Arlene Miller's Blog, page 60

Weird and Wonderful Words (Part 7: T, U)

Tarantism at its best!

We are almost through the alphabet with our Weird and Wonderful Words series. For the other posts see Part 6, Part 5, Part 4, Part 3, Part 2, and Part 1 .

Here are some words you just might

want to add to your vocabulary!

Tachyphagia –  fast eating (I am guilty… especially on Thanksgiving!)

Taeniacide –  killing of tapeworms (And is this a bad thing??)

Talpa – mole or similar mark on the body (Have them checked every year!)

Tappen –  the plug by which the rectum of a bear is closed during hibernation (Hey, I didn’t make up this word!)

Tarantism –  the urge to overcome melancholy by dancing (That could definitely work!)

Tartarology – beliefs about hell or the underworld

Teratology – study of monsters, freaks, abnormal growths or malformations

Textrovert – one who feels much braver when communicating by text message rather than in person (This is obviously a new word and is in the urban dictionary… and aren’t most people textroverts?? Add this one to Meyer Briggs!)

Thither  – to that place (I’m going there. Art thou??)

Tibialoconcupiscent -  having a lascivious interest in watching a woman put on stockings (To each his own!)

Tinchel  – circle of men who encircle a deer (Whatever for? Hunting or men’s group?)

Tittynope  – a small quantity of something left over (What is titty-yup??)

Tocology –  obstetrics; midwifery (Not to be confused with toxicology – completely different)

Tootle  – nonsensical writing or speech (I wonder why there seem to be so many words for this type of thing.)

Topophobia – stage fright; fear of performing; fear of certain places

Torcula- wine press

Torticollis –  stiff neck

Tresayle  – great-great grandfather

Troglodytine –  of, like or pertaining to wrens (Here’s a word you will likely be using often!!!)

Tyromancy –  divination using cheese (I can’t even picture it!)

Ucalegon –  neighbor whose house is on fire

Ulatrophy –  atrophy of the gums (FLOSS!!!)

Ulotrichous –  having wooly or crispy hair (Crispy hair? Turn the heat down on your flat iron!)

Ultracrepidarian –  of one who speaks or offers an opinion beyond his or her knowledge (We’re all familiar with this one!)

Underwit –  inferior wit; half-wit (But this word sounds so much better!)

Univocalic  – having only one vowel; written passage using only one vowel (How much can you write with one vowel!)

Uranoscopy –  star-watching

Uropygium  – rump of a bird (Another useful one….maybe on Thanksgiving)

Uxorious –  excessively fond of one’s wife (Aw, sweet…..)

 

I need to get away from this computer lest I get torticollis! And I wouldn’t want to start writing tootle so I guess I will go thither….

Weird and Wonderful Words (Part 6: R,S)

Feet too big?

There are worse things in the world than being sciapodous! If you don’t know what that means (and who does?), check out the illustration that goes with today’s post!

For other weird and wonderful words, look back at Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5. Today, you can increase your vocabulary with words no one else knows that begin with R and S.

Rackensak - Who knew that a rackensak is a native of Arkansas? I didn’t!

Rackrent – Excessive rent (There’s one you can use!)

Ranivorous – Eating frogs. Do frogs’ legs count?

Rannygazoo – Foolish nonsense

Rarissima – Extremely rare books

Rastaquouere - A social climber (Nope. Don’t know how to pronounce it!)

Rhyparographer - An artist whose subject matter  is sorrowful or unpleasant topics

Ridibund – Easily moved  to laughter

Ridgeling – A half-castrated animal (Now, who would do that?)

Rinkomania – An obsession with skating. There’s one I could have used! (My daughter is a professional skater -ice)

Riqq – Middle Eastern tambourine (A good Scrabble word?)

Riziform – Shaped like a grain of rice

Rurigenous – Living or born in the country

Ruth – Pity, remorse, or sorrow

Sabaism – Worshipping the stars

Saltarello – A lively Italian dance

Sandapile – A coffin

Sanguinolency – Being addicted to bloodshed (Some of those in the news lately)

Satisdiction – Saying enough! (Some of those in the news too!)

Scacchic – Having to do with Chess

Se- Twenty-five stringed Chinese zither (Scrabble word?)

Semiopathy – The tendency to read humorously inappropriate meanings into signs.
 (For example, throwing water on a sign that says Wet Paint)

Sinology – The study of China

Sitiophobia – Fear of food (new diet?)

