Grammar activities gr 6-8

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Transcript of Grammar activities gr 6-8

Page 1: Grammar activities   gr 6-8

That Really

SARAH GLASSCOCK

New York • Toronto • London • Auckland • SydneyMexico City • New Delhi • Hong Kong • Buenos Aires

SARAH GLASSCOCK

Grades 6–8

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Scholastic Inc. grants teachers permission to photocopy the reproducible pages from this book for classroom use. No other part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

Editor: Sarah Longhi

Copy editor: Jeannie Hutchins

Cover design: Maria Lilja

Interior design: Melinda Belter

Illustrations: Mike Moran

ISBN-13: 978-0-545-11264-2

ISBN-10: 0-545-11264-8

Copyright © 2010 by Sarah Glasscock.

All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic.

Printed in the U.S.A.

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Contents

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

All About Nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

All About Pronouns and Antecedents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

All About Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

All About Adjectives and Adverbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

All About Prepositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

All About Subject-Predicate Agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

All About Gerunds, Participles, and Infinitives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

All About Phrases and Clauses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

All About Specificity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

All About Sentences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

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IntroductionIt may be hard to convince students that grammar is a living, breathing thing that reflects not only the history of our language but also how language and its rules change in our contemporary lives. For example, today we try to use language more precisely to reflect the changes in our society by replacing policeman or fireman with police officer or firefighter. (We’re still grappling with the wordiness of pairing everyone with the possessive pronouns his and her.) Grammar is simply a set of rules that help us write and speak clearly so people can understand what we mean. The aim of this book is to present an overview of major topics that will give your students tools become better writers and speakers.

How to Use This BookThe book contains a mini-lesson for each of the following ten major grammar topics:

• Nouns • Subject-Predicate Agreement• Pronouns and Antecedents • Gerunds, Participles, and Infinitives • Verbs • Phrases and Clauses• Adjectives and Adverbs • Specificity • Prepositions • Sentences

Each mini-lesson contains the following elements to support your teaching:

4 A teaching page focuses on introducing and defining the topic, teaching it in conjunction with a model passage, and applying it. A quote related to the topic begins each lesson. In some lessons, the quote is used as a springboard for introducing, discussing, or applying the grammar topic.

4 A short model passage shows important aspects of the grammar topic in action. Important points about the grammar topic are identified in the passage and briefly discussed. You may want to display the passage onscreen to introduce or review the featured grammar points. Students can also keep this page in their notebooks or writing portfolios to guide them in their own writing.

4 Two writing prompts encourage students to write and share their work. You can photocopy the prompts on card stock and then cut them apart for students, write the prompts on the board, or display them onscreen. With the Rest of the Class tips help students extend their thinking by sharing their work with their peers.

4 Three activities for the whole class, small group, pairs, or individuals give students hands-on practice with the grammar topic. These activities require minimal preparation and appeal to a variety of learning styles; for example, students may play games, chant, or write ads and plays. Use the discussion tip, With the Class, to invite students to discuss the topic further.

4 A reproducible activity sheet goes with the activity featured in the Apply section of each teaching page.

You’ll find that there is some overlapping of topics. It’s impossible to talk about subjects and predicates without talking about nouns, pronouns, and verbs, and it’s impossible to talk about sentences without talking about all the other grammar topics in the book. Immerse your students in an overview of each grammar topic or dive more deeply into one aspect of it. I hope this book encourages your students to see the powerful effect that grammar has on our words —and the effect we all have on our language.

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All About NounsAll nouns are abbreviations. Instead of saying cold, sharp, burning, unbreakable, shining, pointy, we utter “dagger”; for the receding sun and oncoming darkness, we say “twilight.”

—Jorge Luis Borges

Nouns ground a sentence. Without nouns, there is nobody or nothing to spark the action. This mini-lesson focuses on the following aspects of nouns:

• nouns and noun phrases• subject-verb agreement• possessive nouns• descriptive nouns

IntroductionBegin a mini-lesson on nouns by writing a short definition of this part of speech on the board. Here’s an example: “A noun names a person, place, animal, thing, or idea: After experiencing freedom from gravity when he somersaulted over the moon, James landed in his front yard again, which surprised his Dalmatian.”

TeachDistribute copies of the model passage “The Cathedral of Junk” on page 7 to students. Allow time for them to read it on their own, or ask them to follow along as you read it aloud. Then use the teaching guide on page 6 to discuss general notes on nouns and how the writer used them in the passage. (Also see the lessons on pronouns and antecedents on pages 11 –16, subject-verb agreement on pages 35–40, gerunds, participles, and infinitives on page 41–46, and phrases and clauses, pages 47–52.)

ApplyOn the board or a chart, make a list of nouns such as cactus, freedom, computer, adult, and pencil. Then hand out the Abbreviate! reproducible on page 10 and go over the directions. Encourage students to let their minds roam widely as they think about the noun they have chosen. You may want to begin by assigning the same noun to students. Encourage pairs of students to share their abbreviations with each other and try to identify the original noun or noun phrase. Record students’ responses to get a comprehensive definition of the noun.

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Just exactly what is junk—trash, garbage, litter, debris, useless things, rubbish—and what

should you do with it—recycle it, toss it, sell it, or turn it into a work of art? A man in Austin,

Texas, has created a Cathedral of Junk in his backyard. Since 1988, Vince Hannemann, has

been wiring and welding and stringing and stacking junk into an immense, 60-ton—and still

growing!—structure. Like many other cathedrals, this one

has towers, vaulted ceilings, and trusses. Instead of stone,

these architectural details are made out of discarded bicycle wheels, dolls, and other things nobody wants anymore. A wind chime made of CDs provides music in the cathedral. The local artists’ nickname for Vince Hannemann is “yardist.” Some of Hannemann’s neighbors and the City of

Austin aren’t so happy about the Cathedral of Junk. They think it’s ugly and unsafe. But over the years, the city has inspected the structure and declared that it’s sturdy. Once, Vince did have to take

down a pyramid made of cast-off TVs. The city’s engineer declared that the pyramid was really

only a pile. “Well, what kind of pile expert are you?” Vince asked.

The Cathedral of Junk is a popular spot to visit in Austin. Couples have been married there,

and musicians have thrown CD release parties inside it, too. Sometimes, groups of school

kids wander through the Cathedral of Junk on field trips. Vince says that some visitors even

recognize things they used to own but threw away. They probably never imagined where their

trash would end up.

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Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

Read the above quote. Then write a noun in the center of the web. Complete the web with

words and phrases that your noun stands as an abbreviation for.

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Nouns and Noun PhrasesA noun phrase is a group of words that begins with a noun or a pronoun and functions as a noun.

KEY POINTS • Remind students that nouns name people,

animals, places, things, and ideas.

• A noun phrase contains a noun and the words that modify the noun.

• The closest noun to the verb may not be the subject but a part of a noun phrase.

Subject-Verb AgreementSubjects and verbs must always agree.

KEY POINTS • A complete sentence needs a subject and a

verb. The subject and verb may be singular or plural, but they must always agree with each other.

• A subject may be a single noun or a noun phrase.

Possessive NounsPossessive nouns indicate who or what possesses or owns something.

KEY POINTS • An apostrophe indicates possession.

• In the case of a regular singular noun, an –s is added after the apostrophe: gravity’s.

• In the case of a regular plural noun, the apostrophe is added after the final –s: horses’.

• There are different schools of thought on how to form the possessive of a noun ending in –s: Borges’ or Borges’s. The most important thing is to be consistent. Choose one of the styles and stick to it.

Descriptive NounsOne descriptive noun can help you understand and visualize a writer’s message. One descriptive noun can be worth a thousand words.

KEY POINTS • As the Borges quotation at the top of page 5

indicates, one descriptive noun can take the place of a string of words—including adjectives and noun phrases—and be more effective.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE1 The noun junk names a thing. The nouns between the dashes are synonyms for junk.

2 In the noun phrase work of art, the prepositional phrase of art modifies the noun work. It tells what kind of work it is.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE3 The subject in the noun phrase A wind chime made of CDs, is chime. The verb must agree with the singular noun chime, not the plural noun CDs.

6 This compound subject, neighbors and the City of Austin takes the plural verb, aren’t.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE4 Because the original noun artists is plural, you form the plural possessive by adding an apostrophe.

7 The singular possessive of city is city’s.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE5 The nouns yard and artist have been combined to form a new noun that exactly describes what Hannemann is—a yardist.

8 In Hannemann’s view, he had carefully stacked the TVs in a pyramid. In the city engineer’s eyes, there was nothing carefully done—or shapely— about the stack. In the inspector’s view, it was a pile.

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Nouns

The Cathedral of Junk

Just exactly what is junk—trash, garbage, litter, debris, useless things, rubbish—and what

should you do with it—recycle it, toss it, sell it, or turn it into a work of art? A man in Austin,

Texas, has created a Cathedral of Junk in his backyard. Since 1988, Vince Hannemann, has

been wiring and welding and stringing and stacking junk into an immense, 60-ton—and still

growing!—structure. Like many other cathedrals, this one

has towers, vaulted ceilings, and trusses. Instead of stone,

these architectural details are made out of discarded

bicycle wheels, dolls, and other things nobody wants

anymore. A wind chime made of CDs provides

music in the cathedral. The local artists’ nickname

for Vince Hannemann is “yardist.”

Some of Hannemann’s neighbors and the City of

Austin aren’t so happy about the Cathedral of Junk.

They think it’s ugly and unsafe. But over the years, the

city has inspected the structure and declared that it’s sturdy. Once, Vince did have to take

down a pyramid made of cast-off TVs. The city’s engineer declared that the pyramid was really

only a pile. “Well, what kind of pile expert are you?” Vince asked.

The Cathedral of Junk is a popular spot to visit in Austin. Couples have been married there,

and musicians have thrown CD release parties inside it, too. Sometimes, groups of school

kids wander through the Cathedral of Junk on field trips. Vince says that some visitors even

recognize things they used to own but threw away. They probably never imagined where their

trash would end up.

In this passage, you’ll see examples of the following:

• nouns and noun phrases • subject-verb agreement

• possessive nouns • descriptive nouns

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W R I T I N G P R O M P T S

NounsTeachers: Duplicate these prompts on sturdy paper and then cut them apart. You may also write the prompts on the board or display them onscreen.

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Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

Who’s Responsible?

Write! Who should be responsible for keeping your classroom neat—

not clean or organized, but neat? Should it be the responsibility of the

teacher, the students, or the entire classroom? Explain your reasons.

Be sure to use possessive nouns in your response. Before you hand in

your assignment, take another look at the possessive nouns you used. Did you use the correct form

for each singular and possessive noun? If you’re not sure whether you used the correct possessive

form, circle the noun. Try rephrasing the possessive noun like this: the city’s engineer/the engineer

of the city, Hannemann’s neighbors/the neighbors of Hannemann, the local artists’ nickname/

nickname of the local artists. If you can rephrase it, the noun should be possessive.

With the Rest of the Class: After sharing your ideas about who should be responsible for

keeping your classroom neat, talk about any possessive pronouns you used.

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Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

Alone and With Others

Write! What are your favorite things to do when you’re by yourself?

What do you like to do when you’re with family or friends? Describe

each set of activities in a few sentences.

Exchange work with a partner. As you read the work, think about

how the writer used nouns. Do all the subjects and verbs agree? Are the nouns as precise as

they could be?

