Sit and Set Pop Quiz With Answer Key!

      Sit Down While I Set Up a Quiz For You!

Sit and rise have I's--and lie does too.
"Coz these are things that I, all by myself, can do.
Set, raise, and lay are words that you choose
When each one has an object after it to use.

Fill in the blanks below with the correct forms/tenses of sit/set.

1. She _________ down and wept when she heard the news.
2. They _______ down.
3. They _______ the plants out.
4. They will be _______ the clothes out beforehand.
5. Yesterday, he ________ down to rest.
6. They will ________ the clothes out to dry.
7. He _________ down.
8. He is ____________ down.
9. They will be _________ the clothes out beforehand.
10. She has _________ the clothes out beforehand.
11. They have __________ down.
12. He has ____________ down.
13. They __________ the trap to catch the bear.
14. They are __________ down.
15. They will ________ the tent up at noon.

ANSWER KEY:

She sat down and wept when she heard the news.

They sit down.(or sat)

They set the plants out.

They will be setting the clothes out beforehand.

Yesterday, he sat down to rest.

They will set the clothes out to dry.

He sits down.

He is sitting down.

They will be setting the clothes out beforehand.

She has set the clothes out beforehand.

They have sat down.

He has sat down.

They set the trap to catch the bear.

They are sitting down.

They will set the tent up at noon.

Merry Christmas from Language Lady!

This time of year we see a plethora of spelling, capitalization, grammar, and usage errors--on signs, catalogs, greeting cards, and more:

1. merry Christmas on a greeting card (which technically isn't wrong, but just doesn't look right either!)

2. "This line is for eight items or less"--even though it should be "eight items or fewer"

3. Xmas--even though the Associated Press itself says to never use this abbreviation!

4. Seasons' Greetings (which indicates that you are offering someone greetings for more than one season--the plural noun seasons)

5. Happy capitalization guy or girl--Christmas Tree, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Ham, etc.

Many holiday greetings and terms are subjective (shocking, huh?); however, here is a list to help you see the most common ways that greetings and holiday words are expressed this time of year:

1. You can write any of the following:

a. Seasons Greetings (no possession shown at all--more of a noun describing another noun)

b. seasons greetings (same as a., but no capitalization--not recommended for greeting cards and headers)

c. Season's Greetings (the most common way, showing that the season {one season} possesses the greeting; note the capping here)

d. season's greetings (like c but not capped)

2. Of course, people also write Merry Christmas in different combinations (with and without the M capitalized; however, Christmas should always be capitalized because it is a proper noun by itself:

a. merry Christmas

b. Merry Christmas

3. To cap or not to cap greetings? This is a stylistic preference, but if it is in a header or greeting card, you definitely want to capitalize:

a. Season's Greetings or season's greetings

b. Merry Christmas or merry Christmas

c. Happy Holidays or happy holidays

d. Happy New Year or happy New Year

e. Happy Christmas or happy Christmas

f. Happy Christmastime (all one word) or happy Christmastime (again, all one word)

4. Words that are already proper nouns should remain proper nouns in every context and should retain their capitalization:

a. Santa Claus

b. Poinsettia--This is traditionally capitalized because the flower is named after a botanist and physician who was also the first US Ambassador to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett. In 1828, he introduced the plant to the country.

c. The actual holidays

     i. Christmas or Christmas Day

      ii. Christmas Eve

     iii. New Year's Eve (one year--singular YEAR.....hmm...."that doesn't end in an s, so I need to put apostrophe s")

     iv. New Year's Day

d. North Pole (Remember--you capitalize directions when they are part of a proper noun already--but not when giving directions. No "Turn West at the corner"!)

e. Jesus, Jesus Christ, Messiah--most Christian publications capitalize names for or references to God and Jesus

f. All locations associated with Christ's birth and life as they are proper nouns already--Bethlehem, Nazareth, etc., and, of course, King Herod, Joseph, and Mary (but not shepherds or wise men)

g. When describing decorations, only capitalize the original proper noun:

     i. Christmas tree

     ii. Christmas wreath

     iii. New Year's Day dinner

     iv. Christmas Eve party

h. Nativity is capitalized when it stands alone or when it is combined with non-proper noun elements

     i. Nativity scene

     ii. Nativity pieces

     iii. Nativity story

i. Advent is capitalized in all contexts 

Merry Christmas from Language Lady! 