Sitooterie – A summerhouse or gazebo; or an out-of-the-way corner to sit with your partner during a dance

Slangrel – A long, lean thing or person

Spiv – A petty criminal with no employment

Squintifego – A person who squints a lot

Stereochromy – A colorful wall painting

So take out the  se and riqq, do a saltarello, and when you get tired, go to your  sitooterie!
Have a great week, and stay tuned for more weird and wonderful words!

5 Tips for Great Writing: TOMAS

The elements of writing: TOMAS

Being a teacher, I am accustomed to acronyms: Did you complete your PDP? This year we are working on PLNs. Are you attending the SST meeting? The new standards are about the four C‘s……I am also used to every expert’s different take on writing: Think Sheets, Power Writing, Brainstorming, Spider Webs, Slug Notes.…..so I thought about writing and what its important elements might be, and I came up with TOMAS, which I presented at one of the corporate writing workshops I conducted.

A good piece of writing should encompass these five things: TOMAS (Pronounced Toe-Maas, with the accent on the second syllable)

T= thought. You cannot write unless you put some thought behind your writing. You need to have something to say, or why write? Outlines, brainstorms, lists, notes, spider web drawings . . . all these things can help you get your thoughts down.

O= organization. An unorganized piece of writing is a mess and difficult to read and to understand. The information is of little use if it is presented in a disorganized fashion. Writing needs a beginning, a middle, and an end. Writing of more than 5 or 10 sentences needs to be divided into paragraphs. Paragraphs should stick to one topic, generally introduced in the first sentence of the paragraph. Information within one paragraph shouldn’t go from subject to subject.  There should be an introduction and conclusion to your writing, whether it is a sentence (in a shorter or one-paragraph piece), or introductory and concluding paragraphs in a longer piece. Outlines and first drafts are good for organizing.

M=mechanics. Ah, here is my favorite! By mechanics we mean the grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and spelling that make our writing consistent, and easy to read and understand. These components are a “given” for good writing. Besides sounding and looking better, writing with good mechanics is just plain easier to read.

A= audience. This is a surprisingly important component to writing and one that is often overlooked. When my students write an essay, I am the audience. I don’t want to read slang, language shortcuts (gonna, 2 for the word too, cool), and writing more suitable for a text message to a friend. Yes, this language is fine for a text message to a friend, but it won’t do in a college application essay or a cover letter. It is important to keep your audience in mind. You don’t want to use company or occupation-specific jargon if you are writing to people unfamiliar with the company or the profession. The general audience will not understand complex legal or medical terms, for example. Also keep in mind the education level of your audience when choosing words. If you are writing to an all-female audience, don’t use he as the gender-neutral pronoun! And don’t talk down to your audience! We generally don’t like being written to as if we were children.

S=style. Organization, mechanics, and writing to the appropriate audience can be taught. Gathering your thoughts before you write can also be taught to a point (we can’t so easily be taught how to think). But style—that one isn’t easy to teach and may not even be possible to teach. Each of us has his or her own writing style. Some people just seem to have a talent for writing.  Others find writing more difficult, and their writing is more of a chore. Is it possible to develop style? Probably. Of course style in creative writing (fiction, and creative nonfiction like some memoir) is a little different than style in writing letters or white papers. However letters, blog posts, white papers, and articles certainly have style too. Reading a great deal in one’s writing genre probably helps fiction writers (which is not my speciality right now, so I can only guess) develop their style, as well as just writing, writing, writing . . . .

So next time you sit down to write anything, think about TOMAS: Thought, Organization, Mechanics, Audience, and Style. Happy Writing!

 

It’s Time to Write Your Novel!

NaNoWriMo!

So much I could write about…the Giants winning the World Series. I could write about sports!

Halloween…I guess I could write about that.

It’s almost November…National Novel Writing Month…I will write about that!

National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo, is a national writing contest. But you don’t have to write the best to win. You just have to reach the word-count goal. That’s right. If you can write a novel of 50,000 words in the month of November, you have won!

If you have always wanted to write a novel, maybe this is the time to try. No one will see it besides you. You don’t ever have to publish it; however, maybe you will want to.

If you write anything at all, NaNoWriMo can provide you with inspiration. You could use the program to write nonfiction (I don’t think they check). Some people use it to start their novels, since most novels are more than 50,000 words. Some writers might use it to finish novels they started years ago.  Here is how the program works.

You sign up on their website. The goal for all adults is 50,000 words. That comes out to about 250 double-spaced pages. You can put a photo, biography, and information about your book on the site, but you don’t have to. You can also find writing buddies on the site. But you don’t have to do this either. Then, you write your whatever-it-is into a regular Word document (or whatever program you use to write). After a writing session you copy everything you have written and then paste it into the NaNoWriMo word calculator on their website. They will give you a word count that will probably vary slightly from the word count your writing program (e.g., Word) will give you.  Next time you work on your novel, do the same thing. Copy the whole document (not just the new part), and once again paste it into the word calculator.

