Frequently Used Interrupting Adverbs

sometimes
never
not
always
usually
often
certainly
evidently
hardly
scarcely
seldom
frequently

These words are NOT verbs.

Linking Verbs

is
am
are
was
were
be
been
being
*appear, appears, appeared, appearing
*become, becomes, became, becoming
*feel, feels, felt, feeling
*grow, grows, grew, growing
*look, looks, looked, looking
*remain, remains, remained, remaining
*seem, seems, seemed, seeming
*smell, smells, smelled, smelling
*sound, sounds, sounded, sounding
*stay, stays, stayed, staying
*taste, tastes, tasting, tasting
*turn, turns, turned, turning

The BE Verbs: is, am, are, was, were, be, been, being - can also be helping verbs. Check to see if there is another verb after it. If there is, the BE verb is a helping verb. If there is not (if it's the last verb), it is linking.

The linking verbs with the * can also be action verbs. Use the Substitution Test to determine which it is.

The Substitution Test - Replace the entire verb phrase (and any interrupting adverbs) and replace it with either WAS or WERE. If one of these words makes sense, the * verb was linking. If it doesn't make sense, the * verb is action.

Common Helping Verbs

is
am
are
was
were
be
been
being
do
does
did
has
have
had
can
may
will
shall
could
would
should
might
must


The BE Verbs: is, am, are, was, were, be, been, being - can be helping OR linking. See if there is another verb after it. If there is, the BE verb is helping. If there is not (if it's the last verb), the BE verb is linking.

Has Have Had can also be action verbs.

Prepositions

Commonly Used Prepositions

aboard
about
above
across
after
against
along
amid
among
around
as
at
before
behind
below
beneath
beside
besides
between
beyond
but (meaning except)
by
concerning
despite
down
during
except
for
from
in
inside
into
like
near
of
off
on
onto
out
outside
over
past
since
through
throughout
to
toward
under
underneath
until
unto
up
upon
with
within
without

Compound Prepositions

according to
across from
ahead of
aside from
because of
by means of
by way of
in addition to
in case of
in front of
in place of
in regard to
in spite of
instead of
on account of
out of
prior to

Benefits of Reading

A Gold Miner's Tale

Does Just Believing Have Benefits?

I love the ending of this poem. The man tries more than once to "get rich quick" by going out and panning for gold. He believes that he will be a wealthy young man because he is certain he will strike it rich. He even dreams about finding gold.

But he is fooled by the false promise of riches. The old adage, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me" is very true in this instance. And after failing for a second time to find gold (and giving up his job to do so!), he learns his lesson. He realizes that he can make money off of the other prospectors by selling them long underwear to fight the cold. Brilliant!

I know I told you that I would put the answers on here... and I did! You just have to look closely. And if you can't figure it out, you'll just have to go about finding the answers the traditional way: READ THE POEM!

For 5 additional points, please add a comment at the bottom (where it says COMMENTS). Your comment may not show up right away, but be patient and it will (if it's appropriate). Be sure to include your name.

Personal Narratives and Poetry

I loved the poems you guys wrote. I'll be sharing some of them with you in class this week.

The narratives are in the process of being revised. They should be completed by Wednesday. See me if you need more time. Remember to aim for engaging stories by using plenty of detail to make your stories come alive. And most importantly, tell what insights you gained from the experience. We will learn some other strategies later for better opening lines for our narratives.

We will be starting Step 2: The Verb this week. The verb is the most important part of the sentence, and being able to recognize verb tense and making your verbs agree with your subjects is an important aspect of writing.

Coming soon... Assignments that REQUIRE you to read this blog. Stay tuned!

Meet the Teacher Night

Meet the Teacher night is Thursday night from 6:00 to 7:30. Please stop by so I can meet you and say wonderful things about your son.

I hope to see you then!

Also, please join PTA! The cost is $7 a person.

Labor Day Weekend

I hope you're enjoying your 3-day weekend. I went to the movies yesterday (A Walk in the Woods), but then spent the rest of the day sneezing - not fun. I'm still not feeling well, but at least the Aggies, the Irish, and the Texas Rangers all won yesterday.

In our first two weeks together, we have focused on ways of analyzing text, focusing on The Giver and our 2nd book of choice from the Summer Reading Assignment. We specifically practiced ways of responding to important passages from the text:

• Put the passage in context (tell what's going on when this passage occurs)
• Explain the passage (paraphrase it into other words)
• Show the significance of the passage (what makes it important)
• Connect the passage to a similar experience from another work of literature (what does it remind us of)

We also talked about ways to select which passages to analyze, based on importance. The passage should be something surprising... something unexpected... something plot-changing... an "aha" moment.

In addition to responding to literature, we wrote our first personal narrative of the year, a prelude to next week's 3 Week Assessment, which will also be a personal narrative.

In the area of grammar, we are learning to identify prepositions and the prepositional phrases they start. We have done many practice sentences together, as well as a Group Practice (with corrections) and an Individual Practice (with corrections). Next week we will review prepositions and then take a test over them. The test will be formatted just like the Group and Individual Practices.

Next week also will include our introduction to poetry.

So rest up. Have fun. READ something!

See you Tuesday.