Expansion Activities written by Maria Spelleri Advanced Level Azar Grammar Series: Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd edition Expansion Activities are interactive tasks and games that focus on the grammar covered in the tables of contents of the Azar textbooks or any comparable syllabus You may download, reproduce and adapt the material to suit your classroom needs Expansion activities are available as Word documents or PDF files Chapter 1—Overview of Verb Tenses A Tense Discovery Chapter 2—Past Tense Who is this baby? Story in a Bag Chapter 3—Present Perfect Tense Present Perfect Songs Chapter 4—Future Tense Fortune Teller Chapter 5—Adverb Clauses of Time Creative Time-Clause Conversations Chapter 6—Subject-Verb Agreement Subject-Verb matching Chapter 7—Nouns Noun recall Chapter 8—Pronouns Analyzing Authentic Pronoun Use Chapter 9—Modals, Part I Modal Scenarios Chapter 10—Modals, Part II Name that Sound! Get a Clue! Talking about History's Mysteries Chapter 11—The Passive Design a Park Brochure Avoiding Responsibility Chapter 12—Reported Speech Forms in Noun Clauses Message Relay Chapter 13—Adjective Clauses Identifying Adjective Clauses in Authentic Text Chapter 14—Gerund and Infinitives, Part I Unusual Jobs Chapter 15—Gerund and Infinitives, Part II Getting Things Done Chapter 16—Coordinating Conjunctions A Hands-On Demonstration for Avoiding Run-On Sentences Chapter 17—Adverb Clauses Kinesthetic Clause Building Chapter 18—Reduction of Adverb Clauses Rewriting a Text Chapter 19—Connectives that Express Cause and Effect, Contrast, and Condition Silent Review of Connectives and Their Patterns Mad Libs with Connectives Chapter 20—Conditional Sentences and Wishes Chain of Conditions Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 1: Overview of Verb Tenses Activity: A Tense Discovery Materials needed: A selection of three or four written articles and/or professional essays that provide a variety of verb tense usage enough photocopies of each for the class (To help gather the articles, ask students to bring in a “serious” news or magazine story a few days before Longer magazine articles work better than many news stories If fifteen students bring in articles, you’ll have a nice collection from which to find the best ones to use Additionally, if the students choose the writings, they will have more interest in the content and the level will be right for them.) Description: Prepare the articles for the students by underlining the verb structures or bracketing the paragraphs you want the students to pay attention to This saves time because students don’t have to read the entire article, which may be multi-paged Use a numbering system so that you and the students can easily refer to a particular sentence or passage Do this with 2-4 articles, depending on the variety of verb tenses you find in each article, and then photocopy enough for the class Divide the students into groups of 4-5 and pass out the first article Instruct the students to pay attention to the verb forms and to identify which verb tense is being used in each situation More advanced students can discuss why a specific tense is needed Encourage students to discuss the time/meaning relationship in the targeted areas and to draw from their knowledge of verb tense rules, referring to their textbook charts as needed To have a whole-class conclusion to this exercise, each group should appoint a scribe Using the numbering system on the article, the groups can record their answers to report to the class Students enjoy seeing the connection between the grammar learned in class and its authentic application You can see the great “a-ha!” moment on their faces when they make that connection on their own Note: Students will mistakenly select a few present and past participial modifiers, gerunds, infinitives, etc., thinking they are verbs Plan how you will handle that One way is to remind students by writing on the board before they begin: “An -ing word is NOT a verb if there is no helping verb with it To + an action word is not a verb.” Also, to save class time, assign the article for homework Students can read the article and consider the underlined verb tenses, preparing themselves for group discussion in the next class Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 2: Past Tense Activity: Who is this baby? Materials needed: A baby picture of each student, writing supplies, tacks or blue tack Description: It’s a lot of fun to see baby pictures of adults you work or study with especially if those pictures are goofy or impossibly adorable In this activity, students like the baby picture angle so much that they forget they are involved in past-tense writing practice Each student should bring in a baby picture of herself or himself, the cuter or sillier the better The pictures should be of a very young baby (a year old or less) so it isn’t easy to match the adult face with the baby one Instruct the students not to let anyone see their photos Working alone, students write sentences about themselves as a baby and toddler, being careful not to reveal their identity in their writing You can set a minimum number of sentences Encourage the students to write about things that are unique to themselves I was born in my grandfather’s house My favorite toy was a yellow duck I had no hair until I was two years old My mother called me “Mouse.” I loved spinach Etc Remind students not to refer to countries or languages so they won’t reveal their identity When the students are done writing, tape each student’s baby picture to the top of her or his writing and clearly number the writing