How To Use Adverbs

Using adverbs can make our writing more interesting to read.

They provide detail by describing other elements in the sentence.

But what do they describe?

·        Verbs (action or doing words)

He quickly ate his sandwich.

·        Adjectives (words that describe a noun)

Tammy’s dress was really beautiful.

·        Other adverbs

Ben always played outside

·        A whole sentence

Glen went to the beach yesterday.

So, adverbs are very busy – with so many things to describe.

Adverbs are busy bees!          

Adverbs often give us information that answers a question like:

·        How?

·        How often? or How much?

·        When?

·        Where?

This chart gives you an idea of some of the adverbs that can be used to answer these questions:

Can you think about some adverbs that you could add to each list?

They can also refer to our opinions:

 Personally, I don’t like chocolate…

 And link information  …however I detest sweets.

So, understanding what adverbs are will help you to check whether you are using them in our work.

If you are, your writing will be more detailed thus more interesting to read.

***

Consider these sentences. See how including adverbs makes them better. We can form a clearer picture in our mind of what has been recorded.

Tommy ate a sandwich.

Tommy never ate a sandwich slowly.

Lucy answered the question.

Lucy nearly answered the question correctly.    

Jane sang.

Yesterday, Jane sang beautifully.

Today, Jane sang terribly!

The dog sat.

The dog sat there patiently.  

Sometimes, it can be tricky to decide where to position an adverb in the sentence. There are some basic rules we can apply.

·        When the adverb is describing a verb it can go before or after the verb – choose the one that sounds better.

John sings loudly.       John loudly sings.

However, if the verb is directly linked to an object then place the adverb before the verb:

Joe carefully put the candles on the cake.

·        When describing an adjective, place the adverb before the adjective.

Lucy is extremely happy.

·        When referring to the whole sentence, the adverb generally comes at the beginning or the end of the sentence:

Yesterday, I went to the beach.

I go on holiday every year.

·        When describing another adverb, they can follow one another:

He walked into the room very loudly.

Or, they can be split:

Jack never ate quietly.

Try to pack extra information into your sentence so that your reader can easily understand what you are trying to say.

Remember, adverbs make your work more interesting to read.

There are lots of links on the internet that will help you to use adverbs in your writing.

Why not play some of these games, and make your teachers very happy when they see adverbs in your work!

Word Invasion – untick all options other than nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs

http://www.arcademics.com/games/invasion/invasion.html

Verb Explorer – to help you to identify verbs that you might want to describe

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/grammar/verbs.htm

Creepy verbs and adverbs

http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/viewing/L6187/index.html

This post was written by Karen Crichton, one of our English tutors at Blackhen Education.

www.blackheneducation.com

Out of Afrika - New Charity for Blackhen Education

For the last few years Blackhen Education has been supporting a charity in India and decided that this year it was time for a change. We still wanted to support a charity dedicated to providing education for less fortunate children, but we thought we would look to another continent.

After a lot of discussion and reading through of websites/links and information we decided upon 'Out of Afrika', based in Kenya. I can't say the name didn't have anything to do with the choice. I love the film 'Out Of Africa' starring Meryl Streep and Robert Redford; and as a teenager I watched the drama 'Flame Trees of Thika' about a British family settling in this part of Kenya.

However, the main reason that we decided on this particular charity, amongst so many worthwhile causes, was the impact that sponsorship could make on the lives on individual students here. For a very small amount of money a year, our two sponsored children will be able to attend school and eat regular meals.

The main aim of the charity is to provide an education for the very poorest of children from Primary to Secondary age. Many of these children come from large families, often with only one parent. In addition to poverty they often have to face a range of other social problems. Education can quite frankly change their lives for the better. Needless to say, education is prized and valued greatly by many in the local community.

http://www.outofafrika.org.uk/2/

Meet our two sponsor children:

Blackhen Education will sponsor two children, allowing them to have a basic education. We have two pupils; Francis and Lucy. We will receive school reports to follow their progress and photographs from their school.

This is Francis and he is 14 yrs old.

This is Lucy and she is 14 yrs old.

Blackhen students will be involved in writing handwritten letters to them and designing and making homemade Christmas cards.

The charity has its own website, where you can read all about the work they do and how you can work with them as a volunteer:
http://www.outofafrika.org.uk/2/

They also have a facebook page which you are welcome to follow: https://www.facebook.com/ooafrika/ 

This blog post was written by Sue Aitken, founder and director of Blackhen Education. For more information about our online English courses, please visit our website: www.blackheneducation,com 

Writing Books for Children - Susan Keefe

                                                      

What’s so special about the Toby’s Tails series of children’s  books?

