by Donna | Jan 6, 2011
Do you remember the “their and there” Wacky Words (WW) from the other day? “There” is another WW that goes with that pair—it is the word “they’re.”
First, a little “there/their” WW review is in order:
1. There
a. Has the word here in it: there.
b. Remember, here and there.
c. Examples:
i. There are seven cats on the barn.
ii. There is one more piece of cake.
iii. Put the books over there.
2.Their
a. Their has the word heir in it: their.
b. Their is a pronoun that shows ownership.
c. We call this a possessive pronoun.
e. Examples:
i. Their home is up on the left.
ii. I hope their dogs are not loose.
Enter the WW “they’re.” It’s not really as tricky as it seems if you following TFT Publishers’ (Training for Triumph) cardinal rule for understanding when to use a contraction and when not to:
When you are about to write with a contraction, say the “contraction” in its “uncontracted” form—and you will immediately know if you want to use that word or a different word altogether.
Examples:
1. We are going to they’re party—SAY…We are going to “they are” party. WRONG! You need “their”—the party belongs to them.
2. We should park over they’re—SAY….We should park over “they are.” WRONG! You need “there”—here and there—a place to park.
This works for any contraction, any time you are writing! If you follow this one “saying the uncontracted word aloud before you write the contraction” tip, you will never write a contraction when you shouldn’t.
by Donna | Jan 5, 2011
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 hear
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.
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.
by Donna | Jan 4, 2011
Our next lesson contains words that we affectionately call “Wacky Words” in our curricula. Wacky Words are those that have confusing partners, similar spellings or meanings, etc. as other words.
The words there and their are Wacky Words because they are homophones. Homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings.
You will remember what a homophone is if you remember that homo means same and phone means hear…thus, homophones are words that sound the same when you hear them, but are not the same when you see them.
You can remember many homophones if you learn little tricks. There and their also have little memory tricks!
1. There
a. Has the word here in it: there.
b. Remember, here and there.
c. Used when you say There are….or There is...
d. Examples:
i. There are seven cats on the barn.
ii. There is one more piece of cake.
iii. Put the books over there.
2. Their
a. Their has the word heir in it: their.
b. Remember heir is the owner of the throne.
c. Their is a pronoun that shows ownership.
d. We call this a possessive pronoun.
e. The heirs are the owners of the throne. The throne is theirs.
f. Examples:
i. Their home is up on the left.
ii. I hope their dogs are not loose.
iii. They had their Christmas celebration yesterday.
Note: Do not show possession to their with an apostrophe! Pronouns are not made possessive with an apostrophe. Theirs is the way to show possession in the sentence: That house is theirs. (NOT: their’s!)
by Donna | Jan 3, 2011
“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity, and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” Edit Lovejoy Pierce
The first month of LL 365 will be focusing on words! Then we will move to phrases, clauses, sentences, punctuation, and much more!
And the first word we will look at it is the year! Yep, 2011 seems like a simple word. How can you mess that up?
Well, a lot of people do–by saying two thousand AND eleven!
Technically, the word AND in a number is only used when reading numbers aloud (or writing them out in words) to denote a decimal point.
Thus, these are correct:
1. Four dollars AND ten cents ($4.10–the and goes where the decimal point does)
2. Fifteen hundred dollars and forty-five cents ($1500.49–the and goes where the decimal point does)
But these are incorrect:
1. Three hundred and five dollars–no and is needed since it does not show a decimal point
2. Two thousand eleven!
So…only use and when you move from dollars to change or from whole numbers to decimal numbers when writing numbers in words or speaking them!
Happy two thousand eleven!
by Donna | Jan 1, 2011
Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
Welcome to Language Lady 3*6*5! If you are a student, parent, teacher, professional, better-yourself-type-of-person, or college kid, LL 365 is for you!
What can you expect from LL 365?
~Daily tips in your inbox or FB feed in the areas of grammar, spelling, usage, writing, and speaking
~Sticky Tricks to Help It Stick: Fast tricks and mnemonics to help you learn the concept of the day better
~Detailed label categories so that if you want to go back and look up a tip later, all tips are easy to find (i.e. spelling rule, homophones, research, etc.)
~Pop quizzes to let you apply what you have learned!
~Posts written to you as a learner that you may use to teach others or learn for yourself
~Homework Help one week each month (last week of the month) with more detailed lessons for those wanting even more help–and for parents to help their kids learn their language arts lessons even better
Language Lady 3*6*5 will have something for everybody, so check in often! Invite your friends to join the fun! And become more articulate in speech, more sure in usage, and more savvy in writing in the coming year–one little tip at a time!
Sincerely,
Donna Reish
aka Language Lady
author of Character Quality Language Arts, Wisdom Booklet Language Arts, Meaningful Composition, Ready to Give an Answer, Write On! Quick Kit, The Well-Trained Heart, and Character Training From the Heart (seminar and audio)
visit our parenting blog at https://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/
LIKE Positive Parenting 365 on FB!
visit our homeschooling website https://www.tfths.com/
LIKE Training for Triumph on FB
by Donna | Oct 11, 2010
Our family ministry and publishing company publishes (and my older kids and I write) language arts and composition books for homeschools and Christian schools. One of our product lines is “Character Quality Language Arts,” a complete language arts program for second through twelfth grade students. In this program, we have a vocabulary section entitled “Definition Dissection” in which we teach students to figure out vocabulary and comprehend text better through six comprehension techniques (known as “Definition Dissections”).
To make a long story short, some chapters of our Teacher’s Guide for this program are available at our website, and, in particular, the vocabulary packet that goes with the program is available there for free.
I wanted to list it on this blog as many students are preparing for SAT and ACT exams this time of year—and the Definition Dissection packet is excellent preparation for the vocabulary and comprehension sections.
Feel free to print this document off and use it with your kids—work through all six strategies to help your kids learn how to unlock unfamiliar words and difficult text.
You can view this document along with several others in our CQLA Teacher’s Guide.