The program begins on November 1, so you can’t enter any words into the calculator until then. And you must finish by November 30.  When you have reached 50,000 words, you will be able to print out a certificate saying you have won. You can continue writing, of course; 50,000 words is the minimum. You generally cannot print your certificate until sometime near the end of November in case you are speedy and finish your novel in 15 days! (I did mine in 24 days.)

If you write nonfiction, you can probably do the same thing; I doubt they check! However, I think you will get caught if you try to type the same word into the calculator 50,000 times! I think of these things only because I teach 7th grade and I open the program up to my students, who ask such questions.

For students, however, there is a Young Writers Program. Teachers can use it and create a Virtual Classroom that their students can join to write their novels. The teacher sets the word count, which is generally less than 50,000 words. The default for the Young Writers Program is 30,000 words, but I think that is a bit much for my classes. I think it is intended for classes that use school time to write. My students have to write their novels on their own time, so I have used anywhere from 8,000 to 15,000 words for goals. And I have had students finish. Last year I had a student write 12,000 words in one weekend!

I tell my students to give me proof they have completed their word counts by bringing in their certificates and the first five pages of their novels. It gives me some fun reading over Christmas break, and it gives them a whole bunch of extra credit!

No, I am not doing my own NaNoWriMo this year. I was planning on it, because there are a few novels I would like to write, including a sequel to the novel I wrote in 2011, the only time I have actually done NaNoWriMo. However, I am nearly finished with the workbook I really need to finish, so that is my priority this November!

When I decided to do NaNoWriMo, back in 2011, I had no idea how to write  a novel (I had never really written fiction). There is a book, written by the NaNo people that might help. It is called No Plot No Problem, written by Chris Baty, Mr. NaNoWriMo himself. There are two main ways to approach writing a novel: 1) outlining it first, 2) flying by the seat of your pants and figuring that if you sit down at the computer, the novel will write itself.

I chose method number 2. And the novel did indeed write itself. I had only a vague idea of some characters and events when I started. And the most interesting thing of all was that at about 45,000 words, the novel took a turn I never could have expected—and I went with it. I finished the novel on about November 24 and published it (under a pseudonym, since I generally write another genre of book entirely!).

One fun thing about NaNoWriMo are the “write-ins,” prearranged meetings of two or more writers who gather somewhere to work on their books. It can be two people at Starbucks or a few tables of people, such as the write-ins I attended at the Glaser Center in Santa Rosa in 2011, or anything in between. It is often motivating to hear the click, click, click of other keyboards!

So, come on….get ready, get set……and write! (but wait until November 1).

Here is my NaNoWriMo novel:

 

 

Technology: No Place for Wimps!

Oh, technology!

“Technology: No Place for Wimps!” –Scott Adams (1957 – ) creator of Dilbert

I have always been a Luddite. I still am, despite the fact that I can spend hours on the computer every day. I check and recheck the hundreds of e-mails I receive, keep tabs on my book sales, market using social media, cruise Facebook (way too much), play computer games, maintain my website and blog, and copyedit online.

However, I still call my myself a Luddite. I use no technology in my classroom (sorry, administrators). This is primarily because my students don’t have laptops yet, and also because I don’t know what cables to use to hook up my computer to my projector. With me, much of it is a connection problem. Wires baffle me.

Anyway,  Luddite that I may be, my world was rocked (in a bad way) when my website went down this week. I never would have known except I kept getting messages on social media that when readers pressed the link to my blog post all they got was a blank page. I finally tried it myself, and there it was! Nothing! What was wrong and who would fix it? I immediately e-mailed my website designer and maintainer, the wonderful Gil Namur. He worked on the site for hours and couldn’t figure it out. He suspected that my site had been hacked and recommended that I call my host—Hostgator. They both tossed around terms like scripts, PHPs, malware, plugins (I do know what the last two are!). After some frustrating time on hold with Hostgator (whom I highly recommend) and e-mails back and forth to Gil (whom I also highly recommend), the website was up, apparently the victim of hacking. The malware was removed, and now I can write this blog post for you all to see!

So, I became inspired by technology and how it can ruin our lives if it goes bad. Here is my quote about technology:

“When it works it is great; when it doesn’t, it is 10,000 times worse than never having had it at all!”

And here are some quotes about technology by people far more famous than I!

“Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what they do not manage, and those who manage what they do not understand.”
     –Putt’s Law
‘Technology is a way of organizing the universe so that man doesn’t have to experience it.”
     –Max Frisch
“The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible.”
     –Arthur C. Clarke (1917 – )
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
     –Arthur C. Clarke (1917 – )
“For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press three.”
     –Alice Kahn
“Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons.”
     –Buckminster Fuller (1895 – 1983)
“We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.”
     –Carl Sagan (1934 – 1996)
“I’ve always wanted to own and control the primary technology in everything we do.”
     –Steve Jobs (1955 – 2011)
“I think that novels that leave out technology misrepresent life as badly as Victorians that misrepresented life by leaving out sex.”
     –Kurt Vonnegut (1922 – 2007)
“The real problem is not whether machines think but whether men do.”
     –B. F. Skinner
“It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.”
     –Albert Einstein
“Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.”
     –Bill Gates
“Technology is supposed to make our lives easier, allowing us to do things more quickly and efficiently. But too often it seems to make things harder, leaving us with fifty-button remote controls, digital cameras with hundreds of mysterious features and book-length manuals, and cars with dashboard systems worthy of the space shuttle.”
     –James Surowiecki
“We’re still in the first minutes of the first day of the Internet revolution.”
     –Scott Cook
“I force people to have coffee with me, just because I don’t trust that a friendship can be maintained without any other senses besides a computer or cellphone screen.”
     –John Cusack
“The Internet is the most important single development in the history of human communication since the invention of call waiting.”
     –Dave Barry
“Broadband access is the great equalizer, leveling the playing field so that every willing and able person, no matter their station in life, has access to the information and tools necessary to achieve the American Dream.”
     –Michael K. Powell
“Adding sound to movies would be like putting lipstick on the Venus de Milo.”(That’ s an oldie!)
     –Mary Pickford
“Gates is the ultimate programming machine. He believes everything can be defined, examined, reduced to essentials, and rearranged into a logical sequence that will achieve a particular goal.”
     –Stewart Alsop
“Did you ever spell a word so bad that your spell check has absolutely no clue what you’re trying to spell? What do you end up getting, you end up getting, like, a question mark. You got a million dollars of technology just looking back at you like, ‘You got me, buddy. Which is pretty amazing because I have all the words.'”
     –Bill Burr
“The art challenges the technology, and the technology inspires the art.”
     –John Lasseter
“Once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road.”
     –Stewart Brand
“I’m sorry, it’s true. Having children really changes your view on these things. We’re born, we live for a brief instant, and we die. It’s been happening for a long time. Technology is not changing it much – if at all.”
      –Steve Jobs
“What I did in my youth is hundreds of times easier today. Technology breeds crime.”
     –Frank Abagnale
“I won’t compare ants and people, but ants give us a useful model of how single members of a community can become so organized that they end up resembling, in effect, one big collective brain. Our own exploding population and communication technology are leading us that way.”
     –Lewis Thomas

Till next week, if your computer is working, give it a hug!

 

Four Grammar Rules You Can Break!

I tried to think of five grammar rules you could break; it is a much rounder number for an article such as this. However, being a grammar stickler would allow me to come up with only four I was comfortable with! (And there’s one of them right there!)

1. Ending a sentence with a preposition:

Yes, pretty much everyone says this is a fine thing to do. Sometimes it is definitely the best thing to do, so your sentence doesn’t sound awkward.  However, there are degrees to which writers (or speakers) will go when trying to avoid the preposition at the end of the sentence.

This is something I won’t put up with!
This is something with which I won’t put up!

I would choose the first one!

Whom are you going with?
With whom are you going?

Most people would choose the first one here, but I would actually (every since I became the Grammar Diva) say the second one. Totally up to you! I probably sound stuffy saying it my way, but so be it! Oh, yes, most people would also say “who” instead of “whom,” but that is not a grammar rule I recommend breaking. That broken rule comes from simply not knowing which is which. I have written posts on the difference between who and whom, so you can refer to those.

Oh, then there is this one:

Where are you?
Where are you at?

Please don’t end your sentence with at when you don’t need a preposition at all!

2. Starting a sentence with a conjunction (And, But, So)

Okay, I will relent on this one, but for creative writing only, not in a business letter. Others, I know, disagree. I still think that conjunctions go after the comma in a compound sentence:

I have to finish my report, and then I can help you.

Sometimes it does make sense to use the conjunction more as a transition word to begin a sentence, but I prefer that it be for effect in something that is not formal.

She was alone on a dark street. And then she heard footsteps quietly approaching from the distance. She kept going, quickening her pace. But the footsteps matched her faster pace.

Okay, fine. I agree it does have a positive effect in the above example! But (uh-oh) I don’t like this one:

I believe I am qualified for this position. And I have the appropriate education.