Display the written work on a bulletin board or use blue tack and put them up all over the room at eye level …… …… …… Page of Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 2: Past Tense Activity: Who is this baby? Students now number a paper with as many numbers as there are displayed writings They mill around the room reading the “infant bios,” looking at the pictures, and trying to guess the identity of each baby For example, when a student thinks she knows the identity of the student in display #5, she will write the student’s name on her own paper next to #5 When everyone has finished, the class can compare their guesses as a group As long as the baby pictures are from a young enough age, and as long as the student hasn’t revealed his current physical characteristics, ethnicity, language, etc in the writing, there will be many mistaken guesses sometimes even girls for boys and vice versa, resulting in a lot of laughs Encourage relaxed discussion! This wrap-up time is a great opportunity to get students to practice forming pasttense questions and responses to each other as they question each other about the writings, asking for clarification or more information (Did you really say “Picasso” for your first word? Why?) Culture Note: Obviously, students need access to baby photos This activity will not work with visiting students or with some students from refugee backgrounds, so consider your class make-up before suggesting this activity Page of Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 2: Past Tense Activity: Story in a Bag Materials needed: Plastic or paper bags filled with random, unrelated items Some unusual items always make the activity more interesting Plan on one filled bag per group, and place 4-6 students in each group Each bag should contain 6-8 items (4 or students should have items; students should have items.) Description: Each group of students gets a different bag filled with objects Each group develops an oral story that incorporates all of the items in the bag The story should be told in past tenses, simple and progressive This task takes lots of discussion and cooperation, as well as lots of creativity! Here’s an example of a bag that contains a mix of common, yet unrelated items: A book of matches from a New York restaurant A screwdriver A pair of gloves A toy car Plastic vampire teeth A Band-Aid A key An interesting rock It always helps juice the students’ creativity if you put in an item that alludes to travel such as a map for some far-off place, a postcard, a souvenir, even an exotic spice You can find menus for restaurants around the world, tour itineraries, and tourist maps to distant cities and museums online Students love the exotic international aspect that they find in their bag First, place the students in groups (Do not give out the bags yet!) Then, introduce the activity like this: “You are going to create a story in the oral tradition This is the kind of story that humans passed from one generation to the next before most people could read or write Your story will have one or more characters who want to or achieve something They may have a problem to solve or a goal to reach However, like in all good stories, they will face some obstacle Eventually, however, they will overcome this obstacle and reach their goal (or maybe not!) Everyone in the group will contribute to the story, and everyone in the group will have to relate part of the story to the class.” Page of Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 2: Past Tense Activity: Story in a Bag “When you create this story, use the past tense and the past progressive as your primary verb tenses Try to use adverb clauses of time as well (Before, After, When, As, etc.) to show how things happen chronologically.” “Usually, in the oral tradition, stories are told over and over again, so that every detail is easily memorized However, since we don’t have time for that today, I’m going to let you take brief, key-word notes on each part of your story so you can remember what happens when you tell the class your story.” (By now, students are clamoring “We can make up a story about anything we want?” and turning their backs on you to start This is the time to hand out the bags of objects.) “If I could just have your attention for one more minute! Please take a bag and empty it on your desk These bags will help you create your story because there is a catch -your story must include each of the objects you see before you They can be important parts of the story, or less significant, but each must be mentioned.” Give the students a good 40 minutes to develop a story and practice telling it around their group Then ask each group to come to the front with their objects, place the objects on a surface, and tell their story Tell them to hold up each object for the class to see when they reach its part in the story Page of Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 3: Present Perfect Tense Activity: Present Perfect Songs Materials needed: A recorded song, written lyrics Description: Use music to enliven the present perfect and help students practice its formation Songs also provide an opportunity for discussing the usage of the tense You can find even the most obscure lyrics on the Internet, and you can buy and download individual songs inexpensively at various Internet sites Below are some songs that use the present perfect extensively • Paul McCartney – “My Brave Face” (present perfect and present perfect progressive) • U2 – “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking for” (present perfect) • Brandy – “Have You