Raise vs. Rise

RAISE a toast! Use an object with RAISE....toast is the object.

Sit and rise have I's--and lie does too.
"Coz these are things that I, all by myself, can do.
Set, raise, and lay are words that you choose
When each one has an object after it to use.

I like to start with the simplest Wacky Word pair—RAISE AND RISE--though I have often thought sit/set was the easiest pair because all of the set forms are the same. However, raise and rise are less often misspoken or mis-written, so I have changed my thoughts on this. 

Remember these RISE and RAISE tips:

1. Rise has an I—and I alone can do it (it is not done TO something else).
1. I RISE early.
2. Yesterday I ROSE early.*
3. Before that I had RISEN early.

*Just think I RISE early, and Rose ROSE early...

2. RISE means to head upward—anybody or anything can rise, as long as it does it by itself (i.e. it is NOT RAISED)
1. The sun ROSE early...all by itself.
2. I RISE before dawn (not really!).
3. They are RISING up in protest.
4. She has RISEN from that position one time.
5. They are RISING in honor of the king. 
6. We have to wait for the bread to RISE.

3. RAISE does not have an I (first)—it is done TO something.
4. RAISE must have an object following it—something that it is being RAISED.
1. RAISE the flag..
2. Did he RAISE a toast?
3. They will not RAISE the drawbridge today.
4. She had some definite opinions to RAISE at the meeting.
5. The kids RAISED a raucous to get attention.
6. We RAISED our voices in protest.
7. How much money did we RAISE?

5. RAISE is the same base word for all of its tenses: RAISE, RAISE, RAISED, RAISING.  That is why I recommend teaching this Wacky Word pair first (of the three), along with the fact that people do not usually say, "I rose my glass for a toast," so it is more familiar, thus making it easier to learn (going from the known to the unknown, the familiar to the unfamiliar).

Okay…the tenses for the pair:

1, RISE

            a. Base form: RISE—Today I RISE early.  (Remember—no object; early is an adverb here, not an object.

            b. Past simple: ROSE—Yesterday I ROSE early..

            b. Past participle: RISEN—Before that, I had RISEN early.

            d. Third person singular: RISES—He RISES early.

            e. Present participle/gerund: RISING—I was RISING early.

2. RAISE

1. Base form: RAISE—Today I RAISE my voice in the meeting.  (Object—voice)
2. Past simple: RAISED—Yesterday I RAISED my voice in the meeting.
3. Past participle: RAISED—Before that I HAD RAISED my voice in the meeting.
4. Third person singular: RAISES—She RAISES her voice in the meeting.
5. Present participle/gerund: RAISING—I am RAISING my voice in the meeting.

O is for ORGANIZING FOR WRITING--Some Tips for Helping Young Children Organize for Writing

Sometimes it takes more than a cool binder (and even some awesome pens and highlighters) to get young children going in their writing.

Besides the aforementioned "taking dictation" for a young writer (he dictates to you what he wants to write and you do the penning {or keying} for him), some simple organizational strategies can get the second through fifth grader off to a good writing start.

*Note: These tips assume that reading fluency of at least non-phonetically-controlled books (i.e. silent and oral reading without phonics instruction or coaching) has been accomplished--and that the student understands the basic components of a sentence.

Here are three ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIES that we use in our textbooks. All three of these have the added advantage of really digging right in to the concept that a "paragraph is a unit of thought," a crucial skill for all writers to develop.

1. The Question and Answer Approach

In this simple strategy, you simply prepare a list of questions that, when answered in complete sentences, would create a nice paragraph. The key here is to know about the subject your student will be writing about (i.e. his day at the zoo Saturday) in order to ask the right questions.

