sentence patterns
Worksheet for Newspaper Reading Assignment
News and Current Events: Intermediate Academic English
Overview
This module will cover Current Events, Paragraph writing,
Reading Assignment and Written Response
The instructor shoud choose three articles on a current events for students to read. The students can then choose one of the articles for the reading assignment. The purpose is to practice reading for the main idea and then writing about the information. Students should utilize the information learned from Reporter's questions.
Interesting Article concerning newspapers and ESL students Information on choosing newspapers for ESL students
In this module, you will discuss current events and information in the news- locally, nationally, and internationally.
Objectives
- To increase ability to write on a variety of topics
- To develop an understanding of sentence structure
- To improve reading comprehension through practice in identifying main ideas and details
- To increase reading skills by practicing predicting and skimming skills
- To instill confidence in speaking by preparing and presenting a power point and giving a speech
Reading and Writing Activity
Reading Assignment with Journal Response (Reading Assignment will be posted the week of the assignment. It will be a state, national, or international article on a current event.)
Choose one of the newspaper articles listed below. Read carefully and then answer questions concerning main idea, use of detail and prediction. Before reading, review the Worksheet for Newspaper Article. You will need to answer questions before, during, and after reading. You will then complete a journal assignment. The worksheet will help you with the assignment.
(Article belongs here.)
Journal Assisgnment: After reading the newspaper article and completing the attached worksheet, write two paragraphs about the assigned reading.
Paragraph One: Write a paragraph telling what the article is about. Use your notes to write the paragraph.
Paragraph Two: Critical Thinking Questions - In the paragraph tell why you think or do not think this story is newsworthy. Predict what you think will happen next.
Listening Activity
This reading assignment could also, of course, be used in the In the Community - Health Module. For using it in the Current Events Module, students can discuss how qucikly news information can change and the importance of keeping up with ourrent events. For more advanced intermediate students, it is a good introduction to comparing sources.
Listening Activity
For this assignment listen to Corona Virus TED TALK Copyright Information: [ESL Video - TEDTALK Education].
- Listen to the Ted Talk without looking at the transcript.
- Then listen to the TED Talk while reading the transcript. Underline any words you do not know.
- Take the quiz on understanding the content of the talk. Review your results.
- Take the Vocabulary Quiz and review your results.
- Discuss the following questions with your classmates:
- This Ted Talk was made in 2020 at the beginning of the Corona Virus outbreak. What information in this video is not longer current? Discuss this information with your classmates,
- With your classmates, disuss changes that have occured in the world because of the Corona Virus.
Oral Presentation Assignment ` `
Directions for Oral Presentation
For this assignment, you are to make a presentation on a current event you are interested in.
Task: Choose a current event. It could be in the United States, your home country, or anywhere in the world. To prepare for the presentation, you must read one to two news stories about the event. You may also watch a news story about the event, but you still must find a news article. In your presentation you must
- explain the current event.
- tell why it is important.
- give your opinion about the current event.
- tell the name of the newspaper, the name of the article, and the author if there is one. You must also include any information about any videos you watched.
Visuals: You must present your information in a Slide Presentation. You should have two to five slides. You should have no more than fifteen words per slide. You must use your own words. Use PowerPoint, Prezi, Google Slides, or presentation tool of your choice.
Other: Your presentation should be less than ten minutes.
Related Discussion
For this topic, discuss the current event you have chosen for your slide Presentation. Tell the current event and tell if it is a local issue, a national issue, or an international issue. Is it an issue from your native country? If someone else has already posted the same topic, choose another topic or address the topic in a different way.
Sentence Structure Basic Sentence Patterns and Simple and Compound Sentences
In this lesson, you will review five basic sentence patterns, simple sentences, and compound sentences.
Sentence Patterns
All sentences in the English language have a subject and a verb. All the other parts of the sentence revolve around the subject and verb since they are the most important part of the sentence. The way that the sentence is arranged is called a sentence pattern. This part of the lesson reviews the five basic sentence patterns. Practicing writing different patterns will improve your writing as well as your conversation skills. You will see an explanation with examples in the presentation Sentence Patterns attached to this lesson. You may also follow this link to review basic patterns or open the file resources: Users\ladpa\Downloads\sentence patterns.pdf.
Writing Activity with Five Basic Sentence Patterns
Directions: Show your understanding of the five sentence patterns by writing an example sentence for each pattern. All of your sentences should be on the same subject.
- Subject plus Verb
- Subject plus Action Verb plus Direct Object
- Subject plus Verb plus Adverb
- Subject plus Linking Verb plus Predicate Noun
- Subject plus Linking Verb plus Predicate Adjective
More Review with Additional Pattern Examples
- HOME (towson.edu). (Source: https:webapps.towson.edu/SentPatt.html)
Simple and Compound Sentences
Sentences can also be studied according to their structure or the types of clauses within the sentence. This lesson focuses on simple and compound sentences.
Terms to Know
- Clause - a group of words with a subject and a verb (I studied for the test.)
- Dependent Clause or Subordinate – a clause that cannot stand alone as a sentence because it starts with a subordinate conjunction (because, although, even though) or a relative pronoun (Because I studied for the test.) A dependent clause is not a sentence.
- Independent Clause – A clause that can stand alone as a sentence (I studied for the test. I made an A.).
- Simple Sentence - One independent clause (I studied for the test. I made an A.).
- Compound Sentence (Two independent clauses joined correctly.
(I studied for the test, and I made an A.).
Methods of Writing Compound Sentences
- Join with a coordinate conjunction – BOYFANS – BUT, OR, YET, FOR, AND, NOR, SO
I studied for the test, and I made an A.
I studied for the test, so I made an A.
- Use a semicolon to join the independent clauses.
I studied for the test; I made an A.
- Use a semicolon + transitional word (however/therefore)+ comma
I studied for the test; therefore, I made an A.
I forgot to study for test; however, I made an A.
For more review on compound sentences visit the websites below.
lEnglish Hints: How to Make Compound Sentences Catherine (Cathy) Simonton
(ahref="https://www.englishhints.com/compound-sentences.html">Compound Sentences: Examples and Practice</a>(Copyright 2011-221)
Basic Grammar and Punctuation: Compound Sentences
(Compound Sentences - Basic Grammar and Punctuation - LibGuides at St. Petersburg College)
information on Paragraph Writing
Information on Paragraph Writing
What is a paragraph? A paragraph is a goup of sentences on a single subject.
What are the parts of a paragraph? Most paragraphs have a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence
What is a topic sentence? A topic sentence is a sentence that states the main idea of the paragraph, It usually is the first sentence of the paragraph.
What are supporting sentences? Supporting sentences are the sentences in a paragrph that support the topic sentence. The supporting sentences may be examples or a long illustration to explain the topic sentence. They may answer who, what, where, when, why, and how about the topic.
What is a concluding sentence? A concluding sentence is the sentence that summarized the main idea of the paragraph. It is the last sentence of the paragraph.
Follow the links below for more information about writing good paragraphs: