Conjunctions; Carnegie Museum

Conjunctions are important for children to learn because, to quote the conjunction junction song, they "[hook] up words, phrases and clauses."  Children often employ conjunctions, but may use them incorrectly.  For example, the may say "and" too many times in a sentence so that it becomes a run-on sentence; or they may start a sentence with a conjunction such as "because" which is frowned upon by many teachers.  Learning to use conjunctions appropriately is helpful for good oral communication, as well as writing skills.

Common conjunctions for children include "and," "but" and "or."  The Carnegie Museum of Art is a great place to stimulate language.  I suggest taking your child to look at the paintings, and asking her to describe what she sees (using conjunctions).

Here are some pieces at the museum:

Water Lilies 1921, Monet

Image retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/mbell1975/5284519572/.

Ask your child what she sees.  Target may include, "I see lily pads and water," or "I see green and pink and blue."  If she just says, "I see lily pads," then ask her what else she sees, or prompt her by saying "...and?"  Her response should be, "I see lily pads and water."  If she lists the colors and uses "and" too much, such as, "I see green, and blue, and white, and pink and purple and yellow..." then gently instruct her that she has over-used the word "and" and that it makes more sense to list the colors, as in "I see green, blue, white, pink, purple and yellow."  It is most helpful if you model this for her.  You may want to take turns saying what you see in a painting so that you can provide a framework for her grammar.  And please remember that each response of hers does not need to be perfect.  This activity should provide practice and enjoyment.

The Garden in the Rue Cortot at Montmarte 1876, Renoir

Image retrieved from http://www.topofart.com/artists/Pierre-Auguste_Renoir/art_reproduction/1876/The_Garden_in_the_Rue_Cortot_at_Montmartre.php.

You can lead your child into using the "and" conjunction by asking her what kinds of flowers she sees; the plural use of "flowers" implies an answer including multiplies.  Targets may include, "I see big and little flowers," and "I see red, orange and pink flowers."

You can also lead your child into the "but" conjunction by asking what she sees in the picture...and what she doesn't see.  Targets may include, "I see men but no women," "I see men hunting but no animals," and  "I see flowers but no birds."

Wheatfields after the Rain 1890, van Gogh

 

Image retrieved from http://www.cmoa.org/fine-arts/.

Lead your child into using the "or" conjunction by asking her what kinds of things might be beyond the field.  Targets may include, "A house or a path or a pond," and "Horses, chickens or geese."

Untitled 2010, Wilkes

Image retrieved from http://www.cmoa.org/contemporary-art/.

Prompt your child to use the "or" conjunction by asking her what different things this could be a painting of.  Targets may include, "It could be a painting of a bunny or clouds," and "It might be a bunny on a hill or a bunny underground."

Prepositions; Trains

Prepositions are words that usually precede nouns and pronouns; they express the relationship of nouns/pronouns to another word/element in the sentence (generally in terms of time and space).  There are many prepositions, some of which include:

about, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, at,
before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, but, by,
despite, down, during, except,
for, from,
in, inside, into,
like,
near,
of, off, on, onto, out, outside, over,
past,
since,
through, throughout, till, to, toward,
under, underneath, until, up, upon,
with, within, and without.

Prepositions (and prepositional phrases) are important for children to learn because they make language more descriptive.  Also, better proficiency with proper grammar leads to stronger writing skills.

When first learning prepositions, it is helpful for children to begin to conceptualize them in terms of space/location.  I suggest visualizing a house, and relating prepositions to a house: "The sky is above the house;" "The pipes are beneath the house;" "The children are inside the house."

To make grammar more concrete, I suggest encouraging your child to create sentences with prepositional phrases at locations with visual interest.  As with the house example, start with prepositions indicating space.  For example, watch trains go by at Station Square.

 

 Image retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/pghbuccos/8282046777/

Have your child describe the trains using prepositional phrases about space.  Targets may include:

"The train is on the tracks," (this preposition describes the relationship of the train to the tacks in terms of space); cue your child by asking, "What is the train on?" if she has difficulty creating the sentence.

"The engineer is inside the train," (this preposition describes the relationship of the engineer to the train in terms of space); cue your child by asking, "Where is the engineer?"

Next, ask your child to describe the trains using prepositional phrases describing time.  Targets may include:

"The train will come back in one week," (this preposition describes the relationship of the train to one point in time); cue your child by asking, "When do you think the train will come back?"

"The train passed us at 6:00," (this preposition also describes the relationship of the train to one point in time); cues your child by asking, "When did the train pass us?"

Writing

It can be difficult to get your school-aged child to practice writing at home, because it may seem like a chore to her or appear irrelevant if it isn't assigned by her teach.  Thus, a fun way to practice writing skills for children is to write poetry.  This allows them to be creative and offers a snappy way to practice writing skills as poems are typically on the shorter side.  Encourage your child to write poetry, and she can practice printing, grammar, spelling, organization, vocabulary usage, etc.

It can be hard to get started.  So, I recommend reading some simple poetry and using that to inspire her.  The first type of poetry that children are exposed to is typically nursery rhymes.  Try re-visiting nursery rhymes with your child, and ask her to re-write the poem in a different way.  By referring to another poem, it will provide her with a good framework for writing.

For example, I quickly took the nursery rhyme "London Bridge" and made it Pittsburgh themed.  See below:

Smithfield Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
Smithfield Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.

Patch it up with paste and glue,
Paste and glue, paste and glue.
Patch it up with paste and glue,
My fair lady.

Paste and glue will melt away,
Melt away, melt away.
Paste and glue will melt away,
My fair lady.

Patch it up with sticks and stones,
Sticks and stones, sticks and stones,
Patch it up with sticks and stones,
My fair lady.

Sticks and stones will wash away,
Wash away, wash away.
Sticks and stones will wash away,
My fair lady.

Patch it up with needle and thread.
Needle and thread, needle and thread.
Patch it up with needle and thread,
My fair lady.

Needle and thread will wear away,
Wear away, wear away.
Needle and thread will wear away,
My fair lady.

Patch it up with brass and bronze,
Brass and bronze, brass and bronze.
Patch it up with brass and bronze,
My fair lady.

Brass and bronze will be stolen away,
Stolen away, stolen away.
Brass and bronze will be stone away,
My fair lady.

Send a team to watch all night,
Watch all night, watch all night,
Send a team to watch all night,
My fair lady.

Suppose the team should fall asleep,
Fall asleep, fall asleep.
Suppose the team should fall asleep?
My fair lady.

Give them a TV to watch all night,
Watch all night, watch all night.
Give them a TV to watch all night,
My fair lady.

Tip: Using special paper or writing instruments can also encourage children to write.