Amanda Youngblood EDEC 344-001 October 30, 2013 Lesson 2 Topic: Subject-verb agreement and possessiveness rules in AAVE,

, Standard English, and Latin. Concepts: 1. I want the children to understand how to translate AAVE to SE and SE to AAVE according to subject-verb agreement rules. 2. I want the children to understand how to translate AAVE to SE and SE to AAVE according to possessiveness rules. 3. I want the children to understand how to translate both AAVE and SE to Latin according to rules of subject-verb agreement and possessiveness. Rationale: This lesson combines familiar English grammar structures with those same grammar structures in two other languages. The children should be familiar with subject-verb agreement and possessive nouns. It is so important for children to see that African American Vernacular English is not only its own language but it also has rules and grammar structures, just like English. Pulling a third language into this lesson, Latin, helps children to keep building on their knowledge and appreciation of multiple languages. If a child in the class speaks AAVE, this lesson will teach the children when using each language is appropriate and it will allow them to get practice with code-switching. Five Easy Pieces p.67. Too much focus nowadays is put on the achievement gap between groups of students. However, as we learn in

Educating Emergent Bilinguals, the true point of focus should be providing more opportunities to bilingual learners. This lesson does just that and can help broaden a monolingual childs understanding of what it means to be multilingual. Common Core Standards: o CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of Standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. o CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.1a Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions (e.g., gaining the floor in respectful ways, listening to others with care, speaking one at a time about the topics and texts under discussion). o CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.2.6 Produce complete sentences when appropriate to task and situation in order to provide requested detail or clarification Professional Resources: 1. Gill, N.S. "Agreement - Latin and English Differences." About.com Ancient / Classical History. Web. 30 Oct. 2013 2. Whitney, Jessica. "Five Easy Pieces." The English Journal 94.5 (2005): 64-69. Web. 3. Wolfram, Walt. "The Grammar of Urban African American Vernacular English." Web. 4. Garcia, Ofelia. Educating Emergent Bilinguals. N.p.: Teachers College, 2010. Print. Resources for Children: 1. Videos of AAVE speakers and videos of spoken Latin so they can get a feel for the languages.

2. Schoolhouse Rock Video: Mr. Morton Subjects and Predicates (for review of SE rules). 3. Possessive Nouns Monster Song Video (for review of SE rules). Procedures: 1. Hello boys and girls. Today were going to learn how to speak in different languages! 2. Weve gone over certain grammar rules in class recently. Can anyone name some for me? Wait for children to respond with subject, verbs, possession, and anything else that relates to the grammar rules in the lesson. 3. Thats right. You all are so smart. Can you tell me more about subject-verb agreement? How do we get the subject and verb to agree? Wait for correct answers. 4. Very good. Who can tell me our rules for showing possession? Wait and acknowledge correct answers. 5. You all remember so much but to help us remember those rules a little more were going to watch some fun videos! The first is on subjects and verbs. 6. Play Schoolhouse Rock Subject and Predicate Video. 7. Play Possessive Nouns Monster Song. 8. Okay friends, now that we have reviewed two grammar rules in our language, how would you like to learn how to use them in another language?? 9. The first language well learn these rules in is African American Vernacular English. Lets listen to an example of this language.

10. Play video or sound recording of AAVE for children to listen to. (Proud Family Clip) 11. Have you heard that language before? Do you know someone who uses it? 12. Were going to take simple sentences in Standard English and convert them to AAVE. Im going to need a volunteer who can give me a simple sentence with a subject and a verb. Wait for answer. 13. Good sentence. Were going to write that on our large piece of notepad paper. 14. Since this sentence has a subject and a verb, lets learn the rule for making subjects and verbs agree in AAVE. Everyone look at this chart. (Display language chart on projector.) 15. It says that the subject and the verb do not have to be in agreement and the subject comes before the verb. 16. Well, lets take a look at our example sentence. It says Jenna rides the bike. What is our subject? What is our verb? How are they in agreement? Wait for correct answers. May require probing from the childrens previous lessons. 17. Thats right. Jenna is singular and so is rides.So how would we write this in AAVE when the subject and verb do not have to agree? Does anyone know? If no one knows, write the first answer for the children, explaining the reasoning. 18. Repeat a few more examples of subject verb agreement until the children are answering with how to make the subject and verb not agree. Once they have grasped translating from SE to AAVE, write down AAVE examples and work with the students in converting those sentences to SE.

19. After students have worked with subjects and verbs, begin the same routine with possessive sentences, letting the children know that in AAVE there are no apostrophes placed on the nouns by using the chart. Repeat all steps until the students are switching SE to AAVE and AAVE to SE. 20. You may not have realized this, but by translating these sentences, we are learning to be bilingual and appreciate other languages. How about we look at a very old language? 21. Has anyone ever heard of Latin? Wait for stories to be shared. 22. Latin is a very old languages. Many languages such as Spanish and French came from Latin. Can anyone show us where Spain and France are on a map? 23. Let a volunteer point to (with guidance) Spain and France on a map. Thats very good. Latin started right here in this city (point to Rome on the map). Does anyone know what that city is? That country? 24. After the children have learned where Latin originates, move into making the connection to language rules and AAVE. 25. Explain that Latin has rules just like AAVE. 26. Repeat all steps beginning with a child giving you a sentence in SE. Use the chart to show them rules of grammar for Latin using subject-verb agreement and possessives. 27. I am very proud of all of you for doing so well in this lesson. You have grown knowledge and appreciation for different languages today. (Another transition sentence into next activity.) Materials:

1. Language chart with AAVE, SE, and Latin grammar rules for subject verbagreement and possessives. 2. Projector 3. Computer 4. Large notepad paper 5. Marker 6. Rug for children to gather around on 7. YouTube for videos Schoolhouse Rock: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdUXxdmhIsw Possessive Nouns: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlET-srn-Tc (Play first minute or so for AAVE example): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmILrPRtrkQ Supplemental Materials: Language Charts

Subject-Verb Agreement

Languages and Rules

AAVE

Examples
1. 2. 3. 4. She like to shop. Wendy take trips. Paul smell good. He love her.

Subject and Verb do not have to be in agreement. The subject comes before the verb.

Standard English Plural subjects need plural verbs and a singular subject needs a singular verb. The subject is before the verb.

1. 2. 3. 4.

We have many pets. Bill needs a dollar. Zoe runs fast. Jack and Jill walk to the village.

Latin The subject does not have to come first. The subject and verb must agree in number, person, and gender.

1. Omnia vincit amor. Love conquers all. 2. Amorem omnia vincunt. Everything conquers love. 3. Vir sapientiam dat. The man gives wisdom. 4. Puer puellam vexat. The boy annoys the girl.

Possessiveness The Genitive Case

Languages and Rules

AAVE

Examples
1. 2. 3. 4. Jackie plant is big. The dog collar is pink. Did you notice James shoes? My mother food is good.

A noun and a noun show possession, there are no apostrophes.

Standard English A noun and a noun show possession, with the first noun having an apostrophe s (s).

1. 2. 3. 4.

My cats fur is black. I have my sisters jacket. Emmas hair is long. The mans car was nice.

Latin

A prepositional phrase (of) modifies a noun.

1. Amicus curiae. Friend of the court. (The courts friend.) 2. Amor patriae. Love of ones country. (Ones love for their country.) 3. Mter familis. The mother of the family. (The familys mother.) 4. Vox populi. The voice of the people. (The peoples voice.)