Sentence Building - Teacher’s Guide (preview)

Sentence Building

Teacher's Guide

To give students inspiration for creating basic sentences and short stories.

By Patricia Y. Lewis

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Intro

Dear Teacher, As teachers, our main concern is that our students learn meaningfully by means of authentic resources. Therefore, we are committed to creating and providing such means to ensure the quality and depth of English mastery that can open the necessary doors for students’ progressive academic growth and development. We also envision them enjoying the experience of learning and using the language at ease.

Our goal in preparing this Teacher’s Guide is to provide you a hands-on manual to assist you in the teaching-learning experience in the class setting. It mirrors the Student’s Workbook in order to apply the suggestions and explanations easily making lesson planning less time-consuming. So you invest more time in enjoying teaching than with paperwork.

It is designed to apply the TPRS Methodology in language learning which has proved itself to be natural, progressive, and effective. Feel free to add your own teaching style to bring about the most lasting learning moments as you work with your students and different groups. We trust they are going to enjoy those learning moments.

Finally, this Teacher’s Guide is one of the components of the set comprised by the Student’s Workbook with the Words Bank, each with its specific goal and purpose forming the complete resource to develop the TPRS Methodology.

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Sentence Building T E A C H E R ’ S G U I D E

W

e have adapted this product with a collection of interactive games, that are highly motivating and easy to develop in class, with the purpose of supporting the work of teachers as they strive to actively help students acquire the English language. To optimize class work, we have included techniques from TPRS Methodology, that are very effective for language acquisition and can be adapted for working to at any level.

What is TPRS? TPRS, “Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling” is a methodology that starts at the zero level, at which the student is, and step by step he/she advances toward comprehension, fluency, and practical grammatical knowledge according to the student’s grade level.

The Origins Towards the end of the nineties, Professor Blaine Ray taught Spanish in an elementary school of Missouri, Kansas in the USA. Then he felt frustrated in view of his students’ slow progress. As a researcher and avid reader, Ray felt the urgent need to obtain greater advance with his students. Therefore, he began in depth research and studies of the findings of expert linguists and educators such as Stephen Krashen and Terrell Tracy, designers of the natural method, and Asher James , creator of TPR (Total Physical Response).

Ray merged those experts’ strategies to which he added his own ideas and created the TPRS Method, and put it into effect at the end of the 90’s decade.

TPRS is applicable to all languages making it an effective, manageable, and universal method used successfully in more than 90 countries from different continents. Workshops and update seminars are carried out every year in the United States in July, in order to share advancements and train teachers in this new methodology that continues to expand worldwide.

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TPRS Techniques Included: For TPRS Methodology, comprehension is the most important task.

Add gestures, realia or translation if necessary to ensure the comprehension of the picture cards in the boxes or on the flashcards.

P.Q.A´s (Personalized Questions and Answers) This technique, based in questions and repetition is very helpful to make students feel that what they are learning is real and a part of their life.

How can you do this?

Present the picture card or a Flashcard, for example, a picture of a dog; show it to the class and ask the following questions:

• Who has a dog?

• What is your dog´s name?

• What color is it?

• Where does your dog sleep?

• Do you take care of your dog?

• Do you love your dog?

(You may ask these and many more.)

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CIRCLING: Is the use of “yes /no”, “either/or” and “Wh” questions to develop meaning and to ensure the comprehension. Circling questions can be done in any order.

This technique permits the teacher to work on recycling, repetitions and motivation. As the teacher circles the statements, they can also take advantage to signal grammar points, review gestures, personalize structures and assess comprehension. The most important benefit of circling is to promote language acquisition subconsciously.

Example: Statement: The girl runs in the park.

Circling Questions: • Does a boy or a girl run in the park?

circle of questions

• Does the girl run in the park?

• Does the girl run in the zoo?

YES

• Does the girl run in the park or in the zoo?

• Where does the girl run?

WH...

• Who runs in the park?

u re c t ur r u ct s t ru st

OR

• What does the girl do?

NO (You may ask these and many more.)

