Pennington Publishing Blog

Hint: V Means 5

Teachers are well acquainted with different note-taking structures: outline, Cornell, boxing, charting, and mapping. Each has pros and cons for students taking notes from lectures or texts. However, the most commonly used structure for published materials is the alphanumeric outline. Students need to understand the hierarchy of the letter and number symbols to properly read and interpret these structured summaries. Plus, students need to know the Roman numerals.

Alphanumeric Outlines and Using Roman Numerals

Common Core Language Standard 2                            

Learning how to take notes from reading and lectures is essential to your success as a student. Notes are summaries of the key ideas and include main points, major details, and minor details. We often use symbols to represent these levels of organization.

Today’s mechanics lesson is on using Roman numerals in alphanumeric outlines to indicate levels of ideas.

Now let’s read the mechanics lesson, study the examples. and complete the practice exercises.

Alphanumeric Outlines use numbers, letters, and periods to organize information. The first letter of the word, group of words, or sentence that follows each symbol is capitalized.

• Main ideas are listed as Roman numerals on the left margin and are followed by periods. Each Roman numeral can be repeated up to three times in a row. Examples: For 1–10 I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X.
• Major details are listed as capital letters and are indented on the lines below the main ideas. Major details modify the main ideas. Modify means to describe, change, or limit. The Arabic numerals are capitalized and are followed by periods. Examples: A., B., C.
• The first minor detail modifies the major detail and is double indented on the next line. It begins with the Arabic numeral 1 followed by a period.
• The second minor detail is double indented on the next line and listed as 2.

Now circle or highlight what is right and revise what is wrong according to the lesson.

Practice: The sixth main idea is IV; the fourth major detail is d; and the third minor detail is 3.

Let’s check the Practice Answers.

Mechanics Practice Answers: The sixth main idea is VI; the fourth major detail is D; and the third minor detail is 3.

Now let’s apply what we have learned. 

Writing Application: Write your own alphanumeric outline to describe your favorite ice cream flavors.

Lesson Extension

By tradition, movies include Roman numerals to indicate the year in which the movie was released. To determine the year, you’ve got to know a few more symbols. M = 1,000; D = 500; C = 100; and L = 50. 

Example: MDCDLXXXVI = MD (1,000 + 500 = 1,500); CD (500 – 100 = 400); LXXX (50 + 30 = 80); VI = 6 or 1986.

Practice: Write the year of release for these Academy Award winning movies in Arabic numerals:

1. Gone with the Wind: MCMXLI
2. Citizen Kane: MCMXLI
3. Titanic: MCMXCVII
4. Little Women: MMXIX

Bonus

What is the longest Roman numeral between 0 B.C.E. and this year?

This writing opener is part of a comprehensive language conventions lesson from the Grammar, Mechanics, Spelling, and Vocabulary   Grades 4‒8 programs.

Practice Answers:

1. Gone with the Wind: 1939
2. Citizen Kane: 1941
3. Titanic: 1997
4. Little Women: 2019

Bonus: MDCCCLXXXVIII (1888)

Check out this great Roman numerals converter: https://www.rapidtables.com/convert/number/roman-numerals-converter.html 

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Teaching Grammar and Mechanics Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and High School Programs

I’m Mark Pennington, author of the full-year interactive grammar notebooks,  grammar literacy centers, and the traditional grade-level 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and high school Teaching Grammar and Mechanics programs. Teaching Grammar and Mechanics includes 56 (64 for high school) interactive language conventions lessons,  designed for twice-per-week direct instruction in the grade-level grammar, usage, and mechanics standards. The scripted lessons (perfect for the grammatically-challenged teacher) are formatted for classroom display. Standards review, definitions and examples, practice and error analysis, simple sentence diagrams, mentor texts with writing applications, and formative assessments are woven into every 25-minute lesson. The program also includes the Diagnostic Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics Assessments with corresponding worksheets to help students catch up, while they keep up with grade-level, standards-aligned instruction.

