Appositive Lesson Plan

Lesson: Appositive Action
By: DPI Writing Strategies
Primary Subject: Language Arts
Grade Level: Elementary/Middle School

OVERVIEW: Appositives are descriptive phrases, set off by commas, that modify a noun or noun phrase. Using appositives helps writers create sentences that are smoother and less choppy. In this lesson, students will learn to combine 2 or more descriptive sentences and action sentences into one sentence with an appositive phrase.

OBJECTIVE(S): The students will be able to:

• learn to identify the appositive phrase in a complex sentence.
• learn to combine sentences by turning one of the sentences into an appositive phrase.
• learn to correctly punctuate appositive phrases.

MATERIALS:

• Appositive Action transparency (Click here to get it.)
  

ACTIVITIES & PROCEDURES (Part 1):

1. Share with students that some writers use short, choppy sentences in their writing, but if they knew about a fix-up strategy for choppy sentences, their writing would be much smoother. This fix-up strategy is called “Appositive Action.”
2. Show the students the sample sentences on the “Appositive Action” transparency, making certain to uncover only the first sentence. Read the sample sentence that contains an appositive, “John, my three year-old brother, broke my favorite toy.”
3. Point out that the words “my three year-old brother” are called an appositive. Circle the words “my three year-old brother.” Explain that an appositive describes the word that comes right before it and is set off or separated from the rest of the sentence with commas.
4. Uncover sentence 2. Show the second example of an appositive. “I sat beside Mrs. Jones, my favorite teacher.” Point out that the words “my favorite teacher” come right after “Mrs. Jones” and describe her.

ACTIVITIES & PROCEDURES (Part 2):

1. Have the students read the next two choppy sentences and combine them into one sentence using an appositive phrase like those in the two sentences on the transparency. Pause for students to work, and then share responses. For example, “Freddy, my shaggy dog, chewed up my mother’s gloves.”

ACTIVITIES & PROCEDURES (Part 3):

1. Have students find a piece of their own writing, and look for a place to combine choppy sentences by using “appositive action.” They can work with a partner and find one place to use an appositive in pieces of their own writing. Allow 4-5 minutes for students to work, and then share out examples.

CLOSURE: Remind students that using appositives to combine short, choppy sentences helps writing become smoother.

ASSESSMENT: Can students:

• identify the appositive phrase in a complex sentence?
• combine sentences by turning one of the sentences into an appositive phrase?
• correctly punctuate appositive phrases?

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This is an informative way to teach appositives.

What was GOOD about this lesson?

• This lesson provides a lot of guided practice to help students understand what an appositive is and how to use an appositive in a sentence.
  
• This lesson forces students to apply their understanding of an appositive into their writing, which will ultimately help students better understand appositives.
  

What would I do to IMPROVE this lesson?

• Provide more practice with more challenging examples.
  
• Have students see what an appositive does by showing them the YouTube video below.