Parts of speech are now included in our reading each day. The Barracuda will read one of his Learn-to-Readers and then pick one of the books which is significantly easier. In this way he doesn't have to think about the reading the words, just which parts of speech they are. However, as he begins to get stuck I start to ask him questions to lead him to the answer. "What is the word 'brown' describing in this sentence?" "In this sentence, what is the dinosaur doing?" "Who or what is jumping in this sentence?" Sometimes it is a complete sentence, sometimes it is a phrase within the sentence, but in either case it is much harder for him to discern. This micro-level of comprehension is something he is not used to and, once again, difficult is frustrating. With difficult subjects there is a fine line from The Barracuda between reluctance and desire to learn more. Crayons have helped immensely (colors are very important right now!) in that he gets to underline the various parts of speech in a color of his choosing. If there is coloring going on, he will usually continue.
We began by going through to find the nouns, verbs, and adjectives. This seemed to me like plenty to take on. Once again, The Barracuda has reminded me this is his education and not mine. He had other ideas.
Inevitably, he will pick a word such as "and" or "through" and then want to know what it is called. Not to begrudge a reasonable question, I have explained conjunctions (to bewildered looks), prepositions (to enthusiastic examples), and pronouns (to extreme amusement). The Barracuda has completely fallen in love with this idea of pronouns. They are sneaky, ninja nouns. They are transformer nouns who get to put on disguises and change characters. They are ultimately much cooler nouns that just your common or proper noun. So, now we find pronouns as well. Currently, pronouns get to be the same color as regular nouns because my insistence. However, as his handle of language gets better they will most likely become purple, the most coveted color in the entire color wheel. Prepositions are a second favorite part of speech. They are bossy; they tell all the other parts of speech where to go. They are the leaders in all of the Follow-the Leader sentence games. If one had to be a part of speech, and could not be a pronoun, a preposition would definitely be the next best thing! Currently, prepositions always get to be purple!
I'm quite impressed with his ability to assimilate knowledge and retain it. He can now pick most nouns out faster than I can underline them. His definition is down cold. He can definite a noun in his sleep. Application of said definition is sometimes a bit sketchier. Difficult words, most frequently, are nouns before they are the right answer. Nouns are apparently very prolific in our language encompassing such words as "could", "when", "and", and "once." Any word we haven't underlined yet appears to be safely considered a noun until otherwise noted. However, as soon as I rule out a word as a noun, he quickly can explain why it didn't make any sense for "brown" to be a noun, thus designating it an adjective.
He also has gotten quite good at complimenting his own use of language. "This marker is completely useless!" he will say. Quickly followed by a surprised, "Useless...that was a good adjective I just used." From the other room I swiftly stifle my laughter.
We began by going through to find the nouns, verbs, and adjectives. This seemed to me like plenty to take on. Once again, The Barracuda has reminded me this is his education and not mine. He had other ideas.
Inevitably, he will pick a word such as "and" or "through" and then want to know what it is called. Not to begrudge a reasonable question, I have explained conjunctions (to bewildered looks), prepositions (to enthusiastic examples), and pronouns (to extreme amusement). The Barracuda has completely fallen in love with this idea of pronouns. They are sneaky, ninja nouns. They are transformer nouns who get to put on disguises and change characters. They are ultimately much cooler nouns that just your common or proper noun. So, now we find pronouns as well. Currently, pronouns get to be the same color as regular nouns because my insistence. However, as his handle of language gets better they will most likely become purple, the most coveted color in the entire color wheel. Prepositions are a second favorite part of speech. They are bossy; they tell all the other parts of speech where to go. They are the leaders in all of the Follow-the Leader sentence games. If one had to be a part of speech, and could not be a pronoun, a preposition would definitely be the next best thing! Currently, prepositions always get to be purple!
I'm quite impressed with his ability to assimilate knowledge and retain it. He can now pick most nouns out faster than I can underline them. His definition is down cold. He can definite a noun in his sleep. Application of said definition is sometimes a bit sketchier. Difficult words, most frequently, are nouns before they are the right answer. Nouns are apparently very prolific in our language encompassing such words as "could", "when", "and", and "once." Any word we haven't underlined yet appears to be safely considered a noun until otherwise noted. However, as soon as I rule out a word as a noun, he quickly can explain why it didn't make any sense for "brown" to be a noun, thus designating it an adjective.
He also has gotten quite good at complimenting his own use of language. "This marker is completely useless!" he will say. Quickly followed by a surprised, "Useless...that was a good adjective I just used." From the other room I swiftly stifle my laughter.
Labels: English