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TM

Sentence Building Teacher’s Guide

Level 1

Give it a Right Start

In view of the novelty of this writing tool, begin by handing the students their Workbook for them to preview them. Then explain their content part by part, as follows:

Character

Setting

Event

Conclusion

Explain to the class that those are important elements used to expand sentences or statements to write stories.

Remind students that in the Words Bank, • Statements will usually begin with the character and end with the conclusion.

• The events usually go after the character, but in some cases they can change positions with the settings.

• The different characters can be interchanged with different events and settings.

• The elements are intended to be mixed and matched to produce a large number of statements.

• At the same time, the purpose of the exercises is to help students write richer sentences by following patterns rather than grammatical rules.

• Before writing sentences in the Workbook, students should have practiced forming sentences orally first, then writing them on the board, and finally writing their creative sentences in the Workbook.

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Sentence Building Teacher’s Guide

Give it a Right Start The Words Bank is adaptable and can be used in many different ways to fulfill different purposes. One is to build sentences starting from the simplest to the most complete by adding the different elements, as follows: Example #1: The simplest form, Subject and Predicate.

Character

conclusion won

A girl

first place.

Use the Words Bank to write your own sentence following the example above.

Character

conclusion

Example #2: Setting describing the character.

Character A girl

conclusion

setting

won first place.

at school

Use the Words Bank to write your own sentence following the example above.

Character

conclusion

setting

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Sentence Building Tea cher’s Guide

Give it a Right Start Example #3: Setting and event describing the character.

Character A girl

event

setting at school

in the spelling bee

conclusion won first place

Use the Words Bank to write your own sentence following the example above.

Character

event

setting

conclusion

expanding f o ss e c ro p e s aware of th e m o c e b t n the risk of de u g st in e id th o , v y a a p ste In this w nd step by a lly fu g in n to create ea ts m n e s d e u c st n s te le n ab the se n. It also en o ti a z ri o m e on or m mechanizati more ease. h it w s e c n te n their own se e different th n e e tw e b n flip ents can the d u st , d re e st p is ma Once this ste er sentences. th o te a re c elements to

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Character:

Sentence Building Teacher’s Guide

It is the subject that performs an action.

Developing the Character INTRODUCE Identify all of the students in the class as characters Illustrate the meaning of character by calling on two students to ask circling questions.

You may also use a student to do P.Q.A.

EXPLAIN Indicate that the character is the “Who?” of the statement.

Point at one of the students and ask, Is this (name)? for a “yes” answer.

Point at the same student an ask again: Is this (name)? for a “no” answer.

Is this (name) or (name)? for an “either/or” answer.

Finally ask: Who is this?

Ask the students: Are you a boy? Are you a girl?

Are you a boy or a girl? What are you?

State that most statements or sentences begin with the subject or character.

In other words, the “Who” or “What” we are talking about. Exercise on workbook page 5.

Developing Character INTRODUCE Ask for examples of characters or names.

Also explain that the “who” names can be for singular or plural names.

EXPLAIN Write the names on the board.

Examples: A girl (singular) A dog Jerry My mother A boy and a girl (plural) Jerry and his dog

Character A girl

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Setting:

Sentence Building Teacher’s Guide

It is a location or place. It is where the character does an action.

Developing the Setting INTRODUCE

EXPLAIN

Identify different places in the classroom.

Indicate to the students that the places are the “Where” or the setting of the statements.

Ask for examples about different places in the classroom: -In front of the classroom -Behind the chair -At the door -At the school

Reinforce this concept by circling questions.

Statement: That is the front of the classroom.

Stand before the class and ask: Is this the front of the classroom? Yes or no?

Point to the back of the classroom and ask: Is that the back of the classroom?

Is this the front of the classroom or the back of the classroom? (Accept reasonable answers).

Finally, ask: Where is this? (Accept reasonable answers).

A. Place a student infront of the classroom.

B. Ask questions about the students location.

C. Place the student in another location (door, window), and continue asking questions to reinforce the setting.

Ask the class: Is (name) in the front of the classroom or in the back of the classroom? (Accept reasonable answers).

Where is (name)? (Accept reasonable answers).

Ask students: Where do you like to sit, in the front of the classroom or in the back of the classroom? (Answers will vary).

Where are you? (Accept reasonable answers).

