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This week's learning is identifying infinitive and gerund phrases and identifying mood, imagery, and style in a piece of literature. Lovely lessons that will herald in the holiday with festive language.

I absolutely love, love, love practicing writing sentences that begin with phrases. A sentence that begins with a phrase is just so much more interesting than other sentence structures.

Keith Polette does an amazing job with his "Ten Different Ways to Begin a Sentence." Here is my adaptation of his strategy using participles, infinitives, and gerunds (and their respective phrases). 

Hanging on small pegs, the stockings lent an air of festivity to the otherwise drab fireplace. 
Melissa wanted to hang the stockings in order to create a sense of anticipation.
Hanging the stockings is my favorite part of decorating for the holidays.

Have your students create their own holiday sentences using phrases and clauses. 

Another Polette strategy is having your students write a "gerund poem". Start your poem off with an activity or event (ex. Christmas) and describe the event using gerunds.

Christmas is...

Hanging Stockings with Care

Caroling with friends

Drinking eggnog on a winter eve

Wrapping presents in secret

Unwrapping gifts with glee.

Create your own poem and share it with your students; they'll see that both gerunds and poetry are nothing to be afraid of.

While learning about and using gerunds (and other types of phrases), take this time to encourage your students to develop their own style of writing. Author's style involves three main components: word choice, sentence structure, and tone. Encourage the use of precise nouns and strong verbals to develop your students' own writing style.

Grammar doesn't have to be taught in rote. By adding other elements to the lesson, you can teach your students that writing is a way to express themselves on so many different levels.

Mrs. Etheridge