Writing and/or Grammar Mini-Lessons
The lessons below are intended to provide you with "mini-lessons" about a certain aspect of grammar and/or writing. You may be assigned some of these lessons, or you may have been suggested to complete one of these lessons because your writing suggests that you may benefit from the knowledge and practice.
1 - Using abstract nouns properly
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2 - Write titles correctly by knowing which words to capitalize
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3 - Use verbs in a variety of moods to achieve specific effects (indicative, imperative, interrogative)
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Writers use abstract nouns to show clear ideas in their writing. Let’s practice using abstract nouns to show ideas, feelings, and beliefs in our writing.
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Writers capitalize certain words in titles. Let’s practice capitalizing titles correctly so our reader gets an idea of what they are about to read.
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Writers use verbs in different moods to make their writing more engaging. Let’s practice using verbs in different moods.
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4 - Use the conditional mood to indicate uncertainty
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5 - Maintain an active voice in a piece of writing
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6 - Use passive voice to emphasize the action rather than the actor
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Writers use the conditional mood to express uncertainty. Let’s practice writing sentences that contain verbs in the conditional mood.
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Writers use active voice to make their writing strong, clear, and direct. Let’s practice making sure that every sentence in our writing is in active voice.
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Writers use passive voice to emphasize the action rather than the actor in their writing. Let’s practice using passive voice purposefully in our writing.
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7 - Use perfect tense correctly to indicate time relationships
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8 - Ensuring Subject- verb Agreement
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9 - Maintain consistent verb tense
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Writers use perfect tense to show time relationships in their writing. Let’s practice revising sentences to include perfect tense verbs.
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Writers make sure subjects and verbs agree in their writing so their ideas are clear to the reader. Let’s practice making subjects and verbs agree by making sure they are both singular or both plural.
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Writers make conscious decisions about which verb tense to use, then use it consistently. Let’s practice making sure our verb tense is consistent.
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10 - Form and use singular and plural possessives
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11 - Find and fix sentences containing misplaced or dangling modifiers
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12 - Ensure pronoun-antecedent agreement
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Writers use -‘s or -s’ in their writing to show possession. Let’s practice correctly forming and using possessives in sentences.
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Good writers make sure that the meaning of each one of their sentences is clear. Let’s practice identifying sentences that contain misplaced or dangling modifiers and learn how to rewrite them.
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Writers make sure pronouns and their antecedents agree. Let’s practice making pronouns and antecedents agree in gender and number so our message is clear to the reader.
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13 - Use specific nouns
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14 - Avoid beginning sentences with there this or that
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15 - Use subordinating conjunctions to connect clauses
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Choose more specific nouns to help you express your ideas precisely.
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Avoid beginning sentences with the word ʺthere," "this," or ʺthat."
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Writers use subordinating conjunctions to show a connection between two ideas and create a rhythm in the text. Let’s practice writing complex sentences correctly with subordinating conjunctions.
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16 - Organize your ideas using an outline
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17 - Craft reason statements that best introduce your evidence
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18 - Use appositives to clarify meaning and add interest to a sentence
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Learn how to use a graphic organizer to plan where your reasons and evidence will go.
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Students will be able to distinguish between reasons and evidence and craft reason statements that best introduce their evidence in their argumentative writing.
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Writers use appositives to clarify meaning and add interest. Let’s practice adding appositives to our sentences.
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19 - Use ellipses to indicate missing words in a quotation
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20 - Use coordinating conjunctions to connect phrases or clauses
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21 - Eliminate wordiness and redundancy
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Writers use only the parts of quotations they need to support their ideas. Let’s practice using an ellipsis to show we have chosen to exclude words from a quotation.
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Writers create compound sentences using coordinating conjunctions to connect related ideas. Let’s practice writing compound sentences using coordinating conjunctions correctly to make our writing flow better and sound more natural.
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Choose language that expresses ideas precisely and concisely, recognizing and eliminating wordiness and redundancy
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