Mr. Beckett

Grammar Notes and Mini-Lessons

Warm-upComplete Exercise A, #1-5 on page 264. Just write down words that need to be capitalized.

Common Nouns vs. PROPER NOUNSCommon Nouns: any one of a group of persons, places, things, or ideas.

Proper Nouns: a particular person, place, thing, or idea.

Capitalization: Common vs. Proper NounsCommon Nouns: DO NOT Capitalize

Proper Nouns: CAPITALIZE

riverpresidentstreetschoolcollege/universitystatedog

Allegheny RiverPresident ObamaDivision StreetWoodland Hills High

SchoolUniversity of

PittsburghPennsylvaniaSnoopy

You DO NOT need to capitalize the following:Short prepositions of less than five letters in, on, with, to

Coordinating conjunctionsand, but, so, for, or, nor, yet

Articlesa, an, the

Capitalization: Initials and AbbreviationsCapitalize initials in names and abbreviations that come before OR after names.

Examples:J.D. RockefellerDr. Suzi CohenLouis J. HalleSr. Garcia

PracticeComplete #1-10 on Exercise 1, pages 268-269. Write down words that need to be capitalized or need to be made lower case. Three sentences are correct.

Day Two PracticeWarm up: Complete Ex. A, #6-10, pgs. 264-265.

Practice: Complete Ex. 1, #6-10, pg. 269. (Two sentences are correct)

North, South, East, West?DO NOT capitalize direction

CAPITALIZE Specific Regions

I am going to head south at the river.

It’s just north of Pittsburgh.

As soon as you see the gas station, go east on Route 10.

I’m from the South

People from the North scare me.

The East Coast beaches are better than the West Coast beaches.

We get a lot of oil from the Middle East.

Special Events, Holidays, and Calendar ItemsCapitalize the following:Special Events:

the Boston Marathonthe All-Star Gamethe Iowa State Fair

Holidays:Valentine’s DayEarth Day

Calendar Items:FridayMarch

Do not capitalize seasons.

PracticeExercise 2, page 272, #1-10. One sentence is correct.

ApostrophesThe possessive case of a noun shows

ownership, or possession. To form the possessive case of most singular nouns, add an apostrophe and an s.

Examples:the mayor’s deskthe evening’s paperthe bus’s wheelSteve’s problem

Apostrophes (cont.)For a singular common noun ending

in s, add both an apostrophe and an s if the added s is pronounced as a separate syllable.Examples:

The actress’s costumesThe class’s teacherThe dress’s sleevesThe platypus’s tail

Apostrophes (cont.)To form the possessive case of a

plural noun ending in s, add only an apostrophe:Examples:

Two birds’ feathersThe Garzas’ patioAll three cousins’ vacationThe Girl Scouts’ uniforms

Apostrophes (cont.)For a name or noun ending in s,

add only an apostrophe if the name has two or more syllables and does not sound awkward.

Examples:Mrs. Rawlings’ carTexas’ governorthe species’ characteristics

Practice: Day OneComplete Review A, pgs. 359-360. #1-10.

Write down the words that need apostrophes with the apostrophe in the right place.

Warm up PracticeReview B, pg. 360-61, do # ’s 1, 2, 3, 4, and 10. Also, one sentence is correct

Possessive Pronouns

You DO NOT need an apostrophe with the following possessive pronouns:

Singular Pluralmy, mine our, oursyour, yours your, yourshis, her, hers, its their, theirs

PracticeComplete Exercise 3, pgs. 362-363, #1-10.

ContractionsThe apostrophes in contractions show

letters, words, or numerals have been left out: Common Contractions

Who is…………..who’s she will……….she’ll

There is…………there’s I am……………I’m

Could have……..could’ve you are………..you’re

1999……………..’99 we had………..we’d

Of the clock………o’clock she has……….she’s

Let us……………..let’s Lisa is…………Lisa’s

I would……………I’d Is not………….isn’t

Cannot……………can’t will not………..won’t

PracticeReview C, pg. 363, #1-10.

Review C, pg. 363 #11-20

PluralsUse an apostrophe and an s to form the plurals

of numerals, symbols, all lowercase letters, some uppercase letters, and some words referred to as words.

Examples:Most cursive u’s and U’s look similar.I used too many so’s in my paper.These 2’s look like 7’s.The author has confused @’s with &’s.

PracticeReview D, pg. 364, #1-10.

CHOMP CHOMP Grammar PracticeIn Google, type in Chomp Chomp GrammarClick on the link to the siteScroll down to and click on “Exercises”

Scroll down to “Apostrophes,” and click on “Interactive Exercise One”

Complete the exercise.

