THE
MYSTERIOUS SCHWA
Vowels have
only two sounds – short and long – right? Not exactly. Some
have more than two sounds; e.g., there’s the short –a as in
at, the long –a as in cake, and the sound a makes in father. Then
there’s the sound made by two of the a’s in Alaska. The symbol
for the sound of those a’s is the schwa, the indeterminate sound
of a vowel in an unstressed syllable (wagon; item; about)
Why am I
telling you this? Because it’s one more way in which a strict adherence
to phonics can be misleading. Students would have to be taught that sometimes
vowels make a sound different from their usual ones, the sound made by
a schwa.
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CONJUNCTIONS:
CONNECTING IDEAS WITH and, but, or
Conjunctions
connect other words, phrases, clauses, sentences or ideas; they include and, but, or, so, because, although and combinations such as even though, and too, and so, either, and neither.
For this
exercise, prepare a number of paired sentences, some of which can be logically
joined by but or or, as well as some sentences which require internal
commas and a conjunction. Portions of your student’s writings might
might serve as subjects for this exercise. In any case, don’t discuss
more than one or two conjunctions a single lesson. [Note the use of a
comma preceding the conjunction in some of the examples below.]
Examples:
1. I read
the article. I didn’t agree with it.
I read the article, but I didn’t agree
with it.
2. Do you
want to play tennis? Do you want to go to a movie?
Do you want to play tennis, or go to a movie?
3. I saw
a movie and a play.
When and connects only two words or phrases
within a sentence, no comma is used.
4. I saw
a movie, a play, and a TV show.
When and connects three or more items within
a sentence, commas are used.
[Also correct: I saw a movie, a play and a TV show.] (No comma before and.)
5. I have
a collection of paperweights. Books make good companions.
A conjunction does not apply here. Why not?
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WORKING
ON THE RAILROAD
The table
below is adapted from a railroad schedule. It’s easy to make your
own train or bus schedule. You could vary the schedule by entering the
names of station stops between the two termini. Alternatively, you may
wish to use an actual train or bus schedule.
AM/PM
* Does not stop at Meriden; L Local; P 7/4 and 12/25 only; X Stops only for passengers;
S Operates Saturdays and Sundays only; E Express – no local stops
Questions
1. Which train makes the fastest trip from New Haven to Hartford?
2. Which train travels from New Haven to Hartford on Sundays?
3. How long does it take train # 62 to travel from Hartford to New
Haven?
4. Which trains (in both directions) stop at Meriden?
5. If you were on train number 66, you would be traveling from ___
to ___.
6. Which train would you NOT take if you wanted to go to Meriden?
As you see, you can develop a large number of questions of varying difficulty
from this type of chart.
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