All About Sentences

Contextual Factors: In 6th grade, writing becomes a main component of the curriculum. It is important at the beginning of the year to emphasize the importance of grammar and sentence structure. In this unit I will be focusing on the difference between sentences and fragments and how to change a fragment to a complete sentence by adding either a subject or a verb. It is important for students to understand that when writing, complete sentences are expected and fragments will be marked wrong. Another focus in this unit is subjects and predicates. The focus will be on identifying the simple subject and the simple predicate. The last part of this unit plan is having students identify declarative sentences versus interrogative sentences. Students will need to know the differences between the two types of sentences and the characteristics of each. School Factors: Roosevelt Middle School is located in the urban area of Erie, PA. The school is attached to Central Tech High School. There are roughly 600 students that attend Roosevelt Middle School. The socioeconomic status of the schools population is middle class to lower class students and families. Students ethnicity varies greatly in this school. Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Middle Eastern are the majority of races found in this school. There are roughly 200 students per grade at Roosevelt. There are two pods per grade, each with four core classrooms: math, science, social studies, and language arts. There is also one learning support classroom for each grade that is self-contained. There is an emotional support classroom for 7th and 8th grade students. Classroom Factors: This classroom is a learning support classroom. The students are in this classroom all day for their four core classes: math, language arts, science, and social studies. There are 12 desks in the classroom, arranged in pairs. Towards the back of the classroom are two tables, each with five chairs. The classroom includes a chalkboard and the teacher has provided an ELMO projector. The teacher has provided many informational books in the classroom such as encyclopedias and has also provided fictional books for enjoyment. All materials in the classroom are organized into containers and labeled accordingly. The parents of this classroom need to be involved in the students education. Every night the students take home a homework folder. This folder needs to come back to the school the next day with a parent signature. Parents are also contacted if the student is asked to stay for special help on Thursdays. A phone call home is the first form on contact and then a note sent home with the student. In this classroom, the students are expected to be respectful and in control of their own learning. Classroom rules are not posted in the room. Classroom management focuses around homework and parent signatures. The teacher puts emphasis on student responsibility. The student schedule is listed below.

8:00am-8:10am Homeroom 8:12am-9:23am Math 9:25am-10:38am Language Arts 10:40am-11:10am Lunch 11:12am-12:25pm Science 12:27pm-1:40pm Related Arts 1:42pm-2:55pm Social Studies Student Characteristics: This classroom is a self-contained, learning support room. The students receive all core instruction (math, science, social studies, and language arts) in this classroom. There are 11 boys in this classroom: five Caucasian students, five African American students, and one Middle Eastern student. All students are proficient in English. The students ages in this classroom vary from 11-13 years old. Exceptionalities include learning disability, autism, communication needs, anxiety, and intellectual disability. Students learn best when they are actively engaged. Students also learn best when they are doing hands-on activities. The learning abilities of these students drastically vary. There are some students reading on a first grade level, while others are reading at a fifth grade level. The learning disabilities also vary in this classroom. Because students are not reading on grade level, their writing is also impaired. The objectives for this unit plan were strategically chosen so students may succeed. Students must first be able to identify parts of a sentence and types of sentences in order to produce and create correct sentences in writing. Instructional Implications: Reading level: Because students are not reading at grade level it is important to remember to test students knowledge about sentences, and not to let reading impair their success. Everything needs to be read and emphasized to the students. Also, color-coding may be necessary in order for students to decipher between key ideas and features. Small Groups and Partners: Since this is a self-contained learning support classroom, small group and partner work will be a major aspect of instruction. Small groups should be differentiated according to ability level. For example, students at a first grade reading level should be in the same group for guided practice but when playing games, students should be grouped with varying abilities. Partners will be chosen based on how well students work together. When students work in small groups and in partners, set a timer for classroom management and to keep students focused.

