Phrase & Clause Patterns - w/Photos

1. For this unit, students need to practice identifying the phrase and clause patterns on Quia here, here, and here.

2. The test on this unit (Friday, June 17) will use the same format as the practice activities, just with different sentences.

3. Students need to choose a theme or topic for their sentences based on interest. It could be a favorite sport, hobby or skill, a favorite sport player, musician, political or historical figure, actor or actress, television show or movie. It could be a vacation destination or historical period. Let me know what you have in mind.

4. Students need to decide on a "media vehicle" -- it could be Powerpoint, Microsoft Word, Google Documents, or a Google Site (made private with access only by email invitation, and parents email needs to be included).

5. Students need to find 6 images that they and their parents are comfortable sharing. These images will accompany their sentences and should be related to the sentences and theme.

6. Although any website made for this unit will be private, if there are photographs of anyone, permission needs to be obtained from all involved.

7. Personal information should not be revealed. Students are responsible for their work. Respect is essential.

8. Sources of images from Google or Bing Images, etc. should be acknowledged.

9. Students need to abide by the LPS internet use policy as stated in the school handbook.

10. Students also need to submit their sentences on Quia here.

Goals and Objectives:

From the Common Core Standards: http://www.corestandards.org/the-standards/english-language-arts-standards/language/grade-8/

• • L.8.1. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.

  • Explain the function of verbals (gerunds, participles, infinitives) in general and their function in particular sentences.

  • L.9-10.2. Use various types of phrases (noun, verb, adjectival, adverbial, participial, prepositional, absolute) and clauses (independent, dependent; noun, relative, adverbial) to convey specific meanings and add variety and interest to writing or presentations.

This unit is meant as an introduction to some of these phrase and clause patterns, and a "POCA" (preview of coming attractions) for high school.

Essential Questions:

How do we as writers convey our thoughts with variety in sentence structure and richness in expression?

Enduring Understandings:

When we write, having a variety of sentence, phrase and clause patterns at our disposal makes us more versatile, memorable, descriptive, and effective communicators.

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The English language has a variety of phrase and clause patterns that most of us as writers employ almost unconsciously. Studying them make us more conscious of them and able to use them resourcefully. Some of these phrase patterns are more "literary" in style (the participial and zoom/absolute phrases, especially), so those of us who read a lot are more likely to pick them up and use them in our writing.

We will study (to some degree) these phrase patterns:

1. prepositional phrase

2. verb phrase

3. noun phrase / appositive phrase

4. infinitive phrase

5. past participial phrase

6. present participial phrase

7. absolute phrase (zoom phrase)

8. gerund phrase

We will also study (to some degree) these clause patterns:

1. adjective clause

2. adverb clause

3. noun clause

As our review of these phrase and clause patterns comes to a close, I have students apply their knowledge of these phrases to their own areas of interest. One example would be to use a photograph of an activity, perhaps a family outing, and write sentences about the experience. Here's one that I provided:

Pumpkins Aplenty.

Verb Phrases: The verb phrase is composed of the helping verb(s) plus the main verb. It can have a maximum of four words (three helping verbs plus one main verb) and does not include any adverbs. A single verb wouldn't be called a phrase, just a verb. Helping verbs:

Katie WAS PERCHED behind Haley and Grace while Kalala WAS SMILING broadly on the right.

The girls HAD BEEN HOPING to get pumpkins, and we knew this place WOULD OFFER great choices.

Adverb Clause: The adverb clause is a clause, so it has a subject and verb. It is dependent on a main clause [it's fragmentary on its own]. They can come before or after the main clause. It functions as an adverb, answering questions such as when, where, how, or why. Adverb clauses often begin with subordinating conjunctions such as 'after, before, until, when, as, because, if'...

We went to a nearby pumpkin stand BEFORE WE WATCHED BRENDAN'S SOCCER GAME.

ALTHOUGH THE DAY EVENTUALLY WARMED UP, the chill, frosty morning air reminded us that Halloween was not far away.

Prepositional phrase: (2 in each sentence, actually) The prepositional phrase is ubiquitous and is scattered like grass seed in our writing. They are often put in parentheses to identify them grammatically. A prep. phrase begins with a preposition, and ends with an object; it never has the subject and verb in it, so it supplies extra information outside the "sentence core" (subject and verb). The sentence can "survive" without them without being fragmentary, but prepositional phrases provide important descriptive elements in our writing. (IN THE CHILLY, BREEZY WEATHER), the girls didn't want to pose (FOR A LONG TIME.) Both girls sat (ON A PUMPKIN) and crossed their legs casually, as if they had all the time (IN THE WORLD.) Gerund Phrase: The gerund phrase begins with a present participal functioning as a noun [subject or object] and is followed by an object or other modifiers. Gerunds are "verbals," which means they are verbs functioning as other parts of speech; verbals still retain their verb-like qualities, their "verbishness," so they can, like verbs, have objects. Here the objects in both are 'pumpkin.'Each fall, FINDING THE PERFECT PUMPKIN is a challenge, especially if you carve your own jack- o'lantern. CARVING THIS CAT PUMPKIN was tricky, but Katie followed the design and it soon emerged. Zoom (Absolute) Phrase: The zoom phrase, more technically called the absolute phrase, often "zooms" in on part of the main subject [here it's zooming from the entire Grace to "muscles"]. It is not a full clause because it has an incomplete or no verb. Usually it's missing a helping verb. [here it doesn't say "her arm muscles were winding up..." or "her coaching voice was ringing...] Grace, HER ARM MUSCLES STRAINING, lifted the gallon of Vermont maple syrup and hauled it to the counter. Meanwhile, Beth, HER VOICE RINGING IN THE MORNING AIR, was exhorting her team on to victory. Present Participial Phrase: The present participial phrase begins with a present participle [a verb ending in 'ing' -- here it's 'sliding'] and is followed by an object and or modifiers [here sliding is followed by two prepositional phrases]. The entire phrase acts as an adjective and modifies a nearby noun. Participles are verbals; since they are formed from verbs, they retain their "verbishness" and can take objects.

