Sentence structures - Macmillancdn-media.macmillan.com.au/mea/demoversions/GR_InteractiveGame… · Sentence structures ... • alliteration, onomatopoeia, prepositions, simile, word

Sentence structures

Rationale

This game teaches students to recognise and implicitly understand the grammatical structures of: • questions• statements• commands• exclamations• sentences with question tags• sentences that express facts and opinions• sentences that involve direct or indirect speech.

As students work through the levels of this game they are introduced to sentences of increasing grammatical complexity from simple, single clause sentences to compound and complex sentences.

How to play

In this game, students need to put a sentence together by putting its parts in the correct order.If they get enough sentences correct, the alien gets a dunking.

Grammar Rules! Interactive Games © Tanya Gibb/Macmillan Education Australia. ISBN 978 1 4202 9138 4 1

Objectives

As they progress through the levels students will develop the following understandings:

• Questions usually begin with question words.who what where when how why is do did can will whose

• Some sentences are constructed as statements with question tags. These types of sentences rely on vocal patterns in spoken language to determine whether they are questions or polite commands.

You are coming, aren’t you? Shut the door, will you.

• Commands usually begin with verbs. Stop that!Finish your work.

• Commands can be expressed as requests.Please stop that.Will you please stop doing that.

• Adverbs add meaning to verbs. Adverbs can sometimes be used at the beginning of a command to focus attention on how the verb is carried out.

Carefully mix the eggs and flour.Gently simmer the soup.

• Exclamations express emotions such as fear or surprise. That’s lovely!Thank you so much!

• Direct speech is expressed inside speech marks.

• Punctuation markers clarify meaning in sentences.

Teaching/Learning

Punctuation has been included in all the sentences. Make sure students know that, along with meaning and the fact that the sentences must make sense, the punctuation provides clues to help students sequence the sentence elements correctly.

Use the sentence examples to explicitly teach aspects of sentences during regular classroom activities.

Make the following aspects of grammar explicit for students:

• The structure and function of noun groups the tiny little kitten

• Proper nouns start with capital letters. Proper nouns can trick students in some game sentences if they presume that a proper noun must start the sentence because of its capital letter.

• Articles the, an, a


• Verb groups like to play, hopes to read, wants to have

• Subject, verb and object; or subject and predicate

• The function of conjunctions to connect ideas across sentences

• How pronouns refer to nouns

• How adverbs and phrases tell where, when and how

• The structure and function of prepositional phrases in the garden

• Ways to express direct and indirect speech

• Compound sentences I will get the car and [I will] meet you there.Note: ‘I will’ is implied but not stated in words.

• The functions of punctuation markers. The punctuation markers are provided for each sentence in the game. Paying attention to the punctuation markers will assist students in correctly sequencing the elements in each sentence.

A note about Standard English

This game will help students develop an innate and automatic understanding of the grammatical patterns appropriate in English usage. Learning to recognise the natural flow of the grammatical elements in Standard English is especially important to students who are learning English as a second language. These students usually adapt the grammar of their home languages into their English usage and create sentences that can be considered technically correct but may sometimes sound awkward to speakers of English as a first language. For example, ‘The book is in the library’ is preferable to ‘In the library is a book’. Both sentences contain the same elements ‘the book’ (noun group) ‘is’ (verb group) ‘in the library’ (prepositional phrase) but the most appropriate sentence order is subject (the book) verb, object. So, in English, we say ‘The book is in the library.’


Vocabulary enrichment

Rationale

This game reinforces specific grammatical terms such as noun, adjective and verb. It supports students’ developing understanding of how language works at the word level through activities with rhyme, contractions, etymology, prefixes and suffixes. It provides opportunities for students to engage with the richness of the English language.

How to play

In this game, students need to find the matching pairs of words.

When they make all the cards disappear, the robot will dance.


Objectives

As students work through the levels of the game they will consolidate understanding of the following concepts:

Level 1• antonyms, synonyms, singular and plural nouns, adjectives, contractions and rhyme

Level 2• common nouns, singular and plural nouns, gender nouns, compound words, verbs, synonyms,

antonyms, onomatopoeia (animal nouns and their noises) and contractions

Level 3• antonyms, prefixes (un- and dis-), base words and suffixes, contractions, rhyme, synonyms, common

nouns, collective nouns, adjectives and homophones

Level 4• antonyms, adverbs, prefixes (dis-, un-, in-, il- and mis-), irregular verb forms, nouns, singular and plural

nouns, base words and suffixes, comparative and superlative adjectives, classifying adjectives and homophones

Level 5• antonyms, prefixes (mis-, dis- and un-), regular and irregular verb forms, abstract nouns, collective

nouns and common nouns, homophones and synonyms

Level 6• proper and common nouns, words that go together (collocation), antonyms, prefixes (un-, in-, il-, dis- and

ir-), base (root) words, adjectives, adverbs, synonyms and words from other languages (etymology).

