Wednesday, March 27, 2013

The PLAGUE gets ameliorated !

Directions: 
Students should ameliorate the following sentence, in red. Three words need to be capitalized and there are two missing commas.

the black death also known as the bubonic plague reached the shores of italy in 1348. 







short video about the Black Plague.

Monty Python video clip


Tuesday, March 26, 2013

SHARE the WEALTH ! ! ! !

Directions: students should ameliorate the two sentences below, in red.

Andrew Carnegie was a wealthy entrepreneur when he retired from business in 1901 he set about in earnest to distribute his fortune



Suggested Answer: 
Andrew Carnegie was a wealthy entrepreneur. When he retired from business in 1901, he set about in earnest to distribute his fortune.

Hair ...


Fixin' the Kitchen ??

Monday, March 25, 2013

You think you have it ROUGH ! ! ?

Directions: students should ameliorate the sentences below. There are two sentences; please use a semicolon (;) to separate the sentences. 

Sod homes was small & offered little light or air they was havens for snakes insects and other pestes

click here to see VIDEO showing SOD homes





Suggested Answer: 
Sod homes were small and offered little light or air; they were havens for snakes, insects, and other pests. 

Sunday, March 24, 2013

Vikings

Directions: Students should ameliorate the following sentence, in red. It includes errors in spelling and punctuation.


The vikings were seafaring northern germanic people who raided traded and explored wide areas of europe asia, and the north atlantic islands .



Viking video  !  ! ! ! ! ! ! !



Students ameliorate Sitting Bull !

Students should ameliorate the following sentences, in red. THERE ARE 2 sentences. Please use a semicolon (;) between the two sentences.

The treaty of fort laramie in which the sioux agreed to live on a reservation along the missouri river was forced on the leaders of the sioux in 1868 sitting bull leader of the hunkpapa sioux, never signed it




Video Biography of Sitting Bull. click here





suggested answer:
The Treaty of Fort Laramie, in which the Sioux agreed to live on a reservation along the Missouri River, was forced on the leaders of the Sioux in 1868; Sitting Bull, leader of the Hunkpapa Sioux, never signed it.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Buffalo Amelioration


Directions: Students should ameliorate the sentence below, in red. There are three missing commas, misspelled words, a misused apostrophe, and several proper nouns that need to be recognized.

Buffalo hunting an activity fundamental two the planes indian tribes' of the united states was lader adopted by american professional hunters leading to the near-extinction of the speeces in the late 1800s.  







Suggested answer: 
Buffalo hunting, an activity fundamental to the Plains Indian tribes of the United States, was later adopted by American professional hunters, leading to the near-extinction of the species in the late 1800s. 

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Andrew Johnson was no Abraham Lincoln

Directions: Students should ameliorate the following sentence. 


Vigorously opposing andrew Johnsons conciliatory policy

toward the defeated South the radical republican's gained 

enough strength in the congressional election's of 1866.






Videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcxJKZdv0V0






Suggested correction:

Directions: Students should ameliorate the following sentence. 

Vigorously opposing Andrew Johnson’s conciliatory policy toward the defeated South, the Radical Republicans gained enough strength in the congressional elections of 1866.

Ameliorate Sharecropping

Directions: Students should ameliorate the following sentence, in red. There are 2 missing commas and a missing period.

Sharecropper's was assigned a plot of land to work and in exchange owed the owner a share of the crop at the end of the season usually one half the owner provided the tools and farm animals.

click here for a video clip 
SUGGESTED ANSWER: 
Sharecroppers were assigned a plot of land to work, and in exchange owed the owner a share of the crop at the end of the season, usually one half. The owner provided the tools and farm animals.

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Black Codes ! !

Directions: Students should ameliorate the sentence below (in red).

Congress past law's that ensured African American citizenship and forbade state's from passing discriminatory laws such as the Black Codes.



Video about the Black Codes


Suggested Answer:
Congress passed laws that ensured African American citizenship and forbade states from passing discriminatory laws, such as the Black Codes.

Hagia Sophia

Students should ameliorate the following sentence (in red)  in their journals. Following the grammar exercise, please view the picture and watch the short video about the Hagia Sophia.


in 1453 constantinople was conquered by the ottoman turks under sultan Mehmed II who subsequently ordered the hagia sophia converted into a mosque


GREAT VIDEO about the HAGIA SOPHIA ! ! ! ! 











suggested answer:

In 1453, Constantinople was conquered by the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II, who subsequently ordered the Hagia Sophia converted into a mosque.

Monday, March 18, 2013

TODAY....The Byzantines Get Ameliorated ! ! !

Students should ameliorate the following sentences in their journals: 

emperor constantine rebuilt the old port city byzantium on the bosporus strait for several reasons in byzantium he could respond too the danger of the germanic tribes & he be close to the rich eastern provinces. 



Video about the Byzantines












corrected:
Emperor Constantine rebuilt the old port city Byzantium on the Bosporus strait for several reasons;  In Byzantium, he could respond to the danger of the Germanic tribes, and he could be close to the rich eastern provinces.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Sherman and TOTAL WAR

Students should correct the sentence in red that is filled with grammar and spelling errors: 


Like General grant General sherman was convinced that the confederacys strategic economic & psychological ability to wage further war needed to be crushed if fighting were to end.


Video opportunity about General Sherman's implementation of Total War strategy. (time 6:23)

Suggested ANSWER:
Like General Grant, General Sherman was convinced that the Confederacy's strategic, economic, and psychological ability to wage further war needed to be crushed if fighting were to end.

Ameliorate Ulysses S. Grant

Directions: Students should correct the sentence in red.  There are three commas missing and many capitalization errors.

In march 1864 president lincoln appointed ulysses s. grant the hero of the battle at vicksburg commander of all union armies. 


VIDEO opportunities:
.... a serious and sober look at Grant: short video about Ulysses S. Grant  (length 3:41)
... a fact-filled but not-so-serious musical video about Grant ...the word cacophony comes to mind...but it is worth watching:   VIDEO  (length 3:56)


Suggested answer:
In March 1864, President Lincoln appointed Ulysses S. Grant, the hero of the battle at Vicksburg, commander of all Union armies.






Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Roman History Grammar 


Students should correct this sentence:

1. The twelve tables established the idea that all free citizens patricians and plebeians had a write to the protection of the law.










(CORRECTED) The Twelve Tables established the idea that all free citizens, patricians and plebeians, had a right to the protection of the law.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013


A GREAT way to start a class...

Directions:
1) Have students transcribe the grammatically incorrect sentence as it appears, with its MISTAKES, in a journal.
2) Ask students to rewrite the sentence CORRECTLY in their journal.
3) Ask a student or students to come to the front of the class and correct the imperfections in sentence.
4) Review the amelioration with students pointing out and underscoring the problems that were detected and undetected.


SENTENCES needing correction: 

1.  In 1867 many farmer's joined together too push for reform. In 1867 a farmer named oliver hudson kelley started an organization that became known as the grange. 



Answer:
 In 1867many farmers joined together to push for reform. In 1867, a farmer named Oliver Hudson Kelley started an organization that became known as the Grange.

In 1867, .....Dependent Clause: comma needed
farmers .... No apostrophe needed, simply a plural form of the noun
"to" ....not "too" and not "two"
In 1867, .....another DEPENDENT Clause needing a comma
Oliver Hudson Kelley ..... Proper noun needing capital letters
Grange is a proper noun needing capitalization