SELECTING A SMALLER, LESS PERFECT PUMPKIN, Haley made her way to the storefront.

We paid for our items and returned to the soccer field, HOPING NOT TO MISS THE GAME.

Infinitive Phrase: The infinitive phrase begins with an infinitive, and is followed by an object [since it still retains its "verbishness"] and/or modifiers; it can function as a noun (as it does here) or an adjective or an adverb.

Besides watching soccer, Sarah's and Margaret's goal today is TO HAVE THEIR SPIRITUAL HARVEST EXPERIENCE before returning home. They wanted TO FINISH THE DAY enjoying the leaf colors and the slower pace and get some fresh-tapped maple syrup.

Appositive Phrases: The appositive [renaming] phrase is really a noun phrase [a noun plus modifiers], but it is in "apposition," which means it is positioned right next to another noun that it renames or gives more information about. Katie's choice, A ROTUND 20-POUND PUMPKIN, is now on our front porch. Our choice, B-GRADE SYRUP, is darker and tastier than A-Grade because of its flavorful impurities.Past Participial Phrases: A PAST PARTICIPIAL PHRASE begins with a participle in the past tense, which is a verb ending in -ed (unless it is an irregular verb). Past participles are used in verb phrases such as “We were chilled by the sudden wind.” or “The kids look like they were chilled by the sudden gusts.” Past participles can also be used as adjectives modifying a noun, as in “The chilled kids shivered as they waited for their buses.” where the adjective “chilled” modifies the noun “kids.” But if you have more information about how or where or when or what they were chilled, you can expand the adjective to include those modifiers, and then you have a past participial phrase.

ILLUMINATED BY A CANDLE, the jack o'lantern set the mood for a spooky Halloween. The jack o'lanterns, FLANKED BY GHOSTS, were not our only Halloween paraphenalia. An enormous spider web, STRETCHED BETWEEN OUR FRONT YARD SHRUBBERY, snared the UPS man by surprise.

Adjective Clause: The adjective clause is a clause, so it has a subject and a verb. It's dependent [fragmentary on its own] and it modifies a noun, so it functions as an adjective. Adjective clauses begin with conjunctions such as who, whom, which, that, where and whose. Here both clauses modify the noun "pumpkin."John's interest in eating pumpkin, WHICH IS INCREASING EVERY YEAR, is going to be quasi-obsessive soon.John's breakfast, a scoop of pumpkin THAT IS SURROUNDED BY GRANOLA AND MILK, offers high soluble fiber, low sugar, and lots of healthy colors (carotenes).Adjective Cluster: An adjective cluster takes two or three adjectives that come as usual in front of a noun and adds more information to them, such as prepositional phrases. To do this, theses phrases are given "their own space" (separated by commas from the noun), and are placed either before (1st position) or after (2nd position) the noun they modify.

Example: The massive, multitudinous, glowing pumpkins dotted the fields from a distance. -->

1st position: MASSIVE FROM A HOT, RAINY SUMMER, MULTITUDINOUS ALONG THE HILLSIDE, and GLOWING IN THEIR LUMINOUS WAY, the pumpkins dotted the fields from a distance.

2nd position: The pumpkins, MASSIVE FROM A HOT, RAINY SUMMER, MULTITUDINOUS ALONG THE HILLSIDE, and GLOWING IN THEIR LUMINOUS WAY, dotted the fields from a distance.

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Teaching grammar has both roses and thorns. The thorns: Many very good writers aren't that versed in grammar, it's abstract and not easy when it's presented to some people young and not so young (some students will continue not to get it year after year), it feels analytical and reductive, focused more on the sentence level, and not connected to larger elements such as paragraphs, essays and literature itself, it's not a focus on the MCAS, except for possibly one question a year, and teachers tend to teach what they know or find comfortable, or they assume it's already been taught and not in their mandate. (These have been, at varying points in my teaching life, my issues with it, too.)

Yet (the roses...and this is why I like teaching grammar to 8th+ graders), grammar instruction can eventually move from parts of speech to parts of sentences, with the clauses and phrase patterns that you'll see in this activity below. Here grammar can verge and merge with creative writing and the important concept of variety in sentence patterns. The literary phrases -- the absolute or zoom phrase, and the present and past participial phrases -- don't necessarily come naturally. Either we read a lot and absorb them osmotically, or we study them and learn how and when to use them effectively.

And to be fair about teaching parts of speech, you need to know them to understand that phrases and clauses can act as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs, so you need to know how parts of speech operate and what questions they answer. Also, grammar is the more mathematical side of the language, the left brain side, so studying it may have a value in terms of brain integration. It presents puzzles for us that can be solved, showing there is an inherent order in our language.