With the Rest of the Class: If you’d like to, share your work with the rest of the class.

Even if you don’t read your work aloud, talk about how your partner helped you strengthen your

use of nouns.

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Activities: NounsTurning a Picture Into Words Materials: computer with Internet access

Help students locate images of the Cathedral of Junk that was described in the passage. You can find videos on YouTube and/or visit the Web site www.

roadsideamerica.com for photos (search for “Cathedral of Junk”). After students closely ex amine the details in the images, challenge them to write their own descriptions of the Cathedral of Junk. Tell them to stretch their descriptive powers by using nouns as precisely as they can. Encou rage students to use nouns the way Hannemann uses junk to create something unexpected and beautiful.

With the Class: Discuss the descriptions. Ask: What did you notice about how other writers used descriptive nouns in their work?

One, Two, Three, Four, Five, SixMaterials: number cube

Have pairs work together to write a short, short story about one of the following:

• a spaceship landing in your school yard

• a lifeboat floating in the sea

• the world’s longest skateboard (hint: It’s 30 feet, 1 inch long!)

They should begin by rolling a number cube to find out how many characters will be in the spaceship or lifeboat or on the skateboard.

With the Class: Let students take turns reading aloud their stories, or have one partner read it while the other pantomimes the action. Ask the other students if all the subjects and verbs in the story agree.

Let Me Rephrase ThatMaterials: examples of fine art (from posters, CD covers, postcards, and so on) that show one key subject; drawings supplies—colored pencils, markers, paints, drawing paper

Write the following sentences on the board and explain that noun phrases can take different forms:

• Six sneakers dangled from the limbs of the tree.

• I spotted her red sneakers.

• The sneakers that girl is wearing are too tight.

• The sneakers sold in that store are too expensive.

• Selena wants the red sneakers in the store window.

Then display the art you selected and have groups choose one piece. Tell them to use noun phrases to describe the person, place, thing, or idea their piece of art shows. Then challenge groups to think of their own noun phrase to illustrate.

With the Class: Display the illustrations. Can the other students guess the noun phrase each group has drawn? Write down their guesses, and ask the group to discuss how similar to and different from the original noun phrase the guesses are.

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A C T I V I T Y

Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

Nouns

Abbreviate!

All nouns are abbreviations. Instead of saying cold, sharp, burning,

unbreakable, shining, pointy, we utter “dagger”; for the receding sun and

oncoming darkness, we say “‘twilight.” __

Jorge Luis Borges

Read the above quote. Then write a noun in the center of the web. Complete the web with

words and phrases that your noun stands as an abbreviation for.

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All About Pronouns and AntecedentsWhen a young man complains that a young lady has no heart, it’s pretty certain that she has his.

—George Dennison Prentice

A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun or a noun phrase in a sentence. That noun is called an antecedent. This mini-lesson focuses on the following types of pronouns:

• personal pronouns and antecedents • reflexive pronouns• possessive pronouns • indefinite pronouns

IntroductionAfter briefly reviewing the definition of a pronoun, write the Prentice quote on the board and discuss the pronouns in it. Ask: What noun does the pronoun she refer to? What noun does the pronoun his refer to? Guide students to see that his is a possessive pronoun and that Prentice means “his [the young man’s] heart.” Point out that the contraction it’s is the combination of the subject and verb, not a possessive pronoun.

TeachHand out copies of the passage “Dear Mr. President” on page 13 or make a transparency of it to display on the overhead. Call on a volunteer to read aloud the passage while the rest of the students follow along. Then use the teaching guide on page 12 to discuss general tips on pronouns and antecedents and how the writer used them in the passage.

ApplyGive a copy of the list of the Types of Pronouns reproducible on page 16 to each student. Explain that this list is a good reference tool to keep in their writing folders. Then tell students you’re going to introduce an activity that focuses on indefinite pronouns. Start a call-and-response activity that uses different indefinite pronouns with the same verb.

Example:Teacher: Who is singing?Student 1: Nobody is singing.Student 2: Many are singing.

Record the responses on the board. After every student has had a chance to respond, go over the pronouns and verb forms in each response. Point out that not every indefinite pronoun has a possessive form. Ask: Which indefinite pronouns are singular? Which are plural?

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Dear President Obama, Everyone in my book club is reading your book, Dreams From My Father. All of us agree

that you’re a wonderful writer! We also agree that you deliver speeches that inspire us, so, I was

very dismayed to read your words in the newspaper: “You helped shape Michelle and myself. Many of you have been part of our children’s lives.

Many of you have helped to support us, through thick and through thin. And so I’m just very

grateful to all of you.” Surely you know, Mr. President, that the reflexive pronoun myself can only be used with

the subject I. In fact, a reflexive pronoun can only be used when the subject and the object of

a sentence are the same. For example, a person would say (or write), “She voted for herself”

instead of “She voted for her.” To make your thank-you address grammatically correct, what

you should have said is, “You helped shape Michelle and me.”

A child might read what you said and he or she might start to use reflexive pronouns

incorrectly in his or her writing. Please remember, Mr. President, we’re listening to every word you say!

Sincerely yours,

A Concerned Citizen

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Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

SINGULAR PLURAL

SINGULAR PLURAL

Subjective Objective Subjective Objective

SINGULAR PLURAL

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Personal Pronouns and AntecedentsA pronoun takes the place of a noun. It must agree with its noun antecedent.

KEY POINTS• In replacing a noun with a pronoun, a writer

has to think about person, number, case, and gender: Should I use the first person, second person, or third person? Is the noun singular or plural? Is the noun a subject, an object, or possessive? Does the noun refer to a male or a female, or is it neutral?

• The discussion about how we should refer to males and females shows how changes in ideas and beliefs affect grammar.

Possessive PronounsLike a possessive noun, a possessive pronoun indicates who or what possesses something.

KEY POINTS• Possessive pronouns have two forms: my/mine,

your/yours, his/his, her/hers, its/its, our/ours, your/yours, their/theirs.

• The decision about which form to use depends on the noun’s role in the sentence:

Tessa’s cap is covered by bees!

Her cap is covered by bees!

The hat covered by bees is Tessa’s!

The hat covered by bees is hers!

Reflexive PronounsA reflexive pronoun ends in –self and refers back to the subject of the sentence.

KEY POINTS• The reflexive pronouns—myself, yourself,

himself, herself, itself, themselves—never appear as subjects.

• A reflexive pronoun is used only when the subject and the object of a sentence are the same.

• A reflexive pronoun appears immediately after a verb or a preposition: He spoke softly to himself, so no one else could hear his words.

Indefinite PronounsAn indefinite pronoun refers to one or more, or all, of an unspecified group or class of people, animals, things, or ideas.

KEY POINTS• Some indefinite pronouns have possessive

forms, which are formed by adding apostrophe –s: another’s, everyone’s, nobody’s.

• An indefinite pronoun that ends in –one or –body is singular.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE5 In this sentence, he or she is used because a child really means any child. It doesn’t matter whether the child is a boy or a girl. Another way to write the sentence is by making the nouns and pronouns plural: “Children read what you said, and they might start to use reflexive pronouns in their own writing.”

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE3 The words your and you’re are homophones. Although they sound the same, they mean different things. You’re is a contraction, combining the pronoun you and the verb are. Your is a possessive pronoun.

6 To avoid the clumsy phrasing his or her, we might say, “A child might read what you said and start to use reflexive pronouns in their own writing,” which is incorrect. When writing formally, try using plural nouns and/pronouns instead of singular nouns and pronouns.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE4 The letter writer explains the rules about using a reflexive pronoun: (a) A reflexive pronoun is never the subject of a sentence. (b) Use a reflexive pronoun when the subject and object of the sentence are the same. In this sentence, the subject you and the object myself don’t refer to the same person.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE1 The subject Everyone is a singular indefinite pronoun, so it takes the singular verb is reading.

2 The subject All is a plural indefinite pronoun, so it takes the plural verb agree.

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Pronouns and Antecedents

Dear Mr. President

Dear President Obama,

Everyone in my book club is reading your book, Dreams From My Father. All of us agree

that you’re a wonderful writer! We also agree that you deliver speeches that inspire us, so, I was

very dismayed to read your words in the newspaper:

“You helped shape Michelle and myself. Many of you have been part of our children’s lives.

Many of you have helped to support us, through thick and through thin. And so I’m just very

grateful to all of you.”

Surely you know, Mr. President, that the reflexive pronoun myself can only be used with

the subject I. In fact, a reflexive pronoun can only be used when the subject and the object of

a sentence are the same. For example, a person would say (or write), “She voted for herself”

instead of “She voted for her.” To make your thank-you address grammatically correct, what

you should have said is, “You helped shape Michelle and me.”

A child might read what you said and he or she might start to use reflexive pronouns

incorrectly in his or her writing.

Please remember, Mr. President, we’re listening to every word you say!

Sincerely yours,

A Concerned Citizen

In this passage, you’ll see the following types of pronouns:

• personal pronouns and • possessive pronouns their antecedents

• reflexive pronouns • indefinite pronouns

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W R I T I N G P R O M P T S

PronounsTeachers: Duplicate these prompts on sturdy paper and then cut them apart. You may also write the prompts on the board or display them onscreen.

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Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

He, She, or It?

Write! In some languages, such as Spanish, endings often indicate

gender—whether a noun is masculine, feminine, or neutral. For

example, the Spanish word for school, escuela, ends in an –a so it’s

a feminine noun. English uses pronouns to indicate the gender of a

noun—he, she, it; him, her, it. Explain whether you think places, such

as schools, or ideas, such as liberty, should be identified as masculine,

feminine, or neutral. Give specific examples.

With the Rest of the Class: Discuss your examples. If you speak another language, share

how that language uses gender.

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Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

My Best Friend

Write! Who’s your best friend? Do you have more than one

best friend? What do you like to do together? What qualifies this

friend or these friends to be the best? Write a short description.

With the Rest of the Class: Talk about any problems you

encountered in deciding whether to use the personal pronouns him, her,

or them or the possessive pronouns his, her/hers, or their/theirs.

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Activities: Pronouns and AntecedentsWho Said That? A New Spin on an Old Tale

Have students refashion a favorite fairy tale or folktale. Give the following directions:

• Read the story several times and then write your own version of the story—but don’t use any nouns to name the main characters. Use only pronouns.

• Exchange stories with your writing partner. Do you recognize your partner’s story—even though the main characters aren’t identified by name?

• Then revise your partner’s story by adding proper nouns. As you revise, think about how to balance the use of nouns and pronouns. Also make sure that each pronoun clearly represents a specific noun.

With the Class: Ask students to reveal the technique they used to write their stories: Did you write a draft that included nouns and then substitute pronouns for them? Did you plunge right in and tell the story using only pronouns? If so, how did you keep the characters clear in your mind as you wrote?

Respect Yourself! Materials: examples of hip-hop or rap lyrics from a source such as Kids Rap Radio

Explain that hip-hop, or rap, lyrics rhyme and have a rhythmic, 4/4 beat. After students listen to some examples of hip-hop or rap lyrics, ask them to work in groups to write their own. There’s a catch: Each group has to use reflexive pronouns in its

lyrics. Once a group is satisfied with the song, students can present it to the rest of the class.

With the Class: Talk about the different ways in which groups used reflexive pronouns. Explain why we use the reflexive pronoun yourself in an imperative sentence such as Respect yourself.

