| Grade Level | System Requirement | Product Number |
|---|---|---|
| Grades 5-6 | Apple 128K | A273 |
| Students learn to recognize parts of speech, edit usage problems, and expand sentences with prepositional phrases while taking on the roles of newspaper reporters, editors, and staff writers. A special decoding game helps kids see patterns in words.Features a true-to-life newsroom settingBuilds a greater command of language by developing more complex grammar skills. | ||
INTRODUCTION
Grammar Gazette is a set of three programs designed to provide fifth- and sixth-grade students with opportunities to strengthen their grammar skills. Students assume the role of a reporter, editor, or staff writer as they practice recognizing basic parts of speech, editing a news article for correct usage, and creating a prepositional phrase and expanding a sentence with the phrase. A fourth program, a cryptogram game, gives students an opportunity to decode words and see patterns in words.
The guiding philosophy in the development of the MECC Grammar Series includes the following:
- The products should be interactive so that students realize that using accepted grammar “can make things happen.”
- Students should not simply be drilled on grammar principles; rather, they should “experience” grammar in meaningful contexts.
- The products should have a central theme and should either create stories or allow students to practice skills within stories.
ThedesignofGrammarGazettesupportsthisphilosophy. Eachofthethreeinstructional programs reinforces objectives related to grammar skills typically introduced formally in grades five and six. Each of the activities, however, is based in meaningful context, allowing students to create a story or add to an existing story.
For example, in the program W eird News, students edit four errors in a short news article. Each of the errors in the article is related to problems in usage of nouns, pronouns, action verbs, adjectives,andtroublesomehomophones. Asstudentscorrectlyedittheseerrors,theycan completethearticlewiththeirownwriting. Studentscanprintthecompleteeditedstories.
Students can exit a program by pressing the Escape (Esc) Key whenever the program is waiting foraresponse. SoundmaybeturnedonoroffatanytimebytypingControl-S(presstheSKey while holding down _the Control Key).
Grammar Gazette is a product from MECC’s Grammar Series. Two other products in the series, Grammar Toy Shop (targeted for grades one and two) and Grammar Monsters (designed for grades three and four), also give students practice with grammar skills.
Program Information
Title: Grammar Gazette
Grade Level: 5-6
Subject Area: Grammar
Program Type: Guided practice, Exploratory, Educational game
Hardware: Apple Il series computer with 128K of memory and one disk drive; color monitor highly recommended.
Classroom Use: Individual student
Learning Objectives:
- to recognize singular, plural, proper, singular possessive, and plural possessive nouns; past-, present-, and future-tense verbs; adjectives and comparing adjectives; adverbs; prepositions; and interjections;
- to edit errors in usage of nouns, pronouns, action verbs, adjectives, and troublesome homophones;
- to create prepositional phrases;
- to expand sentences with prepositional phrases;
- to complete a news article; and
- to decode messages.