The letter X is the only consonant in the English language that produces a phoneme that encompasses two sounds. The letter X is a combination of the /k/ and /s/ sounds blended together. The sound would be written as /ks/. As this is the most common of the sounds that X can make, it should therefore be the sound most focused on at the kindergarten level. However, X can also make the /z/ sound, as in the word xylophone. This usage is quite rare in the English dictionary, so should be left out of basic instruction on the letter X.…
While students learn about nouns in elementary school, teachers in middle school often need to give a refresher beyond the basics of the definition: person, place or thing. As middle school students begin to write more sophisticated papers and assignments, they should work on perfecting their grammar, and mastering the noun is part of this. Middle school teachers can employ many noun activities to teach about the various types of nouns found in the English language.
For many college students, studying poetry conjures up images of dusty books and obscure meanings. However, the brevity and emotion of poetry can grab the attention of even the most uninterested student, teaching important truths in the space of just a few readings. College poetry classes let students practice reading comprehension, understand analysis, study meaning and ultimately gain a deeper knowledge of literature and how it relates to the world.
To most English teachers, poetry is exciting, full of figurative language, imagery and emotion. To most students, it is boring and difficult to understand. However, most students do not realize that elements of poetry actually play a part in their daily lives. Teachers can use pop music to teach poetry to students and help them understand that poetry can be relevant, and possibly even cool.
A vowel quadrilateral is a specific type of linguistic graphical representation. Make a vowel quadrilateral in Excel with help from a mechanical engineer with 32 years of experience in this free video clip.
Parents should teach phonics for a wide variety of different developmental reasons. Find out why parents should teach phonics with help from an education professional in this free video clip.
Paraphrasing sonnets is something that you typically have to do in a very specific way to really capture the essence of what is going on. Learn to paraphrase sonnets with help from a professional reading and English tutor in this free video clip.
A number of different grammar games are great for getting a handle on topics like verb shifts. Learn about grammar games using verb shifts with help from a professional reading and English tutor in this free video clip.
Teaching plate tectonics in the classroom can be fun for both the students and the teacher, so long as you approach it in the right way. Learn about classroom activities on plate tectonics with help from a science teacher and writer in this free video clip.
Making syllable breaks in English requires you to keep a few specific things in mind. Make syllable breaks in English with help from a professional development expert in this free video clip.
Identifying the subject and verbs of a sentence is easy, so long as you know the right tricks. Learn about tricks for identifying the subject and verbs of a sentence with help from a professional development expert in this free video clip.
As for many of its other high-end smartphones, Samsung chose the Google Android operating system for its Fascinate model. This operating system offers a number of features, but its word filtering on both text entries and voice-to-text, or VTT, can frustrate some users who prefer not to censor cuss words.
Summarizing is based on recognizing the important aspects of a sample and listing these key features in the summary. The skill of summarizing is beneficial for writing reports, studying for a test and condensing difficult material for future reference. Design lesson plans so that important information is available at a glance, and the entire plan is obvious when a substitute teacher reads it.
College papers use specific formats for citing references in footnotes, endnotes, bibliographies and in-text citations. The professor or college subject area determines what preferred format students should use when composing research papers. Common format options include Modern Language Association, or MLA, American Psychological Association, or APA, Chicago and Turabian. Each style treats citations slightly different, and may require different citation formats for endnotes and footnotes, bibliographies and in-text references. APA style uses in-text citations instead of endnotes or footnotes. Consult your professor to determine which footnote and endnote formats you should use for citing an anthology.
In programming, white space is a set of characters, such as spaces and tabs, that are not interpreted by the compiler, instead used for human readability of code. MATLAB is a software development environment for technical data acquisition, simulation, analysis and graphics. MATLAB supports standard white space conventions, with spaces and tabs considered white space. Newlines can also be considered white space with special syntax.
Compliance with W3C Web page coding standards is becoming more important as several different browsers are in common use and mobile devices proliferate. Adherence to the W3C standards ensures that your Web page displays uniformly, no matter which browser the website visitor uses. Common non-compliance usage will often still work in many of the popular browsers, but verifying your coding against a checklist identifying these issues makes sure that the Web document is in fact W3C compliant.
Adverbs are an integral part of the English language, yet they can be difficult to teach to children because they can modify a variety of parts of speech. One challenge of teaching sixth graders about adverbs is presenting the material in a way that is interesting but also easily understandable.
The Ackermann function – named after its discoverer, the 20th century German mathematician Wilhelm Ackermann – is one of the most important functions in the field of computer science. The input to the function is two positive integers, x and y, and the output is A(x, y) in the form of another positive integer.
Teaching students about the judicial system within the United States involves focusing on all areas of the law. When it comes to teaching the jury portion of trial and case law, utilizing classroom activities is one way to make the concept more understandable. Jury classroom activities teach basic concepts through interactive methods, thus helping educators better explain the somewhat complex topic.