Teaching/Learning

Use the text examples in this game to support additional classroom activities to make the following aspects of grammar and language explicit for students, as appropriate:

Adjectives tell more about a noun. They can describe nouns (fluffy duckling).Adjectives compare using comparative forms (happier), superlative forms (happiest) and irregular forms (good, better, best). Nouns can be used as adjectives when they classify another noun (traffic light).

Adverbs add meaning to verbs in this game by telling how (quietly, loudly). Note: Adverbs can also add meaning to adjectives (very pretty) and other adverbs (really quietly).

Antonyms are words with opposite meanings (happy—sad). Some antonyms are formed using prefixes (real—unreal).

Base words are sometimes also called word roots. Word roots are words in their simplest forms. Prefixes and suffixes are added to word roots to form new words. Many words have shared roots or origins. Microbe, biology and antibiotic share the root ‘bios’, which means ‘life’.

Collocation is a term used for words that are likely to be used together (weigh anchor, on the phone). Developing automaticity with these sorts of word combinations is especially important for students who are learning English as a second language.


Compound words are formed when two words are joined (playground).

Contractions are formed when words are joined together and letters are left out. Apostrophes are used to mark the place of the missing letters (is not—isn’t).

Etymology is the study of the origins or history of words. Words change or evolve over time. Words are continually adapted into English from other languages (baklava, ballet, aeronautical). Create posters and lists for classroom display that show word origins such as Greek and Latin, or words from students’ home languages.

Homophones are words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings (flour—flower). In this game students match the homophone pairs.

Nouns name people, places and things. Common nouns label everyday things (bus, dog). Proper nouns label people’s names and the names of particular places (Italy, John). Nouns can be abstract (peace) or concrete (chair). Collective nouns are names for groups of things (herd).

Some nouns tell gender (boy—girl). Ensure that students only use gendered nouns if gender is relevant in the context of language use. For example, they should use terms such as firefighter, flight attendant and police officer to label males and females in these occupations rather than identifying the gender of the worker.

Nouns can be singular when there is only one of something or plural when there is more than one of something. A noun can be made plural by adding -s or -es (apple—apples, peach—peaches) or changing the spelling in another way (person—people). Nouns ending in -y usually change -y to -i, to add -es (baby—babies). Some nouns don’t change at all from singular to plural (fish—fish).

Onomatopoeia words sound like the thing they represent (hiss, crackle, snap). Make onomatopoeia word lists for students to use in their own writing. Point out some onomatopoeia words in literature. Have students create visual representations of onomatopoeia in the form of concrete poems. For example, the words ‘crunch, munch and chomp’ drawn in the shape of an apple.

Prefixes are word elements that are added to the front of a word root to form a new word (un—unreal). Prefixes used in this game are: dis-, un-, in-, il-, mis-, un-, in-, il-, dis- and ir-.

Rhyme is when the ends of words sound the same (rock—sock).

Suffixes are word elements that are added to the end of a root or base word to form a new word (six—sixteen).

Synonyms are words with similar meanings (huge—enormous). Teach students how to use a thesaurus so that they can enhance their own spoken and written communication.

Verbs are words for doing (run, skipped), being and having (are, have), thinking and feeling (considered, loved) and saying (whispered). Verbs can be regular or irregular. Verbs that form the past tense by adding the suffix -ed are called regular verbs (climbed). Irregular verbs form the past tense in other ways (ran—run, weep—wept, fly—flew).


Figurative and expressive language

Rationale

This game is designed to develop students’ appreciation of figurative language including poetic devices such as metaphor, simile, onomatopoeia and alliteration. The game exposes students to the richness of English vocabulary and develops their understanding of how words work, literally and metaphorically. The use of common and colloquial expressions in English as well as slang, proverbs, idiom and etymology supports students’ creative use of language in broader contexts and for broader purposes. The levels of the game build in complexity of language and vocabulary.

