9/10 English: Diagramming Tweets

In yesterday's class, we reviewed Adjectival Phrases (phrases that modify a noun, answering the questions, "Which one?" "What kind?" and "How many?").  Then, we diagrammed those sentences on the board, identifying which nouns our adjectival phrases modified.

One of our classmates had the great idea that we diagram a sentence by Donald Trump! Because tweets have their own kind of grammar—they are limited to 140 characters, often include ampersands and shorthand to convey longer words—I agreed this would be a fun activity, and we picked the tweet pictured above.

For today, please identify the parts of speech in the rest of Donald Trump's tweet that we didn't get to yesterday.  Then, diagram the rest of the sentence, starting with "while at the same time" all the way to "pre-existing conditions." To get you started, answer the following questions:

1) What part of speech is the word while?
2) What kind of phrase is at the same time?
3) What do you think we should do with pre-existing conditions?

9/10 English: Think - Puzzle - Know

Writing Warmup:
Last week, we spent some time reviewing the parts of speech you need to know when thinking about a sentence's grammar or writing complex sentences.

Please answer the following questions in the comments section below.

1) What do you think you know about parts of speech?
2) What puzzles (confuses) you about parts of speech?
3) What would you like to know more about parts of speech?

English Essentials: Semicolons and Complex Lists

Bell Ringer Activity:
For today's class, we will talk about the semicolon's other uses: dividing text in complex lists.  Watch this video by Khan Academy and in the comments section below, answer the following questions.

1) How are semicolons used in complex lists?
2) Give one example of a semicolon in a complex list.
3) Reply to a classmate and describe what you like about their example. Tell them how they are using it correctly.