Download Ten-Minute Grammar

Ten-Minute
Grammar
VERBALS – Teacher’s Guide
INTRODUCTION:
Welcome to Ten-Minute Grammar! The goal of these units is to help students build a solid
understanding of grade-level grammar concepts during the first ten minutes of the class period each
day. Each unit goes through a progression in which new grammatical concepts are introduced (by
discovery, as much as possible), built upon, and then practiced and reviewed. In addition, the concepts
in each consecutive unit build on one another logically—it might seem silly to spend time reviewing
nouns and verbs with 8th graders, but it’s necessary if they’re going to understand things like gerunds
and infinitives or specific types of verb phrases.
The unit includes a week and a half of daily bell ringer activities, a quiz, and one or more additional
practice worksheets.
SUGGESTED TIMELINE:
 Start the Day One bell ringer on a Monday.
 By Friday, if you feel the class is ready for it, give the unit quiz.
o If you feel like the entire class needs additional practice to master the concept (or, let’s be
honest, if the next week is a short one and you don’t have time to start a new unit but
need bell ringers for a few extra days), there are three additional days’ worth of bell
ringers.
 After the quiz, a student who clearly failed to grasp one of the week’s concepts could be
assigned one of the practice worksheets. After completing the worksheet, the student could
retake the unit quiz for an improved grade.
o The worksheets can also be used during the week as extra practice for the entire class.
OBJECTIVES:
1. Students should understand that…
a. A verbal is a word that comes from a verb but doesn’t ACT like a verb in the sentence.
b. A gerund is a word that ends in –ing and functions as a noun.
c. An infinitive is a verbal consisting of the word “to” and a verb that functions as a noun,
adjective, or adverb
d. Infinitives and gerunds are often part of phrases within a sentence.
2. Students should be able to…
a. Identify examples of gerunds and infinitives.
b. Write correct sentences that contain gerunds and infinitives.
KEYS TO THE UNIT:
One of the most pervasive problems I see in my students’ writing is the use of verbals (especially
gerunds) as verbs. Many of my eighth graders just don’t realize that “Walking to school this morning”
isn’t a full sentence because it doesn’t have a verb! This is one of those situations where knowing the
terminology isn’t the important part (heck, I didn’t learn the word “gerund” until college!) What
matters is that they recognize that even though gerunds and infinitives are derived from verbs, they
don’t act like verbs in a sentence; understanding this will help them avoid writing sentence fragments.
DAILY ROUTINE:
Have the day’s bell ringer activity up on a projector when the students come to class each day. I have
my students do the assignment on quarter sheets of paper (I cut them up and have a stack available
each day). Some days in each unit require copyediting; since it takes too long for students to copy the
incorrect sentences and then edit them, a page of quarter-size student answer sheets are provided for
those days (see the pages after the last bell ringer.)
Students should spend the first five minutes working silently (you should use that time to take roll and
then circulate around the room to keep kids on task.) After the five minutes of work time, spend the
next five minutes going over the answers. Don’t give them the answers (except as a last resort); you
want the students to volunteer their answers. Use the correction session each day to explain new
concepts, clarify ideas, and correct misconceptions. If a student volunteers an incorrect answer, find
someone else who can give the correct answer. Help the class understand the concept a little better
and then ask the first student a question like, “Explain to the class why your first answer was wrong.”
I’ve never had a student feel offended by this—if anything, it gives kids a chance to redeem themselves
after what might have been an embarrassing moment of being wrong in front of everyone.
If you use an overhead projector, a Smart Board, or project onto a white marker board, you can
choose a student each day to come to the front and write answers or corrections as other students
volunteer them.
In my class, students get full credit as long as they come up with an answer for every question, even if
some answers are incorrect. At the very least, for the first few days while new concepts are introduced,
students should be allowed to change their answers during the correction session—but only if they
already have an answer of their own. What we want is for them to try to figure out the answer. If
they get it wrong, they’ll learn when you set them straight in the correction session. But they learn
nothing if they just write down answers as you dictate them!