How to play

In this game, students might have to fit a word into a sentence, or match a word to another word.Each time they get a set of questions correct, they get a piece of a key. When they have the whole key, they can open the treasure chest.


Objectives

As students work through the levels of the game they will consolidate understanding of the following concepts:

Level 1• rhyme, alliteration, onomatopoeia, simile

Level 2• simile, word chains, onomatopoeia, rhyme, nouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives

Level 3• alliteration, onomatopoeia, prepositions, simile, word chains, chronological order, adjectives, rhyme

Level 4 • onomatopoeia, adverbs, commands, simile, word chains, alliteration, rhyme, homophones, nouns,

prepositions, adverbs, word meanings, slang, anagrams

Level 5• simile, metaphor, personification, assonance, idiom, prepositions, proverbs, etymology, anagrams,

portmanteau words

Level 6 • metaphor, idiom, proverbs, etymology, simile, personification, portmanteau words.

Teaching/Learning

Use the text examples in this game and further classroom activities to make the following aspects of grammar and language explicit for students, as appropriate for your class:

Alliteration is when sounds are repeated at the beginning of words (Six sizzling sausages spluttered in the pan). Students can create tongue twisters and search for examples of alliteration in poetry and other forms of literature to examine how alliteration enhances the language used. Adverbs add meaning to verbs in this game (ran swiftly). Point out to students that adverbs in commands tell how the command should be carried out (walk quickly, walk slowly, briskly stir).

Adjectives presented in this game are describers (used to add meaning to nouns: hairy spider) or classifiers (used to classify a noun: football match).

Anagrams are words created by changing the order of the letters in another word (read—dear). Assonance is when vowel sounds are repeated across a number of words. Assonance is used to enhance the ways words sound in literature and especially poetry (How now brown cow).

Chronological order means time order. It is useful for students to recognise the ways words work to sequence events in time. This is especially important in texts such as recounts and narratives.

Etymology is the study of the origins or history of words. Words change or evolve over time. Words are continually adapted into English from other languages (baklava, ballet, aeronautical). Create posters and lists for classroom display that show word origins such as Greek and Latin, or words from students’ home languages.


Homophones are words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings (flour—flower). In this game students need to choose which homophone fits into the meaning of the sentences. Idiom is a saying or expression that has a meaning to language users that is not the literal meaning (raining cats and dogs). Idiomatic expressions can be difficult for second language users to understand.

Metaphor is when something is said to be something else. (The trees are guardians for the property.) Metaphor is a common form of figurative language used in literature.

Nouns name people, places and things. In this game students link common nouns with verbs at Level 2 only.

Onomatopoeia is used to describe words that sound like the thing they represent (hiss, crackle, snap).

Personification means giving human qualities to non-human things (The mud sucked my toes).

Portmanteau words are made by combining two other words (motor and pedal—moped, news and broadcast—newscast). Explore portmanteau words in poetry such as the poem ‘Jabberwocky’ by Lewis Carroll (galloping and triumph—galumphing).

Prepositions are words that show the relationship between nouns and pronouns, and other words, especially in phrases (at the beach). Particular prepositions collocate with other words (to boast about).

Proverbs are sayings that have a moral or message of advice (Many hands make light work).

Rhyme is when the ends of words sound the same (rock—sock).

Simile is when something is referred to as being like something else. The words ‘like’ or ‘as’ are used to make the comparison (she’s as fast as lightning, grandpa looks like a walrus).

Slang is informal language, especially used between friends and family members, or groups of people in casual social situations where there is a shared understanding of the word meanings (scram, split, scoot).

Teach students to understand the concept of ‘audience’ for their speaking and writing, so that they know when slang is acceptable and when they need to use more formal language, according to audience, purpose and situation (context).

Verbs are words for doing (run, skipped), being and having (are, have), thinking and feeling (considered, loved) and saying (commented). Verbs are linked with common nouns in Level 2 of this game.

Word chains are words that link a particular content strand in a text. They are important meaning words sometimes called lexical chains. There can be a number of word chains in any text (shoes, socks, knotted laces, muddy soles).


Nouns

Rationale

This game develops students’ ability to automatically recognise nouns and differentiate nouns from other kinds of words (adjectives, adverbs, verbs, pronouns and prepositions).

Reading difficulty of the words increases through the levels of the game as the nouns become more abstract. Lower levels use only concrete common nouns and some of the proper nouns that students are expected to recognise, such as days of the week and months of the year. Abstract common nouns are introduced at higher levels.

