oh my. i wish i could wish this into cyberoblivion. Please disregard.... -----Original Message----- From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Judy Diamondstone Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2001 8:51 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: teaching appositives to seventh graders Pam, may I have permission to refer to this message in a paper I am writing that discusses ATEG? I think it's a wonderful translation into pedagogy of KAL. Judy Diamondstone P.S., Am I paranoid, or have I become persona non gratis here? p.p.s., I couldn't care less about sentence-level grammar except as a teacher educator, and I was not a successful teacher educator, so I "dropped out" of the discussion. But I am still INTERESTED in the project of teaching a language about language to native speakers and admire all the work you've done with CC students. I'm also interested in discussion lists as mediators of virtual community, and ATEG is a fine example of an evolving community. Thus, I'm still "here." -----Original Message----- From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Pam Dykstra Sent: Monday, November 12, 2001 9:22 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: teaching appositives to seventh graders Hi Rex, Here is how I explain appositives to students. I say: An appositive is a definition of someone or something. You use definitions all the time. For example, you might say, "George is the student in the back row. Friday is the best day of the week.” Those are definitions. When you write, you can put this information into a sentence all by itself. For example, "Charlene needs a ride to school tomorrow. Charlene is my brother’ s best friend.” But if all of your sentences are in this same short pattern, your writing may sound choppy and boring. Writers solve this problem by using additions. Watch. Take the essential information (the meat) in the second sentence, and you’ll get "my brother’s best friend.” Now add that information to the first sentence. Charlene, my brother’s best friend, needs a ride to school tomorrow. Some background information. A sentence is like a bike. It has two wheels: a "who or what” and a "what about it.” These two parts, the subject and predicate, make up the core sentence. There is never a comma separating the subject from the predicate; they connect firmly to form a stable structure. Once you have a bike, you can add additional information to the front handlebars (a starter), the middle (interrupter), or the back fender (ender). You need to mark these additions with commas so readers can keep track of the core sentence. Readers are always looking for the "who or what” and the "what about it.” Thus, notice that we put commas on both sides of the definition addition. These commas are like handles allowing readers to lift out the addition and see the core sentence: Charlene needs a ride to school tomorrow. The bike image helps students understand sentence structure. Whether they are working in small groups or on the blackboard, ask them to underline the core sentence (bike) and circle the addition. This same process works for other additions, such as -ing additions and -ed additions. Hope ths helps. Please feel free to ask any of your teaching questions here. ATEG is a great group of people who enjoy grammar – Pam Dykstra Pamela Dykstra South Suburban College South Holland, IL 60473 Rex Houston wrote: > I know that this email doesn't have anything to do > with what you guys are discussing, but I need some > help. I would like to know if any of you have any > suggestions on how to teach appositives to seventh > graders so that they can understand them. Please help > if you can. > --- "William J. McCleary" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > Craig, > > > > I was truly startled by your latest message. Your > > view of the world of > > discourse, the thesis, and the connection between > > text and grammar is one > > that many of us have been working with since the > > late sixties. The basis of > > this work is James Kinneavy's book, A Theory of > > Discourse. > > > > Of course, our view of the connection between text > > and grammar is likely > > not as sophisticated as yours, for we are attempting > > to teach this material > > to students, who are not able to do much with > > grammar. > > > > For a textbook that makes the connection and uses > > approximately the same > > categories of text types as yours, see Writing in > > the Liberal Arts > > Tradition, by Kinneavy, McCleary, and Nakadate, 2nd > > edition, Harper & Row, > > 1990. It's old but still in print. > > > > Bill > > > > > > Certainly that there is no decent text making the > > >connections between grammar and whole text > > discourse is a position worth > > >taking seriously. My own approach borrows and > > steals from SFG, but draws > > >from many other sources as well. I am trying to > > fill a need. > > > > >Craig > > > > > > > > > William J. McCleary > > Livonia, NY > > > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit > > the list's web interface at: > > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > > and select "Join or leave the list" > > > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Find a job, post your resume. > http://careers.yahoo.com > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/