Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics

Now we come to the real nitty-gritty of the written and spoken language. Grammar focuses on how sentences and sentence parts are put together. Usage covers the ways to use language correctly in speaking and writing. Mechanics refers to the correct use of capitalization and punctuation (periods, commas, quotation marks, and so on).

By third grade, children are introduced to dozens of rules about language use. They are expected to begin using them in very purposeful ways to communicate their ideas through writing and speaking.

In your everyday conversations, you probably communicate a lot without using complete sentences. For example, you might hear your child say, "No more broccoli, please!"

That makes sense in a conversation. Once written down, different rules apply.

"Please don't give me anymore broccoli!" conveys a more complete thought.

Sentence fragments do not express a complete thought. For example:

—The crowd outside the building (fragment)
—The crowd outside the building rushed into the concert hall. (complete sentence)

What happens when you include more than one thought and leave out the punctuation? You get a run-on sentence, like this:

—Where are Gadget and Gizmo those cats won't come when I call them!

It reads much better like this:

—Where are Gadget and Gizmo? Those cats won't come when I call them!

Your young writer should be able to construct paragraphs full of complete and correctly punctuated sentences. He or she will be learning about these four kinds of sentences:

• Statements tell something. They end with a period.

• Questions ask something. They end with a question mark.

• Commands tell someone to do something. They end with a period.

• Exclamations show some strong feeling. They end with an exclamation point.

What grammar discussion would be complete without parts of speech? These basics are usually covered by the end of third grade.

Nouns name a person, place, or thing. Girl, library, and boat are nouns. When a specific person, place, or thing is named, it is called a proper noun. Sarah, Hillside Public Library, Queen Elizabeth II are proper nouns.

Pronouns take the place of nouns and allow us to avoid repeating a noun over and over. In the following case, using the pronoun it rather than saying wallet twice, makes the sentence read better.

—Sam looked into his wallet and saw that it was empty.

Verbs are most often the action words in sentences. They tell what the people or things in a sentence do. Kicks, laughed, and think are all examples of action verbs. Another kind of verb does not show action. Linking verbs join the subject in a sentence to a word in the predicate. They use forms of the verb to be, as in am, is, are, was, and were. Verbs also tell when the action happens: in the past, in the present, or in the future.

—Dianne was tired last night.
—I am sleepy now.
—Will he be tired without a nap?

Adjectives are words that describe nouns or pronouns. They can make language a little more interesting to read or hear and give more detail about a subject. Ask your child which of the following sentences he or she finds more interesting:

—The firefighters sprayed water on the flames.
—The exhausted firefighters sprayed cool water on the hot, raging flames.

Adverbs are words that describe verbs and adjectives. They tell you something about how the action happened and usually end in -ly.

—The wind blew fiercely through the trees.
—Billy's clothes barely fit him anymore.
—The children worked well.

So, now that your child knows how to choose the right words, what about the mechanics?

Children recognize the power of punctuation and capitalization when they start reading more fluently: stopping at a period, using a different tone for a question, pausing at a comma are all learned responses to punctuation marks. In these early grades, they will be expected to begin applying the rules they have learned as readers to their writing.

Before your child passes in a writing assignment, have him or her review the work for neatness and legibility. The presentation of work becomes more important as your child progresses in school. If your child uses a computer to write, he or she may think that word processing takes care of many of these things. But try to find out what your child's teacher's expectations are for how papers should look when turned in. Most second- and third-grade work is still done by hand, so your child needs to be aware of the following:

• Margins should appear on all four sides of the written work.

• The child's name should have prominent position.

• The title of work should be clearly presented and have the first word and the other important words capitalized.

• New paragraphs should be indented.

• Spellings errors should be corrected.

• Handwriting should be legible. (Most teachers have introduced handwriting, or cursive, by third grade, but others still accept printing.)

By third grade, children should know several key places where capital letters are used when writing:

• The first letter of the first word in every sentence.

—Statements, questions, exclamations, and commands all start with capital letters.

Proper nouns, such as people's names, book titles, product names.

—Aunt Helen drove her Volkswagen across the George Washington Bridge into New Jersey with her dog, Pepper, in the backseat.

—Encyclopedia Brown, by Donald Sobol, is Sally's favorite book.

• Names of months, days, and holidays.

—Easter is always on a Sunday, but it can be in either March or April.

Commas demand a lot of attention. They help readers know where to pause. Your child will learn that one of the most common uses of commas is in a series of words.

—Mary Ann and Ginger are sisters.

Ask your child how many girls are mentioned in that sentence. Just two? Watch what a difference a comma can make.

—Mary, Ann, and Ginger are sisters.

There are three girls! Just one comma changes the meaning of that sentence. Commas in a series like this should appear after each word except the last.

Children have a tendency to overuse commas. Many automatically put one in every time they pause their pencil. If your child is guilty of this comma craze, you may want to take a moment to go over some of the guidelines with him or her.

Quotation marks show the exact words of a speaker. By third grade, children are expected to know that quotation marks mean someone is talking. They may also notice that quotation marks are often preceded by the words said, replied, asked, or added.

—Bill said, "I always take my water bottle when I ride."

Your child can now also begin to use quotation marks in his or her own writing when using someone's actual speech. Positioning of the quotation marks before the first and after the last spoken word is also taught. Your child may also begin to notice that capital letters and commas play an important role in using quotation marks in writing.

Apostrophes can cause confusion even for adult writers. But second- and third-grade teachers will be on the lookout for their correct use in contractions (isn't, won't) and in possessive nouns (store's, kids'). As with commas, apostrophes are wrong where they don't belong!