What are strong verbs? I don't think that the Treasures book did a good job of explaining what they are. What is the difference between regular verbs & strong verbs? Thanks!
I'm more than slightly surprised to see that terminology in a book for third graders. Regular verbs form past tenses by the addition of -ed to the unchanged verb root or stem: paw - pawed, head - headed, agree - agreed, whirl - whirled, spot - spotted, burn - burned. Irregular verbs form past tenses by changing the verb stem. In some cases there's a change, addition, or loss of consonant: have - had, do - did, think - thought, buy - bought, stand - stood. Strong verbs, strictly speaking, form past tenses by changing the stem vowel. This list isn't exhaustive, but it shows a number of the patterns: draw - drew slay - slew shake - shook, take - took get - got see - saw begin - began sink - sank swing - swung rise - rose fly - flew blow - blew
Since its in an elementary text, I'm taking the term 'strong' verbs differently than TG... I'm seeing them as more 'expensive verbs as opposed to 'tired' words...so: Instead of: Ran.....try dashed, sprinted Eat....devour Said....declared, exclaimed
You can do a similar lesson with adjectives....instead of good...stupendous, instead of big...enormous.... You could do a great lesson and bulletin board on this....some put the 'tired' words 'to bed' on a bed cut out and have the 'strong words' jumping out....or strong words on a dumbbell weight cut out...:thumb:
I saw something on Pinterest that was really cute . Do a synonym lesson using a cinnamon bun template and have the students write the "tired" word at the top of the bun, then have them list their synonyms (or strong verbs) underneath. Post it as a bulletin board labeled "Synonym Rolls"
If the term "strong verb" is really being used as a synonym for "more vivid verb" and "regular verb" for "less vivid verb", I'd bet that a textbook for third graders would have managed to convey enough of THAT point that mudpie could have figured out the rest. (Ironically, "strong verb" in that sense is neither vivid nor precise. A search via Google just turned up the term "powerful word"; that would work better.) "Strong verb" and "regular verb" as I've explained them above have been technical terms in grammar for a century at the very least. Whoever first decided to apply those terms to promote more vivid and/or more precise language belongs in the Dantean circle next to that reserved for whoever first dubbed the ending of a syllable the "rime" and whoever decided to name the assessment in which one is presented a sentence that is missing one noun or verb a "cloze". I feel for the Latin, Greek, and German teachers in these kids' futures who are going to have to spend time reteaching what "strong verb" and "regular verb" mean.
I've never heard "strong verb" used in any other way than what has been offered above. Probably wouldn't be a horrible, major deal to teach teen and adult students taking the classes you mentioned a second meaning to "strong verb"... ETA: We reserve the use of "power verbs" for testing directions such as describe, explain, and list.
One would hope a textbook would do a better job, but it seems from her subsequent post that mudpie's textbook might indeed mean 'synonyms'. In the elementary grades, the 'strong' verbs to which you are referring, TG, are simply called 'irregular past tense' in most cases. You got me wondering about the other terms you mentioned... Found: "The word cloze is derived from closure in Gestalt theory. The exercise was first described by W.L. Taylor in 1953."...Taylor was a professor at the University of Illinois, who thought of it as a technique for measuring the degree of difficulty of reading passages. Taylor said that the reader must achieve 'closure' in order to fill in the blanks. Mudpie....found cute lists of adjectives and verbs for you here: http://mrsrojasteaches.blogspot.com/2011/10/lots-lots-of-lists-11-freebies.html?m=1 (the blog writer/teacher at this site also calls the 'synonym' verbs 'strong verbs'...)
Yup: a term from reading research that reaches just a little too far for the cute resonance. In any case, I'm slightly less irritated by "cloze", which at least doesn't exist under that spelling in a different meaning, than I am by "rime". But clearly this thread is about something else; I'll take the hint and go.
TG--thanks for the lesson on strong verbs! I learned something! Very interesting....I had never heard the term before.
I think that strong verbs are verbs that give precise meaning - they tell more accurately what the writer intended. When your students write a verb like 'said', ask them to find another verb that gives some information about how the words were said; ie, substitute a powerful verb like blared, shrieked, murmured, etc.
