Spring Is Here: Baby Animal Names

Spring is in the air, and we have chicks in our shed! (I almost wrote "baby chicks," which would be a little redundant since chicks are babies!) Anyway, here are some "domestic" animal parent and baby names for you (well, somewhat domestic...animals you might see around the farm/near a farm home) to get you into the spring baby animal mode!

donkey--colt, foal
mallard---duckling
turkey--poult
sheep--lambkin, lamb
turtle--hatchling
skunk--kit
toad--tadpole
dog--pup
frog--tadpole, polliwog, froglet
squirrel--pup, kit, kitten
fox--kit, cub, pup
goose--gosling
goat--kid, billy
bison/buffalo--calf
cat--kitten
guinea pig--pup
deer--fawn
coyote--pup, whelp
hamster--pup
hare--leveret
rabbit--kitten, bunny, kit
hog--shoat, farrow
rat--pup, kitten
horse---foal, colt
rabbit--kitten, bunny, kit
mule--foal
cattle--calf
duck--duckling

WORDY WEDNESDAY: Capitol vs. Capital

The Only use for the word capitOl with an O is when referring to the capitOl building/buildings!

 

 

 

 

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!

 

COMMA CLUE #4: Comma Following a Subordinate Clause Opener Part I of III

Today's Comma Clue can be confusing--but it is one of the most needful for comprehension as well as for sentence fluidity when reading aloud. 



When you start a sentence with a subordinate clause,
Put the comma in when you hear the pause!


That is a cute rhyme (don't you think?)....but unless you know what a subordinate clause is (and prior to that, what a subordinator is), it will not do you much good to recite it. So this post will go back to what subordinators are first. 

Maybe you were taught that subordinators (words that make the part of the sentence that they are in be "subordinate" to the rest of the sentence) are called other things, like conjunctives or subordinate conjunctions. Some grammar handbooks do not even classify subordinators at all but call them whatever other class they fall under (i.e. the preposition before might always be called a preposition, even though it is a subordinator when it has a subject and verb following it).

Regardless of what you were taught about subordinators, they are extremely important to good writing. Why? 

1. A subordinator is a word that falls at the beginning of a subordinate clause.
2. A subordinate clause is a group of words that begins with a subordinator and has a subject and verb following it.
3. A subordinate clause is subordinate to the rest of the sentence--that is, it is "less than" the real sentence.
4. A subordinate clause may not stand alone as it is not a real sentence.
5. A subordinate clause sounds as though something is missing when it is read--because something is (the real sentence!).
6. A subordinate clause may be joined with a complete sentence to create a complex sentence, but the subordinate clause may never stand alone.

So....what are subordinators?

Let's start with the first six that we teach our youngest language arts students in our books:

Since, when, though
Because, if, although.

Yeah, it's a rhyme! Cute, huh? (I love teaching!)

Anyway, for you older folks, we have a Subordinator-Check Sentence that most subordinators fit into. In a nutshell, if a word fits in the check sentence and the word is not an adverb, it likely a subordinator:

________________________ the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.


Since the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.


When the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.


Though the submarine went down, we could STILL  see it.


Because the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.


If the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.


Although the submarine went down, we could STILL see it.

Okay, that is the first six. Here is a lengthy, but not exhaustive list of subordinators:

-after (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-although
-as (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-as if
-as long as
-as soon as
-as though
-because
-because of (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-before (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-even
-even if
-even though
-if
-inasmuch as
-in order that
-lest
-now (more commonly used as an adverb)
-now since
-now that
-now when
-once
-provided
-rather than
-since
-than (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-that
-though
-til (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-unless
-until (also a preposition when it just has an object following it)
-when
-whenever
-where
-where ever
-where as
-whether
-which
-which ever
-while
-who
-whoever
-why


In as much as the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.

Until the submarine went down, we could STILL see it.

While the submarine went down, we could no longer see it.