The Wordplay at the end of each day’s questions can be a way to earn extra credit if you choose. As
incentive to work quickly, I tell my students they can’t begin on the Wordplay until they’re finished
with the other questions, and I always offer a piece of candy to the first student to get the answer right
or the student with the best answer or most answers. (You’d be surprised what junior-high students
will do for a Starburst or a Jolly Rancher!)
LITERATURE:
This unit contains example selections from the novel Fallen
Angels by Walter Dean Meyers.
Ten-Minute
Grammar
DAY
One
VERBALS
A verbal is a word that is made from a verb but doesn’t ACT like a
verb in the sentence. Gerunds and infinitives are examples of
verbals.
Identify the gerund in each of the following sentences (a gerund is an –ing word that acts as
a noun, NOT as a verb):
1. Driving is one thing you definitely shouldn’t be doing when tired.
2. My friends don’t like my singing very much.
3. One of my favorite things to do outdoors is hiking.
4. My teacher got mad at me for texting during class.
Identify the infinitive in each of the following sentences (an infinitive consist of the word
“to” followed by a verb that acts as a noun, adjective, or adverb):
5. To live, one must have food, water, and oxygen.
6. We went to the lake and my friends dared me to jump in first.
7. I went to the office to sign several papers yesterday.
8. If your plans involve going to college, you must learn to study.
Wordplay – Just for fun!
 EIGHT LETTERS: Create as many words as you can using three or more of the
letters below (at least one eight-letter word is possible):
CTLOIAVS
Vocalist
Ten-Minute
Grammar
DAY
Two
VERBALS
A gerund phrase consists of a verbal that ends in –ing and
everything that goes along with it (like modifiers or direct objects).
Identify the gerunds or gerund phrases in each of the following sentences from Fallen Angels
by Walter Dean Meyers:
1. A new supply of insect repellent came in. Lieutenant Carroll said that it
was good for making Molotov cocktails.
2. We heard stories. Stories about fighting in Dak To and down south in
Pleiku, but we weren’t doing any of it.
3. I remembered going to the old cowboy movies.
An infinitive phrase consists of an infinitive (the word “to” and a
verb) and everything that goes along with it.
Identify the infinitives or infinitive phrases in each of the following sentences from Fallen
Angels:
4. The air in Nam was always hard to breathe; it was heavy, thicker than
the air back home.
5. Peewee turned over on his bunk to face me.
6. I had to go to the bathroom, but I didn’t want to go out to the
outdoor latrine.
Wordplay – Just for fun!
 DESCRAMBLER: Try to sort out the five scrambled words below:
VYWA PINTU NOREWS KREMASR OHPIPNCG
Wavy Input Owners Markers Chopping
Ten-Minute
Grammar
DAY
Three
VERBALS
In your own words…
1. What is a verbal? A word derived from a verb that doesn’t function as a verb
2. What is a gerund? An –ing word (verbal) that acts as a noun
3. What is an infinitive? The word “to” plus a verb
Fill in the blanks with a gerund or a gerund phrase: Answers will vary.
4. _____________________ will always get you in trouble.
5. My favorite thing to do after school is _____________________.
6. _____________________ meant that we had to fill the car up with gas.
Fill in the blanks with an infinitive or an infinitive phrase: Answers will vary.
7. They were all waiting for me _____________________.
8. If you want _____________________, you’d better start practicing.
9. I was so tired I didn’t even have the strength _____________________.
Wordplay – Just for fun!
 ANAGRAM: Rearrange the letters in the nonsense phrase below to
create new words that actually make sense.
NEO DYNAMIC USE INK MIME
(Hint: animated rodents)
Mickey and Minnie Mouse
Ten-Minute
Grammar
DAY
Four
VERBALS
Read the following excerpt from Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Meyers and then answer the
following questions:
The talk about us going to Hawaii was stronger than ever. (b)
Peewee and I decided to save our money and to have a blast in
Hawaii. (c) I also thought about taking some courses at the
University of Hawaii.
