Sample Sentences and Resources

APPOSITIVES

SAMPLE SENTENCES AND RESOURCES

“Born on a mountain top in Tennessee, greenest state in the land of the free.” From the song “David Crockett, King of the wild frontier”

“At Christmastime, the only time Katie could afford to have a fire in the parlor, all of the little windows glowed and Francie felt a great joy sitting there, feeling the warmth and watching the windows change from rosy red to amber as the night wore on.” A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

“Half a mile from home, at the farther edge of the woods, where the land was highest, a great pine-tree stood, the last of its generation.” A White Heron by Sarah Orne Jewett

“Dad and his dad, Grampa Hillburn, got along about as well as Hitler and Roosevelt.” Mississippi Trial, 1955, Crowe

“The only person he ever talked to was the field boss, Mr. Irwin, a red-faced man who wore dark green coveralls.” Mississippi Trial, 1955, Crowe

One day a feller - a stranger in the camp, he was - came acrost him with his box, and he says: ‘What might be that you’ve got in the box?’” The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County by Mark Twain

“It is stripped off - the paper - in great patches all around the head of my bead, about as far as I can reach, and in a great place on the other side of the room low down. “ The Yellow Wall-Paper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman

“He had the eye of a vulture --a pale blue eye, with a film over it.” The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe

“A boy - a boy I knew - had been kidnapped and murdered.” Mississippi Trial, 1955, Crowe

Raised in the woods so's he knew every tree, killed him a bear when he was only three. Davy, Davy Crockett King of the Wild Frontier. From the song “David Crockett, King of the wild frontier”

Rules of Appositives

Appositives can follow or precede the Appositives appear most often right word they explain. after the noun they describe in order to avoid confusion. If the information is essential to It is a good idea to use dashes instead understanding the sentence, commas of commas when separating the are not needed. appositive from the rest of the sentence if the appositive phrase includes commas. If the sentence makes sense without If the appositive comes at the the appositive, use commas or dashes. beginning or the end of the sentence, only one comma or dash should be used.

Four Variations of Appositives

Repeat/rename a noun Multiple appositives Negative appositives – identify what List appositives – use pronouns like the noun is not all, these, everyone

PLANNING

Date: March 31, 2011 Class and Grade Level: 8th Grade English Class

Title/Subject of Lesson: Successfully incorporating appositives into student writing.

Objective(s): ● Students will be able to understand why appositives are used and be able to identify them in authentic writing samples. ● Students will be able to incorporate appositives into their own writing, correctly setting the appositive phrase off with appropriate punctuation.

State (or District) Core Curriculum Standard(s): ● Standard 2, Objective 3: Revise and edit to strengthen ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency and conventions.

Concept(s) to Be Taught: ● Appositives ● Punctuation guidelines surrounding appositives

Materials Needed: ● Jolly Ranchers to encourage participation ● Overhead with sample sentences ● Photos of individuals/events to encourage sentence construction with appositives

Strategies to Be Used: ● Class discussion ● Visual images ● Analyzing sample sentences ● Imitating three sample sentences that illustrate three different ways to use appositives

PERFORMING

Continuation from Previous Lesson: Students have been working on short stories. The last mini-lesson was on adjective clauses. In this lesson we will discuss a specific type of adjective clause.

Lesson Presentation: A) Getting Started:

Have students write their name on a piece of paper and then write down three different nouns or noun phrases they feel describes them. Have them write one sentence about themselves using only their name and another sentence incorporating one of the nouns/noun phrases they used. I will show how these can be combined to be more effective and efficient using appositives. Define appositives.

B) Directing the Learning: Show students the different sample sentences. Have a guided class discussion about what each of the appositives in these different sentences are doing. Record on the board as the samples appear and the class discusses the different ways appositives can be used Using overhead on rules and variations, point out the different uses of commas and other punctuations. Explain the rule of “essential” versus “extra” information in using commas around appositives. Only use one comma when the appositive appears at the beginning or the end of a sentence. Discuss the use of dashes. Write the rules of punctuation usage on the board so students can easily reference it. [modeling] Show picture of Jimmer. Write a sentence with an appositive about him: Jimmer’s crossover, the signature move that has been known to break ankles, allowed the famous number 32 to blow past the San Diego State player with ease. [guided practice] Use a kernel sentence to get students started: “The only person he ever talked to was ______, ______.” (Modeled after one of the sample sentences: “The only person he ever talked to was the field boss, Mr. Irwin, a red-faced man who wore dark green coveralls.” Mississippi Trial, 1955, Crowe) After students master using the model, use photos to help students come up with sentences on their own. Put the sample sentences on the board so they can choose one they like to imitate, or make one on their own. Have students come up and write their sentences on the board so we can see the punctuation used. [independent practice] Have students trade papers with a peer and highlight places in their papers where there are appositives and where appositives could be added for effect or to economize the writing.

C) Bringing the Lesson to a Conclusion: Tell the class that appositives are a great way to improve and economize our writing, but we have to make sure we punctuate them appropriately so our audience is not confused. Appositives, a grammar tool that clarifies and economizes, can be incorporated into all genres of writing.