teachers of higher level classes, including postsecondary (college and
university).
This
will not be a creative writing class; this will be nuts and bolts
highly-structured practical sentence structure.
You
can use the models I will teach as a jumping off point to developing your own
writing styles.
Mostly,
it will be me talking.
If
that sounds ok with you, stick around.
Everything
I put on this screen will go on my blog. My blog is here:
haleyshec.blogspot.com
Write
this down!
I
will post these notes under the heading “Sentence Tutorial Week 1”, “Sentence
Tutorial Week 2”, “Sentence Tutorial Week 2”, etc.
You
can check my blog any time.
There
will be no homework for this tutorial.
There
will be no tests.
You
can do as much work or as little work as you like.
You
attend the tutorials if you are able. If you have to miss a week, no problem.
You can check the blog for what you missed.
I
am planning to teach for 30-35m. That is the limit that Zoom will allow.
If
you have questions, you can ask them at any time. Don’t be shy to interrupt me.
It is no problem at all.
OVERVIEW
OF NEXT EIGHT WEEKS
Week
1 “The Building Blocks / Simple but
Powerful”
CLAUSES-
Independent clauses
Dependent clauses
OVERVIEW OF THE FOUR SENTENCE TYPES
BEGIN SIMPLE SENTENCES
Week
2 “The Seesaw”
CONTINUE SIMPLE SENTENCES
COMPOUND SENTENCES
a. basic compound sentences
b. precise compound sentences
Week
3 “The Lever”
COMPLEX SENTENCES- adverb clauses
a. basic adverb clauses
b. precise adverb clauses
Week
4 “The Big Idea”
COMPLEX SENTENCES- noun clauses
a. basic noun clauses
b. precise noun clauses
Week
5 “The Diamond in the Ring”
COMPLEX SENTENCES- adjective clauses
a. basic adjective clauses
b. precise adjective clauses
Week
6 “Putting It All Together”
SENTENCE COMBINING STRATEGIES
a. basic structures
b. precise structures
Week
7 “Putting It All Together” Continued
SENTENCE COMBINING STRATEGIES CONTINUED
a. basic structures
b. precise structures
Week
8 “Staying on Course”
COMMON PITFALLS
a. run-on sentences
b. sentence fragments
c. verb form
***
***
REMINDER:
Everything that appears on this screen will be put on the blog. I will update
the blog right after the tuturial.
haleyshec.blogspot.com
You
do not have to take notes although some people like to take notes during a
class. Taking notes helps a lot with retention.
Let’s
begin.
CLAUSES
Clauses
are everything in writing sentences.
It’s
all about clauses.
All
of your sentence writing in English can be thought of as assembling clauses
together.
clause
– group of words with a subject and verb
subject
– main noun or pronoun in a sentence
verb-
action word, word of being
Jun is watching a sentence
tutorial tonight.
S V
SV-Subject
Verb
Two
kinds of clauses:
1.
Independent clause / Main
clause
2.
Dependent clauses / Subordinate
clause
Independent
clause is also called a main clause.
Dependent
clause is also called a subordinate clause.
*main
clause/independent clause
– independent
person- take care of yourself, cook your own supper, wash your own clothes, not
depending on someone else, not dependant on other people, stand on your own
independent
clause – a group of words with a S & V that can be a sentence by itself
-does
not need another clause to be a sentence
independent
clause = simple sentence
*dependent
clause- needs another clause in order to be a sentence
dependent
person- needs help, depends on someone else to take care of you, need support:
child, infirm, elderly
A
dependent clause needs another clause (main clause) in order to be a sentence.
e.g.
If it
rains today.
SV
clause, not a sentence, subordinate clause, ½ sentence
FIXES:
If it
rains today.
If it rains today. It may/will
rain today.
If it
rains today, we won’t go for a walk.
Because
she was late.
SV
clause, not a sentence, subordinate clause, ½ sentence
Because
she was late.
FIXES:
Because she was late. She was
late.