3. Using their as a singular pronoun.

Webster now says it’s OK, so I guess it is OK. And it avoids the awkward phrase “his or her,” since the English language has no singular form for this phrase.

Everyone needs to bring his or her book to his or her math class.

Pretty unwieldy, huh? Most people have been using their instead of his or her for ages. But it isn’t really correct. Although everyone sounds plural, it isn’t. You say “everyone is,” right? And is is a singular verb. So the pronoun (his or her/their) should also be singular, since it refers back to everyone.

So, now you can use their in the singular. I still don’t like it. I wouldn’t use it in a cover letter. I wouldn’t recommend using it on a college essay. The best thing to do, in  my opinion, is just to rewrite the sentence to avoid the entire problem:

Everyone needs to bring the math book to class.

4. Using sentence fragments. Here is my rule for using a sentence fragment (a group of words that is not a complete sentence):

If you know you are using a fragment and you have a good reason, go ahead and use it.

Sentence fragments are popular in promotional writing, novels, and other creative writing. They are not great in business letters or when the person reading what you have written could mistake you for someone who doesn’t know what a complete sentence is!

I looked at her. All legs and blonde hair.

Of course the second “sentence” in the example is a fragment. But it works.

So, hard as I try, I can’t think of another rule that can be broken! Can you? But I bet you can find me breaking these rules all over this blog post!

 

Here is a book that should be on everyone’s shelf!
Here is a book that is coming soon!

 

Grammar Q & A

Grammar Q & A

Welcome to the first Grammar Diva Question and Answer blog post! Thank you if you sent in questions, and continue to send in questions for our next question and answer post! Here we go…

Question: When is it correct to use a comma or an em dash before “such as” or “including”?

Answer: Well, as with most other things grammarish, there is a bit of disagreement. However, here is what I think. The em dash is probably not the appropriate punctuation to use with such as or including. The em dash is usually used to indicate a change in thought. The comma is more appropriate here. It boils down to restrictive versus nonrestrictive information. If what comes after such as or including is additional information or examples that are not necessary to the meaning of the sentence, use a comma. If the information following such as or including is necessary to the meaning of the sentence and explains or limits what is already written, do not use a comma. Here are some examples:

I love all citrus fruits, such as oranges and grapefruit.
Fruits such as mangoes and melons can cause allergies in some people.
Please pack toiletries including shampoo, soap, and toothpaste for the trip, since they will not be provided to you.
The romance languages, including French and Italian, have a beautiful sound.

 

Question: Are these commas necessary? 

The company cited sales and marketing efforts, and human resource management as areas that need attention.
See what works best, based on your business needs.
Taking steps to secure your data can strengthen not only your business, but also your relationships with customers.

Answer: I don’t think any of the commas in the above sentences are necessary. In the first sentence, there is no comma rule except “to avoid confusion.” I don’t think the sentence would be confusing without the comma. In the second sentence, based on your business needs appears to really be a necessary part of the information. I would not use a comma. In the third sentence I might use a comma, employing the rule that there is often a comma between contrasting information.

Broadband, or high-speed, Internet access can make your business more competitive.

Answer: I would use a comma here for sure. If high-speed is another term for broadband, the comma is necessary. Without the comma, the sentence would imply that it was one or the other.

 

Question: If an acronym stands for a plural term, do you need to add an “s” to make the acronym plural?

Location-Based Services (LBS) help small businesses attract new customers. Using LBSs can jumpstart your sales.

Answer: I would say NO. The plural is already there (services). Putting the s at the end doubles the plural.

 

Question: What are the rules for use of a colon to introduce a list? When are periods used at the ends of list items?

This guide will help you learn ways to use technology to build your business. It includes:

Tips for increasing productivity.
Strategies for attracting customers.
Advice for improving customer service.

Answer: In the above example, there should be no colon, since the items in the list complete the sentence It includes. The periods in this case are fine because each item completes the sentence. Use a colon to introduce a list when the introduction is a complete sentence, whether the list is horizontal or vertical. Here are some examples:

Please bring a jacket, a blanket, and a flashlight.

Please bring the following items: a jacket, a blanket, and a flashlight.

Please bring

 a jacket.
 a blanket.
 a flashlight

Please bring the following items:

jacket
blanket
flashlight

Please bring

a jacket,
a blanket, and
a flashlight

All of the above examples are correct.

 

Question:  Is is more important or more importantly and why?

Answer: More important means “what is more important.”  More importantly means “in a more important way.”

More important, we should vote for candidates who agree with our views on growth.
She treated her pets more importantly than she treated her children.

