Monday, November 28, 2011

Grammar: PrepositionsWriting: Description

Housekeeping

• Exams not marked yet

• Be sure to read up to the pages indicated for next class; check your novel outline!

Prepositions, p. 592Use of On, In, and At to refer to Time and Place.

Time

• On a specific day: on Saturday, on June 12, on your birthday

• In a part of a day: in the morning, in the daytime (but at night)

• In a month, season or year: in November, in 1492

• In a period of time: in a minute, in a couple of days, in a while

• At a specific time: at 10:00 a.m., at dawn, at dinnertime.

Prepositions, p. 592

Place

• On a surface: on the dresser, on the porch, on the roof

• In a place that is enclosed: in my bedroom, in the hallway, in the drawer

• At a specific location: at the pool, at the bar, at the racetrack.

Activity 4, p. 592Underline the correct preposition.

1. on

2. at

3. on

4. in

5. at

Another way of looking at Prepositions of Place

AT = an exact or specific location

ON = a street (without a house

number)

IN = a city, state, country or region

Activity 7, p. 10 of handout.1. in California

2. in this town

3. at 60 Green Street

4. on Hanks Avenue

5.on Princeton Street

Activity 7, p. 10 of handout.6.on Lee Road

7.at 27 Temple Street

8.on Whispering Street

9.at 445 Orange Avenue

10.in a small town like Nelson

Freewriting #1• No topic. Write for 5 minutes.

• Write whatever comes to your mind.

• Do not judge what you write.

• Do not erase or scratch out.

• If you get stuck • write “I don’t know what to write,” or • repeat the last word you wrote down

until something else comes to mind.

• Do not stop until the time is up.

Freewriting #2 – Object

• I will give you a familiar object.

• Freewrite about this object (Pretend it is the only one of its kind in the word; Pretend it is the first time you have ever seen this object.).

• Do not name this object or tell us what it is used for.

• Give as much specific information as you can about your experience of the object in front of you (Hint: describe what you see, smell, taste, touch, etc.).

• You have 10 minutes.

Descriptive Paragraphs, p. 268

• a description = picture in words

• To create a picture in words, you need to observe and record specific details that relate to the five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch.

Descriptive Paragraphs, p. 268

• Read and compare the two descriptions of a rug on p. 269.

• What senses are involved in the second description?

• sight, hearing, and touch

Student Questions

• Aisle (pronounced “I’ll) – the walking space between rows of chairs, shelves, etc.

• Stagnant – non-living, dead – we use it to describe things like a lake, pond that has not life in it; sometimes it means non-growing – Ex: My career is stagnant.

• Catlike creature – she looks like a cat – the writer is emphasizing her animalistic appearance.

Descriptive Paragraphs, p. 268

• Let’s take a look at the sample paragraphs, starting with “My Teenage Son’s Room.”

Descriptive Paragraphs, p. 271

• You should have completed the questions that follow the three sample paragraphs for homework. We will go over the answers together.

Descriptive Paragraphs, p. 271

Unity1. My Teenage Son 2. 10 - “One reason Karla may be happy. . .”

Support 3. b. animals are crammed – sightmilky smell – smellsour and strong – smell

Descriptive Paragraphs, p. 271

c. slender hands are tipped – sight

d. white wicker clothes hamper – sight clothing- sight sweat-stained – smellsmelly socks – smell

Descriptive Paragraphs, p. 2714. (11) The shelves against the left-hand wall are packed with all kinds of pet-

related items. (What kinds?)

Coherence

5. To my rightacrossto my leftnext tounderaround, . . .

Descriptive Paragraphs, p. 271

6. Her faceher feettop to bottom

NOTE:

The following slides contain an in-class assignment. If you missed this class you must arrange to do a make-up assignment outside of class time.

In-class Descriptive Paragraph– Part 1

• Re-read your freewrite about your object (apple/onion)

• Write a rough draft based on your freewrite.• Make sure – your first sentence gives an overall impression of

your object (topic sentence)– you give lots of specific, sensory details– you organize the details in a logical way– you use transitions to help the reader understand

what parts of the object you are talking about (On the top, next to, around, etc. . . )

In-class Descriptive Paragraph – Part 2• Read all of p. 274 (student example and teacher feedback).

• Exchange papers with a classmate who is finished (I will help to match you up).

• Read your classmate’s paragraph.

• On the bottom of his/her page, write 2 or 3 useful, specific comments about how the paragraph could be improved.

– NOT “Your paragraph is boring,” or “Your paragraph is too short.”

– BUT “When I read this part, I want to know a bit more detail about it,” or “I don’t really understand how big your object is, or what shape it is. . . ,” etc.

• Write your name below your comments.

In-class Descriptive Paragraph – Part 3

• On a new piece of paper, revise your draft to incorporate any of your partner’s suggestions that make sense to you. Make any additional revisions you think will improve your paragraph.

• Finally, using a different-coloured pen, edit your revised draft for sentence skills (especially grammar, spelling, and punctuation).

• If you have time, rewrite the edited draft on a new piece of paper. Hand in all your work, with your final draft stapled to the top.

Marks: /20Unity (3), Support (4), Coherence (3), Sentence Skills (10).

Homework

• Read the second section of your novel – see your course outline

Prepositions Practice• English Skills – Review Test, p. 593• Website – Grammar Practice links