by Donna | Apr 24, 2013
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| The Only use for the word capitOl with an O is when referring to the capitOl building/buildings! |
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Yep, you read that caption correctly! Contrary to what many people believe, capitOl does not refer to the head city, a good idea, or money invested. CapitOl Only refers to the capitOl building.
Here is the rundown:
1. Capitol
a. Only has one use that we widely implement.
b. Means the building or group of buildings in which the functions of government are carried out.
c. Think. CapitOl Only means Office buildings for gOvernment–that is the Only meaning.
2. Capital
a. All other uses of capital are the a one—capital is for all other uses.
b. ALL other uses of capitol/capital are the word capitAL.
c. Adjectives
1) Upper case letter: capital letter
2) Chief or primary: capital idea or the capital (most important) thing for us to remember
3) Die by the court: capital punishment
4) Primary city: the capital city
d. Nouns
1) Stock of goods or income: to have capital in the bank
2) Capital used by itself for the city: go to the capital of the state (i.e. the city that is the capital–not the building–the capitol building).
Watch the blog and Facebook page tomorrow for a quiz over this Wacky Word pair–and over last week‘s vane, vein, and vain! Better start studying!
by Donna | Apr 20, 2013
It’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s…..you want to say it is!
by Donna | Apr 10, 2013
“Homophone, homophones, homophones…homophones!” (Veggie Tales)
Adults and children alike make homophone errors. They are probably some of the most common grammatical errors. We like to teach our students little tricks to help them remember which word to use in which situation. Below you will find some tricks–followed by a quiz! Smile…
Here are some serious and some funny tips to help you remember some homophones:
a. their—heir is in it; their shows ownership; heir shows ownership too
b. there—here is in it; here and there; use for there are and there is
c. they’re—contraction they are; say contracted words uncontracted to be sure that you are
using the correct word for the job
d. wandering—you wander in an area; you wander around
e. wonder—you ponder when you wonder
f. scent—cats have a certain scent when their litter box needs cleaned
g. sent—envelopes are sent
h. farther—farther refers to area (has root far)
i. further—further refers to understanding
j. bear—a bear is a creature
k. bare—ends in an e; when we bare something, we expose it
Part of being a good learner and a good student is knowing how you learn—and working in those areas. For example, the author of CQLA loves mnemonics and tricks. (Can you tell?) Other people are distracted by that type of learning.
What kind of learner are you? What helps you learn homophones the best? What helps you learn to spell difficult words? Work in those areas to help you learn better, faster, and more thoroughly.
by Donna | Feb 20, 2013
I try to use mnemonics, tricks, songs, and jingles to teach parts of speech, homophones, and any other grammar and usage tips that I can. Students (of all ages, including adults!) often remember usage better when a trick or tip is applied.
One of my students’ favorite tricks is for the confusing word pair (sometimes considered homophones, though they do have slightly different pronunciations) conscience/conscious:
The student’s conscience bothered him because he tried to con the science teacher.
He wasn’t conscious enough to enjoy the delicious treat.
In today’s assignment, my students had to write sentences using conscience and conscious (one sentence each). My amazingly clever students had fun with this! Three of them used both words in one sentence and included the “trick” in that sentence too!
1. I conned the science teacher while I was conscious, and my conscience bothered me.
2. He wasn’t conscious of the fact that he conned the science teacher; once he realized he had, his conscience bothered him.
3. He had a guilty conscience after he consciously conned the science teacher.
by Donna | Jan 23, 2013
We tell our students all the time that you know more than you think you know! And that if you take what you already know and apply it to what you do not know, you will soon know even more!
Take the word homophone, for instance.
Homo—means same
Phone—means sound
Thus, homophones sound the same what you hear them. Homophones are words like their, they’re, and there and to, too, and two—words that sound the same when they are spoken but only look different when written.
I tell my students that homophones “sound” the “same” when you are talking on the phone (and all you can do is hear–you can’t see the words written–either how they are spelled or in context).
We will do a lot of “word dissecting” on LL 365! That is something we begin teaching early in our curricula as it can unlock the meanings of so many words—and helps everybody learn to take what they already know and add it to what they are trying to learn.