Titles: Quotations or Underline?Place quotations around shorter

works (“…”):Examples:

ArticlesEssaysShort StoriesPoemsSongsEpisodes of TV SeriesChapters and Other Parts of Books or

Periodicals

Titles (cont.)Underline or italicize longer works

Examples:Books/NovelsPeriodicals (Magazines, Newspapers, etc.)Long PoemsPlaysFilms/MoviesTelevision SeriesLong Musical Works and RecordingsWorks of ArtShips/BoatsTrainsAircraft and Spacecraft

Practice with Titles: Write down the titles and either underline them or place quotes around them.

1. Have you ever read Money Hungry, the novel by Sharon Flake?

2. The fifth episode in the TV series The African Americans is titled The Harlem Renaissance.

3. The Idea of Ancestry is a great poem from Etheridge Knight’s poetry collection Poems from Prison.

Practice with Titles: Write down the titles and either underline them or place quotes around them.

1. Have you ever read Money Hungry, the novel by Sharon Flake?

2. The fifth episode in the TV series The African Americans is titled “The Harlem Renaissance.”

3. “The Idea of Ancestry” is a great poem from Etheridge Knight’s poetry collection Poems from Prison.

4. My father always swore by Newsweek, but my mother always preferred U.S. News & World Report.

5. The space shuttle The Challenger exploded 73 seconds after its launch, and it was replaced by the space shuttle Endeavour in 1992.

6. I read an article about the movies The Incredible Hulk and Spiderman 3 in the magazine Entertainment Weekly.

Practice with Titles: Write down the titles and either underline them or place quotes around them.

4. My father always swore by the magazine Newsweek, but my mother always preferred U.S. News & World Report.

5. The space shuttle The Challenger exploded 73 seconds after its launch, and it was replaced by the space shuttle Endeavour in 1992.

6. I read an article about the movies The Incredible Hulk and Spiderman 3 in the magazine Entertainment Weekly.

Practice with Titles: Write down the titles and either underline them or place quotes around them.

7. My all-time favorite poems by Robert Frost are The Road Not Taken and Nothing Gold Can Stay, the last of which is featured in the movie based on S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders.

8. One of my favorite TV shows, Disaster Chronicles, ran an episode called Volcanoes in Italy

9. We went to see Andy Warhol’s famous work of art, Skulls, then we went to see the play Our Town.

10.In ninth grade, we read the story The Most Dangerous Game out of our anthology, Glencoe Literature: The Reader’s Choice.

Practice with Titles: Write down the titles and either underline them or place quotes around them.

7. My all-time favorite poems by Robert Frost are “The Road Not Taken” and “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” the last of which is featured in the movie based on S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders.

8. One of my favorite TV shows, Disaster Chronicles, ran an episode called “Volcanoes in Italy.”

9. We went to see Andy Warhol’s famous work of art, Skulls, then we went to see the play Our Town.

10.In ninth grade, we read the story “The Most Dangerous Game” out of our anthology, Glencoe Literature: The Reader’s Choice.

Practice with Titles: Write down the titles and either underline them or place quotes around them.

Titles reviewIn this month’s Entertainment magazine, I read the article Summer Box Office: 10 Winners and 10 Losers, which discusses the summer films Iron Man 3, Fast & Furious 6, Smurfs 2, and White House Down.

Entertainment, “Summer Box Office: 10 Winners and 10 Losers,” Iron Man 3, Fast & Furious 6, Smurfs 2, and White House Down.

More Titles Practice1. This year, we’ll probably read To Kill a

Mockingbird by Harper Lee.2. The article from the Pittsburgh Post

Gazette was entitled One Dies in Wilkinsburg House Fire.

3. The Ballad of the Landlord and Cross are two very good poems by Langston Hughes.

4. Homer the Father is a great episode of the series The Simpsons.

More Titles Practice1. This year, we’ll probably read To Kill a

Mockingbird by Harper Lee.2. The article from the Pittsburgh Post

Gazette was entitled “One Dies in Wilkinsburg House Fire.”

3. The “Ballad of the Landlord” and “Cross” are two very good poems by Langston Hughes.

4. “Homer the Father” is a great episode of the series The Simpsons.

More Titles Practice5. One of the most famous ships in history is the

Titanic, but many don’t realize that the Lusitania is also very famous.

6. The best songs off of Ice Cube’s famous album The Predator are Wicked, Check Yo Self, and It Was a Good Day.

7. In history class, we watched the documentary movie on Charles Lindbergh called Lucky: The Story of Charles Lindbergh. The movie included shots of his famous plane Spirit of St. Louis, which he flew from New York to Paris.

More Titles Practice5. One of the most famous ships in history is the

Titanic, but many don’t realize that the Lusitania is also very famous.

6. The best songs off of Ice Cube’s famous album The Predator are “Wicked,” “Check Yo Self,” and “It Was a Good Day.”

7. In history class, we watched the documentary movie on Charles Lindbergh called Lucky: The Story of Charles Lindbergh. The movie included shots of his famous plane Spirit of St. Louis, which he flew from New York to Paris.

More Titles Practice8. Some of the most famous paintings ever

created were Mona Lisa, The Starry Night, and the Scream, but unfortunately none of these are displayed in Pittsburgh at the Andy Warhol Museum or the Carnegie Museum of Art.

9. Steve Crafton’s famous essay, Shakespeare’s Finest, discusses William Shakespeare’s three famous plays Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Othello.

10.The ESPN article Peyton’s Place discusses how quarterback Peyton Manning has transformed the Denver Broncos into one the NFL’s finest. It appears in ESPN magazine.

More Titles Practice8. Some of the most famous paintings ever

created were Mona Lisa, The Starry Night, and the Scream, but unfortunately none of these are displayed in Pittsburgh at the Andy Warhol Museum or the Carnegie Museum of Art.

9. Steve Crafton’s famous essay, “Shakespeare’s Finest,” discusses William Shakespeare’s three famous plays Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and Othello.

10.The ESPN article “Peyton’s Place” discusses how quarterback Peyton Manning has transformed the Denver Broncos into one the NFL’s finest. It appears in ESPN magazine.

Test Review: Capitalization1. I wouldn’t mind moving to washington

d.c., but I really want to move somewhere very far south of pittsburgh, pa.

2. Again, georgetown university is tempting, but i might be more happy in the south with a warmer climate.

3. Ideally, I would like to move to a university that is close to the atlantic ocean, and maybe the university of miami or florida university might be good choices for me.

Test Review: Capitalization

1. Washington D.C., Pittsburgh, PA

2. Georgetown University, I, South

3. Atlantic Ocean, University of Miami, Florida University

Test Review: Capitalization (cont.)4. No matter what I decide for a school for this

fall, I better at least get out of allegheny county and head north, south, east, or west.

5. Regardless of where I go, my parents want me to get a degree that would give me the title of an m.d. like dr. smith, our family friend.

6. By valentine’s day, I plan on making my final decision. If I wait until easter or memorial day, even, there might not be room for me.

Test Review: Capitalization (cont.)

4. Allegheny County5. M.D., Dr. Smith6. Valentine’s Day, Easter,

Memorial Day

Test Review: Apostrophes1. The armys supplies were cut off at

dawn. All the soldiers faces showed despair at hearing the news.

2. The soldiers just completed five days worth of fighting. General Smiths pride in them could not be any stronger.

3. The leaders pride, though, nor any of the General Clarks speeches, could prevent the soldiers eventual fate.

Test Review: Apostrophes

1.army’s, soldiers’2.days’ ,Smith’s3.Leader’s, Clark’s,

soldiers’

Test Review: Apostrophes (cont.)

4. Dont take your time getting to class, for goodness sake! Hurry, because you cant miss any material if you want to get As and not Bs or Cs!

5. Whose turn is it? I know its not mine and I know youve already taken your turn.

6. The actresses dressing room was so full that they had to take some of their clothes to the towns thrift store. The thrift stores owner was very excited because they mostly had childrens clothing and needed some adult clothing.

Test Review: Apostrophes (cont.)

4.Don’t, goodness’, can’t, A’s,B’s, C’s

5.it’s, you’ve6.actresses’ , town’s, store’s,

children’s

Test Review: Titles1.Oswald River’s novel Fire and Rain

and Tim O’Brien’s short story Ambush are about the Vietnam War.

2.Out of their list of 500 greatest songs, Rolling Stone picks Otis Redding’s song Respect and Bob Dylan’s song Like a Rolling Stone in the top five.

3.The last episode of The Walking Dead was called Infected.

Test Review: Titles

1.Fire and Rain, “Ambush”

2.Rolling Stone,“Respect,” “Like a Rolling Stone”

3.The Walking Dead , “Infected”

Test Review: Titles (cont.)4. We went to the New York Museum

of art to see the famous paintings Guernica by Picasso and Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.

5. They have made a movie about the Apollo 13 space shuttle trip. It starred Tom Hanks, who now stars in the movie Captain Frank.

Test Review: Titles (cont.)

4.Guernica, Mona Lisa5.Apollo 13, Captain Frank