Learning Objectives: 1. The student will be able to correctly identify complete sentences and identify fragments and change fragments to complete sentences with 80% accuracy. a. PA Learning Standard: E06.D.1.1.6: Produce complete sentences, recognizing and correcting inappropriate fragments and run-on sentences. b. Cognitive Learning c. Blooms Taxonomy: Knowledge (identify) and Application (change) 2. Using the provided worksheet, the student will be able to sort subjects and predicates and will be able to create and write their own sentences, containing both a subject and a predicate in a learning center with 75% accuracy. a. PA Learning Standard: 1.5.6.F: Use grade appropriate conventions of language when writing and editing (use correct grammar and sentence formation). b. Cognitive Learning c. Blooms Taxonomy: Knowledge (sort) and Creating (create) 3. The student will be able to identify declarative and interrogative sentences by completing guided practice worksheets with the class by circling the punctuation in each sentence and by underlining any key words to show what type of sentence it is. The student will also write D for declarative or an I for interrogative on the line next to the sentence with 75% accuracy. a. PA Learning Standard: Use grade appropriate conventions of language when writing and editing (use correct grammar and sentence formation). b. Cognitive Learning c. Blooms Taxonomy: Knowledge (identify) All of these learning objectives are important and relevant for student success. A large focus in 6th grade language arts is writing five paragraph essays. The students need to be able to first identify between complete sentences and fragments in order to avoid writing fragments in essays. When creating an essay, students need to include subjects and predicates to make complete sentences. Students also need to be able to identify between different types of sentences in order to use appropriate punctuation and in order to vary sentences in an essay.

Assessment:

Learning Objectives

Assessments

Format of Assessments

Adaptations

Objective 1

Pre-Assessment

Informal discussion, pre-test to identify

Read assessment paragraph so that students are not losing points because of their ability to read.

The student will be able to correctly identify complete sentences and identify fragments and change fragments to complete sentences with 80% accuracy. Formative Assessment

sentences and fragments

Guided practice, group work, underline and change fragments in a paragraph Mark how many fragments are in the paragraph for assessment.

Post-Assessment

Written test

Learning Objectives

Assessments

Format of Assessments

Adaptations

Objective 2

Pre-Assessment

Informal discussion, pre-test to identify

Differentiate guided practice based on ability level.

Using the provided worksheet, the student will be able to sort subjects and predicates and will be able to create and write their own sentences, containing both a subject and a predicate in a learning center with 75% accuracy. Post-Assessment Formative Assessment

subjects and predicates

Guided practice, group work at three centers and turn in a worksheet for each center, teacher-made game

Color-coding

Worksheet for sorting activity is labeled so that the students can easily put all of the

Written test

subjects in one column and all of the predicates in one column.

Learning Objectives

Assessments

Format of Assessments

Adaptations

Objective 3

Pre-Assessment

Informal discussion, pre-test to identify

Pair students together based on differing learning abilities

The student will be able to identify declarative and interrogative sentences by completing guided practice worksheets with the class by circling the punctuation in each sentence and by underlining any key words to show what type of sentence it is. The student will also write D for declarative or an I for interrogative on the line next to the sentence with 80% accuracy. Post-Assessment Formative Assessment

declarative and interrogative sentences

Color-code chart Guided practice, worksheets, observation, students create their own questions and answers by participating in skit During guided practice, read each sentence to the students emphasizing key words.

Written test

Materials, Resources, Technology: Paper Broken Pencil Chalkboard Worksheet 1 Monsters made out of Kleenex boxes Strips of paper with either a sentence or fragment on it Assessment Worksheet Guided Practice: Grammar Packet the student has in Language Arts binder Teacher-made PowerPoint game Token reward for winning team of the game Subject and Predicate Video from TeacherTube Teachertube: The Tale of Mr. Morton (School House Rock video) Paper dice, one with subjects, and the other with predicates on them. Color-code Worksheet for students to record sentences from dice activity Poster board Coloring utensils Sorting activity (worksheet with subjects and predicates mixed up on it) Worksheet to glue answers on to with two columns (subject vs predicate) Scissors Foldable for each center that explains what the subject is, and what the predicate is, with examples. For song center, have key words listed on a sheet for students to use to help create their song. (Helpful Guide) ELMO projector Chalkboard Chart paper with declarative and interrogative information Teacher-made police badges Timer Blank paper

Vocabulary: Declarative- a statement, that ends with a period Interrogative- a question, that ends with a question mark Subject- tells who or what is doing something in the sentence Predicate- consists of a verb and expresses the action being performed Fragment- an incomplete sentence (a piece of something) Verb- shows what the subject is doing

Scope of the Instructional Plan: **Lessons are attached

Analysis of Student Learning:

