Top 20, Great Grammar for Great Writing, First Edition Teaching Notes

Top 20, Great Grammar for Great Writing, FirstEditionTeaching Noteshttp://esl.college.hmco.com/instructorsCopyright Houghton Mifflin CompanyChapter 18Adverb ClausesOverviewThis chapter reviews adverb clauses and the subordinating conjunctions that are commonin these clauses. Information about avoiding verb tense shift is also presented. Adverbclause reductions and dangling modifiers are included in the chapter as well.Teaching NotesAdverb Clauses and Subordinating Conjunctions (18.1)Common subordinating conjunctions are listed in this section. They are separated intofunctional categories. Instructors may choose to do a short oral review of sentences withsubordinating conjunctions, reading complex sentences out loud and asking the studentsto explain what the function of each one is. Then students can practice the same skill inwriting in Exercise 1. The editing practice found in Exercise 2 focuses on placement ofthe adverb clause and punctuation. Students get more writing practice with adverbclauses in Exercise 3. As this is an original writing activity, students should beencouraged to share their answers with a partner or with the whole class.Adverb Clauses and Verb Tense (18.2)Maintaining logical verb tenses in each clause is an important point when writing adverbclauses. This short exercise (Exercise 4) asks students to pay attention to the verb givenand to complete the sentences with the appropriate verb tense. Exercise 5 is acombination activity. Students are asked to complete the adverb clauses and to connectthem with the main sentence. As this is an original writing activity, students should beencouraged to share their answers with a partner or the rest of the class. Exercise 6functions purely as a writing exercise, where students must rewrite six sentences fromExercise 5. Instructors with limited time can choose to forego this exercise.Adverb Clause Reductions—Forming Adverb Phrases (18.3)Reducing adverb clauses to phrases is a very important skill in academic writing. Byusing the blackboard and physically drawing a line through or erasing parts of thesentence which can be eliminated, teachers can give a clear visual representation of thereduction. It is at this point that instructors should explain dangling modifiers (18.3.1).Exercise 7 can be completed with the students working in pairs. In this way, the studentscan negotiate the meaning of the sentences and discuss whether the reduction is in fact adangling modifier or not. Exercise 8 reviews the information presented in the chapter.Students can work on this exercise alone and then check their answers with a classmatebefore checking their answers with the instructor.1