Dangling+Modifier

Help Me, I’m a Dangling Modifier __Level__: middle school grades __Goals__: Ø To understand misplaced and dangling modifiers Ø To correct misplaced and dangling modifiers Ø To illustrate misplaced and dangling modifiers __Materials:__ Ø The Tale of the Dangling Modifiers Ø White paper Ø Strips of paper with dangling/misplaced modifiers Ø Markers __Procedures:__ 1. Teacher will read “The Tale of the Dangling Modifiers” (written by Suzanne Mills) as part of teaching a standard lesson on dangling/misplaced modifiers. Story will explain what a modifier is, and how it functions in a sentence. Also, it will address the fact that sometimes we, as writers, don’t always see that modifiers are “dangling” or misplaced. By illustrating a sentence containing the dangling or misplaced modifiers, the problem often becomes clear with humorous results. 2. Demonstrate how to illustrate a dangling/misplaced modifier, emphasizing the humor of the sentence. 3. Each student will be given a sentence containing a dangling or misplaced modifier, a white sheet of paper, and markers. 4. Each student will illustrate their given sentence; write the sentence under the illustration, then write the corrected sentence. Sentences to use: A woman walked by, leading a poodle in a short red dress. My friend went on and on, describing the details of her date in the elevator. My husband caught the salmon walking upstream. We saw dinosaurs on a field trip to the natural history museum. Watching the video on You Tube, the computer went dead. Jack and Jill found the flowers hiking up the mountain. Aimee found her missing black lipstick cleaning her room. Don’t try to pet the dog on the porch that is growling. The tourist took a picture of a bear using a long lens camera. A salesman knocked on the door wearing a suit and tie. I found a package outside my house tied with colorful ribbons. Covered in frosting, the MSLers will love these cupcakes. Looking out the car window, the trees were colored gold. Many people watched the Fourth of July fireworks in their cars. They saw dolphins on vacation in Hawaii. Standing on the dock, the boat didn’t look safe to the tourists. Reading a book, my cat crawled into my lap. The library has several books about dogs in our school. An hour after eating all their food, we let the kids get in the swimming pool. Meg slowly drove her car wearing a cast. Thirsty and weary, the oasis was a welcome sight. We saw a herd of sheep on the way to our hotel in Wales. Dipped in chocolate, Dr. Young loves fresh strawberries. While trying to get ready for school, my cell phone rang suddenly. The man and woman caught several mice using traps. Coming into the dining room, the drapes made a great impression. After spending all day Saturday reading, my eyes ached. While reading the newspaper, the dog jumped on the couch. I spied a Black Widow sweeping the garage.