I.                    Getting Started/Warm-Up Activity:                                                        5 min.

Write Quotation on the board, below:

“Those who write clearly have readers; those who write obscurely have commentators.”  (Albert Camus.) 

Ask the class, “What do you think it means?”

If no one responds, ask the students:  “Do you know what ’obscurely’ means?”

(In context, it seems to be the opposite of clearly, which is correct.)

Ask, “ What is a commentator?” – a commentator is person who makes explanatory remarks.  Difficult books sometimes have commentaries.

By then, someone should conclude that:

If a person writes unclearly, most people will not understand what he has written.  Therefore, if a person wants to share his ideas, he needs to learn to write clearly, so that readers can understand his ideas.

 

II.                  Review (from previous day)                                                                    2 min.

“We have been talking about awkward sentences, which are sentences that do not sound right, are easily misunderstood, or do not quite make sense.  Yesterday, we talked about sentences where the pronouns cause confusion.  Today we will discuss a way to think about making our sentences flow, so they will be clear and easy to understand.”             

 

III.                Introduction (for today’s lesson)                                                            3 min.

One property of good writing is “parallel construction.”  A sentence that lacks parallel construction can sound awkward or unintentionally strange sounding.  Sometimes, parallel construction can eliminate repetitive sentences.

 

                  Today,

1.)     We will do some examples together of how to fix sentences that are not parallel, I will ask for volunteers.

2.)     After that, I will give you a paragraph to rewrite on your own.

3.)     For homework, you will need to find or write two sentences that are not parallel, and rewrite them with correct parallel construction. 

 

IV.               Points/Objectives of Lesson & Rationale:

 

National Standard #6 – “Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.”

 

Per Objective 6.01 – “model an understanding of conventional written expression by using phrases and clauses correctly, including proper punctuation, (e.g. prepositional phrases, appositives, dependent and independent clauses).” 

 

To learn the basic idea of parallel construction, (without the detailed grammatical explanations studied in high school or college.)  Students will observe sentences that are non-parallel in verbs, adverbs, adjectives, and direct objects, and how to remedy the problems. 

           

 Parallel construction is a sophisticated concept for middle school students.  However, many should be able to notice and imitate sentences that are parallel if the teacher illustrates the concept with sufficient examples.  Some students will not be able to understand this. 

 

V.                 Materials Needed:

Lesson plan, overhead and marker, or blackboard and chalk. 

Teacher can make transparency ahead of time for sample sentences, leaving space for rewritten sentences.

Teacher can make second transparency for independent practice paragraph.

Students will need paper and pen or pencil, and homework notebook.

(Please see the end of this document for Internet resources.)

 

VI.               Guided Practice (teacher/student):                                                       20 min.

(Write sentences on the board or on the overhead):

 

#1.) Eduardo picked up his books, Eduardo picked up his pens, and

       Eduardo picked up his backpack.

 

 “In this sentence, we can replace the repetition with a sentence using parallel construction.  You do not need to repeat the verb “’picked up.’”

 

“See how this sentence means the same thing, without repeating itself:  ‘Eduardo picked up his books, pens, and backpack.’”

 

Write sentences below on board, or read in turn from overhead:

Ask for each sentence in turn,  “What is wrong with this sentence?”  “How could you reword it to be more understandable?”

 

If students do not suggest a reasonable answer, the teacher will have to tell them, and then encourage them to attempt the next question. 

 

#2.)   He has started making kites and to fly them.

 

#3.)  The train traveled neither quickly nor was it smooth.

 

#4.)  All he learned as a freshman was to make his bed and opening         bags of potato chips.

      Answer Key :

 

Improved sentences with parallel construction:

 

#2.)  He has started making and flying kites.

Or

  “He has started to make and fly kites.

 

“Note that ‘making and flying’ or ‘to make and fly,’ sound better together, since they are parallel constructions.”

 

                 #3.) “The train proceeded neither quickly nor smoothly.”

                 

    “Note that quickly & smoothly are parallel adverbs; adverbs usually end in ‘ly’”

      “Can you change this to a straightforward sentence? How? 

                     “The train ride wasn’t quick, and it wasn’t smooth.”  (This is just one possibility.)

 

             #4.)  All he learned as a freshman was how to make his bed and how                        to open bags of potato chips. 

                  OR

All he learned as a freshman was making his bed and opening bags of potato chips.”       

 

         Tell students, “There is usually more than one way to fix a sentence, as these examples show.”   “Do you have any questions about parallel sentences?”

 

VII.             Independent Practice  & Assessment:                                                       20 min.

Write paragraph below on overhead, or use transparency prepared earlier.

“Please fix this paragraph to contain logical parallel sentences, and hand it in today:”

 

When I was in high school, I walked to school.  When I was in high school, I walked home everyday.  When I was in high school, I walked to my job at the corner store.  I walked to church every Sunday. 

My hometown street is lined with both maple trees and there are pine trees.  My boyfriend was tall, blonde, and was handsome.  I had a friend named Shirley.  I had a friend named Lauren, and I had a friend named Katie.  Sometimes we went rollerblading.   Sometimes we went bicycle riding.  Other times we walked to the park to check out the boys.  I miss high school.  I miss my friends.  I miss the good times we had. 

Alternative – if students are having major difficulty, let them work in pairs on this exercise, or take it home to finish.

               

VIII.           Closure/Expectations (for tomorrow’s lesson)                                      5 min.

“We see that that nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs can be involved in parallel construction.  For homework, please find or write two sentences that are not parallel.  Then rewrite your improved ‘parallel’ version.  It is fine to ask for help from your parents for this!”

 

(If students finish early, tell them they can read quietly until the end of class.)

 

 

 

You can find additional information on parallel sentence construction on the following web sites:

 

http://www.canadianwritersguide-2e.nelson.com/includes/HED/buscomm/PDF/Module32.PDF

 

http://www.myenglishteacher.net/parallelism.html

 

http://www.okc.cc.ok.us/echo/handouts/parallelism.htm

 

http://www.fortunecity.com/bally/durrus/153/gramex28.html