Main Objectives: (1) You will use word origins to determine the meaning of unknown words. (2) You will learn roots and affixes that come from Greek and Latin and use this knowledge to analyze the meaning of complex words. (3) You will learn to write and speak with the correct conventions of standard English.
Topic: Theme One (Nature's Fury)
Use the sentences below to take notes and guide your studies of the grammar subjects in this theme.
1. Identify the base word, given a word with a suffix.
2. Identify sentence type, and write the correct end punctuation for that kind of sentence.
3. Divide sentences between complete subject and complete predicate. Identify the simple subject and simple predicate in a sentence.
4. Combine two sentences with simple subjects into one sentence with a compound subject. Combine two sentences with simple predicates into one sentence with a compound predicate.
5. Correctly divide words into syllables.
6. Use common conjunctions (and, but, or) to join words and sentences. Write a compound sentence joining two connected simple sentences.
7. Correct run-on sentences.
8. Use the word roots –struct– and –rupt– to form and understand words.
9. Learn and use the rules for making nouns plural. Memorize some exceptions to these rules.
Grammar Pages:
- Getting to Base - Base Words - PB 8
- Sensing Danger - Kinds of Sentences - PB 13
- On Vacation - Subjects and Predicates - PB 14
- Sentence Combining - Compound Subjects and Compound Predicates - PB 15
- Stormy Syllables - Syllabication - PB 28
- It's a Twister! - Conjunctions - PB 33
- In Focus - Compound Sentences - PB 34
- Lightning Strikes! - Correcting Run-on Sentences - PB 35
- Construct a Word - Word Roots: struct and rupt - PB 43
- Finding Your Way - Singular and Plural Nouns - PB 48
- Science Fair - More Plural Nouns - PB 49
Topic: Theme Two (Give It All You've Got)
Use the sentences below to take notes and guide your studies of the grammar subjects in this theme.
1. Identify compound words, and spell them correctly.
2. Identify common and proper nouns, and write them correctly.
3. Use possessive nouns to show ownership. Identify and use both singular and plural possessive nouns. Proofread incorrect possessive phrases and write them correctly.
4. Use the words roots –spec/t– and –opt– to form and understand words.
5. Use action verbs to tell what a subject did, does, or will do.
6. Use direct objects to show the action of the verb, using what? and whom? with the action verb.
7. Use the suffixes –ward and –ous to make base words, which are nouns and verbs, into adjectives.
8. Identify and use main verbs and helping verbs.
9. Use forms of the verb to be and other common linking verbs to link a predicate noun or adjective with the subject of the sentence.
10. Use the suffixes –ive and –ic to make base words, which are nouns and verbs, into adjectives.
11. Use the correct tense (past, present, or future) of verbs.
- Compound Words (68)
- Common and Proper Nouns (73)
- Singular and Plural Possessive Nouns (74, 75)
- Word Roots: spec/t and opt (88)
- Action Verbs (93)
- Direct Objects (94)
- Suffixes: -ward and -ous (103)
- Main Verbs and Helping Verbs (108)
- Linking Verbs (109, 110)
- Suffixes: -ive and –ic (118)
- Verb Tenses (123, 124, 125)
Topic: Theme Three (Voices of the Revolution)
Use the sentences below to take notes and guide your studies of the grammar subjects in this theme.
1. Identify possessives (messenger’s job) and contractions (doesn’t), contrast them, and write their long form.
2. Use verbs so that they agree in number, singular or plural, with the subject of the sentence.
3. Use the correct past tense form of common regular (row, warn) and irregular verbs (ride, forget).
4. Use verb phrases that use have, has, or had for the past participle.
5. Compare/contrast the following verb pairs: teach, learn; let, leave; sit, set; can, may. Use them correctly.
6. Use the prefixes sub– and sur– with word roots and base words to make words.
7. Identify adjectives, including articles (a, an, and the) and demonstrative adjectives (this, that, these, and those).
8. Identify and use proper adjectives.
- Possessives and Contractions (144)
- Subject-Verb Agreement (149)
- Regular and Irregular Verbs (150, 151)
- Verb Phrases with have (169)
- Teach, Learn; Let, Leave; Sit, Set; Can, May (170, 171)
- Prefixes: sub– and sur– (179)
- Adjectives (184)
- Proper Adjectives (185)
Topic: Theme Four (Person to Person)
Use the sentences below to take notes and guide your studies of the grammar subjects in this theme.
