Ten-Minute

Grammar

SUBJECTS AND PREDICATES Teachers Guide

INTRODUCTION:
Welcome to Ten-Minute Grammar! The goal of these units is to help students build a
solid understanding of grade-level grammar concepts during the first ten minutes of the
class period each day. Each unit goes through a progression in which new grammatical
concepts are introduced (by discovery, as much as possible), built upon, and then
practiced and reviewed. In addition, the concepts in each consecutive unit build on one
another logicallyit might seem silly to spend time reviewing nouns and verbs with 8th
graders, but its necessary if theyre going to understand things like gerunds and
infinitives or specific types of verb phrases.
This unit includes a week and a half of daily bell-ringer activities, a quiz, and two practice
worksheets.
SUGGESTED TIMELINE:
Start the Day One bell ringer on a Monday.
The Practice worksheets can be done as a class any time during the week (or
skipped if you feel your students dont need it.)
By Friday, if you feel the class is ready for it, give the unit quiz.
o If you feel like the entire class needs additional practice to master the
concept, there are three additional bell-ringer activities.
o Differentiation: The Alternate Quiz included in the packet is a slightly
modified quiz geared toward students with IEPs that call for such
modifications.
After the quiz, a student who clearly failed to grasp one or more of the weeks
concepts should be assigned one of the Practice worksheets. After completing
the worksheet, the student can retake the unit quiz for an improved grade.
Starting a unit mid-week isnt a problem at alldont feel like you MUST start on a
Monday!
OBJECTIVES:
1. Students should understand that
a. A subject is who or what the sentence is about (the thing or person doing the
action)
b. A predicate is what the subject does
c. A group of words that is missing either a subject or a predicate CANNOT be a
sentence
2. Students should be able to
a. Identify the complete subject and predicate of a sentence
b. Write sentences that contain a subject and a predicate
KEYS TO THE UNIT:
The subject and predicate concept should be review at the junior-high level, but that
doesnt mean we dont need to teach it explicitly. Its impossible to teach students about

clauses and the structure of more complex sentence unless they already understand
subject and predicate. So what you, as the teacher, need to remember is that this
concept is a vital stepping stone to understanding higher concepts that will significantly
impact the quality of student writing.
One fun suggestion for this unit is to use the Schoolhouse Rock video, The Tale of Mr.
Morton. Its cheesy and old-school, but junior-high students get a kick out of it because
of that, and its a good way to get the concept stuck in their heads.
DAILY ROUTINE:
Have the days bell-ringer activity up on a projector when the students come to class
each day. I have my students do the assignment on quarter-sheets of paper (I cut them
up and have a stack available each day). Days Four and Six in this unit require
copyediting with proofreading marks; since it takes too long for students to copy the
incorrect sentences and then edit them, a page of quarter-size student answer sheets
are provided for those days (see the pages after the last bell ringer.)
Students should spend the first five minutes working silently (use that time to take
roll and then circulate around the room to keep kids on task.) After the five minutes of
work time, spend the next five minutes going over the answers. Use the correction
session each day to explain new concepts, clarify ideas, and correct misconceptions. For
each question, I like to have my students turn to the person next to them and share their
answer; then I ask a student to volunteer an answer. If a student answers incorrectly,
find someone else who can give the correct answer. Help the class understand the
concept a little better and then ask the first student a question like, Explain why your
first answer was wrong. Ive never had a student feel offended by thisif anything, it
gives kids a chance to redeem themselves after what might have been an embarrassing
moment of being wrong in front of everyone.
If you use an overhead projector, a Smart Board, or project onto a white marker board,
you can choose a student each day to come to the front and write answers or
corrections as other students volunteer them.
How you grade the daily bell-ringer questions is up to you. I used to give my students
full credit as long as they attempted each question and then participated in the answer
session. But this year, I actually stopped grading the daily practice altogetherso
students are graded solely on the unit quiz (and sometimes the practice worksheet.) This
has worked great. The only issue with doing it like this is that you have to make sure you
dont let kids get away with not doing the bell-ringerI sometimes hold them during
lunch if they were slacking off and didnt do it.
The Wordplay at the end of each days questions can be a way to earn extra credit if
you choose. As incentive to work quickly, I tell my students they cant begin on the
Wordplay until theyre finished with the other questions, and I always offer a piece of
candy to the first student to get the answer right or the student with the best answer or
most answers. (Youd be surprised what junior-high students will do for a Starburst or a
Jolly Rancher!)

LITERATURE:
This unit contains example selections from the novel
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher.

Ten-Minute

Grammar

DAY
One

Subject and Predicate

Identify the subject in each of the following sentences (who or what the
sentence is about):

A sneaky rat named Scratch was pilfering food from the

pantry.
1. Suddenly, the rat heard a low growl and a hiss.
2. Scratch bolted as fast as he could.
3. Captain Meow, the black tomcat, raced at Scratchs heels.
If students left out the appositive phrase, the black tomcat, thats not the end of
the world. But point out that it is part of the subject.

