Conjunctions, Prepositions, Interjections — Function in Particular Sentences (with Greek/Latin Roots launch)

Teacher writes 5 sentences on the board, each containing a conjunction, preposition, or interjection in bold. Children predict which is which.

• Project 5 sentences
• Affirm correct part-of-speech identifications
• Note function — joining clauses / showing relationship / expressing emotion

Today you do two things: label and explain the FUNCTION of three small parts of speech (conjunctions / prepositions / interjections), AND meet the first 4 Greek/Latin roots. CONJUNCTIONS join: coordinating (and/but/or/so) joins equal parts; subordinating (because/although/when/if) attaches a dependent clause; correlative (either-or / neither-nor / both-and / not-only-but-also) pairs of joiners. PREPOSITIONS show relationships of location, time, or direction (in, on, at, under, before, after, through, beyond, with). INTERJECTIONS express emotion (Oh! Wow! Hey! Yes! Yikes!) — they stand alone or attach with a comma. Watch teacher mark up 3 mentor sentences from Brown Girl Dreaming. Sentence 1: 'Although the words came slowly, I wrote them anyway.' ALTHOUGH = subordinating conjunction joining 'the words came slowly' (dependent) to 'I wrote them anyway' (independent). Sentence 2: 'On the porch in the heat of summer, my grandmother told stories.' ON = preposition showing location of the porch. IN = preposition showing time-context of summer. Sentence 3: 'Oh, the way memory carries us back.' OH = interjection expressing reflection/emotion; the comma sets it off. Now meet the first 4 Greek/Latin roots from MG-20: BIO (Greek = life) — biology, biography, biosphere. GEO (Greek = earth) — geography, geology, geometry. PHOTO (Greek = light) — photograph, photosynthesis, photon. GRAPH (Greek = write) — autograph, paragraph, graphic.

• Notice: the same word ('after') can be a preposition ('After dinner') or a subordinating conjunction ('After the rain stopped, we left'). Function depends on whether what follows is a NOUN PHRASE (preposition) or a CLAUSE (subordinating conjunction).

  model See narrative.

  prompt Teacher marks up 3 mentor sentences for conjunction/preposition/interjection.

• What is the function of a coordinating conjunction vs. a subordinating conjunction?
• Name the Greek root that means 'write' and one example word.

M-5-F-GR-08-A Chart

11x17 chart: 3 mentor sentences from Brown Girl Dreaming with conjunctions highlighted red, prepositions blue, interjections green. Below each: function-note sentence. Dyslexic-friendly font. Print-ready.

• Mark up 4 sentences (provided) with color-coded stickers (conjunction=red, preposition=blue, interjection=green). Write a one-sentence FUNCTION note for each.

  scaffold Color-coded sticker set; marked-up mentor-sentence cards; reference key
• Use each of the 4 Greek/Latin roots in a sentence about your essay topic. Frame: 'The root ___ means ___; in my essay topic, the word ___ comes from this root.'

  scaffold Root card deck (4 cards in hand); root-and-example match cards

M-5-F-VOC-08-B Chart

Reproduction of MG-20 at 11x17: 12-wedge circular wheel with all 12 roots shown; today's 4 (BIO, GEO, PHOTO, GRAPH) highlighted yellow. Each wedge has the root, definition, and 3 example words. Print-ready.

MG-20 Chart

Greek/Latin roots wheel anchor (L.5.4.b): a circular wheel divided into 12 wedges, one per root, each with the root spelled in the center and example words on the outer edge. ROOTS: BIO (life — biology, biography, biosphere) / GEO (earth — geography, geology, geometry) / PHOTO (light — photograph, photosynthesis, photon) / GRAPH (write — autograph, paragraph, graphic) / SCOPE (view — microscope, telescope, periscope) / PORT (carry — transport, import, portable) / DICT (speak — dictation, predict, contradict) / SCRIB/SCRIPT (write — scribble, manuscript, prescribe) / STRUCT (build — structure, construct, instruct) / TELE (far — telephone, television, telegraph) / AUTO (self — automatic, autobiography, autograph) / PHON (sound — phonics, telephone, symphony). Bottom rule: 'When you meet a new word, look for a root you know.' Print-ready 11x17.

• Mark up 2 sentences from YOUR essay draft for conjunctions / prepositions / interjections.
• List one root word from each of BIO, GEO, PHOTO, GRAPH.

• Star one beautifully-used conjunction in your draft.
• Predict: tomorrow we work on the MPO outline.

• At home tonight, find 1 example word for each of the 4 roots in your home reading. Bring tomorrow.