Language Arts IV- Mechanics
Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics
EXCLAMATION MARK: I. KEY EXPERIENCE
Materials:
One club
One red bead
Prepared sentences: ‘I am the best’
‘This hunt was great’
‘Tonight we eat’
‘This kill is mine’
Title labels: Exclamation Mark Key Experience written in red
Exclamare (Latin) means ‘to cry out’. written in red
Red exclamation marks from the printed alphabet
Blank labels
Black pen and red pen
Children’s notebooks and pencils
Presentation:
1. Gather a group of children around a table or rug.
2. Say, “We have been working with periods and question marks. Periods are
used to stop sentences that are statements. Question marks are used to stop
sentences that ask questions. Today we are going to do more activities with
punctuation marks.”
Montessori Research and Development © 2004 77 Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics 3. Say, “In early times, long, long ago, great hunters had competitions to see
who among them was the best hunter. Prizes were given, and perhaps the best
hunter was given a beautiful club like this (show club). The winner might have
raised his club over his head like this to show everyone his great power and
excitement at winning. The hunter might have said... (read each sentence label
with great emotion, raising the club emphatically each time, then placing each
sentence label).”
4. Ask, “Are each of these sentences?” Children respond.
5. Ask, “How do we stop a sentence?” Children respond.
6. Place a red unit bead at the end of each sentence.
7. Say, “Today when we want to show a sentence has great power and excitement
we stop it with a mark that looks like this club and this bead.”
8. Place the club above the first red bead.
9. Replace the club and the red bead in the first sentence with an exclamation
mark.
10. Stop the rest of the exclamations with exclamation marks.
11. Placing the exclamation mark title label above the symbol in the second
sentence say, “This mark I made in red is called an exclamation mark. The word
‘exclamation’ comes from the Latin word ‘exclamare,’ which means to ‘cry out’.“
12. Say, “Excitement can be expressed in one word like ‘Help.’ “
13. Write ‘Help’ on a blank label with the black pen.
14. Stop the sentence with an exclamation mark written in red.
15. Invite the children, one at a time, to express a one- or two- word exclamation,
writing each one on a blank label. Invite each child who said an exclamation to
stop his or her exclamation with an exclamation mark.
Montessori Research and Development © 2004 78 Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics
16. The children record this presentation in their notebooks.
Exclamation Mark Key Experience
Exclamare (Latin) means to ‘cry out’.
I am the best !
This hunt was great !
Tonight we eat !
This kill is mine !
Help !
Fire !
Oh boy !
Wow !
Direct Aim:
1. To understand the exclamation mark, its meaning, and its usage in sentences.
Age:
6 - 9 years
Note: The Key Experience is repeated each year.
Montessori Research and Development © 2004 79 Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics
QUESTION MARK: II. THE EXCLAMATION AND THE QUESTION
Materials:
Five question labels (omit punctuation)
Five statement labels (omit punctuation)
Red quotation mark labels from the printed alphabet
Red exclamation mark labels from the printed alphabet
Title labels: ‘These are questions.’
‘These are exclamations.’
Children’s notebooks and pencils
Presentation:
1. Gather a group of children around a table or rug.
2. Say, “We have been working with periods, question marks and exclamation
marks. Periods are used to stop sentences that are statements. Question marks
are used to stop sentences that ask questions. Exclamation marks are used to
stop sentences that express excitement. Today we are going to do more activities
with these punctuation marks.”
3. Distribute all of the question and statement labels.
4. Place the title labels next to each other.
5. Read the title labels and ask, “With what mark will you end these sentences?”
Point to the question label. Children respond. Ask, “With what mark will you
end these sentences?” Point to the exclamation label. Children respond.
Montessori Research and Development © 2004 80 Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics
6. Invite the children, one at a time, to read their labels and to place them under
the appropriate title labels, adding question mark or exclamation mark labels at
the end of each sentence.
7. The children record this presentation in their notebooks.
THESE ARE QUESTIONS. THESE ARE EXCLAMATIONS.
What is that smell? Ugh, it’s a skunk!
Did you enjoy the show? Wow, it was great!
Do you see that smoke? Oh no, it’s a fire!
Would you like a puppy? I’d love one!
Are you lost? I want my mommy!
Direct Aim:
1. To understand exclamation marks, their meanings, and their usage in sentences.
2. To understand the difference between questions and exclamations.
Age:
6 - 9 years
Note: The children may use this material, N8, independently.