4. Just in time, the brown rat scurried into his hole.

Identify the predicate in each of the following sentences (what the subject
did):

Captain Meow waited patiently.

5. He sat outside the mouse hole all day long.
6. Finally, the old tomcat decided to take a nap.
Technically, the adverb Finally in number 6 is part of the predicate because it
modifies the verb; explain that if your students are ready for it, or set it aside if it
would confuse the class more than help them.

7. Snoring loudly, the sleepy hunter forgot about his prey.

Some students might confuse the phrase Snoring loudly as part of the predicate
because it sounds like an actionits actually a participial phrase that functions as
an adjective modifying the subject, the sleepy hunter.
Wordplay Just for fun!

FOUR-LETTER WORDS: Take the four-letter word below and change

one letter to make a new four-letter word (keep it clean!) Then take
that word and change one letter to make a new word. Then take that
word and You get the picture.

DUMB

Ten-Minute

Grammar

DAY
Two

Subject and Predicate

Identify the subject in each of the following sentences from Incarceron by

Catherine Fisher:

1. Necklaces and amulets hung from the posts.

Make note to the students that there are two subjects here that share a predicate
thats called a compound subject, although they dont necessarily need to
remember that term.

2. A small whine emerged from the device.

Identify the predicate in each of the following sentences from Incarceron :

3. Jared had crouched and was picking up the sharp, curved

fragments of glass.
Like the compound subject in number 1, this is a compound predicatetwo
predicates connected to a single subject. This is important to point out because
later when they learn about clauses, students might confuse this for two clauses
because it seems to have two predicates; but its still a single clause.

4. Huge and malevolent, the bird stared down at her.

Add your own subject to the following sentences from Incarceron :

5. ___________________________ was black and looked like ebony.

6. ___________________________ hadnt really been listening.
Add your own predicate to the following sentences from Incarceron :

7. Sleek silver devices ___________________________ .

8. The long table ___________________________ .
Wordplay Just for fun!

CATALOGUE CREATOR: The prefix tele- means from a

distance and sounds like tella. How many words can you list that
contain this prefix?

Ten-Minute

Grammar

DAY
Three

Subject and Predicate

In your own words

1. What is a subject and how can you identify one?

2. What is a predicate and how can you identify one?
3. If a group of words doesnt have a subject AND a predicate,
why is it NOT a full sentence?
Answers will vary. What you want here is for them to figure
out how to explain this concept in a coherent way.
General Grammar Review:

4. Which of the following homophones is usually a verb: Affect or

Effect?
5. Write a sentence in which the word president must be
capitalized.
Example: My mom didnt vote for President Obama, but my
dad did.
6. What are the two verb phrases in the following sentence?
a. The apes had become more intelligent and were taking
over the world.
Wordplay Just for fun!

ANAGRAM: Rearrange the letters in the nonsense phrase

below to create new words that actually make sense.
MACARONI DELI
(Hint: talent competition)

American Idol

Ten-Minute

Grammar

DAY
Four

Subject and Predicate

Read the following excerpt from Incarceron by Catherine Fisher and then
answer the following questions:

Inside, he latched the flimsy door and sat on the bed. (b)
The room was cold and smelled of unwashed clothes, but it
was quiet. (c) Slowly, he let himself lie back. (d) He breathed
in and inhaled terror.
(a)

1. What is the predicate of sentence (a)? (Hint: its a compound

predicate, so the subject is doing two things, which are both
part of the predicate).
latched the flimsy door and sat on the bed (compound predicate)

2. What are the subjects of sentence (b)? (Hint: the sentence has
two subjects because its a compound sentencetwo
independent clauses.)
The room and it (two subjects because its a compound sentence)

3. Would the word Slowly in sentence (c) be part of the subject

or the predicate? Predicate its an adverb modifying the verb lie
4. In sentence (d), is breathed in part of the subject or
predicate? Predicate once again, a compound predicate
Using the proper proofreading marks, correct the six errors in this excerpt:
then

The swan was moving. it seemed to glide, peacefully at first; than

it reared up, flapping its great wings and she saw an arrow come
slowly out of the out of the trees and pierce its breast
Wordplay Just for fun!

DESCRAMBLER: Try to sort out the five scrambled words below:

NEVI

DFEIR

NYKUHC

OLYOGOZ

NGAEBAB

Vine

Fried

Chunky

Zoology

Beanbag

Ten-Minute

Grammar

QUIZ
DAY

Subject and Predicate

REVIEW FOR TODAYS QUIZ:

1. What is the subject of a sentence?

2. What is the predicate of a sentence?
3. Identify the subject and predicate in the following sentence:
a. Four purple penguins and green iguanas met at the dance
club and boogied the night away.
4. Write several of your own example sentences and identify the
subject and predicate.