Objective #1

Questions 1-5 Questions 6-11 Questions 12-15

Objective #2

Objective #3

Pretest Data
Question Number Question #1 Question #2 Question #3 Question #4 Question #5 Question #6 Question #7 Question #8 Question #9 Question #10 Question #11 Question #12 Question #13 Question #14 Question #15 Correct 11 3 10 6 8 2 4 8 4 0 4 2 4 6 6 out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of Total 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 Percent 100% 27% 91% 55% 73% 18% 36% 73% 36% 0% 36% 18% 36% 55% 55%

Pretest Data
11 10 8 6 4 3 2 0 2 4 4 4 8 6 6

According to this data, the students seem to really struggle with subjects and predicates. Questions 6-11 focused on subjects and predicates and according to the data, very few students understood the

concept. Some students may have understood that a subject is a noun or pronoun in the sentence, and circled the only noun in the sentence. The correct column shows how many students got that question correct. This column is color-coded to show what objective needs the most instruction. According to this data, objective two needs the most instructional time. The total column shows how many students took the pretest.

Posttest Data
Question Number Question #1 Question #2 Question #3 Question #4 Question #5 Question #6 Question #7 Question #8 Question #9 Question #10 Question #11 Question #12 Question #13 Question #14 Question #15 Correct 8 8 7 4 6 7 5 7 5 2 2 6 7 6 7 out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of out of Total 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 Percent 89% 89% 78% 44% 67% 78% 56% 78% 56% 22% 22% 67% 78% 67% 78%

Post-test Assessment
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 2 2 4 8 8 7 6 5 5 7 7 6 7 6 7

This data shows the student progress after instruction. The data shows that overall, as a class, the students did improve. The struggle is still found in subjects and predicates. During instruction, students were able to correctly identify subjects and predicates when it focused on simple subjects and predicates. The students would answer correctly when asked to find the action word. The students still do not comprehend the word predicate and its meaning. The two questions in red (question #10 and question #11) are questions about finding the predicate. Only two students got these questions correct. Also note that only nine out of the eleven students who took the pretest took the posttest. The percent column shows the percent of students who met the criterion. For example, for question #1, 89% of students met objective #1 about sentences vs. fragments. This assessment data shows that students still need instruction about subjects and predicates. Students also will need reinforcement in sentences and fragments and types of sentences.

Student Analysis
Pretest Objective Objective #1 Objective #2 Objective #3 Student A A A Percent Accuracy Objective Posttest Student A A A Percent Accuracy 80% 33% 100%

80% Objective #1 17% Objective #2 50% Objective #3

*Student A met criterion for objective #1 (sentences and fragments) and objective #3 (declarative or interrogative). The student still needs instruction in subjects and predicates.

Pretest Objective Objective #1 Objective #2 Objective #3 Student B B B Percent Accuracy Objective

Posttest Student B B B Percent Accuracy 80% 17% 100%

60% Objective #1 50% Objective #2 75% Objective #3

*Student B met criterion for objective #1 (sentences and fragments) and objective #3 (declarative or interrogative). The student still needs instruction in subjects and predicates.

Pretest Objective Objective #1 Objective #2 Objective #3 Student C C C Percent Accuracy Objective

Posttest Student C C C Percent Accuracy 100% 50% 0%

80% Objective #1 33% Objective #2 100% Objective #3

*Student C met criterion for objective #1 (sentences and fragments) but still needs instruction in subjects and predicates and declarative or interrogative.

Pretest Objective Objective #1 Objective #2 Objective #3 Student D D D Percent Accuracy Objective

Posttest Student D D D Percent Accuracy 80% 67% 100%

80% Objective #1 50% Objective #2 0% Objective #3

*Student D met criterion for objective #1 (sentences and fragments) and objective #3 (declarative or interrogative). The student still needs instruction in subjects and predicates.

Pretest Objective Objective #1 Objective #2 Objective #3 Student E E E Percent Accuracy Objective

Posttest Student E E E Percent Accuracy 60% 33% 50%

80% Objective #1 33% Objective #2 75% Objective #3

*Student E did not meet criterion for any objective. The student still needs instruction in sentences and fragments, subjects and predicates, and declarative or interrogative.