 We will stop here and give you time to memorize these before we go on in a day or two working on punctuating sentences that begin with subordinate clauses. Just looking at the Subordinator-Check Sentence, though, you can probably deduce that the first rhyme in this post is accurate: a subordinate clause opener is followed by a comma. More later!


Picture from http://staff.jccc.net/mfitzpat/style/bd04892_.gif

PUNCTUATION PUZZLE: Commas and Periods With Quotation Marks

Okay...here is another Punctuation Puzzle for you to solve! Try to figure out where punctuation marks should go--before you look below at the answers/explanations! Smile...


I read the magazine article titled "Baby Games" and I read an encyclopedia essay called "Baby Showers"





Okay....are you ready?

Proper punctuation of that sentence is as follows:

I read the magazine article titled "Baby Games," and I read an encyclopedia essay called "Baby Showers."



Here is why the punctuation is the way it is:


1. "Baby Games" is the title of a magazine article; an article is a minor work (a work within a work--in this case, an article within a magazine). Minor works are shown by surrounding the title in quotation marks.

                           I read the magazine article titled "Baby Games,"



2. You need a comma before the AND because this sentence is a compound sentence (Complete Sentence {CS}, and Complete Sentence {CS}). One way you can combine two sentences into one to create a compound sentence is to use a comma-coordinating conjunction (,cc--,for/,and/,nor/,but/,or/,yet/,so). Always test to see if you are really creating a compound by reading each "half" of the sentence by itself--and ask yourself if it could stand alone.


                          I read the article titled "Baby Games," and I read an encyclopedia essay called "Baby Showers."





3.  In the US, a comma ALWAYS goes inside a closing quotation mark (whether it is part of the quoted material or not). (This is not the case in British writings.)

                         "Baby Games,"



4. "Baby Showers" is the title of an encyclopedia essay; an essay is a minor work (a work within a work--in this case, an essay within an encyclopedia). Minor works are shown by surrounding the title in quotation marks.

                    "Baby Showers."




5.  In the US, a period ALWAYS goes inside a closing quotation mark (whether it is part of the quoted material or not). (This is not the case in British writings.)

                      "Baby Showers."


*Picture from http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/jigsaw-puzzle-punctuation-marks-28310853.jpg

Subject-Verb Agreement With Intervening Material

Intervening Material--Material that is surrounded

 by commas (or followed by a comma if used as an 

opener) and can be "plucked out" of a sentence 

without harming the "realness" of the sentence. 



How can you determine subject-verb agreement when "intervening material" is present. First of all, you have to determine if the info is really "intervening material" or is absolutely needed for the sentence. I tell my students that if it is surrounded by commas (or should be!), it usually means that it is "dropped into the sentence" and can be "plucked out" without harming the "realness" of the sentence. 

Thus, place mental parenthesis around this intervening material (especially prepositional phrases) and match your verb with the remaining subject (ignoring the intervening material).

1. She, along with others, was coming for dinner.
1. SHE, (along with others), WAS coming for dinner.

2. They, with their dog, are going to be here at ten.
2. THEY, (with their dog), ARE going to be here at ten.

3. One person, out of all ten, seems to care.
3. ONE PERSON, (out of all ten), SEEMS to care.

This is hard to do--and at times the sentence will sound incorrect. However, it is the proper way to reconcile subject-verb agreement with intervening material.

Have a "good grammar" day! :)

Antidote vs. Anecdote

Are you confused by antidote and anecdote--like I have been a lot of the time?

Remember these tips:
~antidote--has anti in it, like an antibiotic--so it is a treatment, like an antibiotic

~anecdote--a little tidbit of info (an/ec/dote---not ECT....just EC...I often misspelled this one!)

Proper Use of Myself

Wonder when to use the word myself? Well, it shouldn't be used nearly as frequently as it is! 


Why? Because myself should only be used one the pronoun I has already been used earlier in the sentence. 

Wrong: She gave it to myself and him.
Wrong: My husband and myself are thankful for this gift.
Wrong: I asked him to give it to myself.