 

Question: We hear someone say, “That is so like her” or “That sounds like her.” But why isn’t it “That is so like she”? Or “sounds like she”?

Answer: Like is a preposition. Therefore, the noun or pronoun that comes after it is its object and is in objective case (me, him, her).  So, “that is so like her” is correct.  “It sounds like her” is also correct. If you are using a subordinating conjunction (as, as if, as though), rather than a preposition (like), it would be followed by a clause (subject and verb), even if the verb were understood. Here are some examples:

She sings like me.
She sings as I sing.
She acts like a princess.
She acts as a princess acts.
She acts as if she were a princess.

Do you have grammar, punctuation, or word usage questions? Send them to me for a future question and answer post…or find the answers in my books, available on Amazon and other online retailers…or available on this very website as  downloads.
                                                                                                                                                                       Coming Soon!

New Common Core Standards: What About Grammar?

Where do I even begin? I have been doing a lot of thinking about the standards and the amount of grammar that is being “taught/required to be taught” because it seems that grammar has gone by the wayside in favor of other things.  The old standards said things like “uses correct conventions of grammar, capitalization, and punctuation.” Well, those things need to be taught before they can be used. And to teach the conventions and correct common mistakes, you need to have the grammar background: the vocabulary, you might say.  So just like in math, before you can do complex equations, you need to know how to add, subtract, divide, and multiply. In grammar, you cannot learn about using clauses if you don’t know what a pronoun is, or if you don’t know the difference between a subject and an object… or if you don’t even know what a run-on sentence is.

So, there is grammar for the sake of writing and speaking correctly, and there is grammar for the sake of itself: knowing your language. Being a grammarian, I think both are important, and knowing the language to a certain extent is important background for speaking and writing correctly.

Well, a few years ago new standards came into play: Common Core. I have a seventh grade grammar book I have used since I started teaching that is apparently aligned with the old standards. It pretty much covered everything, starting with the basics, at a seventh grade level. However, now the standards have changed.  And every year, my students seem to come to me with less knowledge of grammar. Some claim they never learned it. I don’t know what they learned during the previous seven years, but knowledge and the grasping of ideas comes with repetition, so if you learn about nouns in first grade, that isn’t enough. These concepts must be reviewed every year and added onto as appropriate with each new grade level.

Common Core. We haven’t had a whole lot of training it it…and we don’t have new materials to teach with. What we hear most often about the new standards for language arts is the trio of  (1) writing from evidence, (2) academic discourse, (3) close reading. Sounds fancy…grammar sounds so plain. And nowhere is it included. However, to carry on intelligent academic discourse, or to write anything well at all, with or without evidence, one needs a knowledge of grammar, including capitalization and punctuation.  The only standards I could really find when I looked (probably not closely enough) at the 7th grade standards were something like “writes using dependent clauses,” and “uses a comma between two adjectives, where appropriate.” Seemed a little random to me. So I looked closer…and closer.

Grammar standards are listed under Language. There are also English Language Arts standards for Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing…just like in the old days. Grammar standards are there after all the other ones, but they are sure there…all the way from K through 12. They still seem a bit random to me in the way they are organized. And they are surprisingly sophisticated for the grade levels. Also surprising is the lack of any grammar on the new standardized tests or any type of materials for Core curriculum…but then, I haven’t seen too many materials.

It seems to me that grammar has always been taken for granted…the student should demonstrate knowledge of all these things, but they do need to be taught — over and over again!

Here are some of the new standards with their grade levels. Some of the standards are repeated year after year:

Subject-verb and pronoun-antecedent agreement – Grades 3-12- In some cases a very difficult concept. And I have yet to see a 7th grader who even knows what an antecedent is!
Identifying fragments and run ons – Grades 4-12
Choosing words and phrases to convey ideas precisely – Grades 4,5,6 (Seems a bit sophisticated to not  be covered in later grades)
Choosing punctuation for effect – Grades 4-12 (Pretty sophisticated. First you need to learn how to use it correctly!)
Correcting inappropriate shifts in verb tenses – Grades 5-12 (Whoa!)
Correcting vague pronouns – Grades 6-12
Punctuation for nonrestrictive and parenthetical elements – Grades 6-12 (Yikes!)
Using a variety of sentence patterns – Grades 6-10 (Somewhat sophisticated and takes practice)
Maintaining consistency in style and tone – Grades 6-12 (Whoa!)
Correctly placing phrases and clauses; correcting misplaced and dangling modifiers – Grades 7-12
Eliminating redundancy and wordiness – Grades 7-12
Using correct verb voice and mood – Grades 8-12
Using parallel structure – Grades 9-12

Easy stuff? No. But I am glad to see that it is all there, right in the standards. (The more basic elements of grammar are obviously in the K through 3 standards.) Despite the fact that many of my students don’t know the difference between a subject and an object, they should know by now. Whatever they learned or didn’t learn before, they will learn it this year. I used to feel as if I shouldn’t be teaching much grammar because the standards didn’t stress it. Well, what I have heard about the main features of common core haven’t stressed it. But when I look in the standards, there it is.