Extra

Ten-Minute

Grammar

DAY
Five

Subject and Predicate

Identify the subject in each of the following sentences from Incarceron by

Catherine Fisher:

1. Finns oathbrother was transformed.

2. The shouts of the Comitatus died abruptly.
Identify the predicate in each of the following sentences from Incarceron:

3. Keiro flung his head back and screamed with triumph.

4. A warm breeze drifted down the shaft.
Add your own subject to the following sentences from Incarceron:

5. ___________________________ convulsed with agony.

6. ___________________________ took a deep ragged breath.
Add your own predicate to the following sentences from Incarceron:

7. A blizzard of metal slivers ___________________________ .

8. The fire in the hearth ___________________________ .
Wordplay Just for fun!

VOWEL COMBINATOR: The vowel combination oa almost

always sounds like the hard O in go. List as many words as you can
that contain this vowel combo.

Extra

Ten-Minute

Grammar

DAY
Six

Subject and Predicate

Read the following excerpt from Incarceron by Catherine Fisher and then
answer the following questions:

Without waiting for his answer, she turned and swept

back into the Den. (b) Slowly, Finn rubbed a hand around
the back of his neck, feeling the damp of sweat. (c) He
realized his body was a knot of tension; he made himself
breathe out. (d) Then he froze.
(a)

1. Who or what is the subject of sentence (a)? she

2. Is the damp of sweat the subject of sentence (b)? No
3. How many subjects and predicates does sentence (c) have?
Three of each
He (subject) realized (predicate) his body (subject) was a knot of
tension (predicate); he (subject) made himself breathe out
(predicate).

4. Is the word Then in sentence (d) part of the subject or the

predicate?
Predicate; its telling us when the action happened, making it an
adverb modifying the verb.
Using the proper proofreading marks, correct the six errors in this excerpt:
sp.
said

For a moment he, couldnt speak. Before he could draw a brethe,

she says,
You must swear my safety. But he said they have to pay the
ransom.
The comma after moment isnt in the book and so doesnt count as one of the six.
However, it should technically be there. Students might also consider moving the comma
as one correction, still making it six in total.
Wordplay Just for fun!

FIXER-ROOTER: How many words can you think of that have the
same prefix, suffix, or root as the multisyllabic word below?

EXTEMPORANEOUS
(done or made without much or any preparation)

Extra

Ten-Minute

Grammar

DAY
Seven

Subject and Predicate

Read the following excerpt from Incarceron by Catherine Fisher and then
answer the following questions:

The honor is ours, she said. (b) Perhaps youd like to

come into the parlor. (c) We have cider and newly baked
cakes as refreshment after your journey. (d) Well, she
hoped they did. (e) Turning, she saw that three of the
servants had gone and the gaps in the line had closed
swiftly behind them.
(a)

1. Is the word honor in sentence (a) part of the subject or the

predicate? Subject
2. In sentence (b), is the word parlor a verb, noun, pronoun, or
adverb? Noun
3. Is cider and newly baked cakes the subject of sentence (c)?
No

4. In sentence (a), which word is a linking verb and which word is

an action verb? is is a linking verb; said is an action verb
5. Sentence (e) is a compound-complex sentence and has THREE
subjects; what are they? she, three of the servants, and the
gaps in the line

6. In sentence (d), which two words are pronouns? she and

they

7. In sentence (d), is hoped part of the subject or the

predicate? Predicate
8. List three nouns from sentence (e). servants, gaps, line
Wordplay Just for fun!

EIGHT BALL: Create as many words as you can using three or more
of the letters below (at least one eight-letter word is possible):

DADORIEN
Ordained

Ten-Minute

Grammar

Extra
Practice

NAME:

Subject and Predicate

PERIOD:

The SUBJECT of a sentence is who or what the sentence is about

the person or thing doing the action of the sentence. The
PREDICATE is the action of the sentencewhat the subject does or
is.
In the following sentences, identify the underlined portion as the SUBJECT or
PREDICATE:

Predicate

1. ____________ Abraham Lincoln served as the 16th President of the United

States.

Subject

2. ____________ In the 1860 presidential election, Lincoln defeated Democrat Stephen

Douglas, John Breckinridge of the Southern Democrats, and Jon Bell of the
Constitutional Union Party.

Predicate

3. ____________ Before becoming president, Abe worked as a lawyer and

served in several political positions.
4. ____________
PredicateLincoln lost eight elections during his political career.
5. ____________
Subject President Lincoln presided over the Civil War and the end of slavery.
6. ____________
Subject Many scholars rank Lincoln as the greatest president in U.S. history.