The game also increases in difficulty in that, at levels 1 and 2, there are three nouns for every non-noun. At levels 3 to 6 there is a ratio of one noun for every non-noun. This increases the challenge for students working at these higher levels.

How to play

In this game, students must build a bridge to get a friend across a pond before the time runs out. As planks float to the surface of the pond, students click on the ones that have nouns on them. These planks become the bridge. Students will lose a plank if they click on a word that isn't a noun.


Objectives

As they work through the levels of this game students will consolidate their recognition of nouns and the difference between nouns and adjectives, adverbs, verbs, pronouns and prepositions, as follows:

Level 1 • Common concrete nouns and some proper nouns (days of the week and months of the year). Students

will differentiate between the nouns and commonly occurring verbs.

Level 2 • Concrete nouns, some abstract nouns and some proper nouns (days of the week, months of the year,

some country names). Students will differentiate between the nouns and adjectives.

Level 3• Common and some proper nouns for country names. Students will differentiate between nouns, verbs

and contractions. Level 4• Common nouns, some abstract nouns. Students will differentiate between nouns and adverbs and

adjectives including comparative and superlative adjectives (hard—harder—hardest).

Level 5• Common and abstract nouns. Students will differentiate between nouns, adjectives, pronouns and

prepositions.

Level 6 • Abstract nouns as well as nouns for people and occupations, and collective nouns. Students will

differentiate between the nouns, adjectives, adverbs (ending in -ly) and some verbs.

Teaching/Learning

Use the words in this game to expand students’ vocabulary as well as develop students’ understanding of different kinds of words and their functions in texts, as follows:

Adjectives tell more about a noun. This game uses describing adjectives (cowardly, disastrous), as well as adjectives in their comparative and superlative forms (lazy, lazier, laziest).

Adverbs add meaning or modify the meaning of verbs, adjectives and other adverbs in this game. Adverbs tell where (above, below, here), ask questions (where is . . .), show certainty or obligation (probably will, definitely won’t).

Adverbs can also add meaning to adjectives (very pretty) and other adverbs (really quietly). The object of this game is to recognise nouns so students do not need to identify the adverbs. For the purposes of this game, students just need to be aware that these other types of words exist and that they have varying functions in texts.

Contractions are formed when two words are joined together and letters are left out. Apostrophes are used to mark the place of the missing letters (is not—isn’t). Pronouns are included at level 5 to make students aware of these kinds of words.(he, they, she)


Prepositions are words that show the relationship between nouns and pronouns, and other words, especially in phrases (at the beach).

Nouns name people, places and things. Common nouns label everyday things (bus, table). Proper nouns label particular people, places and things (Anne, Malaysia, September) Concrete nouns name things that can be seen or touched (bird, nose).Abstract nouns name things that cannot be seen or touched (hatred, guilt).Collective nouns refer to groups or collections of things (tribe, flock).

Verbs are words for doing (run, skipped), being and having (are, have), thinking and feeling (considered, loved) and saying (commented).

Verbs indicate tense. They provide a time frame for events in a text. Verb forms tell whether events have occurred in the past, are currently taking place, take place in a continuous way or they will take place at some time in the future (hid, was hiding, hides, is hidden, will hide). Auxiliary verbs or helping verbs are used to show tense or number (she is hiding, they are hiding).


Adjectives

Rationale

This game has been designed to develop students’ understanding of the functions of different kinds of adjectives and how adjectives and determiners assist people to communicate their own meanings more precisely. This game particularly focuses on adjectives within the noun group. From level 4 determiners are also included.

How to play

In this game, students need to ring the bell at the top of the strength tester.

To do this, they need to answer ten questions correctly by choosing the sentence that has the correct adjective or determiner.

The game can be played by one or two players.


Objectives

As they progress through the levels, students will develop the following understandings:

Level 1 • Adjectives tell number and describe taste, colour, size, texture or other qualities.

Level 2 • Adjectives tell number, classify and describe taste, colour, size and texture, or other qualities.

Level 3 • Adjectives tell number, describe (taste, colour, texture, size or other qualities) and classify.

Level 4 • As well as the understandings developed at Level 3 students will also learn adjectives can be used to

compare (softer, hardest), and need to be used in an appropriate sequence. Words in a noun groups can point out, ask questions and show possession or ownership. These kinds of words can be referred to as determiners.

