Dear Reader,
Welcome to my fall 2021 newsletter! Goodbye, summer; hello, fall!
By mid-September teachers are teaching, children are learning, leaves are falling, and footballs are flying. It’s my favorite time of year! I’m excited to celebrate the season with a couple of book giveaways; so read on to find out how to enter.
According to Jane Austen, fall is “that season which [has] drawn from every poet worthy of being read some attempt at description or some lines of feeling.” God’s handiwork abounds!
John Keats’ vivid verbs praise the season in his poem “To Autumn”: conspiring, sallowing, singing, whistling, gathering.
Maggie Smith’s notable nouns rule the images in her poem “First Fall”: sycamores, stars, ponds, ducks, dogs, branches.
T. E. Hulme’s awesome adjectives prevail in his poem “Autumn”: ruddy, red-faced, wistful.
These poets capture the essence of the season because they all have a knowledge and command of the English language. They understand how words function.
As an English teacher I believe an understanding of words is essential to being a good writer, a good reader, a good test taker, and an effective communicator. Most words can be divided into distinct categories called the eight parts of speech. Main words, those our sentences need in order to survive, include nouns, pronouns, and verbs. Adjectives and adverbs serve as descriptive words, conjunctions and prepositions serve as connectors, and interjections fall into a category all their own.
The words in the column on the left below form a complete sentence including at least one example of each of the eight parts of speech:
Wow! Interjection (shows emotion)
Henry Noun (names a person, place, thing, or idea)
carefully Adverb (describes a verb)
read Verb (shows action or state of being)
through Preposition (shows a connection)
the Adjective (describes a noun or pronoun)
paragraph, Noun (names a person, place, thing, or idea)
and Conjunction (connects words, phrases, and/or clauses)
he Pronoun (takes the place of a noun)
identified Verb (shows action or state of being)
every Adjective (describes a noun or a pronoun)
word. Noun (names a person, place, thing, or idea)
Why should a study of grammar be an important element of every good English class?
It helps us to understand that only one of the following sentences is correct:
Driving through the woods, we saw a deer.
We saw a deer driving through the woods.
Several years ago at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville, I discovered Usborne Books and More, a book company which publishes wonderful books for children young and old. From beautifully illustrated classics to books about science, math, language, and history, Usborne covers the gamut. Two such books help children understand these basic parts of speech.
Usborne’s First Illustrated Grammar and Punctuation and Illustrated Grammar and Punctuation (written by Jane Bingham) explain why these tools are important. “They help you organize your words so their meaning is clear, and they make your writing much easier to read. . . . Grammar and punctuation help us communicate. Without these essential tools, our words just wouldn’t make sense.” Without these essential tools, we might see deer driving through the woods.
This company’s website also contains links to quizzes, word searches, puzzles, and games to help make learning grammar fun. Go to www.usborne.com/quicklinks and type in the key words grammar and punctuation.
Continue reading to discover how you can become eligible to win your own copy of an Usborne book!
To celebrate the new school year and the new season of fall, I have created a Fill-in-the-Blank word game focusing on the function of words in the classic tale of “The Ant and the Grasshopper” by Aesop. Click on the title link, and encourage your child to fill in the blanks with the proper part of speech based on the definitions given above. Notice how key words like verbs and nouns and adjectives can make or break a story!
If you have not yet discovered Usborne Books and More, I would love to introduce you to the company by giving away the two books mentioned above. First Illustrated Grammar and Punctuation is perfect for an elementary-aged child, and Illustrated Grammar and Punctuation includes more detailed instruction for an older child in upper elementary or middle school.
To be eligible to win, you must subscribe to my newsletter and have a US mailing address. Please also state your book preference in the comments on one of my social media sites.
For more information you may contact Kyla Shelton, Double Booked Independent Consultant, Usborne Books & More at doublebooked901@gmail.com, connect with her on Facebook @doublebooked901, or purchase merchandise at
https://t11474.myubam.com/.
For adults who might be interested in honing their grammar skills, I highly recommend an up-to-date Harbrace Handbook, a trusty companion, in my opinion. I have also recently discovered Woe Is I, a delightful book written with both wisdom and wit.
In her preface to the fourth edition, author Patricia T. O’Connor writes, “English is a glorious invention, one that gives us endless possibilities for expressing ourselves. It’s practical, too. Grammar is there to help, to clear up ambiguities and prevent misunderstandings.” In reference to her title, she explains, “While ‘Woe is I’ may appear technically correct, the lament ‘Woe is me’ has been good English for generations.”
I understand that Shakespeare’s character Ophelia uses the expression “Woe is me” when she’s feeling a bit stressed in the play Hamlet. Shakespeare, the wonderful writer though he was, often fails to follow conventional grammar rules. For example, while his “most unkindest cut” is not grammatically correct, Shakespeare is taking poetic license to meet his iambic pentameter needs. I feel fairly certain he knew the rules.
Although it hurts me to say it, you will be the most kindest reader if you subscribe to my newsletter. As a quarterly subscriber, your name will be entered into my fall giveaway contest, and you can look forward to another giveaway in December. Thank you for your following!
As a bonus, one lucky subscriber will receive a copy of Amy Parker’s beautiful board book, A Pumpkin Prayer. “With thanks, I say a pumpkin prayer under an autumn sky. . . .”
I hope your season of fall is rich with crisp color and lots of learning.
Blessings,
The Literary Lyonesse
“We live and breathe words.”—Cassandra Clare
“I like good strong words that mean something.”—Louisa May Alcott
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”—Psalm 19:14
Isaiah 40:8; Proverbs 10:5
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