I am Susan Keefe, the author of the Toby’s Tails series of children’s books. I was born in Essex in the UK, had an idyllic childhood, lots of animals, and from an early age I had an affinity with animals and a passionate love of them. My parents and paternal grandparents encourage my love of everything living, and my fondest memories are of walking with my granddad round fields and lakes learning country lore from him.

So did I have a career in journalism before writing my books? No, just a passion for animals and a deep longing to share with others, the childhood I had been so lucky to have. I believe fervently that many children in this modern world miss out on the simple joys of nature because they are too plugged into their iPod from an early age, and parents, desperate to earn more money don’t have the time to spend with them. Gone are the days when we made do and gave our children time rather than possessions.

In 2006 my husband Michael and I moved to the Pays de la Loire region of France. Late 2008 lost Czar, one of my two Golden Retrievers. Then a few weeks later in January 2009 we had to take our lady goat to say hello to her boyfriend. As we stopped the car, there peering out from the gate were a family of Border Collies. Is there such a thing as love at first sight, yes there is! One look at those liquid hazel eyes and I knew I just had to have him. By the time the goats had said hello we had agreed to buy our Toby and pick him up in two weeks.

So, as Toby grew up our bond became inseparable, we spent 24/7 with each other. Then one day, whilst Michael took a nap I sat at the computer and quite out of the blue started my very first book, Toby’s Tails. Michael was right from the start very encouraging, and Toby is always wrapped around my chair, as near as possible to me. The words just flew and soon the book, which chronicles Toby’s first year, his training, the animals and wildlife he encounters and life experiences was compete. Of course every book takes lots of editing and there is a lot of work from the book being ‘finished’ until it is ready for publishing. All the photos in the books are taken by me and are in colour, something I feel is very important, and the animals are our own.

As I have become known as a writer locally my French friends asked me why the books are not available in French. I realised they had a point, and now there are eight books in the Toby’s Tails series, and many are available in French and a couple in Spanish as well.

The latest book is one of two of the books which have been especially produced to raise money for charities. Toby’s Tails – Toby Visits Chats du Quercy (Toby et Compagnie- Toby rend visite - Chats du Quercy).

All the books have morals very subtly added. They all teach children about not only understanding and caring for animals, but also about the wonders of the natural world which are around them, and can be seen and enjoyed every day. One book, Toby’s Tails – Saying Goodbye to Lucky tackles the sensitive subject of the loss of a pet, however, it too has an uplifting message.

The books are available from all Amazon sites in Paperback and Kindle format :

 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Susan-Keefe/e/B007DV5UX6/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1. 

Many of the reviews for them mention that the reader now looks on animals in a different way – music to my ears, as my message has been understood.

Toby and I are happy to attend events and I can be contacted for personalised copies either via the Toby’s Tails Children’s Books Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/TobysTailsChildrensBooks/ or the contact form at the Toby’s Tails website http://www.tobys-tails.com/

                                 

                                                                          Susan Keefe

Education and Freedom of Speech

'Freedom of speech is the concept of the inherent human right to voice one's opinion publicly without fear of censorship or punishment'.

The attack last week on the staff of Charlie Hebdo and the ensuing violence poses many questions for us, but a key one must be how do we address the notion of free speech with our children. In France it has been long established that students learn the underlying values of the Republic: ‘Liberty, Equality and Fraternity’. Now that very democratic value is under the spotlight.

At Blackhen Education we feel that education is one of the most important ways to ensure that young people view the acquisition of knowledge and skills as a way to develop an open mind and one that seeks to question. In addition, we must teach them that listening to the views of others is important but also how we react to them.

In one of our units we look at the ‘Cult of Celebrity’ and ask them to rank a series of famous female faces in order of importance. Consistently the person that is ranked first is the Pakistani schoolgirl and Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai. This is deeply heartening that she is perceived by our students as being more ‘important’ than a host of film stars, singers and clothes designers. For a symbol of bravery and defiance, Malala is hard to beat. Despite being shot merely for wishing to go to school, she continues to campaign for everyone, regardless of creed, colour or nationality, to have the right to a full education. In addition, she talks of peace as a response to violence and has even gone so far as to publicly forgive her attackers.

Too often in life prejudice can masquerade as something ‘to be respected’ or ‘to be accepted’ because that is the way it has always been done. Having a forum to speak openly and to challenge is a fundamental cornerstone of what democracies should stand for. Even if we disagree with what someone says, they should have the right to say it.

In another one of our units (Refugee Boy) we pose the question ‘What does freedom mean to you?’ It is a question that we should all be asking at this moment, as well as what we will do to ensure that these freedoms to speak and express ourselves continue. Education isn’t merely about learning to read and write, it goes much deeper. It is the first step in learning to think and to question. A society is only as free as the values it is run on and the people tasked with defending these. The next generation of guardians are waiting in the wings and watching.

This post was written by Andy Mackay ( KS3 and IGCSE tutor at Blackhen Education).