Pretest Objective Objective #1 Objective #2 Objective #3 Student F F F Percent Accuracy Objective

Posttest Student F F F Percent Accuracy 20% 67% 0%

80% Objective #1 33% Objective #2 50% Objective #3

*Student F did not meet criterion for any objective. The student still needs instruction in sentences and fragments, subjects and predicates, and declarative or interrogative.

Pretest Objective Objective #1 Objective #2 Objective #3 Student G G G Percent Accuracy Objective

Posttest Student G G G Percent Accuracy 60% 50% 100%

80% Objective #1 17% Objective #2 75% Objective #3

*Student G met criterion for objective #3 (declarative or interrogative). The student still needs instruction in subjects and predicates and declarative or interrogative.

Pretest Objective Objective #1 Objective #2 Objective #3 Student H H H Percent Accuracy Objective

Posttest Student H H H Percent Accuracy 100% 50% 100%

80% Objective #1 67% Objective #2 0% Objective #3

*Student B met criterion for objective #1 (sentences and fragments) and objective #3 (declarative or interrogative). The student still needs instruction in subjects and predicates.

Pretest Objective Objective #1 Objective #2 Objective #3 Student I I I Percent Accuracy Objective

Posttest Student I I I Percent Accuracy 80% 100% 100%

60% Objective #1 50% Objective #2 25% Objective #3

*Student I met criterion for all objectives.

Pretest Objective Objective #1 Objective #2 Objective #3 Student J J J Percent Accuracy Objective

Posttest Student J J J Percent Accuracy N/A N/A N/A

60% Objective #1 0% Objective #2 0% Objective #3

*Student J did not take the post assessment for this unit.

Pretest Objective Objective #1 Objective #2 Objective #3 Student K K K Percent Accuracy Objective

Posttest Student K K K Percent Accuracy N/A N/A N/A

40% Objective #1 17% Objective #2 0% Objective #3

*Student K did not take the post assessment for this unit.

Reflection and Self Evaluation: Grammar is a hard concept to teach to students with exceptionalities. Working in this classroom, I learned to work at the students level and learned to adapt all materials and instruction to the students level. The students struggled the most with subjects and predicates. My instruction was limited day to day during these lessons. The first lesson on subjects and predicates took over a week to complete. The students had to complete three different learning centers. I think that if the students had the full language arts block to complete the centers, it would have had a better effect on the students and the students would have been able to grasp the concept of subjects and predicates. The students were most successful with recognizing sentences and fragments (objective #1). A reason that this could have been so successful is that I first taught the students through direct instruction. Another reason, I think the instruction was so successful was because I had the students read/listen to a paragraph and pick out fragments. The students were able to pick out fragments in a paragraph because they said, It didnt make sense. Another reason that students may have been successful for this objective is because they were asked to create sentences from fragments. This is a higher level of thinking on Blooms Taxonomy.

I was least successful with objective #2 with subjects and predicates. The students struggled the most with identifying predicates. The first lesson I did with the students was the learning centers. The instruction for this lesson was mostly students teaching themselves in the centers and one center of guided practice with the teacher. Another reason the students may not have met criterion for this objective is because the objective focused on both subjects and predicates. The students may have been more successful if the objective was broke into two different objectives: one to focus on subjects, and the other to focus on predicates. The students did very well on the formative assessment for lesson two. I dont know where the lost connection was between the lessons and the post-assessment. For future instruction, I need to focus more on subjects and predicates. I will have the students identify both parts in the same sentence instead of doing it separately. A teaching/instructional strategy that I would revise to effect student achievement would be to have more instructional time. The language arts block focused on the three modes of writing for the first month of school. I had to fit grammar into instruction whenever there was spare time. This could be 20 minutes or 10 minutes every other day. I would either need to modify my lessons so that I could fit instruction into that time or wait to teach a lesson when amble time was available. Another teaching/instruction strategy that I would revise to effect student achievement would be to include more engaging activities. The students succeed when they are actively engaged. I should have made my post-assessment assignment a project where students could be flexible and show their creativity. The students also really enjoyed the learning centers; I would have liked to create learning centers for all learning objectives.

