The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English · Secs. 354–355 · Part 2: Part Second
101. Conjunctions: words that join
Goal: Your child uses conjunctions like and, but, or and if to join words and sentences.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- Paper and pencil (a notebook kept just for this book works well)
What's in the book
Section 354 shows how "and" and "but" join two sentences into one (Speech is silver, but silence is golden) and defines conjunctions. Section 355 gives fifteen proverbs and lines of poetry to find conjunctions in and to say what they join.
The lesson, step by step
Join two into one (Section 354)
Read the three groups of sentences.
Speech is silver, but silence is golden.
Ask: What little word made one sentence out of two?
Certain words connect words or groups of words in a sentence. These are called Conjunctions.
Find them (Section 355)
Read the fifteen sentences aloud. For each conjunction, your child says what it joins.
Join your own
Give your child pairs of short sentences ("It rained. We stayed in." "I was hungry. I ate.") to join with and, but, or, if, until.
Write
Your child writes six sentences of their own, each joined by a different conjunction.
Check it gently
Read them aloud. Does the joining word make sense? ("It rained, but we stayed in" sounds odd; "so" or "and" fits better.) Your child fixes one.
What a good result looks like
Example (written for this guide, not from the book):
I wanted to go, but it was raining.
You may have an apple or a pear.
We waited until the bus came.
Come with me if you like.
Answers to the book's problems
Section 355: 1. and. 2. or, Or. 3. But. 4. but. 5. and. 6. And. 7. if. 8. but. 9. if (four times). 10. until. 11. and. 12. and. 13. and, and. 14. than. 15. but.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.