1. Divide words with VCCCV and VV patterns into syllables.
2. Use comparative adjectives, including forms of good and bad.
3. Use commas correctly, in a series, with introductory words, and with direct address.
4. Write verbs correctly when adding -ed and -ing suffixes. Use -ness and -ment suffixes for nouns, -ful and -less for adjectives, and -ly for adverbs.
5. Use interjections and punctuate them correctly.
6. Use quotation marks correctly.
7. Use common abbreviations correctly.
8. Correctly identify titles for books, movies, newspapers, short stories, poems, articles, songs, and book chapters.
Grammar Pages:
- Divide and Define – Syllabication VCCCV – PB 202
- Strong, Stronger, Strongest – Comparing with Adjectives – PB 207
- ‘Tis Better to Give Than to Receive – Comparing with good and bad – PB 208
- Lighter and Warmer – Combining Sentences with Adjectives – PB 209
- Viva Vowels! – Syllabication VV Pattern – PB 222
- Commas, Commas, and More Commas! – Commas in a Series – PB 227
- Yes, I Can – More Uses for Commas – PB 228
- I Feed, Groom, and Pet My Cat – Combining Sentences by Creating a Series – PB 229
- Tricky Endings – Words Ending in -ed or -ing – PB 237
- Hey! Let’s Play – Interjections – PB 242
- “What Kind of Music Do You Like?” I Asked – Quotations – PB 243
- Grandma said, “Yes.” – Punctuating Quotations – PB 244
- Thanks with Suffixes – Suffixes -ly, -ness, -ment, -ful, -less – PB 252
- Make It Shorter! – Abbreviations – PB 257
- Titles, “Titles,” and More Titles – Titles – PB 258
Topic: Theme Five (One Land, Many Trails)
Use the sentences below to take notes and guide your studies of the grammar subjects in this theme.
1. Use common prefixes and suffixes correctly.
2. Correctly pronounce words using stressed and unstressed syllables.
3. Use possessive pronouns correctly, including its.
4. Use pronouns correctly: subject and object pronouns, I, me, we, and us with nouns, and pronouns with clear references to nouns.
5. Use adverbs correctly: those that indicate how, when, and where, and comparative and superlative forms.
Grammar Pages:
- Word Parts Match – Prefixes un-, dis-, in-, re-, and Suffix -ion – PB 278
- We Object to It! – Subject and Object Pronouns – PB 283
- Should It Be Me or I? – Using I and me – PB 284
- We’re Pronoun Pros – Using the Right Pronoun – PB 285
- Stress That Syllable! – Stressed and Unstressed Syllables – PB 298
- Possessive Messages – Possessive Pronouns – PB 303
- Contraction Reactions – Contractions with Pronouns – PB 304
- It’s a Great Invention! – Using Its and It’s – PB 305
- Saddle Up Those Syllables! – Review of Syllabication – PB 313
- Double Trouble – Double Subjects – PB 318
- We or Us? – Using We and Us with Nouns – PB 319
- Who Is He? – Writing Clearly with Pronouns – PB 320
- I Spy the Y – Changing Final y to i – PB 328
- How? When? Where? – Adverbs – PB 333
- Prepare to Compare – Comparing with Adverbs – PB 334
- Expand Your Description – Expanding Sentences with Adverbs – PB 335
Topic: Theme Six (Animal Encounters)
Use the sentences below to take notes and guide your studies of the grammar subjects in this theme.
1. Use common prefixes and suffixes correctly.
2. Correctly pronounce multi-syllable words and divide them into syllables.
3. Use negatives correctly, i.e., no, not, hardly, never, neither, and none, including contractions with not.
4. Know common prepositions and use them correctly in prepositional phrases, including with object pronouns and compound objects.
5. Use adverbs correctly, particularly those that modify adjectives, that indicate how much or to what extent.
Grammar Pages:
- Prefix Prints – Prefixes – PB 352
- Contraction Action – Contractions with not – PB 357
- No! Not Negatives! – Negatives – PB 358
- Is That an Adverb, Herb? – Adjective or Adverb? – PB 359
- Syllable Sensations – Three-Syllable Words – PB 372
- Prepositions Give Positions – Prepositions – PB 377
- Prepositional Phrases Don’t Faze Us – Prepositional Phrases – PB 378
- Expanding Isn’t Demanding – Prepositional Phrases – PB 379
- Significant Suffixes – Suffixes -ent, -ant, -able, -ible – PB 387
- I Don’t Object to Objects – Object Pronouns in Prepositional Phrases – PB 392
- Pronoun Pronouncements – Pronouns in Prepositional Phrases with Compound Objects – PB 393
- Pronouns in Compounds – Using the Correct Pronoun in a Compound Structure – PB 394