Ever?” (present perfect question form) • Foreigner – “I’ve Been Waiting” (present perfect progressive) • EmmyLou Harris – “You Been on My Mind” (both present perfect and present perfect progressive, and also a good example of the reduced form used in rapid speech, as evident in the title) • Celine Dion – “Have You Ever Been in Love?” (question form) Lyrics sites – www.lyrics.com; www.azlyrics.com; www.sing365.com There are many ways to use songs and lyrics to emphasize a grammar point: • • • • Prepare a cloze exercise featuring the verb tense Read and discuss the meaning of the lyrics and why the present perfect tenses are used Sing the song, helping the students notice that in rapid speech, the contraction of have/has in the present perfect is almost inaudible, and in fact, it is sometimes (incorrectly) left out altogether Write another verse modeled on one that uses the present perfect Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 4: Future Tense Activity: Fortune Teller Materials needed: Slips with students’ names, dramatic props are encouraged (See note below.) Description: The basis of this activity is for the students to make humorous predictions about the futures of their classmates Students are allowed to use all appropriate forms of the future Put every student’s name on a slip in a hat or bag Next, pairs of students pull two names from the hat or bag As a pair, the students will write silly life predictions for the two students whose names they have pulled Students should use what they know about a student to help them write predictions For example, student X is crazy about basketball, is always hungry, and does well on grammar tests The student pair could write: “In the future, X will win a hot-dog-eating contest He will eat 89 hot dogs, and then he’ll ask for dessert In five years, X will be hired by the Los Angeles Lakers, and he is going to become their star player Unfortunately, his career won’t last long because X’s teammates will get very angry with him for always correcting their grammar mistakes.” Each student takes a turn at being the “Fortune Teller,” reading a prediction aloud The student whose future is being discussed should be encouraged to respond, agreeing or disagreeing with his foretold future Example: “I won’t be playing for the Lakers because I hate them! I’ll be playing for Chicago.” Then open the floor to the rest of the class who might have alternate, off-the-cuff predictions for each student The idea is to spark as much talk about the future as possible To encourage discussion, use prompts like “What you think you’ll be doing in five years?” Note: A little drama adds a lot The more trouble the teacher goes to, the more the students will get into the activity and have fun while they learn Bring a shawl or head scarf, a “magic” mirror, a cup of wet tea leaves, or something that can be used for a crystal ball Taking a cue from theater workshops, students can pass the props around to make their predictions more dramatic Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 5: Adverb Clauses of Time Activity: Creative Time-Clause Conversations Materials needed: Index cards or slips of paper Description: Students write creative conversations that can be performed as simple dialogues or as more developed skits for the class Below are examples of vague sentences using adverb time clauses Write them or your own sentences on index cards Pair your students and let each pair select a sentence card Students then develop their own dialogues incorporating their cue sentence, which can come in the beginning, middle, or end of the dialogue The sentences are purposely vague so the students can go wildly creative and have fun If you have a large class and don’t have time to come up with more sentences, make some duplicate index cards and compare the different dialogues that develop from the same cue sentence Students can change pronouns and demonstratives as needed: it had disappeared they had disappeared; this special talent that special talent, etc Cue Sentences By the time I got my camera ready, it had disappeared As long as I live, I’ll never that again! The next time you hear that noise, you’ll be sure to go inside Now, whenever I see him, I hide Last night while I was getting ready for bed, it happened again Let’s stay here until they leave When I went to investigate, I couldn’t believe my eyes I’ve had this special talent ever since I was a child Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 13: Adjective Clauses Activity: Identifying Adjective Clauses in Authentic Text Recommended texts: Challenging: The Open Window by Saki http://www.eastoftheweb.com/cgi-bin/version_printable.pl?story_id=OpeWin.shtml Contains examples of who clauses, whom clause, that clauses, and which clauses, in addition to a few adjective clauses with a missing pronoun High Intermediate: Study Hotel Rooms Have Unseen Guests (USA Today) http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-09-29-hotel-germs_x.htm Contains that clauses, who clauses, which clauses, where clauses Page of Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 14: Gerunds and Infinitives, Part I Activity: Unusual Jobs Materials needed: None Description: Students write about the qualities and characteristics employment candidates must have for unusual jobs For interaction and better vocabulary development, have students work in pairs Tell the students that these jobs are currently available in your community They should work with their partners to imagine the skills and qualities required for each job Write the following list on the board Students will write a