Syntax Lesson Plan

This is a lesson plan I have created to introduce generative syntax tree diagrams. It is meant for 10th grade high school students of English.

Objectives:
From this very short introduction, the students should:
1) be able to diagram a simple sentence using this new method
2) gain a deeper understanding of the generative, recursive nature of language
3) understand how we manipulate the base forms of language to form new sentences
4) understand how the choice one makes in how to diagram a sentence shows how one is interpreting the sentence

Time-frame:
One night to watch the video and read some of the background information, and one class period the following day to go over tree diagramming and do some practice. After some further demonstration in class, the students will attempt to diagram a few simple sentences and then use the tree diagrams to transform them into more complex and different types of sentences (e.g., adding modifiers, gerund phrases, and prepositional phrases; forming questions).

This is a video showing a few of the basics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJCwe1GxHAc

Here are a few links for background information:

http://feeds.delicious.com/v2/rss/lalloydus?count=15