(a)
1. What is the gerund phrase in sentence (a)? us going to Hawaii (if they don’t
realize at first that the “us” is part of the phrase, that’s not the end of the world—
but point out that it is part of the gerund phrase)
2. What are the two infinitive phrases in sentence (b)? to save our money, to
have a blast in Hawaii
3. What is the gerund phrase in sentence (c)? taking some courses at the
University of Hawaii
4. This passage has two action verbs. What are they? decided, thought
Using the proper proofreading marks, correct the six errors in this excerpt:
were
Who’s
They where supposed to send in a movie called Guess Whose Coming to
dinner, with Sidney Poitier. But when they open the cans, they found the
ed
movie with Julie Andrews that we that we had already seen
Wordplay – Just for fun!
 FOUR-LETTER WORDS: Take the four-letter word below and change one letter
to make a new four-letter word (keep it clean!) Then take that word and change
one letter to make a new word. Then take that word and… You get the picture.
HARM
Ten-Minute
Grammar
QUIZ
DAY
VERBALS
REVIEW FOR TODAY’S QUIZ:
1. What is a gerund and a gerund phrase?
2. What is an infinitive and an infinitive phrase?
3. Can you find the infinitive phrase and the gerund phrase in the
following sentence?
a. Studying often will help to get you accepted into college.
4. Fill in the blank with a gerund phrase:
a. My favorite activity is _________________________.
b. ______________________ can get you in a lot of trouble.
5. Fill in the blank with an infinitive phrase:
a. I have a really difficult assignment _____________________.
b. _______________________, you need to practice every day.
Extra
Ten-Minute
Grammar
DAY
Five
VERBALS
Identify all the infinitives and gerunds in the following excerpts from Fallen Angels by
Walter Dean Meyers:
1. “Did seeing that dead guy mess you up some?”
“A little,” I said. “Maybe even more than it did to see Jenkins.”
2. Johnson wanted to get the kids from the village up to the base, but a
captain said we couldn’t do that; so Johnson and a guy from Delta
Company worked on a way to get a generator down to the village so
we could show the movie to them.
3. The only thing to hear was the heavy sound of my own breathing.
Fill in the blanks with your own gerund or infinitive: Answers will vary.
4. If you want my help, you just need _______________________.
5. _______________________ is the only thing I could think to do.
6. His greatest goal is _______________________.
7. _______________________ seemed foolish at the time.
8. Everyone was asking me _______________________.
Wordplay – Just for fun!
 VOWEL COMBINATOR: The vowel combination “oi” almost always
sounds like the vowel sound in “boy.” List as many words as you can that contain
this vowel combo.
Extra
Ten-Minute
Grammar
DAY
Six
VERBALS
Read the following excerpt from Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Meyers and then answer the
following questions:
Brew wrote a letter to President Johnson saying that if he wanted
us to fight, he had better send us some good televisions, and we all
signed it. (b) Then we watched the movie again without the sound,
and we all had parts to play in it. (c) That was the best showing of
the movie, especially with Peewee as Julie Andrews.
(a)
1. What is the infinitive phrase in sentence (b)? to play in it
2. What is the gerund phrase in sentence (c)? showing of the movie
3. Sentence (a) has one verb phrase with a helping verb. What is it? had
better send
4. What is the linking verb in sentence (c)? was
Using the proper proofreading marks, correct the six errors in this excerpt:
where
“They want me, they know wear to reach me,” Carroll said. “or they can
There
just leave a message my with secretary.” They’re was a sadness about
there
lieutenant Carroll, something you didn’t notice at first, but it was their.
Wordplay – Just for fun!
 CATALOGUE CREATOR: The prefix “mis-” means “badly or wrongly.”
How many words can you list that contain this prefix?