To illustrate the relationship between the character and the setting, draw or illustrate the following sketch: Character A girl

setting at school

Explain the diagram presented by identifying the character and the setting.

Ask the students to give other examples. Keep all the diagrams on the whiteboard or on chart paper. Complete the exercises on workbook page 6-7.

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Event:

Sentence Building Teacher’s Guide

It is the action the character does and what happens or takes place in the setting.

Developing the Event INTRODUCE

EXPLAIN

To explain, give examples of instances similar to the actions presented in the Words Bank.

Explain the instance in Spanish and in English.

Clarify that a spelling bee is a competition.

Then, present different actions that are happening at the moment.

Example: “eating pizza” “sitting and listening” “walking to the door”

Explain instances without using the verb “be”.

Example: “looking for the pencil” “in the spelling bee” Reinforce that in neither case there is the verb be. Take this opportunity to reinforce that the event describes or expands the character.

Use your Words Bank to complete the examples developed in the diagrams, identifying the character, setting, and event in each one. Vary the components of each section to reinforce comprehension. Exercises on workbook page 8.

Character

setting

event

A girl

at school

in the spelling bee

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Conclusion:

Sentence Building Teacher’s Guide

It is the end of the events and the actions the character does or what happens in the sentence.

Developing the Conclusion INTRODUCE

EXPLAIN

Use the diagram to complete the statement with the conclusion: “won first place” Read the complete statement: “A girl at school in the spelling bee won first place”.

Explain the meaning of the action verb “won” in Spanish.

Circle the questions to reinforce the comprehension of the complete statement and to visualize the relationship between all of the parts of the sketch.

Ask questions such as: Who won the first place?

(A girl) Where did she compete and win first place? (at school) What did she compete in? (in the spelling bee) What happened at the end?

(A girl/she won first place) Did a boy or a girl win the spelling bee?

(A girl) Did she win first place in a bicycle race or in the spelling bee? (in the spelling bee) Did she win the spelling bee in school or at home? (at school)

Use P.Q.A. questions:

Ask questions such as: Who knows what a spelling bee contest is?

Has anyone participated in a spelling bee contest?

What place did you win?

Character A girl

Ask who won the first place for students to answer: “a girl” Explain the relationship between the character and the conclusion.

event

setting at school

Exercises on workbook pages 10-11.

in the spelling bee

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conclusion won first won first place. place.

Sentence Building Teacher’s Guide

APPLICATION PRACTICE (Class Activity) Draw the patterns on the board.

Use the blank cells in the diagrams to write your own examples.

Form pairs to work with the Words Bank. Indicate to the class that they will be creating sentences putting together the different elements in the Words Bank.

Indicate that they will create sentences by following the diagrams given below.

1. Start by having them identify the characters as the Who. Allow them to choose the ones they prefer from the Words Bank.

2. Continue with a conclusion. There they will create a simple sentence.

3. Then, have the groups choose a setting.

4. Finally, indicate that they can select an event to expand and complete the sentence.

5. Accept all possible combinations.

6. As further practice, motivate them to create a couple sentences of their own.

7. Call different students to go to the board to share their sentences.

Character A girl

Character

conclusion

A girl

won first place

Character

setting

conclusion

A girl

at school

won first place

Character

setting

event

conclusion

A girl

at school

in the spelling bee

won first place

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Sentence Building Teacher’s Guide

CHECKING COMPREHENSION (Class Activity) Unscramble the elements to form a correct sentence. Capitalize where necessary. ate all the carrots

playing on the ground

the gray rabbit

in the garden

The gray rabbit

in the garden

playing on the ground

ate all the carrots.

in the airplane

landed on an island

sitting in the cabin

the young pilot

The young pilot

in the airplane

sitting in the cabin

landed on an island.

a popular singer

wrote the song

thinking of his friend

in a studio

A popular singer

in a studio

thinking of his friend

wrote the song.

celebrating her birthday

my best friend

at school

invited the class to her party

My best friend

at school

celebrating her birthday

invited the class to her party.

Brenda

in her backpack

found a dollar

looking for a pen

Brenda

looking for a pen

in her backpack

found a dollar.