Building a Story, Pronoun by PronounMaterials: (for each group) number cube, list of pronouns (page 16), spinner divided into four equal sections and labeled Personal Pronouns, Possessive Pronouns, Indefinite Pronouns, and Reflexive Pronouns, scissors, pencil, paper clip

Share the following directions for building a story with groups:

• You and your group are going to build a story, pronoun by pronoun, sentence by sentence. • To decide the order of storytellers, each member tosses the number cube. The storytellers

go in order from least number to greatest number. • The first storyteller spins. He or she must use that type of pronoun in the beginning

sentence of your story. (Use the list of pronouns to give you ideas.) • The next storyteller spins and must use that type of pronoun to build the next sentence. • Continue spinning and building your story until you decide that it’s finished.

With the Class: Encourage groups to read aloud their stories and discuss the challenges they faced in building their stories.

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A C T I V I T Y

Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

PRONOUNS: Types of Pronouns

Personal Pronouns Possessive Pronouns

SINGULAR PLURAL SINGULAR PLURAL Subjective Objective Subjective Objective

I me we us my/mine our/ours

you you you you your/yours your/yours

he him they them his/his their/theirs

she her they them her/hers their/theirs

it it they them its/its their/theirs

Indefinite Pronouns and Their Possessive Forms

all anything everybody/ most none several everybody’s

another/ both everyone/ much nothing some another’s everyone’s

any each everything neither/ one/ somebody/ neither’s one’s somebody’s

anybody/ each one/ few no one/ other/ something anybody’s each one’s no one’s other’s

anyone/ either/ many nobody/ others/ such anyone’s either’s nobody’s others’

Reflexive Pronouns

SINGULAR PLURAL

myself ourselves

yourself yourselves

himself, herself, itself themselves

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All About VerbsActing is doing, because everything you say or do is some kind of an action, some kind of a verb. You’re always connected to the other person through some kind of action.

—Mira Sorvino

Verbs are the energy sources of sentences. They set their subjects into motion—whether a subject is walking or simply being. This mini-lesson focuses on the following aspects of verbs:

• verb tenses, including the perfect tense• subject-verb agreement• irregular verbs• descriptive verbs

IntroductionBegin a mini-lesson on verbs by writing a short definition of this part of speech on the board. Here’s an example: “A verb shows action: The dog howls. A verb also can show a state of being: The dog is wet.”

TeachGive each student a copy of the passage “Volunteer!” on page 19. Allow time for students to read the passage on their own or ask them to follow along as you read it aloud. Then use the teaching guide on page 18 discuss how the writer used nouns in the passage. (Also see the lessons on gerunds, participles, and infinitives on pages 41–46 and phrases and clauses on pages 47–52).

Apply Distribute the Create a New Word reproducible on page 22 and share the information about sniglets. Ask: Can you see how the words yo-yo and rotate were combined to create the sniglet yotate? Before students attempt to create their own sniglets, remind them to follow the same format as the entry for yotate. Write the dictionary entry for a verb such as swim on the board or on chart paper and display it so students can see the proper format.

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Paige pulls a handwritten list out of her jeans pocket and groans. When Antonio doesn’t ask

what’s wrong, she groans again. Antonio slides the list out of Paige’s hand. “It’s okay. There aren’t that many things to

pick up at the grocery store. I can’t read what they are, but there aren’t too many of them. We

will have finished the shopping by five, in plenty of time for our rehearsal.”

“I can read it,” Paige replies as she retrieves the list. “I’ve shopped for Mr. Gantry for five

years. That’s not it. What am I going to do for my volunteer project? I can’t think of anything!”

The door of the dry cleaners magically sighs open—so magically, that it almost hits Antonio

in the nose. When an arm thrusts a plastic-wrapped dress through the open door, Paige

automatically hooks the hanger on her index finger. Antonio points

his own finger at the dress. “Whose dress is that?” he asks.

“I promised Mrs. Li I’d pick up her dress. Her great-niece is

getting married on Saturday,” Paige explains. “Help me, Antonio!

What am I going to do for my project? My parents and my brother

haven’t given me any good suggestions at all.” Antonio eyes the flowers that Paige has bought to cheer up Abner,

her sick neighbor; the plastic-wrapped dress; and the grocery list. “Have

you ever thought about volunteering to do things for the older people in your

neighborhood?” he asks. “Don’t be silly.” Paige juggles the flowers and dress as she tries to read the grocery list.

“That’s not volunteering—that’s just helping out.”

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Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

(YOH-tayte) v. to allow a yo-yo to unwind on its own: a combination of the words yo-yo and rotate. TENSES: Present—yotate , Past—yotated, Future— will yotate. EXAMPLES: Raul yotates four yo-yos at the same time! Wow—Raul yotated four yo-yos at the same time! Next, Raul will yotate four yo-yos at the same time!

What? You’ve never heard of the word yotate? You can’t find it in the dictionary? That’s

because the word yotate is a sniglet—a word that doesn’t appear in a dictionary, but should.

Work with one or two partners to create at least two verb sniglets. Use the format shown

above for yotate to present your own verb sniglets. _________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________

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Verb TensesWe use verb tenses to show time. Action can occur in the past, present, or future.

KEY POINTS• The perfect tense refers to actions completed

by a certain time.

• The perfect tense is formed by combining a present, past, or future auxiliary with the past participle: have walked, had walked, will have walked. To form the past participle, you usually add –ed to the verb.

Subject-Verb AgreementA complete sentence needs both a subject and a verb.

KEY POINTS• The subject and verb may be singular

or plural but they must always agree with each other.

• Remind students that they should look carefully at compound subjects and subjects that are separated from the verb by noun phrases to make sure they match the subject and verb correctly.

Irregular VerbsRegular past-tense verbs are formed by adding –ed to the present tense of the verb: construct, constructed. Irregular verbs don’t follow this rule.

KEY POINTS• Review the differences between regular and

irregular verb forms.

• Share the fact that many of the irregular verbs in English are very old words. While the rules for forming verb tenses have changed over the years, irregular verbs are still formed using old rules. For instance, the verb drink comes from the Old English word drincan. Its past tense was dranc, and our modern past tense is drank.

Descriptive VerbsVerbs with a lot of muscle make writing more descriptive.

KEY POINTS• Emphasize that using different synonyms for

a common action verb such as move makes someone’s speech or writing more accurate and interesting—and that each synonym affects the action described in the sentence. What is the difference in motion between saunter and scurry?

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE2 The verb phrase will have finished is in the future perfect tense. Paige and Antonio’s shopping will have been completed by a certain time in the future.

4 I’ve shopped is in the present perfect tense. Point out that the auxiliary verb have has been shortened to help form the contraction I’ve.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE5 Although the noun dry cleaners is closest to the verb sighs, it isn’t the subject—door, a singular noun, is, so the verb has to be singular, too.

7 The subject my parents and my brother is a compound subject. A compound subject joined by the conjunction and takes a plural verb, even if the last subject is singular.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE3 The verb reply is an irregular verb. The singular present tense is formed by changing the y to an i and adding –es.

8 The verb buy is an irregular verb. Its past participle is bought, not buyed. The singular present perfect of buy is has bought.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE1 The verb groans shows that Paige is being overly dramatic to get Antonio’s attention and sympathy.

6 The verbs in this sentence show that the movement of the person, invisible except for his or her arm, is abrupt and surprises Antonio but Paige seems to be used to the person’s behavior.

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M O D E L P A S S A G E

Verbs

Volunteer!

Paige pulls a handwritten list out of her jeans pocket and groans. When Antonio doesn’t ask

what’s wrong, she groans again.

Antonio slides the list out of Paige’s hand. “It’s okay. There aren’t that many things to

pick up at the grocery store. I can’t read what they are, but there aren’t too many of them. We

will have finished the shopping by five, in plenty of time for our rehearsal.”

“I can read it,” Paige replies as she retrieves the list. “I’ve shopped for Mr. Gantry for five

years. That’s not it. What am I going to do for my volunteer project? I can’t think of anything!”

The door of the dry cleaners magically sighs open—so magically, that it almost hits Antonio

in the nose. When an arm thrusts a plastic-wrapped dress through the open door, Paige

automatically hooks the hanger on her index finger. Antonio points

his own finger at the dress. “Whose dress is that?” he asks.

“I promised Mrs. Li I’d pick up her dress. Her great-niece is

getting married on Saturday,” Paige explains. “Help me, Antonio!

What am I going to do for my project? My parents and my brother

haven’t given me any good suggestions at all.”

Antonio eyes the flowers that Paige has bought to cheer up Abner,

her sick neighbor; the plastic-wrapped dress; and the grocery list. “Have

you ever thought about volunteering to do things for the older people in your

neighborhood?” he asks.

“Don’t be silly.” Paige juggles the flowers and dress as she tries to read the grocery list.

“That’s not volunteering—that’s just helping out.”

In this passage, you’ll explore the following:

• verb tenses • subject-verb agreement

• irregular verbs • descriptive verbs

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W R I T I N G P R O M P T S

VerbsTeachers: Duplicate these prompts on sturdy paper and then cut them apart. You may also write the prompts on the board or display them onscreen.

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Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

Write! Choose one of the prompts below to write about. Pay attention to the verb tense!

• Think back to when you were in first grade. What is the best thing you remember about

being a first grader? Use only the past and past perfect tenses to describe that memory.

• What is the most interesting thing you’re learning right now in school? Why is it so

interesting to you? Use only the present and present perfect tenses.

• What do you think high school will be like? What are you most looking

forward to learning when you’re in high school? Use only the future and

future perfect tenses to predict what will happen.

Look at the verbs you used. Did you use the proper tense for each verb—and did you use it

throughout your response? If you’re not sure whether you used the correct tense for a verb, circle it.

With the Rest of the Class: Talk about why you chose the prompt. Was writing in that tense

easier or more difficult than you thought it might be?

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Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

Then I Told Abe Lincoln . . .

Write! What if you could step into a time machine? What place would you visit? Would you

travel to the past or to the future? What would you experience? What would you see, hear,

smell, taste, and feel? Write a story about your adventures.

Exchange stories with a partner. Read the story and then think about

how the writer used verbs. Did the choice of verbs really help you “see” the

story? Talk about what you liked about the story and ask any questions you have.

With the Rest of the Class: Read aloud your story to the class. Share how your partner

helped you revise your work.

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Activities: VerbsWho’s Being Disagreeable?Materials: index cards, markers, timer

Four people can play this subject-verb agreement game: a host, a contestant, and two panel members. On an index card or the whiteboard, the host writes the complete subject or complete predicate of a sentence,

such as one of the following:

The leader of the wild dogs . . . (complete subject). . . were skating across the thin ice on the river. (complete predicate)

Each panelist writes a complete subject or a complete predicate on an index card or whiteboard to complete the sentence. The complete subject or complete predicate may or may not agree with the host’s incomplete sentence. It’s up to the contestant to identify which panelist is in agreement. (Both panelists may agree; both panelists may disagree; one may agree, and one may disagree.) Play continues for 10 minutes. The group with the most correct completions is the winner.

With the Class: Talk about why nouns such as family and group take singular verbs.

Who Are You Calling Irregular? Materials: number cube, dictionary, timer

Challenge pairs to see how many regular and irregular verbs they can name. Give the following directions:

• Take turns tossing the number cube.

• If you toss an even number, call out a regular verb. If you toss an odd number, call out an irregular verb. (You can have up to 30 seconds to scan the dictionary.)

