UG Builders - Training Type Descriptions

UG Builders uses UG principles to help students understand word order, verb conjugation and sentence structure so they can create sentences without directly being taught grammar.

UG Builder sets begin with an infinitive verb, followed by four “Add X” cues that build up to a complete sentence.
“Add X” requires the student to add an additional word to the verb or statement and to make any necessary grammatical changes to the statement.
Each new statement is based on the correct answer from the previous cue.

UG Builders
LEVEL	DESCRIPTION	EXAMPLES
1	Tenses: Simple present “Add” cues comprise single words and short phrases of three words or fewer. After completing Level 1, students will be able to: ・ Correctly place single adjectives, such as “large” and “young”. ・ Adjust verb number from singular to plural. ・ Correctly place time markers, such as “every day”, “every month” and “every Saturday”, etc. ・ Correctly place prepositional phrases of time and place, such as “down the street” and “before work”, etc. ・ Correctly place frequency adverbs, such as “usually” and “always”, etc.	Built sentence:My friend and I go to the gym every day. Base verb: “go”Cue 1: Add “my friend” A1: My friend goes. Statement 2: My friend goes. Cue 2: Add “and I” A2: My friend and I go. Statement 3: My friend and I go. Cue 3: Add “to the gym” A3: My friend and I go to the gym. Statement 4: My friend and I go to the gym. Cue 4: Add “every day” A4: My friend and I go to the gym every day.
2	Tenses: Simple past, present, and future tenses, as well as present continuous. “Add” cues comprise single words and short phrases of three words or fewer. After completing Level 2, students will be able to: ・ Adjust verb tenses from cued auxiliary verbs, such as “are” and “will”. ・ Adjust verb tenses from cued time markers, such as “last night” and “tomorrow”, etc. ・ Incorporate quantifiers, such as “many of” and “some of”, into the subject phrase. ・ Use infinitives as direct objects. ・ Correctly place the objective form of personal pronouns, such as “me”, “him”, and “us”, etc.	Built sentence:She’ll bring us some water. Base verb: “bring”Cue 1: Add “us” A1: Bring us. Statement 2: Bring us. Cue 2: Add “some water” A2: Bring us some water. Statement 3: Bring us some water. Cue 3: Add “she” A3: She brings us some water. Statement 4: She brings us some water. Cue 4: Add “will” A4: She’ll bring us some water.
3	Tenses: all previous tenses. “Add” cues comprise single words, short phrases, and short clauses of four words or fewer. After completing Level 3, students will be able to: ・ Adjust verb tenses from context, in addition to cued auxiliary verbs and time markers. ・ Form complex sentences using dependent clauses. ・ Correctly place multiple adverbs and adverb phrases. ・ Correctly place intensifiers. ・ Correctly place possessives, as in “last night’s” and “her daughter’s”, etc.	Built sentence:Last night's dinner was very expensive. Base verb: “be”Cue 1: Add “dinner” A1: Dinner is. Statement 2: Dinner is. Cue 2: Add “expensive” A2: Dinner is expensive. Statement 3: Dinner is expensive. Cue 3: Add “last night’s” A3: Last night’s dinner was expensive. Statement 4: Last night’s dinner was expensive. Cue 4: Add “very” A4: Last night's dinner was very expensive.
4	Tenses: all previous tenses, plus present perfect. Add cues comprise single words, short phrases, and short clauses of five words or fewer. After completing Level 4, students will be able to: ・ Transform present tense to present perfect in accordance with cued auxiliary verbs. ・ Correctly place two adjectives describing a single noun. ・ Use “going to” as the main verb to express future time.	Built sentence:We've gone to this Italian restaurant before. Base verb: “go”Cue 1: Add “we” A1: We go. Statement 2: We go. Cue 2: Add “to this restaurant” A2: We go to this restaurant. Statement 3: We go to this restaurant. Cue 3: Add “before” A3: We've gone to this restaurant before. Statement 4: We've gone to this restaurant before. Cue 4: Add “Italian ” A4: We've gone to this Italian restaurant before.
5	Tenses: all previous tenses, plus present perfect continuous. Add cues comprise single words, short phrases, and short clauses of five words or fewer. After completing Level 5, students will be able to: ・ Transform present tense to present perfect continuous in accordance with cued auxiliary verbs. ・ Correctly place modals, as in “must”, “has to”, etc. ・ Correctly place subject relative clauses. ・ Build sentences using the imperative mood.	Built sentence:The books that we ordered should come today. Base verb: “come”Cue 1: Add “the books” A1: The books come. Statement 2: The books come. Cue 2: Add “should” A2: The books should come. Statement 3: The books should come. Cue 3: Add “today” A3: The books should come today. Statement 4: The books should come today. Cue 4: Add “that we ordered” A4: The books that we ordered should come today.