Montessori Research and Development © 2004 81 Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics
EXCLAMATION MARK: III. PERIOD, QUESTION MARK AND EXCLAMATION MARK
Materials:
Five statement labels
Five command labels
Five question labels
Five exclamation labels
Question mark labels from the printed alphabet
Exclamation mark symbol labels from the printed alphabet
Period labels from the printed alphabet
Title labels: ‘This is a statement.’
‘This is a command.’
‘This is a question.’
‘This is an exclamation.’
‘This is not a question or an exclamation.’
A set of blank labels
Black pen and red pen
Children’s notebooks and pencils
Presentation:
1. Gather a group of children around a table or rug.
Montessori Research and Development © 2004 82 Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics
2. Say, “We have been working with periods, question marks and exclamation
marks. Periods are used to stop sentences that are statements. Question marks
are used to stop sentences that ask questions. Exclamation marks are used to
stop sentences that express excitement. Today we are going to do more activities
with these punctuation marks.”
3. Distribute all the sentence labels.
4. Place the labels ‘This is a question.’, ‘This is an exclamation.’, and ‘This is not
a question or an exclamation.’
5. Invite the children, one at a time, to read their labels, to place them under the
appropriate title labels, and to stop their sentences with period, question, or
exclamation marks.
6. Pointing to the ‘This is not a question or an exclamation.’ title label say,
“These sentences that are neither questions nor exclamations end with periods.
There are two kinds of sentences that end with periods.”
7. Remove the ‘This is not a question or an exclamation.’ title label.
8. As you place the labels ‘This is a statement.’, and ‘This is a command.’, say,
“The two kinds of sentences that end with periods are called statements and
commands. Statements state a fact, opinion, or feeling. Commands direct a
person to do something.”
9. Pick up the sentences that end with periods and distribute them.
10. Invite the children, one at a time, to read their labels, to place them under
the appropriate title labels, and to stop their sentences with period labels.
Montessori Research and Development © 2004 83 Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics
11. Invite the children, one at a time, to say statements and commands. Write
each on a blank label. Invite each child who said a command or a statement to
place it under the appropriate title label, stopping his or her sentence with a
period label.
12. The children record this presentation in their notebooks.
This is a question. This is a statement.
Is Charlotte’s Web fiction or non-fiction? Charlotte’s Web is fiction.
Of what is the earth made? The earth is solid,liquid, and gas.
What is a lake? A lake is water surrounded by land.
Where are the solids? The solids are on the geometry shelf.
This is an exclamation. This is a command.
What a great book! Open your book.
Fantastic! Place the globe on the shelf.
There’s a fire! Make a lake with clay.
Oh! Label the solids.
Direct Aim:
1. To understand exclamation marks, their meanings, and their usage in sentences.
2. To understand the difference between questions, exclamations, statements,
and commands.
Age:
6 - 9 years
Montessori Research and Development © 2004 84 Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics
Note: The children may use this material, N10, independently.
Montessori Research and Development © 2004 85 Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics
CHAPTER 5: PUNCTUATION - APOSTROPHE
Montessori Research and Development © 2004 86 Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics
APOSTROPHE: I. KEY EXPERIENCE - CONTRACTIONS
Materials:
Title labels: Apostrephein (Greek) means ‘to turn away’.written in red
Contractus (Latin) means ‘to pull together’. written in red
Contraction Key Experience written in red
Apostrophe Key Experience written in red
Red apostrophe labels from the printed alphabet
Blank labels
Black pen and red pen
Children’s notebooks and pencils
Presentation:
1. Gather a group of children around a table or rug.
2. Say, “We have been working with periods, question marks, and exclamation
marks. Today we are going to do more activities with punctuation marks and
with root words.”
3. Say, “Remember when we combined two root words to form new words with
new meanings?” Discuss.
4. Say, “Today we are going to combine two root words but we won’t change the
meaning.”
5. Write the words ‘was’ and ‘not’ on blank labels with a black pen.
6. Invite a child to read the labels.
7. Tear the label between the ‘n’ and the ‘o’ and after the ‘o’. Montessori Research and Development © 2004 87 Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics 8. Say, “We’re going to turn away the ‘o’. Pull the ‘o’ above the word. Pull the
‘o’ higher and turn it over.
9. Insert an apostrophe symbol label in the space from which the ‘o’ was removed.
10. Say, “This mark which took the place of the letter ‘o’ is called an apostrophe.”
11. Say, “The word ‘apostrophe’ comes from the Greek word ‘apostrephein’,
which means ‘to turn away’. This is the Apostrophe Key Experience.“
12. Place the apostrophe title label above the apostrophe symbol label. Place
the apostrophe etymology label below the apostrophe title label.