Read what teachers are saying about this comprehensive program:

The most comprehensive and easy to teach grammar, mechanics, spelling, and vocabulary program. I’m teaching all of the grade-level standards and remediating previous grade-level standards. The no-prep and minimal correction design of this program really respects a teacher’s time. At last, I’m teaching an integrated program–not a hodge-podge collection of DOL grammar, spelling and vocabulary lists, and assorted worksheets. I see measurable progress with both my grade-level and intervention students. BTW… I love the scripted lessons!

─Julie Villenueve

Grammar/Mechanics Alphanumeric Outlines, Cornell Notes, formal outlines, grammar, Mark Pennington, notetaking, outlines, pennington publishing, Roman numerals, Teaching Grammar and Mechanics

Alphanumeric Outlines                                                       

Common Core Language Standard 2

When we take notes from a lecture or a textbook, we create summaries of key information. To understand the relationship of facts, we order them in a hierarchy. In note-taking a hierarchy ranks the facts into main ideas, major ideas which “talk about” the main ideas, and minor ideas which “talk about” the major ideas. Usually we use symbols to create an order which makes sense of the facts, but we can also use sections of our notebook paper, as with Cornell Notes, to show these relationship.

Today’s mechanics lesson is on using periods in alphanumeric outlines to indicate levels of ideas.

Now let’s read the mechanics lesson and study the examples.

Alphanumeric Outlines use numbers, letters, and periods to organize information. The first letter of the word, group of words, or sentence that follows each symbol is capitalized.

• Main ideas are listed as Roman numerals on the left margin and are followed by periods.Examples: I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X.
• Major details are listed as Arabic numerals and are indented on the lines below the main ideas. Major details modify the main ideas. Modify means to describe, change, or limit. The Arabic numerals are capitalized and are followed by periods. Examples: A., B., C.
• The first minor detail modifies the major detail and is double indented on the next line. It begins with the Arabic numeral 1 followed by a period.
• The second minor detail is double indented on the next line and listed as 2.

Now let’s read the mechanics lesson and study the examples.

Use periods to abbreviate the Latin expressions we use to indicate before noon and after noon. Antemeridian is the time from midnight until noon and is abbreviated as “a.m.” Postmeridian is the time from noon until midnight and is abbreviated as “p.m.” Examples: 7:30 a.m., 12:00 p.m.

Now circle or highlight what is right and revise what is wrong according to mechanics lesson.

Practice: The sixth main idea is IV; the fourth major detail is d; and the third minor detail is 3.

Let’s check the Practice Answers.

Mechanics Practice Answers: The sixth main idea is VI; the fourth major detail is D; and the third minor detail is 3.

Now let’s apply what we’ve learned.

Writing Application: Write your own alphanumeric outline to describe your ideal birthday dinner.

*****

Pennington Publishing Grammar Programs

Teaching Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics (Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and High School) are full-year, traditional, grade-level grammar, usage, and mechanics programs with plenty of remedial practice to help students catch up while they keep up with grade-level standards. Twice-per-week, 30-minute, no prep lessons in print or interactive Google slides with a fun secret agent theme. Simple sentence diagrams, mentor texts, video lessons, sentence dictations. Plenty of practice in the writing context. Includes biweekly tests and a final exam.

Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics Interactive Notebook (Grades 4‒8) is a full-year, no prep interactive notebook without all the mess. Twice-per-week, 30-minute, no prep grammar, usage, and mechanics lessons, formatted in Cornell Notes with cartoon response, writing application, 3D graphic organizers (easy cut and paste foldables), and great resource links. No need to create a teacher INB for student make-up work—it’s done for you! Plus, get remedial worksheets, biweekly tests, and a final exam.

Syntax in Reading and Writing is a function-based, sentence-level syntax program, designed to build reading comprehension and increase writing sophistication. The 18 parts of speech, phrases, and clauses lessons are each leveled from basic (elementary) to advanced (middle and high school) and feature 5 lesson components (10–15 minutes each): 1. Learn It!  2. Identify It!  3. Explain It! (analysis of challenging sentences) 4. Revise It! (kernel sentences, sentence expansion, syntactic manipulation) 5. Create It! (Short writing application with the syntactic focus in different genre).

Get the Diagnostic Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics Assessments, Matrix, and Final Exam FREE Resource:

Grammar/Mechanics, Writing formal notes, Grammar Lessons, Language Conventions Lessons, notetaking, outlines, writing openers