profile of the ideal candidate using the following words and phrases to prompt gerund and infinitive use • • • • • • • • • • • • Skills must include: _ing, ing, and _ ing The ideal candidate should enjoy _ ing The ideal candidate shouldn’t mind _ing The ideal candidate must have experience ing The ideal candidate will start _ing immediately The (job title) should agree to The (job title) must consent to _ The (job title) should expect to _ The (job title) will be required to _ The (job title) will need to The (job title) will be permitted to _ The (job title) will be trained to Job Openings • • • • • Reptile House maintenance at the zoo Candy Tester at Goodman’s Candy Factory Personal Assistant to a top Hollywood star Nanny to two-year-old triplets A Human Cannonball in the circus When everyone is done, share the completed work as a group Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 15: Gerunds and Infinitives, Part II Activity: Getting Things Done Materials needed: A copy of the Yellow Pages phone book for each group of students, or Yellow Pages online Description: Students use the Yellow Pages to identify companies and services to “get things done.” Tell the students that their Great-Great-Uncle Joe recently died Uncle Joe was a world traveler and didn’t spend too much time at home Because he had no children, he left them his old mansion Since he never spent much time in it, the old place is in bad shape (There are links to photos of ruined houses at the end of this activity.) Obviously, before the students move in, there is a lot of work that needs to be done! In their groups, students brainstorm what kind of professional help they would like to have with their fixer-upper project They may include jobs like landscaping/gardening, building a new roof, a paint job, new flooring, updated bathroom or kitchen, new furniture, cleaning the fireplace/chimney, fumigation, animal trapping, and squatter removal, junk removal, and whatever they imagine Encourage students to use other verbs besides fix, for example, planted, cut, repaired, installed, modernized, updated, replaced, put in, delivered, washed, etc After this point, there are many things that can be done Students can make a list of jobs that need to be done using the infinitive with need: The grass needs to be cut The roof needs to be replaced The broken windows need to be taken out Students can use the Yellow Pages to identify a person or company they can hire to the job, creating sentences like I’m having Rick’s Plumbing install a new bathtub I’m getting Ace Lawn Mowing to cut the grass This is a very useful and practical activity because it isn’t the alphabetical order of the Yellow Pages that’s a problem for students; it’s knowing which index words things are categorized under in a real phone book Students can create questions to ask other groups: What are you having done? Who are you getting to paint the outside of the house? Page of Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 15: Gerunds and Infinitives, Part II Activity: Getting Things Done Students can create dialogues where they ask advice from a neighboring group, and then “visit” their neighbors to ask about work they had done Example: A: I need to get my chimney rebuilt Who should I get to that? B: Why don’t you call A+ Safety to rebuild your chimney? A: Are they good? B: Sure I had them fix my chimney after a storm last year A: What’s their number? B: I don’t remember, but it’s in the Yellow Pages under chimney repair http://www.dpchallenge.com/image.php?IMAGE_ID=33198 http://flickr.com/photos/46898527@N00/235202009/in/pool-haunted/ http://flickr.com/photos/cityofdust/255265121/in/pool-haunted/ http://flickr.com/photos/gemmamehera/217000042/in/pool-haunted/ http://flickr.com/photos/roundhillguy/245722944/in/pool-haunted/ Page of Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 16: Coordinating Conjunctions Activity: A Hands-On Demonstration for Avoiding Run-On Sentences Materials needed: Two different colored electrical wires, 7-10 inches each, (make three sets of these wires), regular transparent tape, a wire connecter with a bright color (To prepare the wires, make sure the plastic coating is cut away inches from one end of each wire Use a different set of wires for each part of the demo because once you cut the plastic the ends get bent and tangled and a little harder to work with ) Description: A typical writing problem is the incorrect connection of independent clauses It’s one thing to teach the rule IC, Coordinating Conjunction IC, and another thing for students to apply it consistently in their papers This activity brings visuals to the grammar explanation, which is often just using words to teach about words It is especially helpful for tactile/ kinesthetic students Bring three students to the front of the class Give one wire to two students and have the other student standing by Explain to the students: “Each colored wire represents a single independent clause To add variety to our writing, we sometimes want to combine these clauses into a single sentence However, there are clause-combining rules that we need to follow in our writing.” “Let’s say the black wire is ‘Matt was hungry’ and the white wire is ‘He made himself a sandwich.’ What is something simple we to connect these two wires, these two independent clauses?” (You want to elicit “twist the wires together” or something similar When someone suggests it, ask the third student in front of the class to twist the wires together, with the other two students still each holding one part.) “Do you think this connection is strong and secure?” (Take the wire from the two students in front and give it to two other students in their seats.) “Try to separate our two clauses They come apart pretty easily, don’t they? So is just pushing the wires together a good way to combine them?” (Elicit – No.) “So let’s try another way to make a connection.” (Hand another pair of wires to the students in the front Try to elicit that they can be taped together Someone usually comes up with it! Bring out the tape and ask a third student to tape the wires together.) Page of Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 16: Coordinating Conjunctions Activity: A Hands-On Demonstration for Avoiding Run-On Sentences “What you think about this connection? Is it a strong one?” (Ask the pair holding the wires to bring them to seated students and ask the seated students to give them a tug The wires will fall apart.) “So tape was not a good idea either Let’s try one more thing.” (Bring out the connector and the final set of wires As the two students each hold a wire, attach the connector securely The teacher should this after a little practice because if the student doesn’t it right, the wires will fall apart and blow the demonstration! Then bring the connector-attached wires to seated students and ask them to tug The wires will not come apart.) “It looks like we finally have a secure connection for our two wires and our two independent clauses! Now, let’s see how this relates to our writing.” You can use the pictures below or have the actual three sets of wires displayed Relate the first set to a fused sentence (the clauses are mashed together), the second set to a comma splice ( the tape represents the “weak” comma), and the third set to the comma + fanboys combination Here are photos showing the different wire combinations: Page of Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 17: Adverb Clauses Activity: Kinesthetic Clause Building Materials needed: Many pieces of paper cut into thirds to make strips about 3.5 inches by inches long You’ll need nearly one paper strip per word in a sentence, and you’ll probably use 6-10 sentences in the activity Description: The purpose of the activity is to help students identify clauses, choose subordinating conjunctions, notice the reversibility of clauses in a sentence, and understand the idea of subordination They this by physically becoming the sentence and moving themselves around, working out the grammar and meaning of subordinate clauses Some possible sentences for the activity: Dave visits the Museum of Art whenever he goes to Boston The streets flooded because of the heavy rain The kids went to the park although it was getting late I’m going to buy the paperback unless the hard-cover book is on sale The cat curled into a ball and slept once it had finished eating The babysitter is responsible since the parents are not home To prepare, write each word of your sentences on a strip of paper To save paper and to work with longer sentences, you can put grammatical units together on a strip, for example, determiner + noun, helping verb + verb, the entire prepositional phrase Sentence above could be written on slips like this: Dave he visits goes the Museum of Art whenever to Boston To stay organized, keep each cut-up sentence in its own envelope To begin, each student holds one word strip and becomes one part of the sentence Have the students stand in a horseshoe shape—that way they can all see each other, and the seated students can see them as well Page of Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 17: Adverb Clauses Activity: Kinesthetic Clause Building For shorter sentences like the samples, it’s fun to let the students unscramble themselves and get themselves in the right order When you work with longer sentences, number each card in the corner so the students can easily arrange themselves In a class of 20 students, you might have only or students seated sometimes! There are several things you can in any order: To help students identify clauses, ask each subject and verb in the sentence to take a step forward Ask students if each set of subjects and verbs has its own complete idea Identify the two complete ideas by having the two groups of students separate a little The subordinate conjunction will be left in the middle Have the subordinate conjunction student move to the head of one clause and then the other Ask the class if the sentence still makes sense This will help them with the relationship of ideas, something fairly easy for time relationships, but more difficult for cause and effect, contrast, and condition Once students agree that in most of the cases the subordinate conjunction works when it heads only one specific clause of the two, have the clauses switch positions so the subordinate clause comes first in the sentence Hand out another paper strip with a comma on it and give to a seated student, asking the student to fit into the sentence To work with clause relationships and the meanings of various subordinate conjunctions, write several conjunctions on paper slips, hand them out to a group of students, and ask the students to line up on one side of the class Next, have students holding slips of two clauses that you want to combine form a large horseshoe Let all the students read the sentences and choose a subordinate-clause student to come over and join their group For more challenge, this with sentences that can express different relationships, and discuss the meaning of all the relationships For example: • • • • • • • It is snowing We are going out Even if it is snowing, we are going out Because it is snowing, we are going out