Resource for teaching fronted adverbials: 'Something about a Bear' by Jackie Morris

‘Where the water churns with salmon, thick and rich with leaping fishes, there the Brown Bear stands and catches the wild king of the river.’

What a poetic opening this is!  Of course, it is just the rich, beautiful language we have come to expect from Jackie Morris and, once again, she has provided teachers with a quality text for exemplifying certain sentence structures. 

This book could be used to develop understanding around many aspects of grammar, but here we are going to focus on fronted adverbials.  Below are some examples from the text which could be used in the following ways:

1. Using Talk for Writing techniques, children can learn the patterns of the text and innovate/invent their own sentences from these. 
2. Discussing the fronted adverbials will also help children understand this grammatical feature.  For example, is the adverbial position filled with one phrase, more than one phrase, or a clause?
3. In some sentences, there is subject-verb inversion after the fronted adverbial and children could use this pattern for a more literary style.  This structure can be used when the subject is a noun (not a pronoun) and there is an initial place adverbial (position or direction).

I would not discuss sentence structure beyond points 2 and 3 above, since many of the sentences have lengthy, sophisticated constructions and there is no need to understand how these are put together to appreciate the beauty of the language.

On the shore the young bears watch him; still others swim …  (Fronted adverbial phrase)

In the wildest lands of China, in the forests and the mountains, lives the white-and-black Giant Panda, hidden from the world. (Power of 3 opening: 3 adverbials followed by subject-verb inversion and a final, non-finite, adverbial clause.  Note that the third listed adverbial has the preposition ‘in’ omitted for succinctness.)  This would be a great structure for children to imitate, innovate and invent their own.

Through the forest, hunting termites and the honey hives of bees, where the mangos and the fruit trees grow in plenty, walks the shaggy-coated Sloth Bear.  (This is a complicated structure, with two clauses placed between the fronted adverbial and the inverted subject-verb.  The basic sentence is Through the forest walks the shaggy-coated Sloth Bear.  This is split by a non-finite adverbial clause ‘hunting termites and the honey hives of bees,’ and a finite adverbial clause ‘where the mangos and the fruit trees grow in plenty’. Children learning to use fronted adverbials do not need to understand these two clause structures grammatically, but it is useful for the teacher to be aware of them. 

With her cubs aboard her strong back she keeps them safe from danger, for there are tiges in the forests, and wild dogs and leopards too. (Fronted adverbial phrase)

Up in the crowns of tall trees, in the softest nests of green leaves, the Spectacled Bear sunbathes through the heat of the day.  (Two adverbial phrases fronting the sentence.)

By dawn light and dusk light the great Moon Bear of Asia hunts and searches, for insects, and for noney, nuts and berries.  (Fronted adverbial created by a preposition + two noun phrases linked with ‘and’.)

Where the forest meets the snowline she watches from her bear’s nest for the wild leopard of the mountains, who hunts the higher ground.  (Fronted adverbial clause)

In the cool of night he searches…  (Fronted adverbial phrase)

Besides the lakes and in the forests Black Bear fishes in the water, …  (Two adverbial phrases linked with ‘and’ fronting the sentence.)

You will note that many of Jackie Morris’s fronted adverbials are not punctuated with commas, unless embedded clauses or phrases follow.  For more about punctuating fronted adverbials, click here.

Developing punctuation using an authentic text - Ask Dr K Fisher about Animals

I’ve been asked to recommend a text that a teacher could use to develop children’s understanding and use of punctuation, beyond full stops. 

‘Ask Dr K Fisher about Animals’ by Claire Llewellyn is a great text to develop a range of punctuation marks; depending on where your punctuation focus lies, it can be used in different ways.  Obviously, when you are teaching these punctuation marks, this will be alongside teaching of the grammatical feature with which they are used.  For example commas within lists of adjectives in a noun phrase, or commas/dashes/brackets to enclose additional information, writer's comment, etc.

