Inversion -- help!

[DiannaKennedy]

Are there any lessons within the Fable streaming videos that cover inversion? My daughter is a creature of habit, and trying to explain inversion to her this week is very challenging.

[enbateau]

Have you tried reading any of the sample inversions from the teacher's manual (pp. 44, 48, 52)? You can also type up the fable, one sentence per line, with double spaces between each sentence. Read the story in order, and have her number the details from beginning to end (1-5...or whatever number of strips you have). Then, have her put them in reverse order from 5 to 1. Cross out verbs in the simple past tense and change them to pluperfect/past perfect (saw --> had seen, drove ---> had driven). Then, write in easy transition phrases from a list on the whiteboard, "before that," and "previously," or "that was all because," and "earlier that day," or "this resulted from," and "prior to this." It's okay for the first few attempts to be formulaic.

[Abigail Johnson]

Hi!
The fable streaming should cover inversion when it is presented! Please call the office if you do not have them. I know there was some re-arranging between editions, but it should have been accommodated for.
Also, could you be more specific as to what she is struggling with? I recommend what enbateau said, in addition to taking the outline and starting at the beginning of act II or Act III, and rearranging in that manner. Students practice fluidity (How can I make it sensible) when starting "en media res" as it were, and transitioning between times, using time words like "previously" complementing the also the pluperfect tense.

Even starting with rearranging 2 or 3 actions that are right in a row like this can be helpful in beginning: "Suddenly, the Ant was swooped into the air by a passing Pigeon, who had seen the floundering little insect and had had pity on her." This assists the student in seeing that we do not always have to say, "The Pigeon was passing by when she saw the foundering Ant. She swooped down and lifted her into the air."

You can also do this with "Jessie mixed the cake. Then, she put it in the oven." This changes to "Jessie put the cake in the oven after she had mixed it." It's easy to point out the need for the tense change and the time transitioners, as well as using Jessie not "she" at the beginning, to avoid antecedent confusion.

I hope this helps, and I've emailed the office to see if they have more comments as to what lessons go into this more, or to see if there is a problem.
Abigail Johnson

[enbateau]

I forgot to add that you should cut out the strips to put them in order, then invert the sequence. It works really well with the super short fables. You can also make up a simple story with 3 to 4 sentences, but if you use a CC fable, you've already done the hard work.

[DiannaKennedy]

Hi!
The fable streaming should cover inversion when it is presented! Please call the office if you do not have them. I know there was some re-arranging between editions, but it should have been accommodated for.
Also, could you be more specific as to what she is struggling with? I recommend what enbateau said, in addition to taking the outline and starting at the beginning of act II or Act III, and rearranging in that manner. Students practice fluidity (How can I make it sensible) when starting "en media res" as it were, and transitioning between times, using time words like "previously" complementing the also the pluperfect tense.

Even starting with rearranging 2 or 3 actions that are right in a row like this can be helpful in beginning: "Suddenly, the Ant was swooped into the air by a passing Pigeon, who had seen the floundering little insect and had had pity on her." This assists the student in seeing that we do not always have to say, "The Pigeon was passing by when she saw the foundering Ant. She swooped down and lifted her into the air."

You can also do this with "Jessie mixed the cake. Then, she put it in the oven." This changes to "Jessie put the cake in the oven after she had mixed it." It's easy to point out the need for the tense change and the time transitioners, as well as using Jessie not "she" at the beginning, to avoid antecedent confusion.

I hope this helps, and I've emailed the office to see if they have more comments as to what lessons go into this more, or to see if there is a problem.
Abigail Johnson

Thank you so much --- she takes the class in a cottage school setting, missed the class in which inversions were covered, and has been struggling with allergy season as well -- it's a bit of a perfect storm! For this super creative little one,I think she's gotten used to the format of Fable, and this is the first time she's seen inversion this year, so it seems scary and overwhelming to her.

[DiannaKennedy]

Have you tried reading any of the sample inversions from the teacher's manual (pp. 44, 48, 52)? You can also type up the fable, one sentence per line, with double spaces between each sentence. Read the story in order, and have her number the details from beginning to end (1-5...or whatever number of strips you have). Then, have her put them in reverse order from 5 to 1. Cross out verbs in the simple past tense and change them to pluperfect/past perfect (saw --> had seen, drove ---> had driven). Then, write in easy transition phrases from a list on the whiteboard, "before that," and "previously," or "that was all because," and "earlier that day," or "this resulted from," and "prior to this." It's okay for the first few attempts to be formulaic.

Allergy symptoms are clouding my brain --- we will start here! Thank you!
I had the idea of telling the story (Wolf in Sheep's Clothing) beginning with the Wolf reflecting on how he dies, and she was NOT a fan.

[Abigail Johnson]

Allergy symptoms are clouding my brain --- we will start here! Thank you!
I had the idea of telling the story (Wolf in Sheep's Clothing) beginning with the Wolf reflecting on how he dies, and she was NOT a fan.

So sad! Allergy fog is REAL. My DD suffers greatly every Spring. I would not do a perspective change yet. Inversion is a vital tool in Point of View (or perspective change), but we don't teach PoV changes until Narrative. I would keep this in third person, for sure!