Because
she was late, we had to postpone
the meeting.
Because
she was late.
**ok
for casual talking
not
okay for school writing
For
school writing, we want to aim for a higher level.
REVIEW
independent
clause = main clause
dependent
clause = subordinate clause
independent-
take care of yourself
dependent-
need help
main
(independent) clause- group of words with a subject and verb, sentence by
itself, complete thought by itself
subordinate
(dependent) clause- group of words with a subject and verbs, not a sentence by
itself, not a complete thought
Examples
of a main clause:
We are going to the park today.
Example
of a subordinate clause:
Because
it is a sunny day. XXX NOT A
SENTENCE, FRAGMENT
We are going to the park today +
Because it is a sunny day.
JOIN
THEM TOGETHER:
We are
going to the park today because it is a sunny day.
Because
it is a sunny day today, we are going to the park.
Use
this as a model for thousands of sentences.
HIGHER
LEVEL IDEA The main character had a conflict with her sister because
the sister was being dishonest about the past.
REVIEW
A
subordinate clause is not a sentence by itself. It must be attached to a main
clause. Alternatively, a subordinate clause can be changed into a main clause.
COMMON
ERROR- sentence fragment - frag
FIX:
ADD SOMETHING, OR TAKE SOMETHING AWAY
1.
If it rains today.
2.
Because she was late.
EXTRA
INFORMATION:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/independent_and_dependent_clauses/index.html#:~:text=An%20independent%20clause%20is%20a,Shop%20for%20his%20chemistry%20quiz.&text=A%20dependent%20clause%20is%20a,not%20express%20a%20complete%20thought.
COPY
AND PASTE (CTRL+C and CTRL+V) from the blog
EXERCISES
TO TRY FOR HOMEWORK
Feel
free to try these for homework if you like.
“Exercises-main
or subordinate”
Exercises- main and subordinate clauses
1.
The need is clear. MAIN CLAUSE
2.
if you insist SUBORDINATE CLAUSE
3.
whenever Heiman arrives
4.
so that you'll be ready
5.
provided that it is blue
6.
sit closer
7.
since you had the counselling
8.
are you confused
9.
where Nolan was going
10.
she was correct
11.
stop
laughing
12.
without
you, it's impossible
13.
sam is
14.
unless it
stops raining
15.
as long
as you are sure
16.
of course
they know
17.
even
though it wasn't the right one
18.
where is
the snake slithering
19.
because
you are clever
20.
if I were
as good-looking as you
Taken from Know More English, Prentice Hall
Canada, 1998
OVERVIEW
OF THE FOUR SENTENCE TYPES
“Intro
to Sentence Style” (EF6 folder)
SIMPLE SENTENCES
“Simple Sentences EF6 Level” (Tutorial
folder)
Simple Sentences
Four types of sentences-
1.simple
2.compound 3.complex 4.compound-complex
We will cover these in detail over the next
five weeks.
SIMPLE
simple sentence- most basic form of a
sentence in English
simple but powerful- carry weight
very useful, valuable tool for you to use
FREE ADVICE: If you have something really
important to say, say it with a simple sentence. e.g. topic sentence of a paragraph
simple sentences- direct, clear, focussed, usually
short
e.g. thesis statement for an essay, topic
sentence for a paragraph, important or weighty information- Use a simple
sentence
Notice that there are some important
requirements for a simple sentence:
1. Must have a subject and a verb. SV S- subject
V-verb
2. Must express a complete thought/complete
idea.
3. Must have only one clause, independent
clause, main clause
4. ** Begins with a capital letter and ends
with a period or question mark.** For all sentences.
NOTE: Exclamation points are unusual in
school writing. !!
Avoid using exclamation points unless you are
expressing strong emotion.
For school writing, a period is almost
always a better choice.
REVIEW: A simple sentence is one main/independent
clause that has a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought.
clause – a group of words with a subject
and a verb, SV
Most teachers say: one simple sentence – a complete
idea
No comments:
Post a Comment