Unless it is snowing, we are going out While it is snowing, we are going out The next time it is snowing, we are going out Now that it is snowing, we are going out Page of Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 17: Adverb Clauses Activity: Kinesthetic Clause Building To work with the abstract idea of subordination, use the physical symbol of having the subordinate clause students squat or kneel to show their subordination to the main clause Once one group is lower than the other, ask students which clause stands out the most, explaining that that clause is the one most important to the writer and reader, the one that the writer wants people to focus on You can experiment with the idea of subordination by switching emphasis For example, what is the difference in emphasis between “She was rich although she was unhappy.” and “She was unhappy although she was rich.”? Page of Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 18: Reduction of Adverb Clauses Activity: Rewriting a Text Materials needed: A text that lends itself to be rewritten with modifying adverbial phrases Sample text is from Voice of America: “Edward Hopper’s Simple Paintings Hold Meaning for Americans.” It can be found at http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2006-09-24-voa1.cfm Description: Students read an article about the American painter Edward Hopper In pairs, students can rewrite the article using modifying adverb phrases This article works well because it is biographic and therefore has many instances of the same subject doing multiple actions Some excerpts are provided below with ideas for possible rewrites, but it is a long article, and it has very many rewrite possibilities Putting students into pairs to this with one student being the writer will make this an interactive experience Also, if you have computers, it is helpful to format the activity as it is formatted in the example It helps students organize their ideas, and eliminates extraneous typing that can lead to increased errors It will also help you make corrections if you can easily see what the original was Original Text Rewrite using Modifying Adverb Clauses In June of 2006, visitors entered the redesigned Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C for the first time When these people walked into the building, they saw two simple, colorful paintings Edward Hopper was born in eighteen eighty-two in Nyack, a small town in New York state From a young age, Edward knew he wanted to be a painter His parents were not wealthy people They thought Edward should learn to paint and make prints to advertise for businesses Edward listened to his mother and father In nineteen hundred, he moved to New York City to study commercial art Hopper studied with Henri in New York City for six years During those years, Upon entering the redesigned Smithsonian American Art Museum in June of 2006 for the first time, visitors saw two simple, colorful paintings Not being wealthy people, his parents thought he should learn to paint and make prints to advertise for businesses Listening to his mother and father, Edward moved to New York City in 1900 to study commercial art While studying with Henri for six years, Hopper dreamed of going to Europe Page of Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 18: Reduction of Adverb Clauses Activity: Rewriting a Text Hopper dreamed of going to Europe With help from his parents, Hopper finally traveled to Europe in nineteen-oh-six He lived in Paris, France for several months He returned again in nineteen-oh-nine and nineteen-ten Receiving help from his parents, Hopper finally traveled to Europe in 1906 After living in Paris, France for several months, he returned again in 1909 and 1910 At the end of this activity, it’s important to point out to students that modifying phrases are just another tool in their writing tool belt to help add variety to their papers Just as they would not want to begin every sentence with a prepositional phrase, or with a subject and verb construction, they would not want too large a portion of their writing to be adverbial phrases either Variety is the key to interesting and skilled writing Page of Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 19: Connectives That Express Cause and Effect, Contrast, and Condition Activity: Silent Review of Connectives and Their Patterns Materials needed: Create multiple sets of small signs from cut-up poster boards Each sign should be about inches wide and as long as needed to fit one pattern rule from below Write each rule in black marker so you can easily read the signs when the students are holding them up from their seats Make enough signs so that each student or pair of students has a complete set Example: IC; transition, IC Description: Students often have trouble remembering clause patterns and even more trouble remembering the different categories of connectives and which categories go with each pattern Many teachers have found that reducing clause patterns to their bare basics, giving them the starkness of a mathematical formula, can help students who have problems with word patterns We can summarize clause patterns in this chapter with these rules: IC, Coordinating Conjunction IC (OR further reduced to IC, FANBOYS, IC, or IC, CC, IC) IC DC DC, IC IC; transition, IC (Make transition lower case to remind students that a capital letter is not needed after a semicolon.) IC Transition, IC I…… transition…….C (transition coming in the middle of a single independent clause) Prepositional Phrase, IC (further reduce as PP, IC) IC Prepositional Phrase If students memorize these