Extra
Ten-Minute
Grammar
DAY
Seven
VERBALS
Fill in the blanks with a gerund or a gerund phrase: Answers will vary.
1. _____________________ would be better than the alternative.
2. I hope you don’t mind my _____________________.
3. _____________________ really scared my friends and me.
4. You could get arrested for _____________________.
Fill in the blanks with an infinitive or an infinitive phrase: Answers will vary.
5. I have an assignment _____________________.
6. Everyone thought James was the best person _____________________.
7. They asked me _____________________.
8. _____________________, you have to know the right people.
Wordplay – Just for fun!
 FIXER-ROOTER: How many words can you think of that have the same
prefix, suffix, or root as the multisyllabic word below?
THERMOELECTRICITY
(electricity generated by differences of temperature)
QUIZ ANSWER KEY
Match the following terms with the correct definition:
1. Infinitive _____ D
2. Gerund _____ B
A. A verb phrase with an –ing word
B. A word that ends in –ing and functions as a noun
C. A combination of helping verbs and other words
D. The word “to” plus a verb
Underline the gerund in the following sentences?
3. Running for political office would be kind of exciting.
4. During the concert, the crowd liked my singing.
5. One of my favorite things to do in the winter is skiing.
What is the gerund phrase in the example sentence?
6. Designing airplanes and jets is one thing you would be
doing if you were to become an aircraft engineer.
A. Designing airplanes and jets
B. would be doing
C. were to become
7. When I was growing up, I remember going to movies in
the summer.
A. growing up
B. remember going
C. going to movies in the summer
Underline the infinitive in the following sentences?
8. To win, you must play aggressively.
9. I went to the bank to make a deposit.
10. If you’re going to the store, remember to bring money.
What is the infinitive phrase in the example sentence?
11. I wish I could come over to your house, but I have a
long list of chores to finish before bed.
A. to finish before bed
B. to your house
C. could come over
12. Football practice must be exhausting because it would
be really hard to run all of the conditioning drills.
A. really hard to run
B. to run all of the conditioning drills
C. must be exhausting
Complete the sentence with a gerund phrase:
Answers will vary.
13. _______________________________________ has
become more expensive in the last few years.
14. My friend can’t stand
______________________________.
Complete the sentence with an infinitive phrase:
Answers will vary.
15. I’m really busy because Mrs. Black assigned us three
essays
____________________________________________.
16.
____________________________________, you must
learn to enjoy learning new things.
Ten-Minute
Grammar
Extra
Practice
Verbals - Gerunds
NAME:
PERIOD:
GERUNDS
Gerunds are –ing words derived from verbs that act as nouns in a sentence. But not all –ing words are
gerunds—sometimes they’re part of a verb phrase (He was walking down the road) or part of a
participial phrase (Removing his hat, the man stepped inside). So how can you tell if an –ing word
is a gerund or not?
Since gerunds act like nouns, one way to check if an –ing word is a gerund is to replace it with a
pronoun (because pronouns can only replace nouns).
IF AN –ING WORD CAN BE REPLACED BY A PRONOUN, IT IS A GERUND.
In the following sentences replace the underlined –ing word with a pronoun — either “this”
or “that.” Then decide if the –ing word is a gerund (write GERUND) or not (write NO):
1. ____________
GERUND In time, you’ll start to like reading.
2. ____________
Crying, the people left the movie theater.
NO
3. ____________
GERUND Pretending is a childhood habit that some people never grow out of.
4. ____________
I found out she was lying about her age.
NO
5. ____________
Cheating students will get an automatic F on the test!
NO
Pronouns (like “this” and “that”) can also replace entire noun phrases (that’s the noun any adjective or
objects that go with it.)
John crashed his car into the big yellow-brick wall. =
John crashed his car into that.
The same trick works with gerund phrases—if you can replace an –ing word and all the words directly
connected to it with “this” or “that,” it’s a gerund phrase.