• Write down the present- and past-tense forms of each verb in a T-chart. If you have any questions about an answer, look up the verb in the dictionary.

With the Class: Discuss how students decided whether a verb was regular or irregular. Pose the following questions: Did any of the verbs fool you? What can you do to remember which verbs are irregular?

People on the Move Materials: thesaurus

Tell students to take a few minutes to look around and observe the people they see: Who do you see? What are they doing? Then have them write a paragraph describing the

actions of one person—without using common verbs such as walking, running, driving, playing, dancing, and so on. Encourage students to stretch their verb vocabulary. They may consult a thesaurus for synonyms that will make pictures pop into their reader’s mind. Urge them to take chances and think of creative and original ways to use language.

With the Class: As students share their descriptions, brainstorm even more verbs. Record them in a Verb Volume, a book that everyone can refer to during writing activities.

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A C T I V I T Y

Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

Verbs

Create a New Word

yotate (YOH-tayte) v. to allow a yo-yo to unwind on

its own: a combination of the words yo-yo and rotate.

TENSES: Present—yotate , Past—yotated, Future—

will yotate. EXAMPLES: Raul yotates four yo-yos at

the same time! Wow—Raul yotated four yo-yos

at the same time! Next, Raul will yotate four yo-yos

at the same time!

What? You’ve never heard of the word yotate? You can’t find it in the dictionary? That’s

because the word yotate is a sniglet—a word that doesn’t appear in a dictionary, but should.

Work with one or two partners to create at least two verb sniglets. Use the format shown

above for yotate to present your own verb sniglets.

_________________________________________________________________

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All About Adjectives and AdverbsWhen you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them—then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart.

—Mark Twain

Adjectives modify nouns and pronouns. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. This mini-lesson focuses on the following aspects of adjectives and adverbs:

• adjectives: modifying nouns and pronouns• adverbs: modifying verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs• positive, comparative, and superlative forms• descriptive adjectives and adverbs

Introduction Begin a mini-lesson on adjectives and adverbs by writing a short definition of these parts of speech such as the following on the board: “An adjective modifies a noun or a pronoun. It can answer these questions: Which one? (smelly socks) What kind of? (yellow plaid socks), How many? (three pairs of socks). An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. It can answer questions including How? (skipped fast) When? or How often? (never growled) Where? (skipped downstairs).

Teach Distribute copies of the model passage “Curds and Whey” on page 25 to students. Allow time for them to read the passage on their own or ask them to follow along as you read it aloud. Then use the teaching guide on page 24 to discuss how the writer used adjectives and adverbs in the passage.

Apply After you’ve read and discussed the model passage, hand out a copy of the Get Rid of ‘Em! reproducible on page 28 to each student. Go over the directions to make sure students understand the task. Encourage them to overload their paragraph with adjectives and adverbs. Crowding so many into their work may help them find just the right adjectives and adverbs to use as they weed them out.

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Remember the rhyme about Little Miss Muffet, contentedly eating her curds and whey until that disruptive

spider dropped in on her? In the 1800s, when the rhyme

was written, curds and whey referred to cottage cheese. Today, you can find cottage cheese—soft and creamy pearls

of cheese—in salad bars. Now, cottage cheese contains mostly curds and a scant amount of liquid whey. (Some people think whey tastes pretty vile.) Cottage cheese is one of the easiest cheeses to make.

In fact, you can make it at home. Pour one gallon of fat-free milk into a pan. Heat the milk to a

temperature of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. (Sometimes, this heating process happens more rapidly

than other times.) Turn off the heat and add three-fourths cup of white vinegar. Let the mixture

sit for half an hour and watch what happens! As the hot mixture cools, it will become thicker

and thicker, coagulating into solids and liquid. The solids are the soft curds, and the liquid is that

nasty whey. Line a colander with cheesecloth. Dump the contents of the pan into the colander and let

the whey drain through the porous cheesecloth for about 3 minutes. When that’s done,

wrap the cottage cheese in the cheesecloth, run it under cool water for about 3 more minutes

and give it some deep, satisfying squeezes with your fingers. Put the finished cottage cheese

into a container. Add fruit or honey and nuts, and spoon it up—but watch out for curious spiders!

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Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

Write a short paragraph describing yourself. Be generous—extremely generous—with

your adjectives and adverbs. Then give your paragraph to a partner to read. Discuss which

adjectives and adverbs you could get rid of to strengthen your writing. On a separate sheet

of paper, revise your paragraph._______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

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AdjectivesAn adjective modifies nouns and pronouns.

KEY POINTS• The word modify means “to change or alter.”

When we modify a noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, or adverb, we give it more specific qualities and characteristics.

• Adjectives usually appear before the noun or pronoun they follow—but they can follow verbs such as be, feel, smell, sound, taste, look, appear, and seem.

AdverbsAn adverb modifies verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.

KEY POINTS• An adverb can appear almost anywhere

in a sentence; it depends upon which part of speech the adverb is modifying and the emphasis the writer wants to use.

• An adverb may go before or after a simple verb. For emphasis, it can be placed at the beginning of a sentence.

• It’s okay to separate parts of a verb with an adverb: We will probably go to the game.

Positive, Comparative, and Superlative FormsAdjectives and adverbs can describe one thing or compare two or more things.

KEY POINTS• An adjective or adverb in a positive state

describes one thing.

• The comparative form compares two things. (Add –er to the end of positive adjectives or adverbs or add more or less in front of them.)

• The superlative form compares more than two things. (Add –est to the end of positive adjectives or adverbs or add most or least in front of them.)

Descriptive Adjectives and AdverbsA well-chosen adjective or adverb can turn up the volume of a writer’s voice, open the reader’s eyes, and make meaning much clearer.

KEY POINTS• Descriptive adjectives and adverbs are as

important to use in nonfiction writing as they are in fiction.

• Discuss the Mark Twain quote at the top of page 23 with students. Do they think the quote applies to adverbs, too?

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE2 Adjectives such as a, an, the, that, and some go at the beginning of a series of adjectives. Adjectives that describe size and shape, age, and color follow in that order.

4 The adjective vile appears after the verb tastes, but it modifies the noun whey. When you ask this question, “What kind of whey is it?” the answer is “It’s vile.” It doesn’t answer the question, “How does it taste?” because whey can’t taste, only people and animals can.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE1 The adverb contentedly describes how Little Miss Muffet is eating her curds and whey. You could also write, eating her curds and whey contentedly.

3 Pretty is an adverb because it modifies the adjective vile. To test this, reword the sentence to read, Some people think whey tastes pretty. This confirms that pretty is not an adjective in this case.

9 The prepositional phrase into a container acts as an adverb because it tells where to put the cheese.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE5 Since cottage cheese is being compared to all the other kinds of cheeses, the superlative form of easy is used.

6 Because the adverb rapidly ends in –ly, the word more is added to form the comparative form. For more rules on forming comparatives and superlatives, see the activity on page 27.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE7 Describing the cheesecloth as porous helps the reader see that the cloth’s loose weave allows the whey to drain through easily.

8 Deep, satisfying squeezes shows that a little bit of muscle is required to squeeze the cottage cheese.

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Adjectives and Adverbs

Curds and Whey

Remember the rhyme about Little Miss Muffet,

contentedly eating her curds and whey until that disruptive

spider dropped in on her? In the 1800s, when the rhyme

was written, curds and whey referred to cottage cheese.

Today, you can find cottage cheese—soft and creamy pearls

of cheese—in salad bars. Now, cottage cheese contains

mostly curds and a scant amount of liquid whey. (Some

people think whey tastes pretty vile.)

Cottage cheese is one of the easiest cheeses to make.

In fact, you can make it at home. Pour one gallon of fat-free milk into a pan. Heat the milk to a

temperature of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. (Sometimes, this heating process happens more rapidly

than other times.) Turn off the heat and add three-fourths cup of white vinegar. Let the mixture

sit for half an hour and watch what happens! As the hot mixture cools, it will become thicker

and thicker, coagulating into solids and liquid. The solids are the soft curds, and the liquid is that

nasty whey.

Line a colander with cheesecloth. Dump the contents of the pan into the colander and let

the whey drain through the porous cheesecloth for about 3 minutes. When that’s done,

wrap the cottage cheese in the cheesecloth, run it under cool water for about 3 more minutes

and give it some deep, satisfying squeezes with your fingers. Put the finished cottage cheese

into a container. Add fruit or honey and nuts, and spoon it up—but watch out for curious spiders!

In this passage, you’ll explore the following:

• adjectives modifying nouns and pronouns

• adverbs modifying verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs

• positive, comparative, and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs

• descriptive adjectives and adverbs

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W R I T I N G P R O M P T S

Adjectives and AdverbsTeachers: Duplicate these prompts on sturdy paper and then cut them apart. You may also write the prompts on the board or display them onscreen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

One and Only

Write! Some adjectives—such as unique, final, and fatal—don’t

have comparative and superlative forms. Explain why you think this

is so. Why can’t one object be more unique than another? Why can’t

an event be the most fatal event?

With the Rest of the Class: Brainstorm other adjectives that you

think don’t have comparative and superlative forms. Consult a dictionary

to check your ideas.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

What Color? How Fast?

Materials: ball, yo-yo, or other moving toy

Write! Your teacher will demonstrate a toy that moves. After

watching several demonstrations, write about what you saw. Focus

on answering the following questions: Which one? What kind?

How many? How? When? Where? Why?

With the Rest of the Class: Which adjectives and adverbs did you

use to describe the teacher showing the toy’s motion? Did anyone use an adjective or adverb that

really surprised you and helped you see the demonstration in a new way?

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Activities: Adjectives and Adverbs Move That Adverb!

Have students work together to write a sentence about something a classmate is doing. If their sentence doesn’t already have an adverb, they should include one. Then members take turns moving the adverb to different places in the sentence.

With the Class: Ask groups to talk about what conclusion they can draw about the position of the adverbs in their sentences.

How Many Words Is One Picture Worth? Materials: photographs of New York City by Helen Levitt

Search on the Internet for photographs of New York City by Helen Levitt and display several onscreen. Explain that Helen Levitt photographed street scenes in New York both in black and white and in color. Then give

the following directions:

• Choose a photograph that makes you curious. Study it for one minute, jotting down the important details you see. Without looking at the photo, write what’s happening in it.

• Read your work aloud to a partner while he or she looks at the photo. Does your partner think you left out any important details? Are your adjectives and adverbs strong rather than weak?

• Listen as your partner reads his or her work, look at the photo, and discuss the work.

With the Class: Discuss how many words students think their pictures are worth.

Is Less More?Material: coin, dictionary

Display these rules for forming the comparative and superlative forms of regular adjectives and adverbs.

• If an adjective has one syllable, you usually add –er and –est: red, redder, reddest.• If an adverb has one syllable, you add –er and –est: soon, sooner, soonest.• If an adverb ends in –ly, add more and most: quickly, more quickly, most quickly. • If you’re not sure, look up the adjective or adverb in the dictionary. If you don’t see the

comparative or superlative right after adj. or adv., then you add more and most.

Have two groups compete to form comparatives and superlatives, following these directions: Toss a coin to see which team goes first. That team will think of and chant the comparative or superlative form of an adjective or adverb three times. The other team must respond with the same form of a different adjective or adverb.

Example: TEAM 1: “Redder, redder, redder!” TEAM 2: “Better, better, better!”