Adverbs tell how, when and where things happen, and they're a vital part of language and communication. They can be difficult for children to learn, however, and teachers must explain exactly what adverbs are and how they function. Through writing exercises and activities, children can begin to understand how adverbs work and when to use them.
The Companion 7000, first distributed by Babylock in 1985, is one of the first computerized sewing machines. With this feature, the machine performs a number of functions relating to the storage of data and data implementation. Equipped with its variety of pre-programmed stitch patterns and the ability for you to program your own, the Companion 7000 has a clear advantage over typical sewing machines.
As you set out to teach the plural of nouns to English language learners, known as ELL, it's important to know exactly what level of English language knowledge they already possess. For some English language learners, you will need to begin a lesson on nouns and plurals at the very beginning. Others may already have an understanding of the basic rules of plural nouns.
First graders must learn about verb tenses in order to begin developing reading comprehension and critical language skills. Lessons about past and present verbs should consist of visual and interactive activities. Not only do first graders need to constantly see how past and present verbs are spelled, they need experience using them in conversation.
Possessive nouns are tough for many young children to learn because there are so many different ways to express ownership through language. Challenge your children to work with possessive nouns through a variety of activities. Provide the children with practices that ask them to think about possessive noun uses and then challenge you children to actually use the information they learn.
Hiragana is a form of Japanese writing where each symbol represents one syllable. The other two forms of writing are katakana and kanji. Katakana also uses one symbol to represent a syllable. Kanji, adapted from Chinese characters, uses a symbol to represent a word or phrase. Japanese keyboards include hiragana characters as well as the Latin alphabet. You can use hiragana characters by changing the language settings on your computer.
A multisensory approach to teaching letters engages young children through actions to make the learning more meaningful. The activities work well for individual or small group activities, such as a learning center setup in a preschool or early elementary classroom. Keep a variety of multisensory letter activities on hand to give the kids plenty of practice.
When adjusting lessons plans for teaching ESL students with disabilities, instructors must take into consideration the specific needs of the students. After understanding the nature of the disabilities, teachers can begin to incorporate both traditional and innovative techniques into lesson planning. In addition to providing a set structure in every class, instructors can use props and aids to enforce the theory in each lesson. With the rearrangement of curriculum and academic accommodations, students with disabilities can experience equal learning opportunities as other students.
An adverb is a word that describes how, where, when or why an action is completed. It can also modify an adjective or another adverb. Although we use adverbs all the time in spoken and written language, it can be difficult for students to distinguish them from other sorts of words, such as adjectives. Teach your students the basics of adverbs by showing them how to understand whether they answer the questions of how, where and when.
Teaching vocabulary has come a long way from the traditional looking up lists of vocabulary words in the dictionary, copying the definitions and using the words in sentences. Building an extensive vocabulary arsenal is significant in reading comprehension and success in school, but more importantly, the ability to recall a word that uniquely fits a certain situation or conversation can open doors to better employment and aids you in social situations. Successful vocabulary instruction is leaning more toward the process of understanding words instead of pure rote memory. Each year, students should learn between 2,000 and 3,000 new words. By…
National standards for language arts require elementary students to recognize sentence structure and use it properly in written and spoken language. By recognizing parts of speech such as nouns and verbs, students will have the skills to understand and construct meaningful sentences. Providing students with games and mnemonic devices related to nouns and verbs will help them easily remember the parts of speech when reading and writing texts.
Pre-K is an age at which kids are extremely impressionable and receptive to learning new material. It is therefore very important to make sure that your children are exposed to proper language arts education to begin formulating and building their language skills during these essential, formative years. Making a language arts center an enjoyable and appealing part of pre-K is of utmost importance in starting kids off with a positive attitude toward school and learning.
Teach students about adjective and adverb phrases with educational classroom activities. You can modify the activities from easy to difficult depending on the age group. Activities allow the students to have fun while learning. Entice students to play along by awarding prizes like decorative pencils and notepads to activity winners or for a job well done.
Keeping your lesson plan interesting can often feel like a losing battle. Not all students learn or absorb information in the same way. However, simply standing in front of your class and talking at them does not help any student. When you start a unit about tribes, you have the opportunity to catch your students' interest. Tribes are a vital part of history. Getting your students involved in various activities keeps your lesson plan interesting so students can truly learn how important tribes are.
Prepositions are difficult to teach as much as they are difficult to learn for non-English-speaking students. It is hard for students to remember their proper use, especially since there are so many and each has several different functions. It is especially hard for adult students to learn them because they have their own language rules and will initially resist learning new ones. However, there are several activities that can help adult students understand and practice prepositions while keeping them engaged and entertained.
A prefix refers to a combination of letters used at the beginning of a root word to change its meaning. A suffix is a group of letters used after the root word for the same purpose. Knowing these definitions and being aware of how to use them is crucial in improving reading, spelling and comprehension skills. Learning prefixes and suffixes can often be daunting for special education students, so teaching them in a fun way will make learning simpler.
