Cal has done a great job with sentence structure, but before we move forward, I wanted to do a review of the different parts of speech. Today we focused on nouns (i.e. subject, direct object, indirect object, object of the preposition) and I was very pleased with Cal's effort. We got through all the material and he did 3 practice exercises with little trouble.
review compound and complex sentences
compound-complex sentences
I'm very pleased with Cal's effort so far. He's done a solid job with compound and complex sentences. He's works through the worksheets with little problem, but when it comes to writing, he still has some trouble. We started working on compond-complex sentences, which he learned pretty easily.
Cal did a great job on the worksheets, and has a solid grasp on compound and complex sentences in theory. But when it came to write them, he had a lot of difficulty. I had him write 10 of each, and while he did a pretty good job with complex sentences, compound sentences we troublesome. Cal's biggest obstacle right now is that he doesn't like writing, doesn't want to do it, and therefore writes to get to the end, rather than write well. The purpose of using different types of sentences is to be more descriptive and fully develop ideas. Afterward, I had Cal write a paragraph about going to the amusement park, but he had to use 2 of each of the types of sentences. Again, he had trouble, but in both instances, his writing led to a good discussion about sentences and how to use them.
Cal remembered the material we went over last week, and did a solid jobs on the worksheets we did today to review. Repetition is the best way for the material to sink in, and he now has a much better understanding of basic sentence structure. Afterward, I had him start writing a paragraph in which he uses all the different types of sentences we've covered, but class ended before he finished.
We're still focusing on basic sentence structure, specifically compound and complex sentences. I had Cal start working on a series of worksheets to help him better understand each. He had some problems at first, but improved by the end of the class.
Cal had trouble remembering the material we covered on Friday. I keep stressing the need to have a basic grammatical foundation for writing, but he doesn't seem to have much interest. The best way to get these rules to sink in is homework, but he claims he has no interest in doing that. Granted it's very early in the process, but he seems to have very little interest in actually trying to do work while he's here. I will continue to work the material with him in class, and hopefully he will thaw a bit as time goes on.
Apparently, Cal had a year of intense grammar last year, but has now forgotten everything he learned. I'm betting he knows more than he lets on, but I decided to start with the basic building blocks of writing and work our way up. Today we focused on basic sentence structure and how to use/combine subordinate and independent clauses. Cal was very focused and attentive in class, and I was very pleased with his participation.
I had a very good conversation with Cal about writing and his experience with language arts class. He was very emphatic about not liking grammar, and with his difficulty with writing. We talked about the goals he wants to accomplish with his time and the effort expected of him. I then had him give me a writing sample so I can get a sense of where he is with his writing. He didn't complain and although he had trouble getting started, stayed pretty focused for the 25 minutes or so I had him write. His greatest weakness is organizing his thoughts, but he also needs to work on sentence/paragraph structure and verb agreement. Cal seems very willing to work and learn, and I look forward to working with him.