Levels 5 and 6• Adjectives can describe (colour, texture, taste, size, feeling or other quality) and tell number. Nouns can

be used as adjectives when they classify another noun. Comparative and superlative adjectives allow comparison. Determiners can point out, ask questions and show ownership as part of a noun group. Adjectives and determiners need to be used in a correct sequence in the noun group. Noun groups can include adjectival phrases.

Teaching/Learning

Use the sentence examples in this game to teach students how adjectives function in texts to qualify nouns. Adjectives enable speakers and writers to build up detailed and precise information about nouns.

Teach students that adjectives function to:

• Describe colour (red), shape (round), size (huge), texture (smooth), taste (salty), feeling (happy, sad) and other qualities (annoying, greedy, hungry).

• Tell cardinal number (four) and ordinal number (second). Adjectives also tell indefinite numbers (some fruit, a few trees, many homes) (quantifiers).

Nouns can be used as adjectives when they classify another noun (traffic light) (classifiers).

• Compare in degrees (soft, softer, softest).

Adjectives can be part of a noun group in the form of an adjectival phrase (the girl with the red shoes).


Teach students that determiners function to:

• Point out (this, that) (demonstrative adjectives).

• Ask a question (which, what) (interrogative adjectives).

• Show ownership (his, her) (possessive adjectives).

Adjectives and determiners should be sequenced in particular order in a noun group. For example, pointing out or asking a question, then numbering, then describing, then classifying:

These two red ballet slippersWhich two red ballet slippers?

• The classifier always stands directly in front of the noun.

• Describing adjectives also have a correct sequence:A brown duckling trailed after its mother.

A fluffy brown duckling . . .A tiny fluffy brown duckling . . .

• Students need to learn not to confuse adjective question words with verbs that ask questions:What time is it? (‘What’ is a determiner before the noun ‘time’)Is the time 6pm? (‘Is’ is a being and having verb—also called a relating verb)

• Some adjectives can be turned into nouns (hungry—hunger).

A note about definite and indefinite articles

Definite and indefinite articles (a, an, the) are also part of the noun group. These are commonly referred to as determiners in the noun group because they help define the noun exactly. They are included in the sentences but not taught in this game. Teachers may wish to point them out to students and explain their functions and use.


Verbs

Rationale

This game is designed to focus students’ attention on verbs and their role in sentences to indicate being and having, and doing (including action verbs as well as thinking, feeling and saying verbs). It reinforces students’ understanding that verbs can be individual words or groups of words (verb group).

Levels of the game increase in grammatical complexity. Higher levels provide examples of more complex verb groups and sentences with higher levels of reading difficulty.

How to play

In this game, students try to get to the beach for a fun holiday. To keep the van moving, they must complete each sentence by typing in the correct verb or verb group. If they get enough sentences correct, they reach their destination.


Objectives

As they progress through the levels students will develop the following understandings:

• Verbs indicate being (are, is), having (have, has) and doing (action verbs: jump; thinking and feeling verbs: wondered, hated; saying verbs: said, asked).

• Verbs are single words (ran, skipped) or verb groups (is running, wanted to run, should have run).

• Verb forms change according to number (she is, they are, a dog barks, dogs bark).

• Verb forms change to indicate tense. Tense gives a time frame for the being, having and doing (swim, swam, swum).

• Helper verbs or auxiliary verbs help to indicate tense (I am running now, I did run this morning, I have run today, I will run tomorrow).

• Helper verbs or auxiliary verbs change according to singular or plural nouns or pronouns (he is running, they are running).

• Verbs are used in theme position in commands. That is, they come first in the sentence (Brush your teeth), or second in the sentence after an adverb (Carefully brush your teeth) or second in the sentence after a vocative (Daniel, brush your teeth).

• Every sentence requires at least one verb. In exclamations such as ‘Out!’ the verb is implied or understood when it is not stated in words (Get out!)

Teaching/Learning

Use regular classroom activities to build on students’ understanding of verbs and their function in text. You could also use the sentence examples in the game to explicitly teach students the following:

• Active voice is when the subject of the verb is doing the action. The subject is often called the agent or doer (The cat caught a mouse). Active voice is more commonly used than passive voice.

