(I’m cleaning out my desktop for the new year, which means posting various tidbits I saved all here so I can search for them later!)
Teaching English Rules
This is a simple way to teach basic English to any age. It gives lots of practice in a very short amount of time each day. I used this over several years to prepare my kids for the ACT test, and they did great. Hint: Always use the best speaking grammar you know how when talking to your children, and they will pick up correct grammar the easy way!

On the first week, teach the first two rules. The students should then write an interesting sentence for each rule that shows they know how to use that rule. For example, to illustrate rules 1-2 they could write:
1. I like to color.
2. Kendal is my best friend.
Each day that week, they should write a new sentence for each rule. The next week, teach the next rule. Now the students will write a sentence for rules 1-3. Keep teaching new rules, and assigning all the rules learned so far. When the student has learned 6 rules, allow him/her to show more than one rule in a sentence. My kids enjoyed trying to see how few sentences they could write, but still show all the assigned rules. Eventually you can stop assigning some of the rules if they seem to have been mastered, but go back and review them often. Use these rules year after year. Young students may only get through a few rules in a year. Once the student has practiced a rule for a while, require that rule to be observed in his/her other writing assignments.
THE RULES and example sentences
1.. Use a period, question mark, or exclamation point at the end of a sentence.
2. Capitalize names.
Dad likes to dance on Ash street in Ohio on Easter in April.
3. Don’t capitalize names of kinds of things. (like animals, foods, and plants)
Three deer ate all the roses in my flower garden.
4. Use commas to separate items in lists.
Tristann put marshmallow, chocolate, and a cherry on his ice-cream.
5. Remember the rules for paragraphs
A paragraph is a group of sentences about one topic. The first line of a paragraph should be indented. A paragraph should usually have at least 3 sentences. The first paragraph should be an overall statement that let you know what the whole paragraph will be about.
• A compound sentence is a sentence with two or more sentences joined together.
• A connector is any of the following words: and, but, or
6. Use a comma in a compound sentence with a connector. The most common connectors are the words: and, but, or
Hannah skipped down the sidewalk, and Jessoe followed her.
7. Use a semi-colon in a compound sentence without a connector.
Ben brought an umbrella; he was hoping for rain.
• The subject is the thing or person doing the action.
8. Use a comma in front of the subject.
After winning the basketball game, the team celebrated at Taco Time.
9. Use there, their, they’re correctly.
They’re is the contraction for the two words: they are
They’re my best friends.
Use their when they own something.
They dyed their hair orange.
”There” is used in these two ways:
There are two doors in my house.
I put the keys over there.
10. Use two, to, too correctly.
It is too soon to know if I need to put two more cookies on the plate.
I want to go too.
11. Use its, it’s correctly:
It’s time to go to work. It’s = it is
It licked its fur. its = shows that something is owned
• Possessives are words that show something/someone owns something.
12. Use possessives correctly:
singular: The bird’s feathers were blue.
Charles’s coat was warm. (Or Charles’ coat was warm.)
plural: All the birds’ nests were empty.
The children’s faces were clean.
13. Capitalize titles:
Capitalize the first and last word and all important words.
The Adventures of Captain Hook and the Island of Never-Never Land
14. Underline titles of whole, long works:
titles of books Black Beauty
movies The Little Mermaid
15. Use quote marks around titles of short works or parts of works:
songs “Blue Suede Shoes”
poems “The Highwayman”
chapters ” Adventures in the Cave”
articles “Bush to Authorize Tax Cut”
16. Quotation rules:
Put quotation marks around direct quotes.
Capitalize the first word of a quote.
Use commas to separate the quote from the sentence.
Put ending punctuation inside the quote.
“Please,” directed the Policeman, “Stay inside your car and show me your drivers license.”
17. For quotes inside quotes use apostrophes.
Dad said, “When I was young, your grandfather would always say, ‘Keep the shower curtain inside the tub!’ “
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18. Note punctuation and form for a friendly letter.
January 20, 2001
Dear Mom, (Comma after greeting)
I hope your holiday was great. Thanks for the amazing tie; it will be fun to see everyone’s reaction when I wear it. I’ll enjoy the fuzzy new socks too. Tell everyone hello for me. I will call you soon.
Love,
Dan
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19. Form and punctuation for a business letter. (Be direct, formal, brief and polite.)
Mr. Dan Smith (Your address)
144. Riverside
Pocatello ID 83201
Acme Company (Who you are writing to)
1111. W. Factory Rd.
Chicago IL 20014
July 29, 2002
Dear Sir: (Semicolon after greeting)
On January 3, 2002, I ordered a Doohickey 2000, item 336 from your Jan. 2002 catalog. Although it has been over 6 months, I have still not received the part. Please refund my payment of $25.99 immediately.
Sincerely,
Mr. Dan Smith
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20. Writing Effectively
Choose specific words that really say what you mean.
