Subject Describers!

I know... I know... I'm not posting every week like I had originally planned.  That is definitely going to be a New Year’s Resolution of mine ('cause it's much more plausible that I will post more regularly, than go on a diet to lose weight!).  With that said....

This week in writing, we will look at Subject Describers.  Subject Describers do just what the title says; they describe the subject in the sentence.  Our focus will be on what the subject "looks like", such as color, texture, smell, size, shape, and taste, in order to add more depth and detail to our stories. 

For example:

    The tan wired haired terrier barked because the small child screamed.

In this sentence, the subject of the sentence is "terrier".  We described the terrier as being tan in color and having a wired hair texture.  Thus, tan and wired haired are both Subject Describers.

So, in a sense, Subject Describers work like Adjectives, the only difference being that Adjectives describe any noun in a sentence.  Like in the example sentence above, the word "child" is a noun, and "small" describes the child, but "small" is not a subject describer because "child" is not the subject of the sentence, it is only an Adjective.  Confused?  I was too at first, but when you look at the big picture of how the Written Expression program works you realize that "because the small child screamed" is a Why Expander and is labeled as such.  BUT, don't let this blow your mind... for the older generation, like myself, if it's easier to think of "tan" and "wired haired" as an adjective... do just that, it's all the same but with a different name. :)

Because Subject Describers work along the same lines as Adjectives, this is the perfect time to examine how adjectives should be used in a sentence.  Specifically, adjectives that compare, as with the words: more and most, good, better, and best, bad, worse, and worst, and words that end in -er and -est.  These are skills that will more than likely be tested on the grammar portion of the STAAR test.  I will be adding a new page under "Parent Resources" over the rules for using the comparison adjectives listed above, in case it's been awhile and a brief refresher is needed.

Remember... everything that is taught in Grammar, is expected to be used in Writing.  Thus, as we begin to explore narrative writing in more detail over the next three weeks, the skills obtained in Grammar should transcend over into the students writing.  We will look at writing with detail, not only by adding Expanders to our sentences, but also with Subject Describers (Adjectives) in an attempt to provide a more vivid picture in the minds of our readers.

Looking Ahead:

As all of my parents are aware, recently our students took a Writing Benchmark just before the Christmas break.  This benchmark was designed by school district personnel (not classroom teachers), and was to be used as a tool for classroom teachers to see where our students area of weaknesses lie in Grammar and Writing.  I'd say the kids did... okay, I had more failures than I would have liked, but there were many factors that played into why the kids performed at the level they did.  To say the least, the test was written poorly, and I have no problems shouting that from the roof tops for the entire district to hear!!  And, we need to take into account some skills that had not necessarily been taught or reviewed by the testing date.  Simply put, I gave the benchmark because I was told to by the district.  These grades were NOT recorded in the grade book and will NOT affect your child’s average in Writing. 

I will be looking at giving another "benchmark" of my own, written by an independent publishing company, after I have finished teaching all of the skills and objectives required by the state, which should be by the last week in February.  Comparing the two test scores will give me a much better picture of what the kids are learning and what I still need to focus on before dooms day... I mean, the day of the STAAR test (March 27th and 28th).  This last "benchmark" will also be the deciding factor for who will be attending the WRITTING ACADEMY!  There will be more details to come on the Writing Academy, so stay posted.

I kinda got on my soap box over the benchmark, it's a sore spot for me, as I am NOT a believer in "setting the kids up for failure" as I believe our district did in this case.  But, please keep in mind, (as I too have to remind myself from time to time) that no one knows what the new STAAR test will look like, so preparing for it can be a bit difficult, just know that we are working very hard in class every day to achieve success and we'll get there together!