Of course, it is nearly impossible to cover everything that is in the standards in a school year! And teachers tend to concentrate on what they enjoy teaching the most. For me, it is grammar.

Often grammar, I think, is treated like broccoli or spinach: It is hidden in other things so those who have to eat it don’t notice! I believe grammar should be taught separately, not in conjunction with whatever literature is being read. Some schools separate literature and language into different classes; a colleague and I have talked about doing that for years, but we don’t think it will ever fly. I think language is not only necessary to teach for the purposes of writing and speaking, but is also interesting and fun…it is like music theory or math…a puzzle.

I no longer feel guilty loading my students up with grammar. And former students and their parents have been happy. So, let’s get out some paper and start diagramming sentences!

Next Week: Question and Answer Time! Send your grammar and punctuation questions to info@bigwords101.com for next week’s post! 

 

 

It’s (Well, It Was) National Punctuation Day!

Dunkin Donut’s What?

September 24 is National Punctuation Day. National Punctuation Day was founded in 2004 by Jeff Rubin, “The Newsletter Guy.”

We all like to look at funny spelling, grammar, and punctuation mistakes — as long as they belong to someone else! Here are some links I thought you would find interesting, informative, and/or funny!

Here are some great punctuation mistakes!

Here are some common punctuation mistakes that bloggers (and everyone else) make!

Here are the three most hideous grammar mistakes in advertising!

Here are the most common punctuation mistakes (according to someone else, I guess)!

Here are some pretty funny misuses and omissions of punctuation!

And as if we weren’t all confused enough, here are some punctuation marks you may not have known existed!

 

 

Happy National Punctuation Day! Don’t forget to use your semicolons! (I use way too many exclamation points.)

Remember I am looking for ideas for blog posts: What would you like to read about?

Explaining the Answers to the Word Usage Quiz

If you missed the three quizzes on this blog, here they are: The Grammar Quiz, The Punctuation Quiz, and last week’s Word Usage Quiz. Here are the explanations for the Word Usage quiz answers.

1. (Any one, Anyone) of these dresses would be appropriate for the wedding.

Answer: Any one

Why: Generally use any one when it is followed by of. Notice that you would pause between any and one in this particular sentence. Here is the correct use of anyone:  Anyone can go to the party

2 They (emigrated, immigrated) to the United States from Italy.

Answer: immigrated

Why: To emigrate is to go away from; to immigrate is to come to. The sentence says that they came to the United States. Therefore, they immigrated to the United States, but they emigrated from Italy.

3. Boston is the (capital,capitol) of Massachusetts.

Answer: capital

Why: The only time you use capitol with the -ol is when you are referring to the actual capitol building. Letters are capital and so are cities.

4. The weather really (affects, effects) my mood.

Answer: affects

Why: The difference between effect and affect is each’s part of speech. Affect is a verb, an action. Effect is a noun, or a thing.  For example: The weather affects my mood, but the weather has an effect on me.

5. I live (farther, further) away from the office than you do.

Answer: farther

Why: Farther has to do with distance. Further means “any more” or “any longer.”  For example: I cannot discuss this any further today.

6. My husband is (disinterested, uninterested) in all sports except baseball.

Answer: uninterested

Why: These two words are often confused. Uninterested means “not interested.” Disinterested, on the other hand, means “impartial.” For example, you would want a disinterested judge in a competition. You certainly wouldn’t want the judge to be uninterested, but you would certainly want him or her to be disinterested, or taking no sides in who wins.

7. Turn your car (in to, into) the third driveway on the left.

Anwser: in to

Why: Because it isn’t magic? Turning your car into the driveway means that your car has suddenly been made into a driveway! Use the two separate words in this case. What you really mean is that you are turning in, to the driveway.

8. Is it (alright, all right) if I borrow your dress for the evening?

Answer: all right

Why: Alright is likely in the dictionary, but it is slang and not really a word at all. So, especially for formal writing, always use the two words.

9. There are (fewer, less) girls in the class than boys.

Answer: fewer

Why: Fewer is used for things that can be counted (girls, for example); less is used for things that cannot be counted, and usually for words that appear to be singular: less salt, less time,  less paper, but fewer pieces of paper.

