Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Re: Participle/comma help

An essential clause clarifies exactly who/what is being referred to - it
gives more information.
The student who is texting during class is not paying attention. No commas
because student could be any student but with the clause we know which one
is being referred to.
Jenny, who is checking her email, is not paying attention. Commas because
even without the clause we know we are talking about Jenny.

You might have them play a guessing game where they have to use a sentence
with an essential clause to describe someone in the class and the kids guess
who it is and then you change the sentence by identifying the subject and
then the clause becomes non-essential.

Good luck!
Kristen Dennison

On Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 11:55 AM, Beth Ritter-Guth <
britterguth@hotchkiss.org> wrote:

> Hi! I used to teach it like a rocket ship. I am not sure how best to
> explain it, but I can record the lesson for you if you want and pass along
> the worksheets.
>
>
> Beth Lynne Ritter-Guth
> Educational Communication and Technology Facilitator
> The Hotchkiss School
> 11 Interlaken Road
> Box 800
> Lakeville, CT 06039
> (860) 435-4445
> http://hotchkiss.org
> http://hotchkissedtech.blogspot.com
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: A forum for independent school educators on behalf of Mac Jackson
> Sent: Wed 2/25/2009 11:52 AM
> To: ISED-L@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU
> Subject: Participle/comma help
>
> All you English teachers out there! My eighth graders are having a hard
> time distinguishing the difference between essential and non-essential
> participle phrases, and they can't nail down when they should use commas.
> I'm can't figure out the simplest way to explain it to them? Any ideas?
> Reasources? You can reply to:
>
> mac_jackson@indianmountain.org
>
> Thanks!
>
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