Right: I asked for it myself.
Right: I was hoping to win it myself.
Right: I went to town quickly because I had to see it for myself.



Remember: Don't use myself unless you have already used I.

Capitalization of Flowers

"April Showers Bring May Flowers"

 For flower lovers and grammar lovers, here is some vital info on capitalizing names of flowers:


1. Do NOT capitalize names of flowers that do not already contain proper noun elements: 
                a. roses
                b. geraniums
                c. daffodils


2. DO capitalize any part of :
               a.  black-eyed Susan
               b. African daisy.

When You Want to Say It Is!

It's, it's, it's, it's, it's.....you want to say it is! 

"Paul Revere's Ride" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Last night was the 238th anniversary of Paul Revere's Ride & today is the 238th anniversary of Lexington & Concord and the "Shot Heard Round the World.

So read some classic poetry by Longfellow today!

Paul Revere's Ride

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

---

Listen my children and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five; Hardly a man is now alive Who remembers that famous day and year.He said to his friend, "If the British march By land or sea from the town to-night, Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch Of the North Church tower as a signal light,-- One if by land, and two if by sea; And I on the opposite shore will be, Ready to ride and spread the alarm Through every Middlesex village and farm, For the country folk to be up and to arm." Then he said "Good-night!" and with muffled oar Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore, Just as the moon rose over the bay, Where swinging wide at her moorings lay The Somerset, British man-of-war; A phantom ship, with each mast and spar Across the moon like a prison bar, And a huge black hulk, that was magnified By its own reflection in the tide. Meanwhile, his friend through alley and street Wanders and watches, with eager ears, Till in the silence around him he hears The muster of men at the barrack door, The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet, And the measured tread of the grenadiers, Marching down to their boats on the shore. Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church, By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread, To the belfry chamber overhead, And startled the pigeons from their perch On the sombre rafters, that round him made Masses and moving shapes of shade,-- By the trembling ladder, steep and tall, To the highest window in the wall, Where he paused to listen and look down A moment on the roofs of the town And the moonlight flowing over all. Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead, In their night encampment on the hill, Wrapped in silence so deep and still That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread, The watchful night-wind, as it went Creeping along from tent to tent, And seeming to whisper, "All is well!" A moment only he feels the spell Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread Of the lonely belfry and the dead; For suddenly all his thoughts are bent On a shadowy something far away, Where the river widens to meet the bay,-- A line of black that bends and floats On the rising tide like a bridge of boats. Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere. Now he patted his horse's side, Now he gazed at the landscape far and near, Then, impetuous, stamped the earth, And turned and tightened his saddle girth; But mostly he watched with eager search The belfry tower of the Old North Church, As it rose above the graves on the hill, Lonely and spectral and sombre and still. And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height A glimmer, and then a gleam of light! He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns, But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight A second lamp in the belfry burns. A hurry of hoofs in a village street, A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet; That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light, The fate of a nation was riding that night; And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight, Kindled the land into flame with its heat. He has left the village and mounted the steep, And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep, Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides; And under the alders that skirt its edge, Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge, Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides. It was twelve by the village clock When he crossed the bridge into Medford town. He heard the crowing of the cock, And the barking of the farmer's dog, And felt the damp of the river fog, That rises after the sun goes down. It was one by the village clock, When he galloped into Lexington. He saw the gilded weathercock Swim in the moonlight as he passed, And the meeting-house windows, black and bare, Gaze at him with a spectral glare, As if they already stood aghast At the bloody work they would look upon. It was two by the village clock, When he came to the bridge in Concord town. He heard the bleating of the flock, And the twitter of birds among the trees, And felt the breath of the morning breeze Blowing over the meadow brown. And one was safe and asleep in his bed Who at the bridge would be first to fall, Who that day would be lying dead, Pierced by a British musket ball. You know the rest. In the books you have read How the British Regulars fired and fled,--- How the farmers gave them ball for ball, >From behind each fence and farmyard wall, Chasing the redcoats down the lane, Then crossing the fields to emerge again Under the trees at the turn of the road, And only pausing to fire and load. So through the night rode Paul Revere; And so through the night went his cry of alarm To every Middlesex village and farm,--- A cry of defiance, and not of fear, A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, And a word that shall echo for evermore! For, borne on the night-wind of the Past, Through all our history, to the last, In the hour of darkness and peril and need, The people will waken and listen to hear The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed, And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

Advice vs. Advise

Would you take adviCe from this guy? Or do you like to have more sophisticated people adviSe you?