There are other books in the ‘Ask Dr. Fisher’ series, but in this text a teacher could explore the use of the following punctuation (page references for examples provided):

• question marks: 4, 6, 10, 12, 16, 22, 24, 28 
•  exclamation marks: 7, 8, 9, 13, 18, 19, 23, 28, 29
• commas in lists: 4, 6, 11, 12, 15, 18, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31 (not page 10 as these clauses are comma spliced, but you could make a teaching point and correct with use of semi-colons!)
• commas to demarcate clauses: 5, 6, 7, 15, 17, 19, 20 (for relative clause), 21, 22, 23, 25, 29, 30, 31 (relative clauses)
•  commas surrounding additional information/embedded clauses: 7, 11, 13, 17, 23, 25, 26, 27, 29, 31
• apostrophes for contractions: 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16, 18, 22, 23, 24, 28
•  hyphens: 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 27, 30, 31
•  dashes: 5, 7, 8, 9, 13, 16, 25, 29
•  brackets: 10, 13, 15, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28 (some of these used to support text structure and organisation (layout of text), rather than use within a sentence)
•  colons: 4, 13, 14 & 15 (for list), 19, 22, 28 (the colons used within sentences in the text -as opposed to those introducing a list - are excellent examples.  The information after the colon elaborates or explains the statement before.)
• apostrophes for possession: 8, 9, 29

The only punctuation I wouldn't use would be the Oxford commas before 'and', which are used occasionally in this text.  It's a comma used traditionally by printers/editors at OUP and can be used to clarify meaning in some long, complicated lists of clauses.  However, it isn't really needed in this book to clarify meaning.

I may have missed a few, but I hope there's enough here to be going on with!

To see other texts recommended on this blog, click here.  And for more Texts that Teach, check out this link. 

More dragons: developing sentence structure using online texts

If you’re running with the theme of dragons, then a great online text is ‘A Hero’s Guide to Deadly Dragons’.  Containing extracts from the book, this online resource contains a number of pages which provide descriptions and details about some of the deadly dragons. 

I would use this text to help children develop:

·         Description (linked to adjective, simile and noun phrase tools in the Sentence Toolkit).  This could range from adding one or two adjectives to describe an attribute, to building up more subtle descriptions, e.g. ‘all shades of brown’; ‘as black as your darkest nightmare’.  It could also be used to help the children understand the difference between description suitable for narrative and the more precise description used in non-fiction texts (although this is still a fantasy based text, so contains some narrative-like description in places).

·         Punctuation (screwdrivers in the Sentence Toolkit).  There are some good examples in this text demonstrating correct use of commas in lists and to demarcate clauses, but also use of hyphens, brackets and dashes.  However, there is perhaps rather more use of ellipses than you would want to see in your children’s writing.

Once you have investigated the dragons with the children and explored the sentence structures and punctuation you want to develop, children could design their own dragons.  These could then be used to compile a group or class book of more deadly dragons.

Poppy has designed her dragon below.  I would use a picture such as this for shared writing, so that I could model writing each stage of the description and the detailed paragraph.

 

To see other texts recommended on this blog, click here.  And for more Texts that Teach, check out this link.

Tell Me A Dragon: teaching sentence structures through a great text

Tell Me A Dragon, by Jackie Morris, is a beautiful book.  It has the most wonderful illustrations, which will both support and motivate children to write more descriptively, and the structure of the sentences on each page provide children with models for writing which they can imitate or innovate. 

How you use the text will depend on the year group you are teaching and the grammatical features you have identified for development with your pupils.   I've provided a few examples from the text for each grammatical element, together with the relevant Sentence Toolkit tools which you could use with these.  Once children have understood how to use the structure and had fun with writing their own examples, they could perhaps produce a class or group book, writing sentences to describe their own dragons.

Noun phrases which provide beautiful description, using both pre- and post-modification of the noun  (Sentence Toolkit: tape measure)

• the silver moon-path,  (premodification only)
• the secret music of the wind (postmodified with prepositional phrase)
• whisper-thin wings of rainbow-hues (wings are pre-modified with 'whisper-thin' and post-modified with 'of rainbow hues')

Adjectival phrases (Sentence Toolkit: large paint brush)

•  snaggle-toothed, fierce and brave
• jade-winged and amber-eyed with a tail as long as a river (the adjectival phrases is extended by adding a prepositional phrase introduced by 'with'.  Within this prepositional phrase, the noun phrase 'a tail' is also post-modified with a simile.  The children don't need to analyse the structure in a technical way, but the model is fantastic for imitating and innovating.  E.g. My dragon is steely-scaled and stony-eyed with spikes as hard as granite.)  

