In a classroom today students were doing this activity orally. They had to select the ending for the sentence.
I like lunch-time at school, but ...
Their choices were
• my mother is nice.
• we get to go outside.
• the salad bar is delicious.
• I hate going in the yard when it rains.
• Fast & Furious is my favorite movie.
One kid says, “I like lunchtime at school, but we get to go outside. “
Now this is definitely a ‘change in direction' (of sorts) , but it is clear the student does not understand the relationship between the two clauses. On the spot the teacher (and I) could not think how to explain it well.
Here is the question, and I'd really appreciate you giving this some serious thought and responding. It is real situation that we have to have thought through, and it's part of our ongoing work to develop our own metacognition.
The question.
How might you explain to a student (in as plain English as possible) why this (or indeed the other alternatives that are not correct) is not right. You may prefer to write what makes an ending correct if this is easier for you.
If you want to add to another's response or comment on any of them , please do so.
Thanks in anticipation.
Here's what I would try:
ReplyDeleteThe two parts of a sentence on either end of "but" have to be directly related to one another. One way to think about it might be to say that one part is positive while the other is negative. Both parts of the sentence need to be connected by the fact that they are two ways to see the same thing.
I would probably say something similar to what is above. However, I'm not sure the student doesn't understand the word "but." It's possible that the student doesn't understand the verb "get" vs. the verb "have." (Our ELLs -- and even our non-ELLs -- really don't understand the difference between "have" and "get" which might be worth explaining directly.)
ReplyDeleteHere's what I would do:
I'd stress that "going outside" has to be negative if the word "but" is involved and demonstrate that the verb "get to" sounds positive and doesn't work. I would then re write the sentence on the board as "I like lunch time at school, but we HAVE to go outside," with "have" underlined. I would then make the student do another 2 examples to make sure he/she understands how to use but.
Written by Rich, posted by Coop
ReplyDeleteOne way to think about “but” is as a change in direction. Another way to think about the word is as an indication of opposition. The student’s sentence is more like an add-on, an additional thought: I like lunch time but we get to go outside. Compare that to: I like ice cream but it is fattening. Or, I wasn’t blamed for hitting another student but I was guilty. The two thoughts expressed in the sentence are set in opposition – you like something that isn’t good for you, escaping punishment that should have been yours. In the student’s sentence, try substituting another conjunction for but – I like lunch time because we get to go outside.
I would play with the positive negative idea:
ReplyDelete- I like jazz music, but I don't like classical music.
A student who is struggling may benefit from giving them some sentence frames:
- I like _______________, but I don't like _________________.
-I eat _________________, but I don't eat _________________.
Lauren R.
Similarly to Lauren, I always emphasize the idea of positive and negative, especially if the example lends itself to this. My students have really taken to this idea and is more easily "check-able" than the change of direction explanation. I have taken to using a + and - symbol to denote positive and negative, although as a I am writing this I realize there is a conflict of interest with the + symbol meaning "and, in addition, etc" so that may have be be amended. Nonetheless, the idea of positive-negative or negative-positive has been working like a charm.
ReplyDelete