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Sentence Building Teacher’s Guide

Changing Statements to Present and Future with Will and Going to

Help students identify the verb in the conclusion. Then introduce the present, future tense with will, and future tense with going to. Practice by writing the statements in the new tenses.

Examples: A girl at school in the spelling bee wins first place. (present ) A girl at school in the spelling bee will win first place. (future with will ) A girl at school in the spelling bee is going to win first place. (future with going to)

Checking Comprehension Use the diagram to create statements on the board. Ask students to fill the blanks with their own words for character, setting, event, and conclusion.

Character

setting

My best friend

at school

celebrating her birthday

invited the class to her party.

My best friend

at school

celebrating her birthday

invites the class to her party.

My best friend

at school

celebrating her birthday

will invite the class to her party.

My best friend

at school

celebrating her birthday

is going to invite the class to her party.

event

conclusion

Read the complete statements aloud with the class. Circle, and P.Q.A. Exercises on workbook pages 12-13.

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Sentence Building Teacher’s Guide

Introducing Plural Characters Use the previous diagram to work with plural characters. Remember to make the necessary changes to the verbs. Use the same diagram to change statements to plural.

Examples: Character

setting

event

A girl

at school

in the spelling bee

won first place.

A girl

at school

in the spelling bee

wins first place

A girl

at school

in the spelling bee

A girl

at school

in the spelling bee

is going to win first place

conclusion

conclusion

will win first place

Examples: with Plural Characters: Character

setting

event

Some girls

at school

in the spelling bee

won first place.

Some girls

at school

in the spelling bee

win first place.

Some girls

at school

in the spelling bee

will win first place.

Some girls

at school

in the spelling bee

are going to win first place.

Read the complete statements aloud with the class. Circle and P.Q.A. Emphasize and explain the plural form. Use the diagrams completed by the students to change to plural. Exercises on workbook page 14.

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Sentence Building Teacher’s Guide

Using the Verb to Be The settings, events and conclusions can be described with the verb “to be” to give more precision to statements.

As in previous examples, the setting and the event usually follow the verb “to be.”

INTRODUCE

EXPLAIN

Present the diagram on the board. (See the examples below).

Ask students to give examples of characters and settings to complete the examples.

Explain that when we use the verb “to be” we create statements that are more precise because they describe the character or define a place or location. The verb “to be” can either be singular or plural. Observe that the verb follows the character.

Explain that sentences with the verb “to be” can take a setting and an event, but not conclusions because they describe, and do not show action.

Example: Character

is

setting

A girl

is

at school

Read the complete statement aloud with the class. Circle and P.Q.A. Characters

are

setting

Some girls

are

at school

Read the complete statement aloud with the class. Circle and P.Q.A. Explain that the change of the verb is because the character is plural. Exercises on workbook pages 15-16.

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Sentence Building Teacher’s Guide

Creating Progressive Statements “ing” form Progressive statements are used to describe actions that are taking place at the moment of speech.

INTRODUCE

EXPLAIN

Present the diagram on the board. (see the examples below)

This diagram must have a form of the verb to be + the progressive (“ing”) of the verb presented in the event.

Example: …..is jumping…., ….are jumping…. …..is running…., ….are running…..

Emphasize that the verb must express an action occurring at the moment of speech.

Use the diagram to help students identify the verb. Some of the events presented in Words Bank are already written in the “ing” form.

Explain to the students how to change the main verbs to “ ing” form.

Example: Character

is

event

A girl

is

making balloon animals

setting

at school

Read the complete statement aloud with the class. Circle and P.Q.A.

Characters

are

Some girls

are

event

setting at school

making balloon animals

Read the complete statement aloud with the class. Circle and P.Q.A. Explain that the change of the verb is because the character is plural.

Exercises on workbook pages 17-18.

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Sentence Building Teacher’s Guide

Using “There is” and “There are” “There is” and “There are” are introductory phrases to indicate that something or someone exists or does not in statements.

INTRODUCE

EXPLAIN

Present the statement with the introductory phrase.

Ask students to give examples of singular and plural characters using the correct introductory phrase.

Complete the diagram with the examples given.

Explain that either “there is” or “there are” come before the character or characters in the statements because they are introductory phrases.

