Lesson 7: Education
Getting Started
In this lesson, you'll learn more about John Quincy's travels with his father. You'll also work with verbals (gerunds, participles, and infinitives) and explore education for women during the lifetime of Abigail Adams.
Stuff You Need
- Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie S. Bober
Ideas to Think About
- How do the lives of individuals interact with, influence, and become transformed by the events of the time and place in which they live?
- Can attention to the structure of a paragraph and the role of different component parts allow authors to craft more persuasive and powerful writing?
- How can the use of different verbs and verb forms influence the power and clarity of one's writing?
Things to Know
- Verbals are words that are forms of verbs that function as other parts of speech.
- Gerunds are verbals ending in "-ing" that function as nouns.
- Participles are verbals that function as adjectives. They usually end in "-ing" or "-ed."
- Infinitives are verbals that use "to" and the basic or simple form of a verb. Infinitives can function as a noun, adjective, or adverb.
Skills
- Use verbs in the active and passive voice and in the conditional and subjunctive mood to achieve particular effects (e.g., emphasizing the actor or the action; expressing uncertainty or describing a state contrary to fact). (LA)
- Explain the function of verbals (gerunds, participles, infinitives) in general and their function in particular sentences. (LA)
- Form and use verbs in the active and passive voice. (LA)
- Form and use verbs in the indicative, imperative, interrogative, conditional, and subjunctive mood. (LA)
- Use subject-verb agreement and verb tense that are appropriate for the meaning of the sentence. (LA)
Introducing the Lesson
In this lesson, your child will learn more about John Quincy's travels with his father. He will also work with verbals (gerunds, participles, and infinitives) and explore education for women during the lifetime of Abigail Adams.
Materials: Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie S. Bober
Read Chapters 13 and 14 of Abigail Adams: Witness to a Revolution by Natalie S. Bober and then answer the following questions.
Questions
- What advice did John Adams give Nabby about her study of Latin and Greek?He advised her not to let too many people know about it since it wasn't seen as proper education for girls.
- What do you think young John Quincy Adams might have thought about leaving home to travel to Europe with his father?Answers will vary.
- In Chapter 14, why did John Adams leave America again?He was appointed plenipotentiary to France by Congress.
- How did Abigail earn extra income while John was away?She sold goods that he sent her from Europe.