  Similes (Sentence Toolkit: medium size paintbrush)

• as big as a village
• as long as a river

Simple adverbial phrases of where and when, suitable as models for writers beginning to use adverbials (Sentence Toolkit: saw)

• across the sky
• in the waves
• all day
• from far away and long ago
• around my pillow
• into my dreams

Subordinate clauses.  There are two subordinate structures I would use this text for.  (Sentence Toolkit: spanners - the conjunction spanner and the -ed spanner - and also the comma screwdriver) 

If I were developing subordination of time (Year 2), the model  I would use would be:

• When she laughs, petals ride on her breath. 

 Introducing the use of 'when' to start the sentence, will lead to the children automatically creating subordinate structures.  Alongside this, you and the class should note how the comma has been used to separate the two parts (clauses, but you wouldn't be using that term in Year 2 necessarily) of the sentence.  Children could think of other things their dragon might do, e.g. When he snarls, When she flies, and go on to complete the sentence with a main clause.

If I were developing other ways of creating complex sentences, in order to vary sentence structure, I would use the  model below.  I would use this with Year 5 and 6 pupils who were already using conjunctions for subordinate clauses:

• Curled around my ear, my dragon sings sweet songs and tells me strange stories from far away and long ago.
• Curled around my pillow...

This structure uses a past participle followed by a prepositional phrase to introduce the subordinate clause.  Children could use this pattern to develop their own dragon sentences.  Where else could the dragon be curled?  Around my arm, neck, shoulder? What other verbs could be used here?  Children could brainstorm their own past participles: wrapped (around my arm), rested (on my shoulder), draped (over my shoulder), hidden (under my hat).  Have some fun with it and get children used to the structure.  Even if they don't know the terminology, they will be able to start sentences with the pattern and will, therefore, be varying their construction of complex sentences.

Punctuation (Sentence Toolkit: screwdrivers, hyphens)
The text provides good models of punctuation, in particular use of commas to mark phrases and clauses and hyphens to create compound constructions to modify/describe nouns.  For example: snaggle-toothed, jade-winged, amber-eyed, sea-dragon, ice-dragon.

To see other texts recommended on this blog, click here.  And for more Texts that Teach, check out this link.

Survival at 40°C Above: developing sentence structures with KS2 children

I've recently discovered Debbie S Miller's book: Survival at 40°C Above.  This book would be ideal for linking cross-curricular topic work on habitats with literacy, as it is beautifully written and exemplifies many of the sentence elements that we would want to introduce and develop with children.  As soon as I started reading it, I could hear the mellifluous tones of David Attenborough in my head, guiding me through the Simpson Desert in the literary, non-fiction style that has become a genre of its own.  I haven't read any of Debbie Miller's other books yet, but am looking forward to Survival at 40°C Below!

With a text as good as this, it would be possible to develop many aspects of children sentence level writing but, of course, a literacy unit would probably only focus on one or two of these at most.  There are excellent models of the following elements; I've provided a few examples from the text for each one, together with the relevant Sentence Toolkit tools which you could use with these.

Noun phrases which provide beautiful description as well as precise vocabulary.  Although the content is non-fiction, these phrases help create the literary style of this text.   (Sentence Toolkit: tape measure)

• This vast, rippled desert (premodification only)
• the tan coloured skin of this large lizard (postmodified with prepositional phrase)
• the long, wind shaped dunes that twist and turn across Australia (postmodified with relative clause)

 Powerful verbs and verb phrases (Sentence Toolkit: hammers)

• The goanna detects the shadow of this predator with the tiny sensor eye on top of his head and immediately races to hide in a tuft of spinifex.
• Darting across the sand, this striped lizard discovers a perfect spot to bask in the sunlight that also offers a good lookout for possible predators.
• Triops erupt from this new source of life.