You can carry out this approach in a number of ways:

a. Have the questions written with lines beneath each one for the student to fill in. Then have him (on another day) copy those sentences in that order into a paragraph.

b. Ask him the questions (slowly and one at a time) verbally and have him answer you orally in complete sentence form. Then help him write the answer down in paragraph form as he goes through the questions with you orally. The benefits of this are that he only has to write the paragraph one time (good for reluctant "penners") and he sees the paragraph form as he answers.

c. Have the questions written with lines beneath each one. You read the question with him and have him answer it--and you write down his answer in NOTE form. Then he uses these notes to create his paragraph. This is for students who are experienced in writing from notes.


2. The 5 W Approach

This approach is good for a mini biography (one paragraph) or for a re-telling (narrative--about his latest book or recent museum trip, etc.) essay. In this approach, you simply have a template prepared with the Five W's (who, what, when, where, why....and how).

You can handle this a couple of ways as well:

a. Have lines with each of the W's--for the student to answer in complete sentence form. Then (another day) have him write those answers in paragraph form.

b. Do the same as above in b.--ask him the questions verbally and help him write the answers to each W in paragraph form as he goes through the W's.

c. Have the W's listed on a sheet of paper that he goes through to himself and answers, writing down his answers to each W in a complete sentence in paragraph form as he goes.

d. Use the "you create an outline on the W lines" for him approach similar to c in #1. Again, this assumes that he can write from an outline already.


3. The Paragraph House

This is a cute approach for first, second, and third graders (especially since I made it up!).

 In this approach, you use a full sheet of paper and do the following:

a.  Draw a large square in the middle of the page (one that takes up half or more of the page).

b. Divide the large square into four quadrants and place lines in each quad for the student to write on.

c. Draw a rectangle at the bottom of the large square that goes clear across the large square. (This will be your Paragraph House's foundation, so you want it to run clear across your "house.") Draw lines in this rectangle for the student to write on as well.

d. Draw a triangle over the entire large square. (This will be your Paragraph House's upper story.) Place lines in here too.

e. If your student is advanced, you can draw a large chimney out of your triangle. This will be for the "topic of paragraph"--and at first, you should write the topic in here for him. (For example, May Zoo Trip or New Video Game, etc.)


To use your Paragraph House, do the following (or any combination of the ideas from 1 and 2 above if your student needs for you to pen for him or for you to outline for him while he dictates, etc.:

i. In the "foundation," help your student write a Topic Sentence, explaining to him that the foundation of the house is the topic of the entire paragraph, and just like every house needs a foundation, every paragraph needs a Topic Sentence telling what the entire paragraph is about. (Again, you may use the Paragraph House for notes only, not complete sentences, if desired.)

ii. Move into the four quadrants of the Paragraph House. Tell your student to write four things about his topic in these. (Again, either in note form or complete sentence form.)

iii. Move to the attic of the Paragraph House and help your student write another sentence that restates the Topic Sentence in other words. For example, if his Topic Sentence (in the foundation rectangle) was "On Saturday, I went to the zoo with my family," help him write a summary of that and his paragraph: "Our Saturday zoo trip was a lot of fun."

iv. Now have him number the four quadrants of his house in the order that he wants to put the information in his actual paragraph.

v. Finally, have him start with the foundation, and write his Topic Sentence. Then move into his four numbered quads and write his four body sentences. Finally, have him write his final sentence out of the attic.

Fun, huh?

The main things to remember about writing with young students are the following:

(1) They are smart and creative--regardless of whether they can pen or type.
(2) They need direction (which is why I use my Directed Writing Approach in all of my books.) They don't need a list of ideas--they need step-by-step help to teach them how to write.
(3) They need to see that writing is creating--and that they really can write.

Major Works and Minor Works Quiz With Answers

M is for MAJOR WORKS AND MINOR WORKS!

Are you as ready to move on from this topic as I am? With teaching it to one hundred students last week and writing about it here several times, I am just about "major and minored" out! However, we can't leave such a misunderstood topic without a quiz!

So here you go.....Decide in each sentence provide whether the title is a major work or minor work. (Answers below.)



1. I used the encyclopedia essay titled Mammals for my report.

2. I just got a new cd called Ballads for the Ballroom. (That sounds like a good idea--I should do that!)

3. Have you ever read the book The Red Badge of Courage?

4. My favorite dance song on my new cd is Could I Have This Dance?

5. She assigned five chapters this week, starting with Non-Essential Information. (You guess it, LL readers--that is what we are going to study this week on here!)

