ABE Writing: Commas and Capitalization

Time for more grammar! Hooray!

Ok, so maybe you're not as excited as I am, but get excited! We're becoming better writers every day!

Most people in my class do fairly well with capitalization rules, so we will start there and give them a quick review. Then, we will discuss commas in some depth, and I'll link to some cool comma-related videos.

Capitalization

Last week, we covered the parts of speech. We did so because it's a lot easier to talk about grammar rules when we all know the grammar vocabulary (i.e. noun, adjective, verb, etc.). For capitalization rules, we will mostly look at nouns (people, places, things) and adjectives (descriptive words, names). Nouns and adjectives that are capitalized are called Proper. There are some basic capitalization rules that most people know. Here's a PowToon for review:

Many people struggle with whether or not to capitalize people's titles -- like Doctor Rodriguez or Aunt Lisa. If you are calling someone by their title, do capitalize; if you are referencing their position, don't capitalize.
Examples:

• The president of the company is Teresa Chasteen.
• Please tell President Chasteen I stopped by to see her.
• I'm going to see the doctor.
• I'm going to see Doctor Rodriguez.
• My aunts, Lisa and Sue, are coming to the party.
• Aunt Lisa and Aunt Sue are coming to the party.

Commas: The Great Separators!

There are 5 comma rules that you need to know. If you really want to get grammar happy, check out the Purdue OWL comma rules for an extended list. But for now, let's review the 5 comma rules we need for ABE:

1. Use commas to separate items or phrases in a series.
   Examples:
   I came into my office, turned on the lights, and sat down behind my desk.
   Tonight, we are going to eat soup, salad, and sandwiches.
2. Use commas to separate cities/states/zip codes, day-of-the-week/month, and days/years.
   Examples:
   I live in Dallas, Texas.
   I'm arriving Thursday, June 26.
   Her wedding is June 27, 2014. 
3. Use commas to set off unnecessary information (appositives, interrupters).
   Examples:
   My friends, Molly and Aaron, went to the festival.
   She was, of course, the most sober woman in the room.
   He, however, was the most drunk.
4. Use commas before conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) when compounding two complete sentences.
   Examples:
   I wanted to go with you to the dance, but I had to drop my sister off at soccer practice.
   We felt sorry for the dog, so we adopted him.
5. Use commas to break a dependent and independent thought when a sentence begins with a subordinating conjunction (because, since, while, although, even though, whenever, if, unless).
   Examples:
   Because you are trustworthy, I will tell you my secret.
   Even though I love chocolate, I hate truffles.

Here's a video that reinforces rules 4 and 5:

Hopefully, this lesson will clear up some of your punctuation confusion!

Until next week!
Jc

ABE Math: Fractions, Decimals, & Percentages - PART II

....And we're back with more fractions, decimals and percents! I know you are excited!

Ok, maybe not that excited. ;) First, let's review what we learned last week...

Review

Fractions, decimals, and percentages are all PARTS of a WHOLE.

Different fractions can be used to describe the same amount of a whole. These are called equivalent fractions, and this is what they look like:

It's clear that there is half a pizza in each circle -- so the amount of the whole pizza that we have is equal (or equivalent) in all three examples, but the number of pieces we have changes. On the left, half of the pizza is represented as 1/2 -- which is one piece of two total pieces. In the center, the pizza is cut into four total pieces, so we have to take two of the four, if we want half. On the right, there are eight total pieces, and we need four of those eight to make half.

Fractions can be raised by multiplying or reduced by dividing. This is important for adding/subtracting fractions, because you can only add/subtract fractions with the same number of total pieces. For example, if I wanted to take 1/2 of my pizza and add 1/4 to it, I would have two pieces but they would be different sizes, so I couldn't say I have two halves-fourths, right? So what would I do? Well, I'd have to raise my 1/2 by multiplying my part and my whole by 2. Then I could add: 2/4 + 1/4 = 3/4 of the pizza.

Our number system is all based on groups of tens. Decimals are just fractions based on 10s, 100s, 1000s, etc. If you know place-value, then changing decimals to fractions is super easy. For example, if I know that 0.7 can be read as 7 tenths, then the fraction of this decimal is 7/10. The decimal 0.09 is read as 9 hundredths, which is 9/100 in fraction form. 

To change a fraction into a decimal, divide! So for example, if I wanted to change the fraction 3/4 into decimal form, I would take 3 divided by 4 which equals 0.75. Three quarters is the same as seventy-five cents, right? This is why decimals and fractions can be used interchangeably. They look different from each other, but they are describing the same amount -- just like equivalent fractions look different but are describing the same amount.