Anybody out there tired of seeing people give other people adviSe (zuh--wrong one!) and trying to adviCe (suh--wrong one!) them? Yeah, me too.

Generally speaking, when you have two word choices with C and S as their options for spelling, it is because you need two completely different sounds:

-adviCe---The c is here because this word needs the soft sound of C (suh)

-adviSe--The s is here because this word needs the hard sound of s (zuh)

Remember: When a c is followed by an e, i, or y, it usually says its soft sound--suh.

Also remember that when a multi-syllable word has se in it as the end of a syllable, it often makes the zuh sound: please, wise, fuse, close, etc. (though certainly not always).

The real key is that there ARE two spellings--and one is the noun and is soft (adviCe) and one is the verb and is hard (adviSe).

When you set out to adviSe somebody, be sure you have enough wisdom to give sound adviCe..... :)

WORDY WEDNESDAY: acceleration vs deceleration

The other day I looked down on my steering wheel to find these two abbreviations: accel and decel. I am sure that these are the formal abbreviations, and I also assume that the two are abbreviations for acceleration and deceleration.

The two words are perfect words for working on two of my favorite "wordy" sub-lessons: spelling and prefix/root studies.

As a self-declared bi-phonic woman, I love to point out spelling rules any time there is the slightest bit of phonetic consistency to them. And, it just so happens, that acceleration and deceleration have a little bit of consistency to their spellings:

1. Hard and soft c
     a. ac/cel/er/a/tion
        i. The first c says kuh because it is followed by a c. (When a c or g is followed by a, o, u, or most consonants, it says its hard sound---kuh or guh.)
        ii. The second c says suh because it is followed by an e. (When a c or g is followed by e, i, or y, it says its soft sound--suh or juh.)
     b. de/cel/er/a/tion--This word only contains one c, and that c makes its soft sound (suh) because it is followed by an e.

2. Both spelled the same from then on--syllable by syllable
    a. After our cel phonemes, the remainder of each word is spelled the same.
    b. Both can be spelled syllable by syllable at that point
       i. er
       ii. a
       iii. tion

3. Thus, you can easily remember how to spell both words.
    a. ac/cel and d/cel
    b. er/a/tion (for both)

+Note: If acceleration only had one c, the first two syllables would look ("sound") like this: a/sell (ay/sell).
+Note: If deceleration had two c's, the first two syllables would look ("sound") like this: dek/sell.


If you are not a lover of phonics or you learned to read and spell through sight words and memorization, you might be bored by now, so I will give you something you can take with you from this "wordy" lesson--deciphering meaning from roots and affixes (prefixes and suffixes).

First of all, remember this: You know more than you think you know!

Applying that to our two words: What do you already know about their meanings:

1. They have something to do with movement (on the steering wheel of a car; you hear them association with physics, etc.).

2. De is a prefix you are familiar with--it usually means the opposite.
   a. de-frost--unfrost
   b. de-value--not to value
  
3. tion--Tion (and sion words) words are usually nouns
   a. nation
   b. hypertension
   c. limitation


If you already knew those things (and now you do!), take what you already know and add it to what else you might learn about these two words:

1. ac--Prefix meaning toward

2. In physics, these two words have much more technical meanings that we do not need to concern ourselves with for this lesson. (A part of learning is knowing what you do not need to know!)

3. In medical terms, these two words have to do with getting hurt via a collision (still retaining the general meaning of movement).