The first team goes three times or until they stump the second team. Then the second team chooses an adjective or adverb and a form.

With the Class: Discuss which adjectives and adverbs gave students the most trouble in forming their comparative or superlative forms.

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A C T I V I T Y

Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

Adjectives and Adverbs

Get Rid of ‘Em!

When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill

most of them

__

then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they

are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart.

__

Mark Twain

Write a short paragraph describing yourself. Be generous—extremely generous—with

your adjectives and adverbs. Then give your paragraph to a partner to read. Discuss which

adjectives and adverbs you could get rid of to strengthen your writing. On a separate sheet

of paper, revise your paragraph.

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

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All About PrepositionsEnding a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.

—Winston Churchill

A preposition shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and the rest of the sentence. This mini-lesson focuses on the following aspects of prepositions:

• simple and compound prepositions• prepositions with nouns and pronouns in the

objective case• prepositional phrases• ending a sentence with a preposition

IntroductionBegin a mini-lesson on prepositions by writing a short definition of this part of speech such as the following on the board: “A preposition connects a noun or pronoun to the rest of the sentence: Bandit hid

under the table.”

TeachDistribute copies of the passage “The Fastest Texter in the West: A Cyber Tall Tale” on page 31 to students. Allow time for them to read the passage on their own or ask them to follow along as you read it aloud. Then use the teaching chart on page 30 to discuss how the writer used prepositions in the passage. (Also see the lesson on phrases and clauses, pages 47–52 and sentences on pages 59–64.)

ApplyDistribute a copy of the reproducible A Preposition Puzzle on page 34 to each student. Before students work on their own, tackle the revision of the first sentences with them. Ask students to identify the preposition (in), which noun it connects to the rest of the sentence (tank), and what kind of relationship it shows (space). Point out that the prepositional phrase in the fish tank acts as an adverb because it tells where the key is. Since the phrase acts as an adverb, students might suggest a sentence such as the following: Michael hid the key where the fish live. Compare the clarity and sound of the original and revised sentences.

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A software program sent the following text message in just 16 seconds: The razor-toothed

piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygo centrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in

the world. In reality they seldom attack a human. That was a world record until Tessa Flurry tackled the text. In spite of the fact that one hand

was tied behind her back, Tessa beat that record. She sent the message into cyberspace

in less than 10 seconds. Tessa Flurry is the fastest texter in the West. She can send 104 messages

before most people’s thumbs or fingers even touch their keypads. Just thinking about sending so

many messages into cyberspace gives my fingers the cramps!

Some say that baby Tessa was found crawling on one hand

in the desert, carrying a cell phone in her other hand, searching

for a signal. By the time she was two years old, Tessa could

walk and talk and text different messages from three different

cell phones—at the same time! Nobody knows Tessa’s real last name. They call her Tessa

Flurry because she texts so rapidly that the flurry of her fingers

on the key pad makes people dizzy. Tessa Flurry, the Fastest

Texter in the West, is the name she’s stuck with. At last count, there were about 6,700 different languages in the world. Tessa can text in

3,765 of them! Some people say that soon everyone in the world will have received a text from

Tessa. Who knows? Maybe Tessa Flurry is tapping messages to you and me on her keypads

right now!

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Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

A simple preposition is only one word—and some simple prepositions are short words, too—but

it has a lot of power in a sentence.

about above after against at

before

behind beside between beyond for in

into of

off on

onto to

toward under up upon with

withoutTo understand how much power a preposition has in a sentence, try rewriting one of these

sentences—without using a preposition. You can add any other parts of speech—nouns, verbs,

adjectives, adverbs, and so on. Your revised sentence should have the same meaning as the

original sentence.Michael hid his locker key in the fish tank._________________________________________________________________________________ _

________________________________________________________________________________

Don’t leave without me!_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Beyond the trees, the sun is setting._________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Stella quickly slides between Jason and me._________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

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Simple and Compound PrepositionsMost prepositions show the relationship of time or space between a noun or pronoun and the rest of the sentence.

KEY POINTS• The English language contains about 70 simple

prepositions, including about, between, on, through, and with. Then there are compound prepositions, such as with respect to and at that point in time.

• It’s usually better to replace compound prepositions with simple prepositions or other parts of speech, for example, at that point in time could be rewritten as then.

Prepositions and Pronouns in the Objective CaseOnly pronouns in the objective case—me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them—go with prepositions.

KEY POINTS• People often have trouble when they use a

preposition followed by a noun and a pronoun or two pronouns: Mr. Luna spoke to Link and I about talking in class. We wouldn’t say or write the following: Mr. Luna spoke to I about talking in class, so I is incorrect. Testing one pronoun at a time with the preposition will help students use the correct case.

Prepositional PhrasesA prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or pronoun (the object of the preposition).

KEY POINTS• A prepositional phrase can function as an

adjective or an adverb.

• A sentences can have more than one prepositional phrase.

• Varying the position of prepositional phrases in your sentences can help writing flow more smoothly.

Ending a Sentence With a PrepositionA preposition can go at the end of the sentence if it is necessary in the sentence.

KEY POINTS• The Churchill quote at the top of page 29

shows how contorted writing can become if we try to avoid ending a sentence with a preposition. If a preposition is necessary to the sentence, it’s okay to end the sentence with it: The bicycle wheel came off. If the preposition isn’t necessary, get rid of it. Write the Churchill quote on the board and ask students how they would rephrase it.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE1 The simple preposition of shows the relationship between the noun, genera Serrasalmus and Pygo centrus, and piranhas. It helps shows what kind of piranha are the most ferocious.

2 In spite of is a compound preposition. It could be replaced with a simple preposition: With one hand tied behind her back, Tessa Flurry beat that record.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE6 Students might be tempted to write this prepositional phrase as to you and I, but have them try using each pronoun independently. They wouldn’t say or write Maybe Tessa Flurry is tapping messages to I on her keypads right now!

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE3 Both of these prepositional phrases are adverbs; they both modify the verb sent.

4 Try moving the prepositional phrase to different places. Here’s one example:

Tessa could walk and talk and text different messages from three cell phones—all at the same time—by the time she was two years old!

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE5 Some people might write this sentence as follows: Tessa Flurry, the Fastest Texter in the West, is the name with which she’s stuck. The revised sentence doesn’t fit the tone of the rest of the tall tale.

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Prepositions

The Fastest Texter in the West: A Cyber Tall Tale

A software program sent the following text message in just 16 seconds: The razor-toothed

piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygo centrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in

the world. In reality they seldom attack a human.

That was a world record until Tessa Flurry tackled the text. In spite of the fact that one hand

was tied behind her back, Tessa beat that record. She sent the message into cyberspace

in less than 10 seconds. Tessa Flurry is the fastest texter in the West. She can send 104 messages

before most people’s thumbs or fingers even touch their keypads. Just thinking about sending so

many messages into cyberspace gives my fingers the cramps!

Some say that baby Tessa was found crawling on one hand

in the desert, carrying a cell phone in her other hand, searching

for a signal. By the time she was two years old, Tessa could

walk and talk and text different messages from three different

cell phones—at the same time!

Nobody knows Tessa’s real last name. They call her Tessa

Flurry because she texts so rapidly that the flurry of her fingers

on the key pad makes people dizzy. Tessa Flurry, the Fastest

Texter in the West, is the name she’s stuck with.

At last count, there were about 6,700 different languages in the world. Tessa can text in

3,765 of them! Some people say that soon everyone in the world will have received a text from

Tessa. Who knows? Maybe Tessa Flurry is tapping messages to you and me on her keypads

right now!

In this passage, you’ll explore the following:

• simple and compound prepositions • prepositions and pronouns

• prepositional phrases • ending a sentence with a preposition

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W R I T I N G P R O M P T S

PrepositionsTeachers: Duplicate these prompts on sturdy paper and then cut them apart. You may also write the prompts on the board or display them onscreen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

A Classroom Makeover

Write! Have you seen home makeover programs on television?

Take a look around your classroom and think about how you would

make it over. Consider questions such as these: Would the classroom

have a theme? What colors would you paint it? What kind of coverings

would you put on the windows and the floor? How would you rearrange

the furniture? Write a plan describing your makeover.

With the Rest of the Class: Which makeover ideas of other students’ did you like? Then talk

about how important prepositions were in your plan.

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Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

My Place in the Class

Write! Where do you sit in the classroom? Write a short chant

describing your position in relation to at least two other students who

are nearest to you. For example, who sits in front of you? Behind you?

Next to you? To the left of you? Across from you? Here’s an example:

Sitka sits behind me. I sit behind Jason.

With the Rest of the Class: Share your chant with the class. Talk about whether you had to

think about using objective pronouns in the prepositional phrases you created, or if they seemed to

come naturally.

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Activities: PrepositionsPreposition Poetry

Ask pairs to collaborate to write a preposition poem. Each line of the poem should begin with a different prepositional phrase. Remind students that a prepositional phrase begins with a preposition and ends with a noun or a pronoun in the objective

case: between you and me/from him and me. Encourage pairs to practice doing a choral reading of their poem, in which partners take turns reciting the lines.

With the Class: Have pairs perform a choral reading of their poem for the other students. Let them share their creative processes and then ask: How did the prepositional phrases drive the construction of your poem?

Is It Under the Clock?

Choose a classroom object but don’t reveal what it is. Then give the following directions to the class:

• Your job is to locate an object I’ve picked out in the classroom. Each of you must ask me a question containing a prepositional phrase to try to narrow down the location of the object. For example, you might ask, “Is it under the clock?”

• If the answer is “Yes,” then you get to try to guess what the object is. If the answer is “No,” or you guess incorrectly, then another student takes a turn. Remember to use the answers to help you refine your own question when it’s your turn.

The first student to locate the object and identify it gets to choose another object for the class to attempt to identify.

With the Class: Call on students to describe how they used prepositions in their questions to help them figure out where the object was and what it was.

Move That Phrase! Materials: books and magazines

Tell individuals to look through books and magazines to find examples of sentences that use prepositions and prepositional phrases especially well. Have them share some with the group, noting the different positions in which prepositions and

prepositional phrases occur in the sentences. Then challenge the group members to take turns adding different prepositional phrases to the following sentence: The bird sat. One group member should write down each new version of the sentence. After everyone has had a chance to contribute a prepositional phrase, the entire group should discuss whether they’d like to revise the sentence and move any of the phrases. Use examples from the groups to discuss what students learned about the placement of prepositional phrases.

With the Class: Suggest that groups share and discuss their sentences. Talk about how they decided where to place each prepositional phrase. Ask: What did you learn about the placement of prepositional phrases? Which can be moved easily within a sentence, and which can’t? Why do you think this is so?

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A C T I V I T Y

Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

Prepositions

A Preposition Puzzle

A simple preposition is only one word—and some simple prepositions are short words, too—but

it has a lot of power in a sentence.

Some Common Simple Prepositions

about above after against at before

behind beside between beyond for in

into of off on onto to

toward under up upon with without

To understand how much power a preposition has in a sentence, try rewriting one of these

sentences—without using a preposition. You can add any other parts of speech—nouns, verbs,

adjectives, adverbs, and so on. Your revised sentence should have the same meaning as the

original sentence.

Michael hid his locker key in the fish tank.

_________________________________________________________________________________ _

________________________________________________________________________________

Don’t leave without me!

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Beyond the trees, the sun is setting.

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

Stella quickly slides between Jason and me.