Percentages

Percentages are fractions that are always based on 100 as the whole. The word per-cent means "out of 100". As decimals, percentages look like cents. So 65% looks like 65 cents (0.65); 8% looks like 8 cents (0.08), and so on. 

All fractions can be changed to percents by raising the fractions up to pieces of 100. So for example if I had 5 $20-bills, and I gave you one of them, what fraction of my money would you have? You'd have one out of the five total, or 1/5. If I asked you what percent of my money you had, we'd have to raise 1/5 up to parts of 100. Now, if you're brilliant (which I'm sure you are), you've already realized my 5 $20-bills equal $100. So the one bill that you have is $20/$100 -- and if I have a fraction based on 100, it's a percent! So you would have 20% of my money. 

Here's a playlist for learning percentages and how to work with them better:

That's probably enough math for now. Check back next week for applied percentages!

-Jc

ABE Writing: Parts of Speech

Today in afternoon class, we tackled parts of speech!

Yes, I know, it's not the most exciting topic in the history of the Earth, but knowing the building blocks of language is essential to understanding grammar.

Review!

Here's a video you can use to review the parts of speech:

Order is Important

So why is it important that we know the parts of speech? Well, writing consists of lots of rules. As native English speakers, many of us know these rules without actually knowing that we know them...

It's true! For example, if you were going to ask your friend about his day, which of the following options would you likely choose:

A) Your day was how?

B) How your day was?

C) Your was how day?

D) Day your was how?

E) How was your day?

The best choice is obviously E, although A or B could be used in certain circumstances...

"Your day was HOW?"

"How YOUR day was?" lol

However, we would never choose to use answer choices C or D. 

This shows us that we know there are rules for how words can and cannot be combined to express ourselves, and we already use these rules when we speak English fluently. But most of us couldn't describe these rules. If I asked you, "Why can't we use answer choices C or D?", you'd probably respond with, "Well, they don't make sense." But why don't they? After all, they include the same four words as the other three choices, right?

Play by the Rules!

The reason we cannot use answer choices C or D is that they break a fundamental rule of our language: 

Adjectives, words that describe nouns, must come directly before the noun(s) they modify. 

Which word is acting as an adjective? Your. (It's a possessive adjective if you want to get really fancy...) Which noun is 'your' describing? Day. So any choices which separate the words 'your day' or reverse their order are not correct. These rules for how our language must be ordered and punctuated are known as grammar.

If you want to be a good communicator, especially through writing, you must know these grammar rules. Using correct grammar is important because it ensures that what you say/write will be understood clearly by other speakers of the same language. The example I gave was a simple one, but even a simple example could not be explained without discussing the parts of speech (i.e. adjective, noun). Therefore, it is vital to fully understand the parts of speech so that you will not get lost in the grammar rules as you learn more complex ones.

If you enjoyed this post, share it with your friends. Also, give us some constructive feedback in the comments or feel free to ask questions. :)

Write on.

-Jc

ABE Math: Fractions, Decimals, and Percentages - PART I

In afternoon class today, we worked with fractions, decimals, and percentages (or percents, for short). Yes, I said fractions....

Oh, the horror! Lol. 

If I had a nickel for every time I heard the words, "I hate fractions," I'd be a rich lady, indeed. However, I believe that most people hate fractions because they have to try to remember the rules of how to compute them without fully understanding the reasoning behind those rules and/or the relationships between fractions, decimals, percentages, and ratios. This is a losing battle. You can't build a house on sand, nor can you learn to apply math without a firm understanding of the foundations of number theory. So let's get started before we change our minds...

The Great Divide

What do you get when you divide a whole? You end up with parts of that whole. If I divide a whole pizza, then I have slices, which are parts of a whole pizza. If I divide a whole dollar, I end up with coins, which are parts of a whole dollar. 

Division creates fractions, decimals and percents. This is where you must begin your understanding: all fractions, decimals, and percentages are parts of a whole. Because they are all parts of a whole, we can use fractions/decimals/percents interchangeably, but more on that later. For now, let's take a close look at fractions and decimals.

Fractions & Decimals

I'm going to start this section by introducing you to Math Antics, one of my favorite YouTubers. Here is an entire playlist of 16 separate, short videos on fractions. This series explains what fractions are, how they relate to decimals, and how to work with fractions.

Next week, we will be moving from fractions and decimals to percentages.

Stay tuned!
-Jc