Homonyms !

Confusing words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and spelled differently

• Already / all ready
• Coarse / course
• Lead / led
• Pair / pear
• Principal / principle

Other confusing words

• A / an
• ‘h’ in hero is pronounced, but the ‘h’ in honor is not
• Accept (to receive or agree to) / except ( leave out, but)
• Affect (to influence or to have an effect on) / effect (to cause or as a result)
• Among (used with 3 or more) / between (used with 2)
• Desert (dry sandy place) / desert (to leave behind) / dessert (the final meal course)
• Does / dose
• Fewer (smaller in numbers and used with plurals) / less (smaller in degree, value, or amount and used with singular words)
• Loose *rhymes with juice* (not tight) / lose *rhymes with blues* (to misplace or get rid of)
• Quiet / quit / quiet

The game below also includes homophones. It is a very slow website (or it may just be my computer and internet).

www.homonymgame.com/

Below is a website I found that had tons of resources and games for students

http://www.aasd.k12.wi.us/staff/boldtkatherine/ReadingFun3-6/ReadingFun_Homophones.htm

English Verb Tenses

1. Present (now or habitually)
2. Past (already happened)
3. Future (going to happen)
4. Present Perfect (began in past and now completed or continuing in present) (has looked)
5. Past Perfect (happened before another past action) (had looked)
6. Future Perfect (is going to happen before some other future action) (will have looked)
7. Present Progressive (in progress) (is looking)
8. Past progressive (was in progress) (was looking)
9. Future progressive (will be in progress) (will be looking)
10. Present Perfect Progressive (was in progress and still is) (has been looking)
11. Past Perfect Progressive (was in progress until recently) (had been looking)
12. Future Perfect Progressive (will be in progress until a set time in the future) (will have been looking)

Spelling Help

Spelling

Hints for spelling better:

1. Use aides- dictionaries or spell check on computers
2. Keep a spelling list of all misspelled words. Show what is the correct spelling, and then give a clue or reason why it should be that way.
3. Learn the most commonly confusing words and memorize them. (where / were, to / too, its / it’s)
4. Apply basic spelling rules

• I before E except after C, or when sounded like an A, as in neighbor and weigh.
• Silent E rule: drop the ‘e’ before adding an ending- guide –ance = guidance
• Y rule: change the ‘y’ to an ‘I’ when the last 2 letters of the word are a consonant plus ‘y’, OR the ending being added begins with a vowel or is ‘ful’ ‘ly’ or ‘ness’
  • Fly +es = flies
  • Try +ed = tried
  • Plenty + ful = plentiful
• Doubling rule: double the final consonant of the word when
  • The last 3 letters of the word are a consonant, a vowel, and a consonant (CVC)
  • The word is only one syllable
  • The ending being added begins with a vowel
    • Stop + ed = stopped
    • Begin + ing = beginning
    • Red + est = reddest

English Vowels 101

15 vowel sounds, 6 short vowels, 7 long vowels, and 2 reduced vowel sounds

Long Vowels- tense vowels

• Beet, bait, boot, boat, boy, bite, bout

Short Vowels-lax vowels

• Pit, pet, pat, putt, put, pot

Reduced Vowels- occur with the unstressed syllables

• Jumping, about

Sentence Fragment Assistance

Students who are learning English may find creating sentences to be a tough task. I teach high school students who often try to write fragments by accident. Students who are learning English may not have learned how to write in their first language. Grammatical concepts are very abstract and require students to learn what is not very tangible. It can be overwhelming to write well in a language one is acquiring, especially if they have not developed those skills in their first language.

Here is a fun video that simply and slowly explains how to form complete sentences and stray away from run-on sentences. This is for young children.

For slightly older children, you could use this video that goes more in depth.

Comma Splice Help

• A comma splice is when the comma separates two complete thoughts without help from a joining word.
• Comma splices can be corrected by using the same three methods as the run-on.
  • Examples
  • Run on- “Test anxiety is a very real condition some symptoms are stomach cramps.”
    • Change to- “Test anxiety is a very real condition. Some symptoms are stomach cramps.”
  • Comma Splice-“Kevin was always worried about his test grades, his grades were usually the highest in the class.”
    • Change to- “Kevin was always worried about his test grades, and his grades were usually the highest in the class.”
• (All above content from the book English Brush Up) 
  • For ESL students, recognizing run-on sentences and comma splices can be very difficult. First, they may still not recognize the verb and subject. Second, students may want to try and write more than small, simple sentences. They may not be ready to combine and create longer sentences, but they may try by starting with run-on sentences. Third, comma splices are something that even college students who are native English speakers struggle with often.
  • This link is an interactive quiz on how to fix run-on sentences http://www.eslinstructor.net/sanjosewrites/run_on/run_on1.html
• This link is an interactive quiz on how to fix comma splices http://www.eslinstructor.net/sanjosewrites/comma_splice/comma_splice1.html