_________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________

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All About Subject-Predicate AgreementHe [William Faulkner] uses a lot of big words, and his sentences run from here back to the airport.

—Carolyn Chute

No matter how long a sentence is—or how challenging the words in it are—its subject and predicate must agree. This agreement grounds readers. Understanding what the subject and predicate are helps the reader understand what the sentence is about. This mini-lesson focuses on the following aspects of subject-predicate agreement:

• subjects • compound subjects• predicates • compound predicates

Note: Earlier in the book, you’ll find the phrase subject-verb agreement. This chapter expands the concept of the verb as the predicate (or the key part of the predicate.)

IntroductionBegin a mini-lesson on subject-verb agreement by writing a short definition of this essential part of a sentence on the board, such as: “The subject is what or whom the sentence is about. The predicate tells who or what the subject is or does. The subject determines whether the verb in the predicate should be singular or plural: The students in the band practice twice a week.”

TeachDistribute copies of the passage “The Youngest Mayor” on page 37 to students. Allow time for the students to read it on their own or ask them to follow along as you read it aloud. Then use the teaching guide on page 36 to discuss the agreement of subjects and predicates in the passage. (Also see the lessons on nouns, pages 5 –10; verbs, pages 17–22; and sentences, pages 59–64.)

ApplyGive a copy of the Those Are Some Sentences! reproducible on page 40 to each student. It shows sentence structures from different works of literature. Go over the first one with students and work with them to identify the simple subject and predicate and then the complete subject and predicate. Talk about differences in structure between the first and last sentences of each work and among the different authors. You can also use this reproducible with the lesson on sentences, pages 59–64.

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Many cities and towns have elected young mayors. Eighteen-year-olds have run for and

have been elected mayors of Union, Oregon; Mount Carbon, Pennsylvania; and Roland, Iowa,

but the youngest mayor in the United States was 11 years old! Voters in the small town of

Crabb, Texas, selected Brian Zimmerman as their mayor in 1983.

Crabb, Texas, is close to Houston. It was an unincorporated town, so it didn’t have a city

government. Instead, taxes, road repairs, or traffic was handled by the county. Brian Zimmerman

was worried that Houston might annex Crabb. If that happened, his town would become part of

Houston. The people who lived in Crabb would be governed by Houston and would have to pay

city taxes. Zimmerman thought Crabb should incorporate. Then it couldn’t be gobbled up by

Houston or another large community. Crabb could govern itself.

There’s a catch, though. If Crabb did incorporate, Mayor

Zimmerman would lose his job. According to Texas law, the

mayor of an incorporated city has to be 18 years old. When

he was asked what he would do if he lost his job as mayor,

Zimmerman replied, “I don’t know. There isn’t that much to do

around here. I’ll go fishing, probably.” The bad news is that the voters of Crabb, Texas, voted against

incorporation, so it didn’t need a mayor or a city government. The good news is that Brian

Zimmerman remained the mayor. Instead of going fishing, he attended a mayor’s conference in

Paris, France, and appeared on the “Today” show. There was even a movie made about his life,

called The Lone Star Kid.

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Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

Here are the first and last sentences from well-known works of literature. Can you identify the

simple subject and predicate in each one? Do they agree? Complete each chart.from by Louis SacharFIRST:

“There is no lake at Camp Green Lake.”LAST:“And hardly anything was green.”

from by Walker PercyFIRST:

“This morning I got a note from my aunt asking me to come for lunch.”LAST:

“I watch her walk toward St Charles, cape jasmine held against her cheek, until my brothers and sisters call out behind me.”

from

by Harper LeeFIRST:“When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.”LAST:

“He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.”

Subject Predicate Agree?

Subject Predicate Agree?

Subject Predicate Agree?

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SubjectsThe most important part of the subject is its noun, or simple subject.

KEY POINTS• Other nouns may be closer to the simple

predicate than the simple subject is, so it’s important to identify the correct noun as the subject.

• The words there and here are never the subjects of a sentence. Remind students to rewrite sentences such as There are sixteen people in the class, to make the subject and predicate clear: Sixteen people are in the class.

PredicatesThe main verb, or simple predicate, helps us identify the subject.

KEY POINTS• Remind students to watch out for using plural

subjects with the contraction there’s:

There’s no rules about doing homework. (incorrect agreement)

There are no rules about doing homework. (correct agreement)

• If students are unsure what the subject is, they can find the verb and then ask, “Who or what did that?”

Compound SubjectsA compound subject is two or more subjects joined by a conjunction—and, or.

KEY POINTS• If and joins the subjects, the subjects are

plural and take a plural verb.

• If or joins the subjects, the subject immediately before the verb determines whether the verb is singular or plural: My father or my sisters are coming to the show.

Compound PredicatesA compound predicate is two or more predicates joined by a conjunction.

KEY POINTS• No matter which conjunction is used, all the

verbs in the compound predicate must agree with each other—and the subject.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE3 The noun United States is part of a prepositional phrase that separates the simple subject mayor from the simple predicate was.

8 Since news is a singular noun, the predicate must contain a singular verb.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE6 The subject in this sentence is catch. You can see that it’s singular when you rewrite it: A catch is there, though.

7 The simple predicate is replied. Who replied? Zimmerman replied. You could also rewrite this sentence: Zimmerman replied, when he was asked what he would do if he lost his job as mayor, “I don’t know.”

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE1 Each of these subjects is plural, but subjects joined by and always take a plural verb.

4 Traffic—a collective noun, which is always singular—determines that the verb (was) is singular.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE2 The predicate, have run for and have been elected, refers to the same subject—eighteen-year-olds. It could also be written as, Eighteen-year-olds have run for and been elected. . . .

5 Ask who would be governed by Houston and who would have to pay city taxes. The people would. Again, this compound predicate shares the same subject, people.

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The Youngest Mayor

Many cities and towns have elected young mayors. Eighteen-year-olds have run for and

have been elected mayors of Union, Oregon; Mount Carbon, Pennsylvania; and Roland, Iowa,

but the youngest mayor in the United States was 11 years old! Voters in the small town of

Crabb, Texas, selected Brian Zimmerman as their mayor in 1983.

Crabb, Texas, is close to Houston. It was an unincorporated town, so it didn’t have a city

government. Instead, taxes, road repairs, or traffic was handled by the county. Brian Zimmerman

was worried that Houston might annex Crabb. If that happened, his town would become part of

Houston. The people who lived in Crabb would be governed by Houston and would have to pay

city taxes. Zimmerman thought Crabb should incorporate. Then it couldn’t be gobbled up by

Houston or another large community. Crabb could govern itself.

There’s a catch, though. If Crabb did incorporate, Mayor

Zimmerman would lose his job. According to Texas law, the

mayor of an incorporated city has to be 18 years old. When

he was asked what he would do if he lost his job as mayor,

Zimmerman replied, “I don’t know. There isn’t that much to do

around here. I’ll go fishing, probably.”

The bad news is that the voters of Crabb, Texas, voted against

incorporation, so it didn’t need a mayor or a city government. The good news is that Brian

Zimmerman remained the mayor. Instead of going fishing, he attended a mayor’s conference in

Paris, France, and appeared on the “Today” show. There was even a movie made about his life,

called The Lone Star Kid.

In this passage, you’ll explore the following:

• simple and compound subjects

• simple and compound predicates

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Subject-Predicate AgreementTeachers: Duplicate these prompts on sturdy paper and then cut them apart. You may also write the prompts on the board or display them onscreen.

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Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

Listen to Our Voices

Write! Most towns and cities have city councils. Explain whether you

think your town or city should have a student representative on the city

council—and whether you’d be interested in running for the position.

Read over your work to make sure that all subjects and predicates agree.

With the Rest of the Class: What do most students think about this issue? Are many

interested in serving as a student representative in your community? Then share any subjects and

predicates whose agreement you’re unsure about.

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Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

Striped Pants, a Yellow Tank Top, and No Socks

Write! Suppose you could judge a book by its cover. What would your

clothing reveal about you? Write in detail about one of the following

outfits, and how your clothing might affect people’s ideas about you:

• the outfit you’re wearing today

• your favorite outfit

Read over your work, paying special attention to any compound subjects and/or compound

predicates you used. For compound subjects, did you follow these rules?

• If the subjects are joined by and, use a plural verb.

• If the subjects are joined by or, the verb in the predicate should agree with the last subject:

A yellow tank top or green socks are on my list.

Green socks or a yellow tank top is on my list.

With the Rest of the Class: Share the details of your outfit, and explain why you chose to

describe that outfit. How did you use compound subjects and/or compound predicates?

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Activities: Subject-Predicate Agreement“Agreement or No Agreement?” Game Show Materials: 10 envelopes numbered 1–10, slips of paper, marker, paper bag, play money

This game is based on the game show “Deal or No Deal.” Write five different singular verbs and five different plural verbs on slips of paper and put each slip in a numbered envelope. Then write five different singular nouns (including collective nouns) and

five different plural nouns on slips of paper and put them in the paper bag. The game will need a host, a player, ten students to hold envelopes, a banker, and an audience. The player draws a noun from the bag. Then play begins. The player selects envelopes one at a time. If the simple subject and simple predicate agree, the banker gives him or her a set amount of money. If they don’t agree, then the player can earn the money by making them agree. The player can earn more money by creating a sentence containing the simple subject and predicate.

With the Class: Talk about the following questions: Which subjects and predicates were the trickiest to place in agreement? How could you make the game more difficult?

That’s a Fine Kettle of Hawks Materials: computer, index cards, markers

Collective nouns name different groups of the same kind of animals. For instance, a group of hippos is called a bloat and a group of hawks is called a kettle. Challenge groups to find out the collective nouns for at

least five different animals. A good resource on the Internet is the San Diego Zoo Web site at http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/got_questions_groups_list.html. Students should create a fact card for each group of animals, including the group name, text with full sentences, and photos or illustrations.

With the Class: Ask: Why does it make sense that a collective noun would take a singular verb?

Compound Meals Materials: a variety of take-out menus, drawing paper and markers

Ask groups to study the take-out menus and then design one of their own. They should decide what kind of food they want to serve and divide their menu into the following categories: appetizers, salads, main courses, and desserts. For each food

item, groups should write a brief description, using complete sentences, and make the food, sound as mouth-wateringly delicious as they can. Then they trade menus with another group and look at its menu with the eyes of a restaurant critic. Each group draws up several sample meals that the members might order to review the restaurant and explain why those foods appeal to them. They should use compound subjects in their sample meals, and include the conjunctions or and and. Remind students to try to use compound predicates whenever they can.

With the Class: Discuss these questions: How did the descriptions on the menu influence your choice of food to try? Which was more difficult—creating compound subjects or compound predicates?

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A C T I V I T Y

Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

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Subject-Predicate Agreement

Those Are Some Sentences!

Here are the first and last sentences from well-known works of literature. Can you identify the

simple subject and predicate in each one? Do they agree? Complete each chart.

from Holes by Louis Sachar

FIRST:

“There is no lake at Camp Green Lake.”

LAST:

“And hardly anything was green.”

from The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

FIRST:

“This morning I got a note from my aunt

asking me to come for lunch.”

LAST:

“I watch her walk toward St Charles,

cape jasmine held against her cheek, until

my brothers and sisters call out behind me.”

from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

FIRST:

“When he was nearly thirteen, my brother

Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.”

LAST:

“He would be there all night, and he

would be there when Jem waked up

in the morning.”