Resources:

Sentences Pretest
On the line, write sentence or not a sentence (fragment) to tell whether each group of words is a sentence. 1. ___________________ Julian read the note carefully. 2. ___________________ It was a good time. 3. ___________________ Couldnt find the book. 4. ___________________ Written on the self-sticky notes. 5. ___________________ He wrapped the gift. Circle the subject in each sentence. 1. The ball broke the window. 2. Tristan is nine years old. 3. The red table is outside. Circle the predicate in each sentence. 1. The wind blew my hat away. 2. My sister is in high school. 3. He goes to the pool every day. On the line, write declarative or interrogative to describe the type of sentence. 1. _____________________ Where are my socks? 2. _____________________ The clowns made me laugh. 3. _____________________ How are you? 4. _____________________ Evan and Gary made a kite.

Sentences and Sentence Fragments

Directions: Read each group of words below. On each line, identify the items as either a sentence (S) or a sentence fragment (F). Be prepared to correct each fragment during an oral activity.

_____ 1.

Climbed. Plays trombone in the school band. The President made a speech on T.V. Jessica made an A on her science project. Ran to first base. The blue ball. The boat in the water. After dark Brandon.

_____ 2.

_____ 3.

_____ 4.

_____ 5.

_____ 6.

_____ 7.

_____ 8.

_____ 9.

Through the pasture galloped the while stallion.

Name: _____________________________

Sentences
Underline all of the fragments in the paragraph. Then change the fragments into complete sentences on the lines provided. Today I went to an amusement park. My best friend, Lynn, came with me. We. I was so excited. Lynn did not like the roller coaster. Went to ride the swings. The swings are Lynns favorite ride at the park. Then we went to the food court. I got pizza. Walked across the food court to get nachos. We rode on more rides after eating. Was tired. We went home. It was a fun day with Lynn.

1. ______________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________. 2. ______________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________. 3. ______________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________. 4. ______________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________.

Why Brads face red? Oh, he gets embarrassed very easily. Julian read the note carefully. Written carefully. Have you ever been to a party? Couldnt find the book. Went to the zoo yesterday. Ryan and Steven like to play basketball after school. Joshua, are you going to the grocery store? The red ball.

He
The cat
The red ball

She
The pencil

The puppy

jumped.

bounced the ball.

leaped in to the pool.

went to the park.

kicks.

is playing a game.

It jump. called. He drove the car. Cody will dance.

ran. She went. The ball cried. sings. Mrs. Conrad

The monkey It jumped. went. He will dance.

My mom will run. She is calling. The green ball cries.

Cody and Mark sang yesterday. wishes. Mrs. Conrad

The monkey

My mom and dad

The chocolate bar went to the store. jumps. He is calling the police. Codys car likes. The monkey

ran. She will sing. The green ball wished. ate the apple. Mrs. Conrad My mom and dad

Name: _______________________________ Sorting Subjects and Predicates SUBJECT PREDICATE

Name: __________________________________

Dice Roll
1. ________________________ ___________________________________.

2. ________________________ ___________________________________.

3. ________________________ ___________________________________.

4. ________________________ ___________________________________.

5. ________________________ ___________________________________.

6. ________________________ ___________________________________.

Subject and Predicate Song

Tune: The Mulberry Bush

The subject tells who or what, Who or what, Who or what, The subject tells who or what And comes first in a sentence.

The predicate tells what they did or are, Did or are, Did or are, The predicate tells what they did or are And comes last in a sentence.

Helpful guide subject action sentence predicate who complete noun what verb

Helpful guide subject action sentence predicate who complete noun what verb

Name: ______________________________

Sentences
On the line, write sentence or not a sentence (fragment) to tell whether each group of words is a sentence. 6. ___________________ The squirrel ran up the tree. 7. ___________________ We. 8. ___________________ went to the store. 9. ___________________ walked to the park last night. 10. ___________________ He plays basketball for the school. Circle the subject in each sentence. 4. The ball hit me in the head. 5. Tristan is going to play guitar later. 6. The barn is on fire. Circle the predicate in each sentence. 4. The dog ran away. 5. I lost my pencil box. 6. He goes to the park every day. On the line, write declarative or interrogative to describe the type of sentence. 5. _____________________ What would you like to eat? 6. _____________________ My dad likes to read the newspaper. 7. _____________________ Gary made tacos for dinner tonight.

8. _____________________ Who is going to practice tomorrow?