Ok, we are in 2nd grade and my dd is trying to learn where to put an accent mark. She is fairly good at figuring out how many syllables and where to seperate them, but is having a hard time figuring out which one should be accented. And to tell you the truth, i can t always figure it out either without looking it up. Are there rules that we could learn to figure out where to put an accent mark? I always did well in English, but im obviously forgetting something? ANy help appreciated, lol!
We just got through doing this, too. Thank God for teachers editions, that's all I have to say!!! I got my book back out, this is what it says... A syllable with le in it is not accented. Prefixes and suffixes are not accented. Sorry, I don't know if that's much help!
Say the word. Put a strong accent on the first syllable, then say it again with a strong accent on the second. Which SOUNDS correct? (And when I say "strong", I mean that. Yell the accented one, and whisper very gently the unaccented. It will get her giggling, so it will be like a game!)
I could never do that in school either. Why do we make kids do that? Why must they be able to place an accent on a known word? I can understand why they need to know how to read the pronunciation guide in the dictionary and put the accent on the right syllable when saying the word, but if you already know how to say "accent" then why do you need to know where to put the ACcent?
If you come across a new word and look it up in a dictionary, the place you put stress will influence how you say the word. Some words actually change meaning, based on where the accent it placed. Can you live without it? Yes, just like you can live without knowing the difference between an adverb and an adjective. But I bet you still teach them to your kids!
i agree with all, but here is my thing, if you can look it up, say in a dictionary, and you understand what it means and how to pronounce, why do you need to memorize where an accent should be on a word? KWIM? I get that she needs to be able to look up the word, and pronounce correctly, but why must we be able to look at the worksheet with 5 words and label where the accent mark goes on the words?
Exactly. It seems like they are teaching it backwards. I think that it is just a teaching tool used to achieving an objective. Maybe it helps some kids, but if a child achieves the objective without the tool, why force them to go back and learn how to use the tool. Like diagraming sentences...it's a tool. If kids can completely understand the structure of our language without ever diagramming a sentence, then why do it. (BTW, I love diagramming sentences, and it was a great visual tool for me, but I realize that learning to diagram is just a tool not the objective.)
You need Saxon Phonics!!! While I don't remember it all, I do remember it was very thorough about syllables- accenting, dividing. You had flash cards and sheets to back it up. I actually wish I had kept my second grade TE to refer back to, because we run into situations where it would be helpful.
