Sunday 13 March 2016

The nonsense of the 'expanded noun phrase' as a way of getting to children to write 'well'.

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    "Using mini whiteboards or strips of card, build a sentence that contains both a subject noun and an object noun, e.g. “The woman ran towards her car.”
    a. Ask children to identify the simple noun phrases (the woman/her car). b. Ask for expansion of those noun phrases with adjectives, inserted on further mini whiteboards/strips. In each case, ensure children picture the scene created by the noun phrase expansion and assess the usefulness of the adjectives used.
    Example: “The smart, young woman ran towards her sporty red car.” “The ill, exhausted woman ran towards her battered, dusty car.”
    This process can be extended to stretch children’s vocabulary: where possible, challenge children to improve the nouns and so make some adjectives unnecessary (“her sporty red car” could become “her Ferrari”); useful adjectives might then be added (“her rusting, dented Ferrari”). Again, the scene should be pictured and considered."