Avoid repeating the same words over and over.
(Bad Example) I had fun. The movie was fun.. It was fun to see everyone.
(Better) Yesterday was packed with all my favorite activities. The movie was exciting and it was great to see everyone.
21. Vary the length of your sentences – some long, some short.
What an evening! After the exciting movie, we savored the Chicken Alfredo and salad at the Olive Garden. We also had strawberry shortcake. The romantic walk along the beach was the perfect ending to the day.
22. Keep your sentences in the same tense (time).
Wrong: We were at the movie and I am so tired, I fell asleep.
This sentence starts out in the past tense and changes to present tense then back to the past..
Correct: We were at the move and I was so tired, I fell asleep.
More Examples:
I sing songs and play the piano. (present)
I sang songs and played the piano. (past)
I will sing songs and play the piano. (future)
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Use these words as shown by the examples:
Practice the ones your student needs help with.
23. I / ME
Use “I” as the subject, usually at the beginning of a sentence.
”Me” is used as an object, usually near the end of a sentence.
I am going to the movies, do you want to come with me?
John and I are going out to dinner.
Do you want to come with John and me?
24. HE / HIM
”He” is used as a subject usually near the beginning of a sentence.
”Him” as an object, usually found near the end of a sentence.
He and Jessie are good students.
I want to be just like Jessie and him.
25.HAVE
I have a new car.
We have a new car.
They have a new car.
You have a new car.
26. HAS
He has a car.
She has a car.
It has a car.
27 .THOSE/THEM
Look at those birds.
He wants those CDs.
Look at them.
He wants them.
288.WENT
I went to a movie.
I have gone to that movie twice.
29. WAS/WERE
I was going to call you.
He was going to call you.
You were going to call me.
We were going to call you.
Jim and Bill were going to call you.
30. MAD/ANGRY
Mean people make me angry.
Rabies can make dogs go mad.
31. Use “I ” at the beginning of a sentence. Use “me” at the end of a sentence.
I went to the mall.
Tom and I went to the mall.
Tom went with me.
Tom went with Julie and me.
32. SEE/SAW/SEEN
I see you over there.
I saw you yesterday.
I have seen that movie three times.
33. DO/DID
I do 20 push-ups each day.
I did 30 sit-ups yesterday.
I have done chin-ups for three days.
34. WON/BEAT
I won the game.(Not: I won him)
He beat me at checkers. (Not: He won me at checkers.)
35. TEACH/LEARN
Please teach me how to sing.
I want to learn how to sing.
36. LIE/LAY
Chickens lay eggs.
I need to lie down.
37. GOT/HAS
She has a pretty smile. Better than: She’s got a pretty smile.
I got the measles. (got means to obtain)
38. LEND/LOAN
Would you lend me your baseball glove? (Lend is a verb.)
I got a loan at the bank. (Loan is a noun.)
Southeast Idaho Homeschool Association Home Page
Copyright 2002 [Southeast Idaho Homeschool Association]. All rights reserved.
Revised: June 21, 2005.
Phonics Blends
• Ending double consonants; help, jump, belt, sand, etc.
• The letter “S” added to the end of words to make plurals; cats, dogs, goats, nuts, etc.
• ‘s added to words so show possession; Ann’s, cat’s, Bob’s, etc.
• Simple consonant blends; st, bl, cl, tr, sw, etc.
• Special consonant blends; sh, ch, wh, ph, kn.
• Single ending vowel that is long; we, he, me, she, so, go, no, etc.
• The “ay” combination; pray, hay, play, etc.
• The “oy” combination; boy, toy, etc.
• The letter “Y” making the long sound of i; fly, sky, etc.
• ar, er, and ir; star, car, turn, church, fir, etc.
• all; ball, call, stall, etc.
• ing; bring, sing, string, king, etc. (single syllables)
• The addition of the sight words “to” and “you”
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• SPELLING PLURAL NOUNS
1. Most words add s to the root forms without any change (barn – barns).
2. Words ending in sh, ch, ss, x, and z, usually add es to form the PLURAL (bush – bushes).
3. Words ending in a consonant and y change the y to i and add es (party – parties).
4. Some words ending in f change the f to v and add es (calf – calves).
5. Some singular words have different words for their plural form (man – men; mouse – mice; goose-geese).
SUFFIXES
1. A letter or a syllable placed after a word to form a new word is called a suffix. Some suffixes are s, es, ed, ing, er, est, ly, ful, able, ible, ment, ive, ance, ence, ion, tion, ition, ation, sion, ous, ious, less, and al. Sometimes a word will have two suffixes. For example, respectfully has the two suffixes ful and ly added to the root word respect.
2. Many words are formed by adding ed and ing without any change (furnish – furnished – furnishing).
3. Words ending in a silent e drop the e before adding ed and ing (move – moved – moving).
4. Words ending in a consonant and y change the y to i before adding ed, but do not make any change before adding ing (deny – denied – denying).