Apostrophe Key Experience
Apostrephein (Greek) means ‘to turn away’.
o
Apostrophe
was n ‘ t
13. Proceed to pull together the letters of the contraction: wasn’t.
14. Say, “Now we’re going to pull the two words together to form one word.”
15. Say, “When we pull the remaining letters together, the new shorter word is
called a contraction. This word ‘wasn’t’ is a contraction.”
16. Place the contraction title label above the presentation.
17. Say, “The word ‘contraction’ comes from the Latin word ‘contractus,’ which
means ‘to pull together.’ This is the Contraction Key Experience.“
Montessori Research and Development © 2004 88 Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics
18. Place the contraction etymology label below the contraction title label.
19. Write other word pairs on blank labels and proceed as above, inviting the
children to tear off letters to be omitted, pulling letters to be omitted above,
turning them over, and inserting apostrophe symbol labels in their places.
20. The children record this presentation in their notebooks.
Apostrophe Key Experience Contraction Key Experience
Apostrephein (Greek) means to turn away.Contractus (Latin) means to pull together.
o
Apostrophe Contractions
was n ‘ t wasn’t
o
is n ‘ t isn’t
o
has n ‘ t hasn’t
no
can ‘ t can’t
Direct Aim:
1. To understand the apostrophe, its meaning, and its usage in words.
2. To understand the contraction, its meaning, and its usage in words.
Age:
6 - 9 years
Montessori Research and Development © 2004 89 Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics
Note: The Key Experience is repeated each year.
Literature: I Can’t Said the Ant by Polly Cameron, Coward-McCann, Inc., N.Y.
Montessori Research and Development © 2004 90 Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics
APOSTROPHE: II. CONTRACTIONS
Materials:
A set of contractions and a matching set of words from which the set of
contractions were made
Title label: ‘Contractions’
Children’s notebooks and pencils
Presentation:
1. Gather a group of children around a table or rug.
2. Say, “We have been working with contractions and apostrophes. A contraction
is a word made from two root words by removing some letters to form a shortened
word. The removed letters are replaced by an apostrophe.”
3. Distribute the root word labels.
4. Invite the children, one at a time, to read and to place each of their labels in
one column.
5. Distribute the contraction labels.
6. Invite the children, one at a time, to read and to place each of their contraction
labels to the right of the root word labels in a column.
7. Invite a child to read and to place the contraction title label above the
appropriate column.
8. The children record this presentation in their notebooks.
Montessori Research and Development © 2004 91 Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics Contractions
I am I’m
you are you’re
he is he’s
she is she’s
it is it’s
we are we’re
they are they’re
Direct Aim:
1. To understand the apostrophe, its meaning, and its usage in words.
2. To understand the contraction, its meaning, and its usage in words.
Age:
6 - 9 years
Note: The children may use this material, O1 - O10, independently.
Montessori Research and Development © 2004 92 Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics
Material: Available from Montessori Research and Development
Box O1: Apostrophes
I am I’m you are you’re he is he’s
she is she’s they are they’re we are we’re
it is it’s
Box O2: Apostrophes
I have I’ve you have you’ve she has she’s
it has it’s we have we’ve they have they’ve
Box O3: Apostrophes
I shall I’ll you will you’ll she will she’ll
he will he’ll we shall we’ll they will they’ll
Box O4: Apostrophes
I had I’d you had you’d he had he’d
she had she’d we had we’d they had they’d
Box O5: Apostrophes
are not aren’t is not isn’t was not wasn’t
were not weren’t will not won’t
Box O6: Apostrophes
have not haven’t has not hasn’t had not hadn’t
do not don’t does not doesn’t did not didn’t
Montessori Research and Development © 2004 93 Language Arts Volume 4: Mechanics Box O7: Apostrophes
cannot can’t could not couldn’t should not shouldn’t
would not wouldn’t shall not shan’t of the clock o’clock
Box O8: Apostrophes
might not mightn’t must not mustn’t that is that’s
there is there’s who is who’s let us let’s
Box O9: Apostrophes
Whales aren’t fish. Trilobites haven’t lived for millions of years.
A lake isn’t a landform. The rat’s cage hasn’t been cleaned today.
Starfish don’t have backbones. Dimetrodon wasn’t a dinosaur.
A reptile doesn’t have gills.
There weren’t any flowers during the Paleozoic Era.
Box O10: Apostrophes
Clouds aren’t living things.
The plants haven’t been watered today.
Entertainment isn’t a basic need.
A square doesn’t have acute angles.
Some triangles don’t have obtuse angles.
Life on other planets hasn’t been discovered yet.
Humans weren’t on earth until the Cenozoic Era.
Columbus wasn’t the first person to discover the Americas.
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