4. The suffix cel can have something to do with movement or an action
   a. cancel
   b. excel


Okay, you have all of the information to unlock the definitions (and the spellings, thank-you very much!) of these two words.

Acceleration/Deceleration

A. They have something to do with movement (cel)
B. They are nouns (tion)
C. One means forward (ac--toward)
D. The other means backwards or not or undo (de).
E. Acceleration means to move forward.
F. Deceleration means to move backwards (de) or not to move.



Wasn't that fun? :)





*For complete steps on "dissecting" words, see the posts about Character Ink's teaching methods we call Definition Dissection. Here is a list of prefixes to get you started: http://languagelady365.blogspot.com/2011/01/days-13-14-roots-and-affixes-list.html

WORDY WEDNESDAY--Lonnnnnggg Homophone Quiz!

. Fill in each blank provided with the correct Wacky Word---their, there, they’re, wander,             
               wonder, scent, sent, farther, further, bear, or bare.

    1.  ________________ meeting us for lunch.
    2. We are going to ________________ the nursing home to sing.
    3.  ________________ rarely on time.
    4.  ________________ lake is just ahead.
    5. When we get  ________________, we will eat.
    6. We do not know what ________________ going to sing.
    7. Ray and Donna parked ________________ car in the parking garage.
    8. We should be ________________ after lunch.
    9. Maelynn thinks she left her keys ________________.
  10. ________________ going to drop off the food at noon.
                11. I ________________ what time it is.
                12. Please don’t ________________ around the woods too far.
                13. We could ________________ all day without a map.
                14. Jonathan ________________ what time it is.
                15. I ________________ if the Reishes are coming.
                16. Donna ________________ the card in the mail.
                17. Jonathan ________________ Maelynn flowers for Valentine’s Day.
                18. The dogs picked up the ________________ of the drugs.
                19. Did she get the email I ________________ her?
                20. The  ________________ of the candle filled the room.
                21. After church, he explained that concept ________________ .
                22. The  ________________ we go, the more lost we are!
                23. We can discuss the matter  ________________ when everyone gets here.
                24. I believe the store is  ________________ down the street.
                25. That restaurant is  ________________ than this one.
                26. I hope we don’t see a  ________________ while walking the trails.
                27. She gave her sister a stuffed  ________________ for Christmas.
                28. You should put sunscreen on your  ________________ skin.
                 29. The   ________________ slept in the warm sun after his hibernation.
                 30. My  ________________ feet are dirty from walking in the strawberry patch.


Answer Key:

    1.  They’re  meeting us for lunch.
    2. We are going to wander to the nursing home to sing.
    3.  They’re  rarely on time.
    4.  Their  lake is just ahead.
    5. When we get  there , we will eat.
    6. We do not know what  they’re  going to sing.
    7. Ray and Donna parked  their  car in the parking garage.
    8. We should be there after lunch.
    9. Maelynn thinks she left her keys there .
                  10. They’re going to drop off the food at noon.
                  11. I wonder what time it is.
                  12. Please don’t wander around the woods too far.
                  13. We could wander all day without a map.
                  14. Jonathan wonder what time it is.
                  15. I wonder if the Reishes are coming.
                  16. Donna sent the card in the mail.
                  17. Jonathan sent Maelynn flowers for Valentine’s Day.
                  18. The dogs picked up the scent of the drugs.
                  19. Did she get the email I sent her?
                  20. The  scent of the candle filled the room.
                  21. After church, he explained that concept further .
                  22. The  farther we go, the more lost we are!
                  23. We can discuss the matter  further when everyone gets here.
                  24. I believe the store is  farther down the street.
                  25. That restaurant is  farther than this one.
                  26. I hope we don’t see a  bear while walking the trails.
                  27. She gave her sister a stuffed  bear for Christmas.
                  28. You should put sunscreen on your  bare skin.
                  29. The  bear slept in the warm sun after his hibernation.
                  30. My  bare feet are dirty from walking in the strawberry patch.

WORDY WEDNESDAY--Homophone Tips

 "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.