Learning prepositions can be quite difficult for individuals who are studying English as a second language. This is in part because some languages lack prepositional phrases: these languages convey the same meaning either through declensions, tonality or something similar. A craft can help such students visualize the meaning of English prepositions and remember it. However, some rote memorization may still be necessary, as many prepositions also can be conjunctions or other parts of speech in other circumstances.
Teachers use phonics to develop literacy in students by introducing sounds as signals for decoding words. Schools have used phonics on and off since the 19th century as an alternative to the whole-language approach to reading instruction. Promoters of phonics argue that it gives students the basic tools for decoding and reading words rather than just memorizing the words. By using creative ways to teach phonics in classrooms, teachers equip students with these decoding skills and set them up for reading success.
An intro to business class is one of the first classes that students take covering business practices and basics. Students in this class are most likely college freshmen or sophomores, unfamiliar with the business world. There are several activities that teachers can use to get students thinking about how the business world works and whether they want to pursue a business career. These activities can also work in a high school setting.
Speeches are given formally in work presentations, college courses and debates and casually at weddings, homecomings and other celebrations. Regardless of the nature of a speech, people usually feel intimidated by the idea of speaking in front of a group of people. Knowing the material helps to eliminate some of the fear attached to public speaking by making you feel comfortable. Memorizing a speech also helps you gain confidence onstage and avoid boring the audience by reading from a page.
Noun clauses can be difficult for beginning learners. Recognizing the structure of a sentence depends on recognizing its components, the parts of speech and their functions, and ultimately how they each relate to another. While English grammar presents its own complexities, there are a few approaches to teaching noun clauses that allow a student to relax and absorb the material.
Mistakes can be made during data collection and integration, and analysts need to know how to identify and rectify these mistakes. This is called data cleaning, or data scrubbing. This is not an exact science, and sometimes the decision of what to do is based on the analyst's judgment; however, she knows that not only is it important to have a sufficient quantity of data -- it must be of a reputable quality, too.
Middle school standards for language arts require students to recognize and apply language structure and conventions. Prefixes and suffixes affix to root words to add information and help define a term. Prefixes precede the root word while suffixes attach to the end. When students know the common prefixes and suffixes and understand how they affect word meanings, they will then have the ability to define words by breaking them into parts.
A noun clause -- a phrase containing a subject and a verb attached to a complete sentence, such as “Jerry will come if he can” -- functions as a noun. Keywords signal the beginning of a noun clause, helping students quickly identify them. The clause can function as the sentence subject, the object of the sentence or the object of a preposition. Use activities to reinforce the student’s ability to identify noun clauses.
Benjamin Bloom of the University of Chicago published the famous "Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Handbook 1, the Cognitive Domain" in 1956, which eventually was shorthanded to "Bloom's Taxonomy." "Bloom's Taxonomy" divides thinking into six different categories: knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation, which make up humanity's "higher-order thinking." You can teach the importance of adjectives and critical thinking through activities that implement the six higher-order thinking categories.
Reading lessons teaching differences between long and short vowel sounds often involve sitting still for long periods of time. Introduce activities and games to keep students interested in the lesson. Present information in various formats to suit different learning styles. Try these suggestions for teaching short vowel sounds with physical activity, rhyming, clapping and arts and crafts.
Learning the basics of nouns and verbs can seem a bland subject of study. Instead of asking your learner to engage in rote memorization or testing with drills, offer her a craftier practice option by engaging her in the creation of noun and verb craft projects. After creating several noun- and verb-themed craft products, she likely will have a better grasp on the concept of parts of speech and have something cute to show for her efforts.
Including a poem excerpt within your essay helps take up page space, but also offers the risk of losing points. You must format the excerpt according to its length. A shorter length requires one type of format while a longer length requires a different type. When you use the incorrect format your teacher will deduct grade points and may not understand the poetry excerpt you quote, or an interested reader may not be able to find the place or poem from which you quoted the excerpt.
Teaching grammar is one of the hardest things about teaching ESL. While students can easily grasp words, expressions and tonality, not all students will understand what, exactly, grammar is. If you are going to teach the future tense to your ESL students, make sure that they understand the role of tenses and verbs in grammar. Once you have done that, there are many strategies to use to teach the future tense specifically.
Subject-verb agreement in English is one of the most confusing aspects for all language learners, including native English speakers. For English as a Second Language students, the subject-verb agreement concept is especially difficult and time-consuming as shown in the ground-breaking research book "Language Two" by Heidi Dulay, Marina Burt and Stephen Krashen. Use a variety of activities to teach ESL students how to acquire subject-verb agreement.
Reading is a major component of helping English as a second language (ESL) students improve their understanding of the language. Reading can help students develop correct speech because, after learning how each sound looks on page, they will be able to relate the written word to what they say and see where they go wrong in pronouncing.