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Scott,

I've embedded my comments below.  Overall a well thought out set of objectives.

Herb

From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Scott Woods
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2011 4:46 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Objectives for teaching verbs

Dear List,

My department is developing a document to organize our instruction in grammar in grades 5-12 (through AP English Literature and AP English Language, both of which are required classes) across six schools. I would appreciate some feedback on the objectives list below which guides the document. What is missing? What would you recommend changing or deleting? What else should we think about?

Thanks,

Scott Woods
Objectives

 1.  >  Students both explain and exemplify the system of regular verb inflections.

 1.  >  Students identify verbs in context based on syntactical and morphological features.

 1.  >  Students consistently apply the spelling conventions for regular verb inflections, especially for common verbs, and correct relevant errors.

 1.  >  Students explain the difference between go and be and the rest of our verbs (demonstrating their understanding of the inflectional system).
5.      >  Students correctly conjugate all auxiliary verbs, and correct relevant errors.  The term "conjugate" doesn't really work for English.  It's certainly applicable to Latin, Greek, Romance languages, and even German to a lesser degree, but it's fundamentally a morphological concept presupposing paradigms.  The same can be said, of course, for declension in nouns and adjectives.  What is the benefit of introducing this concept in as analytic a language as English?

 1.  >  Students are exposed to the class of strong verbs, and to subclasses of strong verbs.

 1.  >  Students explain and exemplify the difference between regular verbs and strong verbs.  Strong vs. regular is not a complementarity in English verbs.  If by "strong" you mean "irregular," then you are including some clearly weak verbs, like think/thought, make/made, send/sent, etc.  Weak verbs always form their preterite and participle in a final dental.  Strong verbs involve stem vowel alternation.  Weak verbs have two principle parts, and strong verbs generally have three, the third in -en.  Fight/fought is a two-term strong verb because the final -t is not a suffix while in think/thought it is.  Why not go either with regular/irregular or with the traditional weak/strong?  The former would probably be preferable because regular verbs are all weak but not all weak verbs are regular.  Greenbaum's Oxford English Grammar has an excellent presentation of irregular verb classes, as do Huddleston and Pullum.

 1.  >  Students use strong verbs accurately, especially common strong verbs, and correct relevant errors.

 1.  >  Students are exposed to classes of irregular verbs grouped by common characteristics.

 1.  >  Students use irregular verbs accurately, especially common irregular verbs, and correct relevant errors.

 1.  >  Students explain, identify, and exemplify verb phrases (as opposed to solitary verbs)

 1.  >  Students distinguish between linking and non-linking verbs.

 1.  >  Students distinguish between transitive and intransitive (linking and non-linking) verbs.

 1.  >  Students identify auxiliary verbs in context.

 1.  >  Students use auxiliary verbs accurately, distinguishing as needed between tenses, and correct relevant errors.

 1.  >  Students identify multi-word verbs in context, distinguishing them from verbs followed by adverbial particles or prepositional phrases.

 1.  >  Students use the progressive construction when appropriate, and correct erroneous usage.

 1.  >  Students identify the progressive construction in context, differentiating progressive aspect verbs from gerunds and adjectival participles.

 1.  >  Students use the perfect construction when appropriate, and correct erroneous usage.

 1.  >  (Identification of perfect constructions in context is secondary.)

 1.  >  Students use the subjunctive mood when appropriate with commanding that-clauses and contrary-to-fact if-clauses, and correct erroneous usage.

 1.  >  (Identification of the subjunctive mood in context is secondary.)

 1.  >  Students accurately use the instantaneous present, the habitual present, the eternal present, and the literary present in writing, and correct errors in usage.

 1.  >  Students identify verbs in their own writing.

 1.  >  Students accurately use lie, lay, sit, set, rise, and raise, and correct usage errors.

 1.  >  Students ensure semantic coherence of verb-subject pairs.

 1.  >  Students accurately use common verb-preposition pairs, and correct errors in usage.

 1.  >  Students take definite measures to improve the accuracy, precision, sophistication, and literary appeal of their verbs.
There is some variation in verb-particle, verb preposition, and verb adverb constructions, and the distinctions between these classes are not always clear.  Overall I think this is an excellent set of objectives for verbs for that grade range.  What you might consider addressing, although it might be more appropriate under a discourse topic, is the role of tense and aspect in discourse structure, for example, the use of auxiliary verb constructions in narrative discourse to present background and setting information vs. simple tenses to carry the plot forward.


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