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Topics: Auxiliary verb or Conjunction

Auxiliary verb

Auxiliary verbs are 'helping verbs', which always accompany the main verb...

Sub-topics

Conjunction

Conjunctions are words which link units together...

Politeness and directness

This task is about using verbs and modal verbs in different ways. We all know that people can be direct or indirect in the ways they phrase things. We often use commands to give instructions, but sometimes these might be seen as too direct and blunt. We sometimes soften them with modal verbs, among other tools.

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Politeness and directness: Activity

Try to make the following expressions less direct. Compose alternative sentences for each one.

  1. Shut the window.
  2. Tell me your name.
  3. Stop talking.

What changes did you make to render the expressions less direct? 

Now, make the following expressions more direct. Compose an alternative sentence for each example.

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08: Linking (1)

Year 2 Guided Grammar Lessons #8

This is Lesson #8 of a unit of 10.

Go to the Start

Teacher Slide

Objective: grammar

To understand how we can link words, phrases, and clauses using coordination.

Objective: writing

To encourage pupils to join words, phrases and sentences in their writing using for, and, nor, but, or, yet and so.

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09: Linking (2)

Year 2 Guided Grammar Lessons #9

This is Lesson #9 of a unit of 10.

Go to the Start

Teacher Slide

Objective: grammar

To understand how we can link clauses using subordination.

Objective: writing

To encourage pupils to join clauses in their writing using when, because, after, before, since, etc.

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Genre of Argument and Discussion 2

Lesson Plan

Goals:

  • Identify and analsye how nominalisations are used in essays
  • Identify and analsye how the passiv voice is used in essays
  • Apply these features in a writing task

Lesson Plan

This is Part 2 of the lesson on Argument and Discussion. 

Make sure you have the handout from Part 1. 

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Genre of Argument and Discussion 2

Activities

This is Part 2 of the lesson on Argument and Discussion. 

Make sure you have the handout from Part 1. 

In the first lesson, you looked at how information is organised through discourse structure. In this lesson, you will examine choices of language and register.  

Activity 1

Re-read paragraph 3. Can you find an example of the same word being used in different grammatical roles?

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Genre of Newspaper Articles

Lesson Plan

Goals:

  • Identify and analsye the discourse features of newspaper articles
  • Identify and analsye the register features of newspaper articles
  • Apply these features in writing 

Lesson Plan

Before this lesson, you may want to complete the lesson An Introduction to Genre, so that learners are familiar with the key terms discourse structure and register

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Genre of Newspaper Articles

Activities

Warmer 

Discuss with a partner: 

  • What was the last newspaper article you read? What was it about? 
  • Why do people read newspapers and news websites?  
  • What features do we expect to see in a newspaper article? Why are they used? 

Activity 1

Read Article A. Discuss the following questions: 

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No 'AND's

In this lesson, students build a story without the word and.

Goals

  • Recognise the uses and meaning of the word and.
  • Become more conscious of our own use of the word and.

Lesson Plan

The teacher explains that today, we will tell a story. There's only one rule: no one is allowed to use the word and.

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Subject-Verb Agreement

In this lesson, students select the correct verb to compose an acceptable sentence.

Goals

  • Practise composing sentences with appropriate Subject-Verb agreement.
  • Identify acceptable patterns in Standard English.

Lesson Plan

The teacher explains that today, we will select the correct verb on the smart board, to construct acceptable sentences.

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Subject-Verb Agreement: 'Be' verbs

Telephones
are
is
am
really weird.

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Verbs in persuasive language

In this lesson, students will analyse persuasive language in a charity appeal, and then write their own charity appeal. There is a particular focus on the way modal auxiliary verbs can be used to persuade.

Goals

  • Identify modal auxiliary verbs.
  • Analyse persuasive language.
  • Practise writing persuasively.

Lesson Plan

Activity 1

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Verbs in persuasive language: Activity 1

Activity 1

Identify the modal verbs in this extract by clicking on them, then check your score at the end.

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Verbs in persuasive language: Activity 3

Activity 3

Write your own charity appeal, using the source material below. It is a statement from a charity about their aims and methods. Make use of a range of persuasive devices, including modal verbs.

The "Live Not Exist" charity has been set up with the following key aims:

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Coordinating or subordinating conjunction?

In each of the following sentences a conjunction is highlighted. Is it a coordinating conjunction or a subordinating conjunction?

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Main verb or auxiliary verb?

Is the highlighted verb a main verb or an auxiliary verb?

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Y2 GPaS Test: Coordinating or subordinating conjunction?

In each of the following sentences a conjunction is highlighted. Is it a coordinating conjunction or a subordinating conjunction?

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Y6 GPaS Test: Identify the conjunctions

Find the conjunctions in a range of examples

Identify the conjunctions in each of the following examples. Click on the word (or words) to select or deselect them.

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Y6 GPaS Test: Identify the modal verbs

Find the modal verbs in a range of examples

Identify the modal verbs in each of the following examples. Click on the word (or words) to select or deselect them.

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Y6 GPaS Test: Identify the subordinating conjunction

Find the subordinating conjunction in a range of examples

Identify the subordinate conjunctions in each of the following examples. Click on the word (or words) to select or deselect them.

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Y6 GPaS Test: Modal verbs and adverbs expressing modal meaning

Read each of the following examples carefully. Which kind of word indicates modal meaning (e.g. 'obligation', 'necessity', 'possibility', etc.)? A modal verb or an adverb?

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Conjunctions

Conjunctions are words that link linguistic units such as words, phrases or clauses.

We distinguish coordinating conjunctions such as and, or and but from subordinating conjunctions such as because, since, when, while, etc.

Examples of coordinating conjunctions are:

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Conjunctions: Conjunctions and ambiguity

Look at this sentence:

  • Can I have cheese and tomato sandwiches for lunch?

Do you think the speaker wants sandwiches filled with cheese and tomato or some cheese, and sandwiches with a tomato filling?

Native speakers probably know what cheese and tomato sandwiches are, but they don't realise that the phrase is actually ambiguous (has more than one meaning).

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Verbs

Verbs have traditionally been described as ‘doing words’ or ‘action words’. This works well for some verbs, like sprint, chatter, eat. Here are some sentence examples with verbs which describe actions:

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