A language pattern refers to the way in which the core parts of a sentence are put together. The most basic pattern includes a subject noun and a verb. One of the more complicated includes a subject noun, verb-transitive, direct object, and object noun complement. I know, that’s a lot, but it’s still not all! 

There is a seemingly endless number of potential modifiers in each sentence, including articles, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases. Plus, with each language pattern, there are a variety of sentence forms, like the simple sentence, compound sentence, complex sentence, and the much dreaded compound-complex sentence.  

But before we get too overwhelmed, let’s take a look at how copia can simplify all of this. As you read in my previous post, copia is the art of expressing the Truth of language in a new way. The Truth that we’re after in this exercise revolves around language patterns.  

To keep things simple, I am going to use a pattern one sentence, which includes a subject noun and a verb as the core parts. You could write your own sentence models, but I find it easier, more engaging, and more instructive to use classic examples, like this one.  

(Incidentally, nursery rhymes are a great choice because they stick in our memory so well. In that way, they help students layer conceptual memory on top of audio memory.) 

Borrowing from the Shurley English method of grammar instruction, I then have my students classify the model. That means they put labels for each word job above the sentence. Notice that word jobs are different than word parts. For example, Humpty Dumpty is the name of a person (or egg, if you rather), so it’s a noun. But, it’s a noun used in the subject, so its job is subject noun.  

The next step is to diagram. This gives a powerful visual for students to see the relationship between the words in the sentence. If diagramming seems too intimidating, take a look at Mary Daly’s Elementary Diagramming Textbook. It provides conversational instructions, wonderful sentence models, and beautifully drawn diagrams.  

Once the model sentence is classified and diagrammed, I then instruct students to write their own copia sentence using the exact same pattern. They can change the words and even the entire idea of the sentence, but the word jobs and word order must be the same. To test that their sentence matches, students classify and diagram it. If done correctly, the labels and lines will match up exactly. It’s a good idea to have students write, classify, and diagram multiple copia sentences. 

Here are a few clever student copias that capture both the language pattern and the idea behind the rhyme, showcasing the downfall of a ruler. 

As the school year progresses, we practice copia with more and more complicated patterns, eventually trying to replicate sentences written by great authors like Shakespeare. If done in a well-ordered progression, the sentence patterns will never feel too intimidating for students. And, they will have a rich understanding of language because they will have learned to write like the greats.