Subject Predicate Agree?

Subject Predicate Agree?

Subject Predicate Agree?

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All About Gerunds, Participles, and Infinitives

The words of the world want to make sentences.—Gaston Bachelard

Gerunds, participles, and infinitives are formed from verbs, but each performs a different function in a sentence. This mini-lesson focuses on the following:

• gerunds: nouns• participles: adjectives• infinitives: nouns, adjectives, and adverbs

IntroductionBegin a mini-lesson by reading aloud the Bachelard quote at the top of the page. Explain that some of those “words of the world” are gerunds, participles, and infinitives. Write a short definition of each and an example, such as the following, on the board: • A gerund is formed by adding –ing to a verb. It always acts as a noun:

Dancing to music makes me happy. • A participle is formed by adding –ing or –ed to a verb. It always acts as an adjective:

The dancing girl turned up the volume on her overloaded iPod. • An infinitive is formed by adding to in front of the verb. It can act as a

noun, adjective, or adverb:

To dance is my dream. (noun: subject)

I have a date to dance on Saturday. (adjective modifying date)

I went to the gym to dance. (adverb modifying went)

(Also see the lesson on phrases and clauses, pages 47–52.)

TeachDistribute copies of the passage “Wrong Side of the Bed” on page 43 to students. Allow time for them to read the passage on their own, or ask them to follow along as you read it aloud. Use the teaching chart on page 42 to discuss how the writer uses gerunds, participles, and infinitives in the passage.

ApplyDistribute a copy of the Who We Are reproducible on page 52 to each student. Use it with students to document all the gerunds, participles, and infinitives in the model passage. Encourage them to record the gerunds, participles, and infinitives they see in other print sources. You also may want to refer them back to this reproducible in the next lesson, on phrases and clauses, pages 47–52.

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Waking up on the wrong side of the bed sent me swimming in space—literally. Really! You

see, my bed sits tight in a corner of my bedroom. The head of the bed butts up against a wall

and so does the right side. I woke up on the right side of the bed, which means I went right

through my bedroom wall and into an alternate universe. Suddenly, I felt as weightless as a two-

ounce guppy in a huge fish tank. My arms and feet began to move involuntarily as I began to

sink. Looking down, I realized that I wasn’t treading water—I was treading air!

Then I realized that I was drifting past the hazy rings of

Saturn. I grabbed one of the rings and held on until I could

figure out how to quickly get home. A comet shot past me,

but I was able to reach out and grab its tail. The speeding

comet dropped me off 500,000,000 miles from home. That

left only 2,569,838,008 miles to go! I was too close to an undiscovered planet and got pulled

into its orbit. Burned by the sun and then bitten by the cold, I spun around that hot and cold

planet for hours and hours. Fortunately, a shuttle ship from another galaxy stopped and plucked

me out of the planet’s orbit. Watching Earth from the shuttle’s window was fun, but then the

sight made me homesick. I made a whispered wish: I wish I were home in bed. Then I was!

Don’t ask me to tell you how. I wonder how much money I owe for that shuttle ride? . . .

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Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

Add examples of gerunds, participles, and infinitives you come across in the passage.verb + –ing: smiling, goingGerunds are used as nouns.

Smiling for too long makes my face hurt. He was sent to the principal’s office for going to the gym without permission.

Terrence was upset by our leaving the party early.

verb + –ing or –ed: grinning, grinned; tearing, tornPresent participles are formed by adding –ing to the end of the verb.

Past participles are formed by adding –ed to the end of the verb. However, some past participles

have irregular forms: bringing, brought; seeing, saw.Participles are used as adjectives.

The grinning boy made me smile, too. (present participle)

A dusty lace curtain, tattered and torn, swung in the lazy breeze. (past participle)to + verb: to smile, to break, to beInfinitives are used as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.My goal is to smile for a total of three hours every day. (noun)

Displaying all your teeth is the best way to smile widely. (adjective)

To smile genuinely, a person must be truly happy. (adverb)

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GerundsTo create a gerund, add –ing to the end of a verb.

KEY POINTS• A gerund is used as a noun.

• Students may find it difficult to tell the difference between a gerund and a present participle. Emphasize that to identify a gerund correctly they will have to understand which part of speech the word is.

ParticiplesTo create a present participle, add –ing to the end of a verb. To create a past participle, add –ed to the end of a verb.

KEY POINTS• A participle is used as an adjective.

• A present participle ends in –ing. A past participle usually ends in –ed.

• Some past participles have irregular forms: the bent or broken branch.

InfinitivesTo create an infinitive, add to before a verb.

KEY POINTS• An infinitive can be used as a noun, adjective,

or adverb.

• Students may confuse infinitives with prepositional phrases. Remind them that an infinitive consists of to plus a verb, while a prepositional phrase consists of to plus a noun or a pronoun.

• It’s really okay to split an infinitive. This myth got started because a lot of our language comes from Latin words. You can’t split infinitives in Latin because in Latin the infinitive is simply the verb without to before it.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE1 To find the subject of this sentence, ask yourself, “What sent the writer swimming in space?” The complete subject is Waking up on the wrong side of the bed. Since Waking is used as a noun, it’s a gerund.

7 Notice that there is no punctuation setting off the gerund from the rest of the sentence. Gerunds don’t require any punctuation.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE2 Swimming is a present participle because it acts as an adjective modifying me.

4 Both uses of treading are verbs; they go with the verb was. Looking is a present participle.

6 Burned by the sun and bitten by the cold are adjectives describing the writer. Both are past participles, and bitten is an irregular participle.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE3 Some verbs, such as begin, decide, agree, and want, are followed by infinitives.

5 This sentence contains a split infinitive—the adverb quickly splits the infinitive to get.

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Gerunds, Participles, and Infinitives

Wrong Side of the Bed

Waking up on the wrong side of the bed sent me swimming in space—literally. Really! You

see, my bed sits tight in a corner of my bedroom. The head of the bed butts up against a wall

and so does the right side. I woke up on the right side of the bed, which means I went right

through my bedroom wall and into an alternate universe. Suddenly, I felt as weightless as a two-

ounce guppy in a huge fish tank. My arms and feet began to move involuntarily as I began to

sink. Looking down, I realized that I wasn’t treading water—I was treading air!

Then I realized that I was drifting past the hazy rings of

Saturn. I grabbed one of the rings and held on until I could

figure out how to quickly get home. A comet shot past me,

but I was able to reach out and grab its tail. The speeding

comet dropped me off 500,000,000 miles from home. That

left only 2,569,838,008 miles to go!

I was too close to an undiscovered planet and got pulled

into its orbit. Burned by the sun and then bitten by the cold, I spun around that hot and cold

planet for hours and hours. Fortunately, a shuttle ship from another galaxy stopped and plucked

me out of the planet’s orbit. Watching Earth from the shuttle’s window was fun, but then the

sight made me homesick. I made a whispered wish: I wish I were home in bed. Then I was!

Don’t ask me to tell you how. I wonder how much money I owe for that shuttle ride? . . .

In this passage, you’ll explore the following:

• gerunds

• participles

• infinitives

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Gerunds, Participles, and InfinitivesTeachers: Duplicate these prompts on sturdy paper and then cut them apart. You may also write the prompts on the board or display them onscreen.

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Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

Don’t Make Me Do That!

Write! What is your least favorite chore or job to do around the

house? Explain why you dislike doing this chore so much. Make

readers really feel how much you dislike it.

With the Rest of the Class: Exchange your writing with a partner.

After reading each other’s work, compare and contrast the chores

and your response to them. Then talk about how you used gerunds,

participles, and/or infinitives in your writing.

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Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

The Three Faces of . . .

Write! Read the passage “Wrong Side of the Bed” again.

Think about the elements that go into writing a fantasy.

Then write your own fantasy passage. Before you begin writing,

think of a verb. In your passage include three forms of that verb—

gerund, participle, and infinitive. Read over your work to make sure

you’ve used all three forms of the verb, and that you’ve used each

one correctly.

With the Rest of the Class: Exchange passages with a partner. See if you can identify which

verb he or she included and find all its forms.

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Activities: Gerunds, Participles, And InfinitivesWhat Did Shakespeare Mean?

The title character in Hamlet, by William Shakespeare, says the following:

To be or not to be, that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to—’tis a consummation Devoutly to be wish’d. To die, to sleep; To sleep, perchance to dream. . . .

Write Hamlet’s soliloquy on the board or make copies for the group. Have members take turns reading it aloud. What do they think Hamlet means? Guide them in a rewrite of his speech using modern-day language.

With the Class: As a class, talk about Shakespeare’s use of infinitives. How do the infinitives help the rhythm and flow of the speech? How did groups incorporate infinitives into their revision?

Participle Poetry

Have students think about a noun to write a poem about. It could be something as concrete as leaf or as abstract as freedom. The title of the poem is the noun selected. Challenge pairs to write the poem using only participles to describe the noun.

With the Class: After pairs practice, ask them to perform a choral reading of their poem for the class and then discuss how they created their poem.

Is “to” Your BFF? Does “–ing” Follow You Around?

Play a grammar game featuring gerunds, participles, and infinitives. Here are the rules: Three people are contestants and the rest of the class is the audience. The teacher assigns the gerund, participle, or infinitive form of the same verb

to each contestant, for example: Contestant 1—irritating (gerund), Contestant 2—irritating (present participle), Contestant 3—to irritate. Then the teacher challenges the audience to ask questions to identify one of the forms, for example: “Which contestant is a participle that means ‘annoying’”? The audience takes turns asking each contestant a question to find the answer—without asking obvious questions such as “Are you a participle?”

With the Class: Discuss the following questions: Which was the easiest form to identify—gerunds, participles, or infinitives? What made it difficult to identify irregular forms of participles? Which questions helped you tell the difference between a gerund and a present participle?

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A C T I V I T Y

Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

Gerunds, Participles, and Infinitives

Who We Are

Add examples of gerunds, participles, and infinitives you come across in the passage.

Gerundsverb + –ing: smiling, going

Gerunds are used as nouns.

EXAMPLES:

Smiling for too long makes my face hurt.

He was sent to the principal’s office for going to the gym without permission.

Terrence was upset by our leaving the party early.

Participlesverb + –ing or –ed: grinning, grinned; tearing, torn

Present participles are formed by adding –ing to the end of the verb.

Past participles are formed by adding –ed to the end of the verb. However, some past participles

have irregular forms: bringing, brought; seeing, saw.

Participles are used as adjectives.

EXAMPLES:

The grinning boy made me smile, too. (present participle)

A dusty lace curtain, tattered and torn, swung in the lazy breeze. (past participle)

Infinitivesto + verb: to smile, to break, to be

Infinitives are used as nouns, adjectives, and adverbs.

EXAMPLES:

My goal is to smile for a total of three hours every day. (noun)

Displaying all your teeth is the best way to smile widely. (adjective)

To smile genuinely, a person must be truly happy. (adverb)

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All About Phrases and Clauses[Henry] James would agonize for hours over a single sentence, refining and refining it until sometimes only his most devoted readers cared to thread their way through the innumerable clauses he found necessary for communication of his exact meaning.