5. Words ending in a vowel and y add ed and ing without making any other change (delay – delayed – delaying).
PREFIXES
1. A syllable placed before a word to change its meaning is called a prefix. Some prefixes are im, un, in, co, dis, inter.
DOUBLING THE FINAL CONSONANT
1. Words of one syllable ending in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel double the final consonant before adding ed and ing (trim – trimmed – trimming).
2. Words of two or more syllables double the final consonant before adding ed and ing when these conditions are met: the last syllable ends in a single consonant preceded by a single vowel, and the accent is on the last syllable (refer – referred – referring).
POSSESSIVE FORMS
1. Singular nouns form the possessive by adding an apostrophe and s (pilot – pilot’s).
2. Plural nouns that end in s add only an apostrophe to form the possessive (aviators – aviators’).
3. Plural nouns that do not end in s add the apostrophe and s to form the possessive (men – men’s).
CONTRACTIONS
1. A word or phrase that has been shortened by leaving out some of the letters is called a contraction.
2. An apostrophe is used to show that the letters have been omitted (won’t – will not), (o’clock – of the clock).
CAPITALS
1. The beginning of a sentence is always capitalized (The day was bright and sunny.).
2. The names of holidays are capitalized (Christmas, Valentine’s Day).
3. The names of the months of the year and the days of the week are capitalized (January, Monday).
4. The names of countries are capitalized (United States, Great Britain).
5. When you write the name of a particular avenue or street, capitalize the words avenue and street (Fifth Avenue, Oak Street).
6. The abbreviations Mr., Mrs. and Ms. are always capitalized and followed by a period (Mr. Callahan, Mrs. Perry, Ms. Smith).
7. The names of deities are capitalized (God, Allah, Buddha, Saviour).
8. The word republican is capitalized when it refers to the Republican party (The Republicans won the election.).
9. When words like senator and general are used as titles with a person’s name, they are capitalized (General Herkes distinguished herself in battle.).
10. We capitalize the words capitol, senate, building, supreme and court when referring to the Capitol Building, the Senate, the Supreme Court of Canada.
LETTERS AND SYLLABLES
1. The vowels are a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y and w. The other letters are consonants.
2. Two vowels written together often have the sound of a single vowel. (In brain the ai has the sound of a. In eagle the ea has the sound of a long e, but in bread it has the sound of short e. This rule will help you with the ei and ie words: i comes before e except after c or when sounded like a, as in neighbor and weigh.
3. A syllable is a word or part of a word which has one vowel sound and is spoken as a unit. (boy is a one-syllable word; chil dren is a two-syllable word; or na ment is a three syllable word. In every word of two or more syllables one syllable is given more emphasis than the other. This extra emphasis is called accent, and is shown in the dictionary by an accent mark ( ‘ )
4. (In meet’ ing the first syllable is accented.) Most words have only one accented syllable, but some have more than one (in’ for ma’ tion). The accent that is the heavier is called the primary accent. The other accent is called the secondary accent.
5. In your dictionary each word is re-spelled according to its pronunciation. The vowels are marked according to their sounds, and the accented syllables are shown. The marks for the vowel sounds are called diacritical marks. These marks vary from dictionary to dictionary. Please consult the beginning of your own dictionary for the explanation of diacritical marks used in that particular publication.
6. The two words at the top of each dictionary page are called guide words. The guide words are the first and last words on that particular page.
SPECIAL WORDS
1. Compound Words are made by writing two small words together to make one larger word. (newspaper, somebody)
2. A root word is the root, or beginning word, from which another word is made. Play is the root word of plays, played and playing.
3. Derived words are words that come from other words. Suitable is derived from suit; advertisement from advertise. Sometimes the spelling of the root word is slightly changed in the derived word.
4. A synonym is a word having almost the same meaning as another word. (replied – answered; accurate – exact)
5. An antonym is a word that is opposite in meaning to another word. (private -public; good – bad)
6. Homonyms are words that are pronounced alike but which are spelled in different ways and have different meanings (knew – new; steel – steal; deer – dear)
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• If you could send a postcard to tell me what happened, what would it say? Create it! Illustrate, including the stamp!
• Reporter! Make me a news story to tell what happened. In fact, do a newspaper page including ads, sales, whatever!
• Draw a picture of one of the scenes you read about today. You can add words if you like.
• Imagine! If the characters could magically fly to modern times, what would they think? Would things have been different for them?
• Use these words to write a creative story about a character you are reading about. (To do this I pull words from the reading and let her choose randomly as she writes.)
• You are the main character and want someone to visit you. Make a travel brochure telling them why they must see where you are.
• Pretend you are the main character and write a journal entry about what happened.
http://www.amothersjournal.com/2009/09/03/narration-station/