• Passive voice is when the subject of the verb has the action done to it. It is sometimes referred to as the ‘done to’ (The mouse was caught, The mouse was caught by a cat). Passive voice shifts the focus of the sentence off the ‘doer’ onto the ‘done to’. Passive voice is often used in explanations and reports, and other forms of academic texts so that the writing appears more objective.

• Modal auxiliaries in the verb group are used to express certainty or obligation (should run, must run, might run, probably won’t run, can’t run, definitely won’t run). Teach students how to use modal auxiliaries and modal adverbs to present opinions in debates and discussions (I really think . . ., I totally disagree . . ., People should definitely. . .).

• The simplest sentence is a single clause. Clauses join together to make compound and complex sentences which can include more than one verb.

• Ensure that students understand how time and number are represented in the verb group. Explain the relevance of verb tense for particular text types. For example, recounts require past tense.


A note about ellipsis

Every clause requires a verb. If a verb is missing in spoken language it is because it is implied or understood in the context of the situation. For example, ‘Why?’ in a particular spoken language situation could mean, ‘Why did you do that?’ or ‘Why should I do what you want?’ and so on. Words that are implied but not directly stated are called an ellipsis. Sometimes three dot points are used to indicate ellipsis (. . .) in written language.


Parts of speech

Rationale

This game is designed to develop students’ ability to automatically recognise the following parts of speech: nouns, adverbs, adjectives and verbs. Automatic recognition of these parts of speech is useful for students when they need to discuss their own written and spoken language. The game also provides opportunities for students to expand their vocabularies. Vocabulary enrichment is also of benefit to students’ own written and spoken language. The vocabulary presented in the game becomes increasingly more challenging at each level, representing a higher level of reading, comprehension and spelling difficulty.

How to play

In this game, students must pop as many balloons with the correct type of word written on them as they can. They must try to pop them before the time runs out.


Objectives

As they work through the levels of this game, students will consolidate their recognition of different parts of speech as follows:

Level 1 • Concrete common nouns plus a few proper nouns for the days of the week and people’s names,

describing adjectives and verbs.

Level 2 • Concrete common nouns plus proper nouns for days of the week, describing adjectives and verbs.

Level 3• Concrete common nouns plus abstract nouns for the seasons (spring, summer, autumn, winter),


Level 4• Concrete nouns plus a small number of abstract nouns (colony, community, immigration, habitat),


Level 5• Mostly concrete nouns but some abstract nouns (conservation, contamination, gravity), adverbs that tell

how (haphazardly, happily, harshly) and verbs.

Level 6 • Mostly abstract nouns (citizen, civilian, inhabitant), adverbs that tell how (discreetly, annually, anxiously)

and verbs.

Teaching/Learning

The words in this game were chosen so that they could be unambiguously labelled as adjective, adverb, noun or verb. Point out to students that usually it is important to see or hear a word in the context of its use to determine its function in a text. For example, the word ‘teaching’ can be a verb or an adjective.

Ms Markham is teaching us today. (verb) The teaching staff will attend the meeting on Monday. (adjective)

Make sure students understand the functions of adjectives, adverbs, nouns and verbs, as follows:

Adjectives tell more about a noun. This game uses describing adjectives (cowardly, disastrous, vermilion, grotesque, inquisitive).

Adverbs used in this game at levels 5 and 6, modify verbs and tell ‘how’ (deceptively, diligently, disgracefully, viciously, vigorously).

Nouns name people, places and things. Concrete common nouns name things that can be seen or touched (bird, nose). Abstract common nouns name things that cannot be seen or touched (hatred, guilt). A small number of proper nouns are used at levels 1 and 2. Proper nouns have capital letters.

Verbs are words for doing (run, skipped), being and having (are, have), thinking and feeling (considered, loved) and saying (commented).


Verbs indicate tense. They provide a time frame for events in a text and their forms tell whether events have occurred in the past, are currently taking place or take place continuously, or will take place at some time in the future. Verbs also change to show number (he runs, they run).

Auxiliary verbs or helping verbs are used to show tense (hid, hiding, hides, is hidden, will hide) and number (she is hiding, they are hiding).

Students need to be able to read and understand the meaning of the vocabulary presented in the game so that they can select the correct answers. This game provides opportunities to expand students’ vocabulary. You can also: • Expose students to rich vocabulary in literature and factual texts.

• Encourage students to use dictionaries and thesauruses to explore word meanings and find new words to use in their own texts.

• Have students work in groups to create lists of words for particular parts of speech. Have them quiz other groups to identify their words as adjectives, nouns, verbs or adverbs.

