July 8, 2024 Summer Skills Class

I have truly been enjoying our first few "summer school" classes! It has been especially wonderful to teach students who have been with me since last September AND students who have just begun their studies at SCALE! During this time, we are (and will be!) learning new skills, revisiting "old" ones, and practicing all of them to mastery! 

Today's classroom lessons inspired practice in the areas you will see below! Have fun, and bring any questions you may have to Wednesday's class!

P. S. If you did not have a chance to share your writing piece today, please bring it to class on Wednesday. I look forward to reading your work! Keep working on the "Quizzes" paper, and we will review that handout on Wednesday, as well.

Part One.
Plural Nouns
Directions: In the following sentences, please decide if the plural noun shown in bold print is spelled correctly.

1. The puppies were so adorable; I wanted to bring them all home!
Correct            Incorrect

2. Sue plans to attend a lot of partys this summer.
Correct            Incorrect

3. There were so many childs at the fireworks last week!
Correct            Incorrect

4. Do you know how many women will be at the event tomorrow evening?
Correct            Incorrect

5. Harry's grandchildren will be visiting him this weekend.
Correct            Incorrect

6. The men who are running for office are all equally qualified to win.
Correct            Incorrect

7. There were so many deers at the zoo; I tried to take a photo of as many as I could!
Correct            Incorrect

8. The O'Sullivans have been running a successful garden shop for the past ten years.
Correct            Incorrect

9. There were lots of bunnys in my yard this morning.
Correct            Incorrect
10. How many cities did you visit on your trip to Maine?
Correct            Incorrect


Part Two.
Plural Possessives
Directions: Please fill in the blanks below with the plural possessive form of the word shown in parentheses.

Example: The (boy's, boys') jackets were given to them by their Aunt Jane at Christmas.
Answer: boys'
Remember to insert our "L Finder" in between the last letter of the word and the apostrophe to see if the word left is the form you want. In this case, the word "boys" would remain, and since "boys" is plural, an added apostrophe s makes it the correct answer as a plural possessive.

1. The (womans', women's) group will be meeting every Tuesday evening in August.
Answer:

2. The (child's, children's) rides at the playground were safe for their age group and fun for all!
Answer:

3. Have you seen the (mens', men's) suit jackets in that department?
Answer:

4. When will we meet our two (friend's, friends') families?
Answer:

5. Did you see (Monday's, Mondays') schedule for just next week?
Answer:


Part Three.
The Appositive
Directions: In each of the following sentences, please underline, circle, or highlight the appositive.
Note: An appositive is a word or group of words that renames a noun in a sentence. It is in balance with that noun and offers an effective way of adding more information to our writing.

Example: My dad, the best father in the world, should get an award for all the kindness he showed me in my life.
The appositive is shown in bold print above. It is another way of speaking about "my dad" and can take its place in the sentence. For instance, we could simply say: The best father in the world should get an award for all the kindness he showed me in my life. We could also say: My dad should get an award for all the kindness he showed me in my life. But having both in the sentence gives us more information about how the author feels about her dad!

Now it's your turn!

1. At the restaurant, I ordered fish, an Alaskan salmon.
2. The doctor, a well-known surgeon from Massachusetts General Hospital, will be speaking at the event.
3. Massachusetts, the state where we all currently live, is part of New England.
4. Did you see that beautiful car, a 2024 Ferrari?
5. His brother, Tom, is going to college now.
6. My friend Sandy works in Boston.
7. I will be going for a swim at the beach, Hampton Beach, and then I'll get ready for the concert.
8. I took two tests, the HiSET and a GED, and I feel confident enough to pass all subjects!
9. His favorite color, purple, was used to decorate the poster's design.
10. Marie's favorite band, the Rolling Stones, put on a great show the other night!
11. I always enjoy visiting Cape Cod, my favorite vacation spot!
12. Jill picked up the book, an exciting Agatha Christie mystery, and planned to read well into the night.

Bonus: Please find a singular possessive noun in one of the sentences above!

Bonus 2: Now find a contraction in one of the sentences above.

Bonus 3: Select one (or more) of the sentences above and make it the opening line of a paragraph you will write. Create a story around it, and add four to five more sentences. In your story, be sure to include one more appositive of your own.