6. They said we could consult Wikipedia, but we aren't allowed to cite it.

7. Our new favorite boxed television show is Person of Interest.

8. I haven't received a Reader's Digest magazine in years.

9. My favorite composition series is Meaningful Composition.

10. I am using their bonus book right now, called The SAT Essay and Other Timed Writing.

Image from Marketmybook

ANSWERS! Major Works are shown with Italics; Minor Works are shown with quotation marks. Explanations are in parentheses following each sentence.



1. I used the encyclopedia essay titled, "Mammals," for my report. (Encyclopedia essay title is a Minor Work--found within the encyclopedia, whose title is a Major Work.)

2. I just got a new cd called Ballads for the Ballroom. (Musical compilation titles are Major Works--the song titles on/in the compilation are Minor Works.)

3. Have you ever read the book The Red Badge of Courage? (Book titles are Major Works--the chapter titles within the book are Minor Works.)

4. My favorite dance song on my new cd is "Could I Have This Dance?" (Song titles are Minor Works--the title of the songbook or cd that contains the song is the Major Work.)

5. She assigned five chapters this week, starting with "Non-Essential Information." (Chapter titles are Minor Works--the title of the book containing the chapters is the Major Work.)

6. They said we could consult Wikipedia, but we aren't allowed to cite it. (Encyclopedia titles are Major Works--the titles of the essays within the encyclopedia are Minor Works.)

7. Our new favorite boxed television show is Person of Interest. (Television show titles are Major Works--the titles of the scenes or chapters within the program are Minor Works.)

8. I haven't received a Reader's Digest magazine in years. (Magazine or journal titles are Major Works--the titles of the articles within the magazine/journal are Minor Works.)

9. My favorite composition series is Meaningful Composition. (Book titles are Major Works--the chapters within the book are Minor Works.)

10. I am using their bonus book right now, called The SAT Essay and Other Timed Writing. (Book titles are Major Works--the chapters within the book are Minor Works.)

Think Fast Answer Key

Think Fast Answer Key available to download in PDF.


https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B9s1gDz0XKhwVW9YcDRpSHpHZU0/edit?usp=sharing

Q and A: Colons

"Sometimes I see colons used before quotes; other times I see them used before lists. Which is correct? How do I know when a colon is the right punctuation mark?"

Just taught this yesterday to a dozen kids preparing for the SAT--and I'll be teaching it again tomorrow to a dozen more who are preparing for the SAT. I will tell you what I told them:

1. You want to learn how to use colons. That skill will make you look smart since so few people know how to use them properly!


2. You should always have a complete sentence on the left side of the colon:

a. This means that it CAN be used following a speech tag (before your quoted words) IF the speech tag is a complete sentence:

      i. Yes: HE SPOKE WORDS OF COMFORT: "You can get through this. You are strong. I know you can make it." (Words on the left of the colon could stand alone; you could place a period there, and it would be a real, complete sentence.)

    ii. No: HE SAID: "You can get through this. You are strong. I know you can make it."

b. This means that it CAN be used to introduce a list IF the introduction to the list is a complete sentence:

     i. Yes: I NEED SEVERAL THINGS FROM THE STORE: milk, bread, eggs, and bananas.

     ii. No: I NEED TO GET: milk, bread, eggs, and bananas.

c. This means that it CAN be used to ask a rhetorical question IF the words preceding the colon make up a complete sentence:

  i. Yes: WE LOOKED FOR HIM EVERYWHERE: suddenly he appeared!

  ii. No: WE LOOKED AND: suddenly he appeared!


3. A colon should NEVER follow two types+ of words:

a. An action verb used as an action verb. No: SHE WANTED US TO GIVE: money, time, and household goods.

b. A preposition used as a preposition: No: SHE ASKED US TO: come early, stay late, and work non-stop.

+When a sentence ends in an action verb or a preposition, that word usually makes the sentence into a non-sentence (i.e. you can't put a period there and call it a real sentence): She asked us to.



4. Colon use is often subjective in technical writing, such as text books, blogs (!), and other places where they are used to teach or expound upon topics in list form, etc.