In order to have a full sentence, you must have a SUBJECT and a

PREDICATE.
Decide if each of the following groups of words is a full sentence or not
(answer YES or NO.)

NO

7. ______ After re-entering politics in 1854, Abraham Lincoln.

8. ______
YESHe was elected to the Illinois Legislature but turned down the position,
hoping instead to become a senator.
9. ______
NO Was not chosen by the Illinois legislature to be a U.S. senator in 1855.

NO

10.
______ Later nominated to be the Republican Senator from Illinois, opposing
Democrat Stephen A. Douglas.
11. YES______ Lincoln spoke against the Dred Scott Decision in 1857.
12. YES______ He delivered an important speech on slavery in New Haven,
Connecticut, in 1860.
ANSWERS WILL VARY.
Add a SUBJECT or a PREDICATE to complete the following sentences:
13.

The President of the United States ___________________________________.

14.
___________________________________ was placed in command of the Union
Army.
15.

The Gettysburg Address ___________________________________.

16.

___________________________________ ended slavery in the United States.

Some sentences might have more than one person or thing doing
the actionthat would be a COMPOUND SUBJECT. A sentence might
also have a subject doing more than one actionthen you have a
COMPOUND PREDICATE.
Add a COMPOUND SUBJECT or a COMPOUND PREDICATE to complete the next
sentences (the sentences do not necessarily need to be true):
17.

_______________________________ and _______________________________ marked a

turning point in the Civil War.

18.

After the Civil War, Lincoln _________________________________________ and

_________________________________________.
19.

_______________________________ and _______________________________

participated in several famous debates.

20.

General Ulysses S. Grant _________________________________________ and

_________________________________________.

Ten-Minute

Grammar

Extra
Practice

Subject and Predicate

NAME:

PERIOD:

The SUBJECT of a sentence is who or what the sentence is about

the person or thing doing the action of the sentence. The
PREDICATE is the action of the sentencewhat the subject does or
is.
For sentences 1 4, decide if the underlined portion is part of the SUBJECT or
PREDICATE:

Predicate

1. ____________ During the Civil War, President Lincoln supervised the selection of top
generals.

Subject

2. ____________ Lincolns Gettysburg Address became one of the most quoted

speeches in American history.
3. ____________
PredicateSix days after the surrender of Confederate general Robert E. Lee,
Lincoln died.

Subject

4. ____________ His death marked the first assassination of a U.S. president.

In most SIMPLE sentences, the SUBJECT makes up the beginning of

the sentence and the PREDICATE comes afterwards.
For sentences 5 8, underline the SUBJECT once and underline the PREDICATE
twice:
5. Abraham Lincoln was born in a one-room log cabin on the 12th of February, 1809.
6. His younger brother, Thomas, was born in 1812 but died in infancy.
7. Young Abraham went to school in a log schoolhouse.
8. Nancy Hanks Lincoln, Abrahams mother, died of milk sickness before Lincolns
10th birthday.
9. Abraham shot a wild turkey at age 7 but felt bad about it and never hunted again.

In other sentences, however, the SUBJECT and PREDICATE are

harder to recognize because part of the predicate comes before the
subject (often an adverb phrase that tells when or how the action
happened.)
For sentences 9 12, underline the SUBJECT:
10.
After his fathers marriage to Sarah Bush Johnston, young Abraham
developed a good relationship with his stepmother, Sarah.
11.

Often borrowing books from others, Lincoln loved to read and learn.

12.

As a teenager, he was called Abe.

13.

At age 22, Abe studied Shakespeare and participated in a local debate club.

In COMPOUND and COMPLEX sentences, there are actually two

SUBJECTS and two PREDICATES (because compound and complex
sentences have two clauses in them.) The conjunction that links the
two clauses together is marked in bold, and it isnt actually part of
subject or the predicate.
For sentences 19 22, underline the SUBJECTS once and the PREDICATES
twice:
14.
Abraham gave his first political speech in 1830; he spoke in favor of
improving navigation on the Sangamon River near his home.
15.
Lincoln was elected captain of a rifle company during the Black Hawk War,
but he didnt end up fighting any battles.
16.
In 1832, Lincoln ran as a candidate for the Illinois General Assembly, but he
lost the election.
17.
Lincoln was left in debt when the village store he owned in New Salem
failed. **
18.
Even though he lost his first election, Lincoln ran for the General Assembly
again in 1834.
19.

Abraham became a leader of the Whig Party after he was re-elected in 1836.

20.

His girlfriend, Mary Owens, rejected him when Abe proposed to her in 1837.

** Technically, there are two subjects and predicates in the village store he owned in
New Salem failed. The village store is a subject with failed as its predicate; he is
another subject with owned in New Salem as its predicate. The problem is that there is
an implied that before the he. Because that would be confusing to junior-high
grammarians, its better to treat the village store he owned in New Salem as the
subject, which is also perfectly true.