10. The tailgate party (precedes, proceeds) the game.

Answer: precedes

Why: These two words are often both confused and misspelled, since one has a double e and the other doesn’t. Precede has the prefix pre, which means “before.” To precede means to come before something.  Proceed has the prefix pro, which means forward. To proceed means to go forward: The parade proceeded down Main Street.

11. (Almost, Most) everyone is ready to go.

Answer: Almost

Why: If almost makes sense in the sentence, use it.  For example, almost doesn’t make sense in these sentences, so use most: Most of us are going. Most people like chocolate.

12. Please (bring, take) these books back to the library.

Answer: take

Why: You take things away and you bring them back.  So you might bring some books home from the library.

13. This blue dress really (complements, compliments) your green eyes.

Answer: complements

Why: To compliment with the pli means to say something nice: She complimented my new dress. Complement with the ple means to go together well.

14. From the look on her face, I (implied, inferred) that she was upset about something.

Answer: inferred

Why: to imply is to hint at something without coming out and saying it. To infer is to make an educated guess, possibly from someone’s implication. Imply goes outward, imply comes inward.

15. On our way to the movies, we (passed, past) my old coach’s house.

Answer: passsed

Why: Passed is a verb, the past tense of pass.  Past is a preposition that belongs in a prepositional phrase: We walked past the house, but we passed the mall.

16. He (lead, led) the parade when he was the drum major.

Answer: led

Why: The only lead that is pronounced led is the kind in your pencil, which is graphite anyway! The past tense of the verb lead is led.

17. Please be (discrete, discreet) when you talk to him tomorrow.

Answer: discreet

Why: Most of us don’t even realixe there are two spellings of this word.  They are both adjectives. To be discreet means to keep a secret. The other discrete means “separate”: Please sort these papers into three discrete piles  by color.

18. Kale is a very (healthful, healthy) food, but I don’t like it.

Answer: Healthful

Why: Kale is full of health benefits, so it is healthful. Healthy describes people. He is healthy, but his breakfast is healthful.

19. The food at that restaurant tasted (bad, badly).

Answer: Bad

Why: Bad is an adjective; badly is an adverb. Adverbs describe action verbs. Adjectives describe nouns and other adjectives, but they also appear after verbs of emotion or sense.  The food has no tongue; it is not tasting anything, so it is not an action. It is a sense verb. The food tasted bad and it also looked and smelled bad, not badly.

20 (Lay, Lie) that blanket in the sun.

Answer: Lay

Why:  Lay always takes an object; you must lay something. I lie, and so does my dog, my horse, and the rocks on the beach.  Howelver, I lay my blanket down, and my dog lays his treat in the yard. The problem really comes to light in the past tense, since the past tense of lie is lay. I lie down today, but I lay down yesterday. (And I have lain down every day.) I lay my blanket on the  grass today, but yesterday I laid it down.

21. My (principal, principle) plan is to leave work early and set up for the surprise party, but I have other plans in case that fails.

Answer: principal

Why: There are four uses of this word. Three of them are spelled principal. The only one spelled principle is the one that means “rule” or “ethic.” It is against my principles to eat meat. The other three are spelled principal: 1. the person who runs the school, 2. the money one, for example principal and interest, and 3. the adjective that means the main one,” for example, the principal role in the play.

22. Can you (lend, loan) me some money until I get paid?

Answer: Lend

Why: Lend  is a verb. Loan should be used only as a noun: I gave him a loan. I lent him money.

23. He is the (sole, soul) person in the group who isn’t coming with us.

Answer: Sole

Why: Sole means “alone, the only one.” It is also a fish, of course. Soul is the part of you we can’t see.

24. I (only) have (only) five dollars to spend at the candy store. Which place is best for “only”?

Answer: I have only five dollars.

Why: You can throw only anywhere in a sentence and watch the meaning of the sentence change. Only should be placed near the word it describes. Here we are talking about only five dollars. Not only have.

25. You should come and visit me (some time, sometime).

Answer: Some time

Why: Sometimes we have some time to visit someone who asked us to visit sometime!

 

Announcements:

Having taken off a little time for my beautiful daughter’s wedding, I will now be back at work on The Best Grammar Workbook Ever, as well as some other books I have waiting! The workbook should be out within a few months.

I would love to hear from you! Do you have any ideas of things I can write about in this blog? Is there something you would like to know about grammar, writing, self-publishing, words?? Do YOU have something to say, and would you like to write a  guest blog? Do YOU have a blog with some information my readers might like (I will give you full credit and a link if I steal!). Do you know of someone who would be interested in writing a guest blog? Let me know!!!!