rules, not only does it make it easier to work with their papers, but it is easy to refer to the rules throughout the entire semester Page of Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 19: Connectives That Express Cause and Effect, Contrast, and Condition Activity: Silent Review of Connectives and Their Patterns Some things you can with the sets of rule cards The teacher reveals one sentence at a time via overhead transparency, computer, or uncovering sentences on the board The students quickly read the sentence and hold up the card that illustrates the pattern rule Students create sentences following these rules, and reveal their original sentences in front of the class The other students hold up pattern cards The teacher calls out random words from the categories of coordinating conjunctions, transitions, subordinating conjunctions, and prepositions Students hold up cards that show the rule (s) that would use each word or phrase (Of course, rules 2-3 use the same group of words, as rules 4-6 and 7-8.) From the students who hold up the correct cards, ask two to come to the board and write sample sentences using the word + the rule Keep one set of the cards in plain view in the classroom until the end of the course Number them and refer to them as needed to correct student writing, or to ask students to connect their ideas using subordinate conjunctions or transition words as they debate, disagree, and discuss Page of Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 19: Connectives That Express Cause and Effect, Contrast, and Condition Activity: Mad Libs with Connectives Materials needed: A pre-written “Mad Lib” story frame Description: This idea is roughly based on the “Mad Libs” activities Only here, the students see the whole story and are not supplying parts at random Below is a sample activity roughly based on the activities of Dr Frankenstein It reviews the meanings of connectives of cause and effect and condition Actually, the students’ responses will show you whether or not they understand the meaning of the grammatical structure that goes with each connective When you write your own, try putting it in an unusual or goofy frame, so the answers can be creative or funny It would be boring to write this about a guy who walked to school because his car wouldn’t start! Some other ideas for story frames: a UFO landing, a genie granting someone wishes, an ordinary person finding out he or she is heir to some throne, a fairy tale that is commonly known, like Cinderella (with instructions to change the story) Sample activity: Even though _, Dr Frankenstein wanted to build his own monster Despite the protests from his fiancé, _ One night, Dr Frankenstein _ so that _ The experiment was such a success that _ Because Dr Frankenstein wanted to show his monster to the world, _ The monster Consequently, _ Dr Frankenstein had to quickly _ Otherwise, _ Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 20: Conditional Sentences and Wishes Activity: Chain of Conditions Materials needed: None for the chains, the book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff Description: This quick oral activity uses second conditional in fanciful hypothesizing The teacher begins with a simple second-conditional statement, for example, “If I had more time, I would write a book.” The first student then turns the teacher’s result clause into the “if” clause, and creates his or her own result For example, the student might say “If I wrote a book, I might get famous.” Then a second student takes the first student’s result and turns it into a condition Perhaps this student might say “If I got famous, I would move to New York City.” The chain continues around the classroom with each student adding a link The same chain activity can be done with the third conditional making the chain more like a story that is slowly revealed: If I had not gone out last night, I wouldn’t have gotten locked out of my house If I hadn’t gotten locked out of my house last night, I would have answered my phone If I had answered my phone, I would have won a prize from the radio station A suggestion: The children’s book If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff It is a children’s picture book, and it is a fun way to introduce the first conditional The story goes wildly off after a child contemplates what will happen if he gives a mouse a cookie The mouse will need milk to go with it, then it will want to look in a mirror to make sure it doesn’t have a milk mustache, etc The text also incorporates modals of possibility in some of the results clauses An extra bonus about this book is the use of the first conditional instead of the second This is a brainstorm point for your students why use the first conditional here instead of the second? Well, what seems purely hypothetical and impossible from our adult viewpoint (a 2nd conditional viewpoint), is in fact entirely possible and very likely to happen from a child’s viewpoint (the 1st conditional viewpoint) Copyright © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc All rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use ... Chapter 20—Conditional Sentences and Wishes Chain of Conditions Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 1: Overview of Verb Tenses Activity: A Tense Discovery... rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 2: Past Tense Activity: Who is this baby? Materials... rights reserved Permission granted to reproduce for classroom use Expansion Activities Understanding and Using English Grammar, 3rd Edition Chapter 2: Past Tense Activity: Story in a Bag Materials