• Play word games such as adjective or noun ‘find-a-words’, which students can devise for classmates to solve.

• Engage students in drama activities which encourage them to expand their vocabularies. Use activities such as improvisation (where groups of students are given random nouns, adjectives, adverbs and/or verbs and must act out a scene without rehearsal or script to illustrate the meaning of the words), or sculptures (where students work in groups to create body sculptures to represent given words such as the abstract noun ‘harmony’).


Punctuation

Rationale

This game is designed to develop students’ competence in using punctuation markers. Knowledge of the functions of punctuation markers is an important aspect of communication and in making meaning. In this game students learn to use punctuation markers for statements, questions, commands, exclamations and direct speech. Students will also learn to use apostrophes for contractions, apostrophes for possession and capital letters for the start of sentences and for proper nouns.

How to play

Students must try to feed Hamish the hungry monkey. To give him bananas, they need to punctuate sentences correctly. Every piece of punctuation they get correct earns a banana.


Objectives

As students progress through the levels they will develop an understanding of the important role of the following punctuation markers:

• capital letters • full stops• question marks• exclamation marks• speech marks• commas• apostrophes for possession• apostrophes for contractions.

Teaching/Learning

Teach students the role of punctuation markers to enhance meaning and clarify communication. For example:

• Sentences begin with a capital letter (The house is for sale.).

• Questions usually begin with question words such as who, what, where, when, how, why, is, did, can, will and whose. They end with a question mark (What is the time?).

• Statements of fact or opinion end with a full stop (Dolphins are mammals. I love dolphins.).

• Sentences said with strong emotion are exclamations. They end with an exclamation mark (“I love it!” exclaimed Sophia.).

• Interjections often end with an exclamation mark (Yuck! Yikes!).

• Commands usually begin with verbs and can end in full stops or exclamation marks (Stop doing that, please. Stop that!).

• Proper nouns require capital letters (Heidi, Monday, Moscow, Brazil).

• Direct speech is the actual speech someone says. It is written inside speech marks (“No!” shouted Sachin.)

• Commas function to separate phrases, words in lists and direct speech from the verb and speaker (You will shut the door, won’t you? Buy eggs, cheese, cream, bread and milk. “Hello,” said Barney.).

• Apostrophes are required for contractions (isn’t).

• Apostrophes show possession (Bob’s desk is the tidiest.).

• Indirect speech is speech that is not directly quoted. It does not require speech marks. (Ivan said that he has finished his project.).


A note about other punctuation markers

Colons, semicolons, dashes and brackets are not taught in this game.

Colons and semicolons are possibly the most difficult of the punctuation markers for students to learn how to use correctly. Their use is often ambiguous and open to interpretation or the personal preference of writers. This game requires definite answers so any punctuation markers that were open to ambiguity could not be included.

You can teach colons, semicolons, dashes and brackets as appropriate for the needs of your students, as follows:

Colons are used to: • introduce a list (Please bring: sleeping bag, rain coat, warm clothes and a hat.)• introduce bullet points• introduce the speech of actors in a play script.

Semicolons:• indicate a greater pause than a comma but not as complete a pause as a full stop• can replace conjunctions (The dog was smart; she was ready to learn; she was eager to please her

owner.)• can be used to separate items in a sentence (Firefighters fight fires; attend to other dangerous

situations; and rescue people in difficulty)• can be used to separate items in a long or complex sentence especially when commas have already

been used (Attending the conference were school principals Jeremy Nash and Penny Woo; teachers Nora and Peter Singh; as well as school counsellor, Indira Holmes.).

Brackets are used: • around extra information in a sentence (I’ve brought bread rolls (from the bakery) and some fresh fruit.)• around asides from the writer or narrator (My sister (what a champion) came first in the race.)• to enclose stage directions in play script (Fred: (moves to stand centre stage) I am the guilty one.)Note: When a whole sentence is included in brackets the full stop is also included inside the brackets.

Dashes: • indicate a pause or break in a sentence• can be used instead of brackets to indicate an aside• can be used instead of a colon (Please bring – sleeping bag, rain coat, warm clothes and a hat.)• can make a statement more dramatic (Gemma chose – me!).


Documents

Sentence structures - Macmillancdn-media.macmillan.com.au/mea/demoversions/GR_InteractiveGame… · Sentence structures ... • alliteration, onomatopoeia, prepositions, simile, word