Helpful Hints

Pretty A*rdvarks Never Vote Ins!de Crumbling P!nk Arenas!

That little mnemonic will (I hope) help you remember the eight parts of speech. I made it up for my students. Pronoun, Adjective, Noun, Verb, Interjection, Conjunction, Preposition, Adverb.

We also went through some troublesome homonyms and made up our own mnemonics for them. Some of the best:

Your stomach goes 'gr' when it's time to eat. (great)
Grate the cheese on a plate. (grate)
Turn right at the light. (right not write)
A bare bear does not wear any clothes. (bare/bear/wear)
A bear will kick you in the rear. (bear/bare)
Where did you go? Oh, here and there. (where/there/here)
You hear with your ear. (hear/here)
The IRS owns everything; it's theirs (THE-IRS).

And my favorite:
It's a great day to eat grated cheese that I ate. (great/grate)

Ooh, I think we'll tackle lose/loose next week, among others. I forgot about that one.

Anyway, if you forget which words go where, or if you have your own kids or students, perhaps these little tidbits will help you. Or at least that you enjoyed them. :)