There is (singular character) There are (plural characters)

Examples:

There is

Character

setting

event

a girl

at school

in the spelling bee.

Read the complete statement aloud with the class. Circle and P.Q.A.

There are

Characters

setting

event

some girls

at school

in the spelling bee.

Read the complete statements aloud with the class. Circle and P.Q.A. Explain that the verb changes when the subject is plural.

Reinforce that sentences that begin with “There is”/“There are” do not accept conclusions.

Have students practice identifying different objects in the classroom as they use the introductory phrases.

Example: There is a whiteboard in the classroom.

There are many chairs in the classroom.

Ask and answer questions as well. Exercises on workbook pages 19-20.

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Sentence Building Teacher’s Guide

Using Negative Introductory Phrase INTRODUCE

EXPLAIN

Present the statement with the negative introductory phrase.

Explain that “There is not” / “There isn’t” or “There are not” / “There aren’t” come before the character or characters in the statement.

Ask students to give examples of singular and plural characters using the negative introductory phrase.

There is not /“There isn’t” (singular) There are not/ “There aren’t” (plural)

Complete the diagram with the examples given.

Example:

Character

setting

event

There isn't

a girl

at school

in the spelling bee.

There aren’t

any girls

at school

in the spelling bee.

Complete the diagram below with your own examples.

Character

event

setting

There isn't

There aren’t

Read the complete statement aloud with the class. Circle and P.Q.A. Explain how the verb changes when the subject is plural.

Have students give examples of objects that are not in the classroom. Ask questions to prompt the use of the structure. Exercises on workbook pages 21-22.

Examples: 1. Is there a spelling bee today? (No, there isn’t a spelling bee today).

2. Are there any spelling bees today? (No, there aren’t any spelling bees today).

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Sentence Building Teacher’s Guide

Completing the Statements with the Conclusion When statements are introduced with “There is”, “There are” or their negative forms, to conclude the story, use the relative pronoun “who” before the conclusion.

INTRODUCE Present the diagram and explain the use of the relative pronoun “who” and its relationship with the character in English and Spanish.

Ask students to give examples of conclusions to complete the diagram.

EXPLAIN Explain that statements that begin with “who” as a relative pronoun, are added to other statements to complete the content or add details about the character.

Emphasize the use of the character before the relative pronoun “who”.

Example: conclusion

Character

There is

a girl

who

won first place.

There are

girls

who

won first place.

Complete the diagram below with your own examples. conclusion

Character

There is

who

There are

who

Read the complete statements aloud with the class. Circle and P.Q.A. Emphasize on how the verb changes when the subject has plural characters.

Exercises on workbook pages 23-24-25.

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Sentence Building Teacher’s Guide

Focusing on the Character The character is the subject of the statement. Students can improve their writing by adding details to the character or subject.

INTRODUCE

EXPLAIN

The character can be improved by adding details, such as setting (for location) and event (for activity taking place).

Teamwork: Have students work in pairs to list five characters and add details to each one.

Following the diagram below.

Students can use the Words Bank as a guide. For this exercise, they can choose their own examples. Then share their examples orally.

Place the setting and event after the character.

Read and explain to the students that by adding details we can improve the description of the character.

Example:

Character

setting

event

A girl

at school

in the spelling bee

Character with details

Character

setting

event

Character with details

Complete the diagram above with your own example. Exercises on workbook pages 26-27.

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Sentence Building Teacher’s Guide

Focusing on the Conclusion The conclusion is the predicate of the statement. Students can improve their writing by adding details to the predicate.

INTRODUCE

EXPLAIN

The conclusion can be improved by adding details, such as setting (for location) and event (for activity taking place).

Place the setting and event after the character.

Teamwork: Have students work in pairs to list five conclusions and add details to each one.

Students can use the Words Bank as a guide. For this exercise, they can choose their own examples following the diagram below.

Then share their examples orally.

Read and explain that by adding details we can improve the description of the conclusion.

Example: Character

A girl

conclusion

won first place

event

setting

in the spelling bee

at school

Conclusion with details

Write your own sentences here.

Character

event

conclusion

Conclusion with details

Exercises on workbook pages 28-29.

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setting