Adverbial phrases of where, when and how (Sentence Toolkit: saw)

•  By noon the sand is blistering hot beneath a cloudless sky.
• During this scorching time, the goanna moves to a grove of gidgee trees.
• Each shiny strand acts like a tiny mirror.

Subordinate clauses.  There are a variety of these - adverbial and relative, using conjunctions and non-finite forms, particularly the present participle.  The text exemplifies how subordinate clauses can be placed in different positions in the sentence for effect.  (Sentence Toolkit: spanners for adverbial clauses and tape measure for relative clauses)

• As the night sky melts away, the Simpson Desert horizon glows like a campfire. (adverbial, finite)
• Flicking his tongue, the goanna laps up a good meal of protein. (adverbial, non-finite)
• Seeds lie dormant, lacking enough moisture to sprout. (adverbial, non-finite)
• Some of the kangaroos lick their arms and paws to cool themselves. (adverbial, non-finite)
•  The moon casts soft light on new seedlings that will turn dust bowls into lush carpets of plants. (relative)

Punctuation (Sentence Toolkit: screwdrivers)
The text provides good models of punctuation, in particular brackets and commas to mark phrases and clauses.

To see other texts recommended on this blog, click here.  And for more Texts that Teach, check out this link.

Beware grammar books for children!

Last week I was shown four newly published grammar books for children.  But why would you want a child to read a grammar book?  Surely the best way for children to develop their awareness and understanding of grammatical elements and punctuation is through effective teaching, by a teacher with good grammatical subject knowledge, using quality, authentic texts that illustrate the feature you are focusing on?  In this way children can:

• experience the effects of what has been written through shared or guided reading;
• be guided through the vocabulary and sentence constructions the author has used to create those effects (hearing and using the correct grammatical terms where relevant);
• experiment with using those models of construction to create effects in their own writing;
• self and peer assess how successful they have been and how these constructions have improved their writing for their reader.

 Having said that, if you are intent on exposing children to grammatical text books, there are a few things you should bear in mind. 

Beware texts that describe verbs as ‘doing words’.  How is a child going to understand or identify the verb in the sentences ‘He has a cold.’ or ‘She was very unhappy with her new shoes.’  Verbs do not just describe ‘doing’, but also ‘being’ and ‘having’.  Trying to simplify this for children is not doing them any favours.

Avoid grammar books which provide lists of words and ask for the verb, noun, adjective or adverb to be identified.  Nearly all the grammar books I was shown did this and it can be so confusing for children.  To match a word with a word class, you have to see it in the context of a sentence.  A large number of the words in our language can have multiple functions, so we cannot make any identification until we see how it fits into the word order of the particular sentence.  One of the books I was shown used the word ‘run’ in a list of words.  The task was to identify verbs, but consider the following:

·         They run every day for fitness.

·         They go for a run every day.

Some words in our language are much more flexible.  Take the word ‘out’ for example:

• He is going out.  (adverb)
• The flowers are out in the garden. (adjective)
• He should out himself if he wants to. (verb)
• Given an out, she will take it.  (noun)
• It jumped out of the box (as part of the prepositional phrase ‘out of’)
• This car outmanoeuvres any other on the market. (a prefix, here as part of a verb)

So, it is always important when identifying word classes, to see the word in context.

Also beware books which tell you not to split infinitives!  One of the books I saw, from a reputable publisher, contained that advice.  To specifically prohibit such a useful construction for varying effects in sentences is, to my mind, completely wrong.  (See what I did there?)  ‘To prohibit specifically’ just doesn’t have the same ring to it!  This rule was devised by grammarians trying to make rules for English grammar and was influenced by their study of Latin grammar, where the infinitive cannot be split.  Sometimes in English, for the purposes of sense and how the sentence sounds, an infinitive should be split.  There are enough grammatical features for children to grasp without filling their heads with antiquated, unnecessary nonsense.

So, my advice on grammar books for children is as follows.  Don’t waste money on them; spend the money more wisely, buying good quality, enjoyable texts which will show off our wonderful language in all its glory.