Use the “this or that” test decide if the underlined phrase is a GERUND phrase or NO:
6. ____________
During the week, Sam never gets to sleep before midnight.
NO
7. ____________
GERUND I’m getting really tired of listening to you.
GERUND Escaping from a maximum-security prison would be nearly impossible.
8. ____________
9. ____________
GERUND I stopped downloading from illegal websites after my friend got caught.
10. ____________
I noticed a stray dog running down the street.
NO
NOW WRITE YOUR OWN GERUND PHRASES!
Write a sentence (each with a gerund or a gerund phrase) that is different from the example
sentence while still following same sentence structure: ANSWERS WILL VARY.
A gerund can be the subject of the sentence:
Flying terrifies some people.
11. _________________ terrifies ____________________________________.
Going to the movies has become more expensive every year.
12. ____________________________________ has become ____________________________________.
A gerund can be the direct object of the verb:
My college friend says he can’t stand studying.
13. ____________________________________ can’t stand _________________.
The people in the crowd absolutely loved his crazy guitar playing.
14. ____________________________________ absolutely loved _______________________________.
A gerund can come after a linking verb to tell us something the subject IS:
My favorite winter activity is skiing.
15. ____________________________________ is _________________.
My worst fear is getting trapped in an avalanche.
16. _________________________________________ is ________________________________________.
A gerund can come after a preposition:
My uncle has a problem with drinking.
17. __________________________________ with _________________.
You could get fired for faking an illness to avoid work.
18. __________________________________ for _____________________________________________,
Ten-Minute
Grammar
Extra
Practice
Verbals - Infinitives
NAME:
PERIOD:
INFINITIVES
Infinitives and infinitive phrases can have several different functions within a
sentence. They can act as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Interestingly, even though
infinitives consist of a verb with the word “to” in front of it (like “to live,” “to
dance,” “to laugh”), infinitives never act as verbs within a sentence (weird, right?).
Write two sentences (each with an infinitive or an infinitive phrase) that are different from
the example sentence while still following same sentence structure: ANSWERS WILL VARY.
An infinitive can be the subject of the sentence:
To survive is every creature’s greatest natural desire.
1. _________________ is __________________________________________________.
2. _________________ is __________________________________________________.
To write a best-selling novel has always been one of my goals.
3. ________________________________ has always been ____________________________________.
4. ________________________________ has always been ____________________________________.
An infinitive can be the direct object of the verb:
Everyone in the class wanted to leave.
5. ____________________________________ wanted _________________.
6. ____________________________________ wanted _________________.
My friends and I agreed to help one another with our chores.
7. ______________________________________ agreed ______________________________________.
8. ______________________________________ agreed ______________________________________.
An infinitive can come after a linking verb to tell us something the subject IS:
My cat’s favorite pastime is to sleep.
9. ____________________________________ is _________________.
10. ____________________________________ is _________________.
One of the job requirements is to speak fluent Spanish.
11. _________________________________________ is ________________________________________.
12. _________________________________________ is ________________________________________.
An infinitive can be an adjective modifying a noun:
Grandpa has a brand new horse to train.
13. ________________________________________ _________________(noun) _________________.
14. ________________________________________ _________________(noun) _________________.
She assigned us two books to read by next week.
15. ________________________________ _____________(noun) ______________________________.
16. ________________________________ _____________(noun) ______________________________.
An infinitive can be an adverb modifying a verb (usually answering “why” someone does an
action—they did it “in order to win” or “in order to get a decent computer”):
You must fight to win.
17. ____________________________ _________________(verb) _________________.
18. ____________________________ _________________(verb) _________________.
I spent every penny I had to get a decent computer.
19. _________________________________________ _________________________________________.
20. _________________________________________ _________________________________________.
If an infinitive phrase acting as an adverb begins the sentence, put a comma after it:
To improve your basketball skills, you must practice every day.
21. _____________________________________, you must ____________________________________.
22. _____________________________________, you must ____________________________________.