Welcome to Mrs. Duffer's Class

Unit 1

Week 1:       Sentences - A sentence is a group of words that tells a complete idea.  The words are in an order that makes sense.  A sentence begins with a capital letter.  Many sentences end with a period.

Week 2:      Subjects - The subject of a sentence tells who or what does something. 

Week 3:     Predicates - The predicate tells what the subject of a sentence does or is.

Week 4:       Statements and Questions - A statement is a sentence that tells something.  A statement ends with a period.

Week 5:     Commands and Exclamations - A command is a sentence that tells someone to do something.  It ends with a period.  The subject of a command is you, but you is usually not shown.

Week 6:      Writing Project:  A Story About Me

Unit 2

Week 1:  Nouns - A noun names a person, place, animal, or thing

Week 2:  Proper Nouns - Proper nouns are special names for people, places, animals, and things.  They begin with capital letters.  Days of the week, months of the year, and holidays also begin with capital letters.  Titles for people begin with capital letters.  Many titles end with a period (.).

Week 3:  Singular and Plural Nouns - A singular noun names one person, place, animal, or thing.  A noun that names more than one is called a plural noun.  You add -s to most nouns to show more than one.  If a noun ends in s, ch, sh, or x, add -es to the noun to show more than one.

Week 4:  Plural Nouns That Change Spelling - A plural noun names more than one person, place, animal, or thing.  Some nouns change spelling to name more than one.

Week 5:  Possessive Nouns - A noun that shows who or what owns something is a possessive noun.  To show ownership, add an apostrophe ( ' ) and -s when the noun is singular.  Add just an apostrophe ( ' ) when the noun is plural.

Week 6:  Writing Project:  How-to Report

Unit 3

Week 1:       Verbs - A word that shows action is a verb.

Week 2:      Verbs with Singular and Plural Nouns - Add -s to a verb to tell what one person, animal, or thing does.  Do NOT add -s to a verb that tells what two or more people, animals, or things do.

Week 3:     Verbs for Present, Past, and Future -                                                                          Today Jeb bakes muffins.  The verb bakes tells about now.  It ends with -s.              Yesterday Jeb baked muffins.  The verb baked tells about the past.  It ends with -ed.   Tomorrow Jeb will bake muffins.  The verb will bake tells about the future.  It begins with will.

Week 4:       More About Verbs -                                                                                                      Today Chris plays the piano. (now)                                                                                      Yesterday Chris played the piano.  (in the past)                                                                     Tomorrow Chris will play the piano.  (in the future)                                   

Week 5:     Am , Is, Are, Was, and Were - The verbs am, is, are, was, and were do not show action.  They show what someone or something is or was.  These verbs are forms of the verb to be.

• The verbs am, is, and are tell about now.                                                                                   I am an inventor.                                                                                                                          Jen is an inventor.                                                                                                                        Des and Ali are inventors.
• The verbs was and were tell about the past.                                                                       Bill was an inventor.                                                                                                                 Kate and Sean were inventors.        

Use am, is, and was to tell about one person, place, or thing.                                                Use are and were to tell about more than one person, place, or thing.

Week 6:      Writing Project:  Compare and Contrast Essay

UNIT 5

Week 1:  Pronouns - A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun or nouns.  The words he, she, it, we, you, and they are pronouns.

Rosa is a doctor.  She helps people.                                                                                                          

 She takes the place of the noun Rosa.

Dan and Marie are nurses.   They help people too.                                                                         

They takes the place of the nouns Dan and Marie.

Week 2:  Pronouns for One and More Than One - He, she, and it are pronouns that name only one.  We and they are pronouns that name more than one.

     Mom helps animals.  She works for a vet.                                                                                       She is a pronoun that names one person - Mom.

     Sometimes Dad and I help.  We feed the animals.  We is a pronoun that names more than one - Dad and I.

Week 3:  Pronouns I and Me -  The pronouns I and me take the place of your name.  Use I in the subject of a sentence.  Use me after an action verb.  Always write I with a capital letter.

I always wanted a dog.                                                                                                                                My parents gave me a dog.

When you talk about yourself and another person, name yourself last.  The pronouns I and me take the place of your name.

The dog and I sing together.                                                                                                                        People are surprised when they hear the dog and me.

Week 4:  Different Kinds of Pronouns - The pronouns, I, he, she, we, and they are used as subjects of sentences.  The pronouns me, him, her, us, and them are used after action verbs.  The pronouns you and it can be used anywhere in a sentence.

     Calvin has a new bike.  He can't ride it.                                                                                        The pronoun he is the subject of a sentence.                                                                                     The pronoun it is used after the action verb ride.

     Calvin is riding his bike.  Angela helped him.                                                                             The pronoun him is used after the action very helped.

Week 5:  Contractions - A contraction is a short way to put two words together.  An apostrophe (') takes the place of one or more letters.  Contractions can be formed by putting together a pronoun and another word, such as will, are, or is.

     We will clean up the mess.  We'll clean up the mess.

Many contractions are formed with verbs and the word not.

     We should not have done that.  We shouldn't have done that.

Week 6:  Writing Project

     We will be learning how to write a persuasive letter.

Unit 6

Week 1:  Using Capital Letters - Days of the week, months of the year, and holidays begin with capital letters.

     The first day of January is New Year's Day.

Titles for people begin with capital letters.

     Every year Mr. Lewis has a big party.

Week 2:  Quotation Marks - Quotation marks (" ") show the beinning and ending of the words someone says.  The speaker's name and words such as said or asked are not insdie the quotation marks.

     "What is a symbol?" asked Kim.        

     "A symbol is something that stands for something else," Jerome said.

Week 3:  Using Commas

Commas are used in addresses:

     212 S. Oak Lane, Tucson, AZ  85742

Commas are used in dates:

     January 31, 1929                                    Tuesday, June 14

Commas are used to separate three or more things in a sentence.

     Krysia wrote letters to Anna, Paul, and Aunt Beth.

Week 4:  Commas in Compound Sentences - Sometimes two sentences have ideas that go together.  These sentences can be combined using a comma and a connecting word, such as and or but.  The combined sentence is called a compound sentence.

     Every summer we get together.  Grandpa tells us stories.                                                          Every summer we get together, and Grandpa tells us stories.

     He tells the same stories.  We like hearing them again.                                                           He tells the same stories, but we like hearing them again.

Week 5:  The Paragraph - A paragraph is a group of sentences about the same idea.  The sentences are in an order that makes sense.  One sentence gives the main idea.  The other sentences give details about the main idea.  The first sentence of a paragraph is indented.

     Carmen has a pinata at her birthday party.  It is shaped like a horse.  It has paper streamers for its mane and tail.  The pinata is beautiful.

Week 6:  Writing Project

     We will be learning how to write a research report.