—Myrick Land

A phrase is a group of words without a subject or a predicate. A clause contains a subject and a predicate. This mini-lesson focuses on the following aspects of phrases and clauses:

• prepositional phrases• gerund, participial, and infinitive phrases• independent and dependent clauses• restrictive and nonrestrictive clause

IntroduceShare the quote at the top of the page with students. Then write the following sentence from The Golden Bowl by Henry James on the board or display it onscreen: “This situation has been occupying for months and months the very centre of the garden of her life, but it had reared itself there like some strange tall tower of ivory, or perhaps rather some wonderful beautiful but outlandish pagoda, a structure plated with hard bright porcelain, coloured and figured and adorned at the overhanging eaves with silver bells that tinkled ever so charmingly when stirred by chance airs.” Are students able to thread their way through the sentence? Do they agree with Myrick Land’s quote? Tell them that they’ll be learning about the kinds of phrases and clauses Henry James used in this long sentence. Share with students the definitions in the box.

TeachGive a copy of the passage “Wild Horse Annie” on page 49 to each student. Allow time for students to read the passage on their own or ask them to follow along as you read it aloud. Use the teaching chart on page 48 to discuss how the writer used phrases and clauses in the passage. (Also see the lessons on prepositions, pages 29–34; gerunds, participles, and infinitives, pages 41–46; and sentences, pages 59–64.)

ApplyHand out the Mind Your Ps and Cs reproducible on page 52 and go over the information at the top about phrases and clauses. As you lead students through the activity at the bottom of the reproducible, have a few bumper sticker slogans ready to share. The slogans should consist of only a phrase or a clause.

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When Velma B. Johnston got the nickname of “Wild Horse Annie,” it wasn’t a compliment.

Johnston was trying to stop the killing of wild horses and burros in Nevada and the rest

of the west. The person who nicknamed her didn’t want the wild animals to be saved.

Before 1959, it was legal in Nevada to hunt wild horses and burros on public land from the air.

Riding in airplanes and on horseback, hunters chased and then captured the animals. The horses

and burros, packed into trucks, were taken to factories where they’d be sold for food.

Johnston began her campaign to protect the wild animals in 1950. She started talking about

the problem to people in Storey County, Nevada, where she lived. Johnston spoke to school

children, ranchers, politicians, and ranchers. Although she received death threats, she didn’t give

up. Nevada enacted legislation to protect the wild animals, and then the federal government did, too. The federal Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act protects these wild animals on public lands. Wild Horse Annie, who had polio as a child, also went on to create refuges for wild horses. Today, when the number of wild horses and burros grows too large, they are placed for adoption. People who are interested in giving them homes can contact the Bureau of Land Management at http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro.html.

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Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

On your way home today, look at the cars in the school parking lot and on the road. Write

down some of the bumper sticker slogans you see. Now create your own bumper sticker slogan.

Save space by using only a phrase or a clause for your slogan.

A phrase is a group of words without a subject or a predicate. A clause contains a subject and a

predicate. There are different types of phrases, including the ones shown below.

independent clause can stand alone, but it can

also be joined to another independent clause by a coordinating conjunction—and, but, or, nor, neither,

yet, for, so—or a semicolon.dependent clause begins with a relative pronoun—who, which, that, what, whoever, whichever, whatever—or a subordinating conjunction,

such as when, before, after, since, or although.restrictive clause is necessary to a sentence.

It begins with the relative pronoun that or who.nonrestrictive clause is not necessary to a

sentence. It begins with the relative pronoun which or

who and is set off by commas.

The traffic was even worse on the way home, so I closed my eyes and went to sleep. (two independent clauses joined by so)

Although music was blaring out of the cars and drivers were honking their horns, I slept the whole

way home. (dependent clause introduced by although)The Toyota that had the busted muffler was the loudest car. (restrictive clause)The Toyota, which is the kind of car I want, was

the loudest car. (nonrestrictive clause)

prepositional phrase can be used as an adjective or an adverb.

gerund phrase is always used as a noun. participial phrase is always used as

an adjective. infinitive phrase can be used as a

noun, an adjective, or an adverb.

Let’s go out to the ball game! (prepositional phrase as an

adverb showing where)Driving to the ball game took over an hour. (gerund phrase

as the subject)The fan, alarmed by the speeding ball, ducked before it hit

him. (participial phrase as an adjective modifying fan)To see her favorite player, Jorga stood outside the team’s

dressing room. (infinitive phrase as an adverb showing why)

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Prepositional PhrasesA prepositional phrase doesn’t contain a subject or a verb.

KEY POINTS• A prepositional phrase begins with a

preposition and ends with the noun or pronoun it connects to the rest of the sentence.

• A prepositional phrase can function as an adjective or adverb in a sentence.

Gerund, Participial, and Infinitive PhrasesThese phrases are formed from verbs.

KEY POINTS• Briefly review how gerunds, present and past

participles, and infinitives are formed from verbs, and which part(s) of speech each can become.

• You’ll often see prepositional phrases embedded in these types of phrases.

Independent and Dependent ClausesA clause contains a subject and a verb.

KEY POINTS• An independent clause can stand alone as a

sentence or be joined to another independent clause with a coordinating conjunction or a semicolon.

• An independent clause following a dependent clause is set off with a comma.

• Although a dependent clause has a subject and predicate, it can’t stand alone because it begins with a relative pronoun—who, that, which, what—or a subordinating conjunction—if, when, before, since.

Restrictive and Nonrestrictive ClausesRestrictive clauses are necessary in the sentence. Nonrestrictive clauses are not.

KEY POINTS• Restrictive clauses contribute to the meaning

of the sentence, while nonrestrictive clauses can be cut from a sentence without affecting the meaning.

• For consistency and simplicity, advise students to use that with restrictive clauses and which with nonrestrictive clauses.

• Nonrestrictive clauses are set off with commas.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE4 The word before can be a preposition or a subordinating conjunction. Before 1959 is a prepositional phrase because it doesn’t have a subject or a verb.

7 The phrase to factories is a prepositional phrase because there is no verb.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE2 This is an infinitive phrase because it begins with the infinitive to stop. Notice that it also contains a gerund phrase and two prepositional phrases.

5 Riding in airplanes and on horseback is a gerund phrase because it begins with the gerund Riding and is the subject of the sentence.

6 This is a participial phrase because it begins with the past participle packed.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE1 The subordinating conjunction when introduces this dependent clause.

8 Since the dependent clause Although she received death threats appears before an independent clause, it’s set off by a comma.

9 The coordinating conjunction and joins these two independent clauses. Each clause could be a separate sentence.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE3 Without the clause who nicknamed her, the sentence wouldn’t make sense.

10 The fact that Wild Horse Annie had polio as a child is interesting, but it’s not essential to the meaning of the sentence. That’s why this non-restrictive clause is set off by commas.

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Phrases and Clauses

Wild Horse Annie

When Velma B. Johnston got the nickname of “Wild Horse Annie,” it wasn’t a compliment.

Johnston was trying to stop the killing of wild horses and burros in Nevada and the rest

of the west. The person who nicknamed her didn’t want the wild animals to be saved.

Before 1959, it was legal in Nevada to hunt wild horses and burros on public land from the air.

Riding in airplanes and on horseback, hunters chased and then captured the animals. The horses

and burros, packed into trucks, were taken to factories where they’d be sold for food.

Johnston began her campaign to protect the wild animals in 1950. She started talking about

the problem to people in Storey County, Nevada, where she lived. Johnston spoke to school

children, ranchers, politicians, and ranchers. Although she received death threats, she didn’t give

up. Nevada enacted legislation to protect the wild

animals, and then the federal government did, too.

The federal Wild Free-Roaming Horse and Burro

Act protects these wild animals on public lands.

Wild Horse Annie, who had polio as a child,

also went on to create refuges for wild horses.

Today, when the number of wild horses and burros

grows too large, they are placed for adoption.

People who are interested in giving them homes

can contact the Bureau of Land Management at

http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/wild_horse_and_burro.html.

In this passage, you’ll explore the following:

• prepositional phrases

• gerund, participial, and infinitive phrases

• independent and dependent clauses

• restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses

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W R I T I N G P R O M P T S

Phrases and ClausesTeachers: Duplicate these prompts on sturdy paper and then cut them apart. You may also write the prompts on the board or display them onscreen.

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Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

Taking the Lead

Write! Choose one of the following phrases or clauses and include it in the lead of a scary

short story.

• in the darkness at the top of the stairs

• whose hair turned white overnight

• that made the dog howl

• listening to the black silence

• to reach the safety of my room

• which hurtled through the window

• burned into the wallpaper

With the Rest of the Class: Discuss the following questions: How did you use the phrase and

clause to help you set the mood of your story? What other phrases and clauses appear in your story?

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Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

We Want You!

Write! Think about your class. What qualities and characteristics do students have that help

the class function well? What kinds of behavior throw the class off track and make it difficult

to learn? Based on your thoughts, write a Want Ad for the perfect student for your class. Spell

out the following requirements, and add any others that you think of: What kind of experience

should the student have? What skills should the student possess? What will the student be

expected to do? Check your use of phrases and clauses to make sure your ad is clear.

With the Rest of the Class: Post your ads on the bulletin board. Then find an ad that you

want to respond to. Write a brief letter explaining your interest in the job and why you would be

perfect for it.

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full response

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ACTIVITIES: Phrases and ClausesIt’s Just a Phrase I’m Going Through

Each member of the group chooses a favorite song and writes down the title and lyrics. Then, as a group, they point out and identify any phrases—prepositional, gerund, participial, and infinitive—that they notice, including a phrase within a

phrase, such as “standing in the shadows of love.” Next, groups use their knowledge of phrases to write the lyrics to a group song. Here are the guidelines:

• Start with a song title that’s a phrase. Don’t force a phrase into the song just because it’s a phrase, but make it a natural and rhythmic addition to the song.

• If anyone is musical or plays an instrument, set your lyrics to music.

With the Class: Ask each group to share its lyrics with another group and talk about how the phrases they chose enhance the meaning of the song.

I’m an Independent! I Am, Too!

As a class, decide on a topic to write about. Have individual students write one independent clause about that topic. Then let everyone circulate around the room and try to join his or her independent clause with another independent clause to

create a sentence that makes sense. Students have to decide whether to use a coordinating conjunction—and which one—or a semicolon to join the clauses. Keep students circulating to see how many independent clauses they can add to their original clause.

With the Class: Ask: Who created the sentence with the most clauses? Does the sentence make sense? Who created the most pleasing sentence? How did using a semicolon or a certain conjunction change the flow of the sentence?

Is That Really Necessary?

Present the following activity to pairs: An aside is a remark that not everyone is supposed to hear. For instance, an actor may say something directly to the audience that the other characters can’t hear. Nonrestrictive clauses make great asides.

Write a short skit about an argument between two characters. Include asides in the form of nonrestrictive clauses. You can use a format like the one shown below or develop your own.

Lars: The piece of pie that you ate was mine. I can’t believe you ate it, Max! (to the audience) Max! Who is always doing something like this!

Max: I didn’t see your name carved into the crust. (to the audience) The crust! Which was so light and flaky and tasty!

Practice your skit, and be sure to place special emphasis on the asides.

With the Class: Pairs should perform their skit for the class. After each performance, pose the following questions: Does everyone agree that all the asides are nonrestrictive clauses because they are unnecessary to the skit? If some of the asides are really restrictive clauses, how can you incorporate them into the body of the skit?

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A C T I V I T Y

Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

52

On your way home today, look at the cars in the school parking lot and on the road. Write

down some of the bumper sticker slogans you see. Now create your own bumper sticker slogan.

Save space by using only a phrase or a clause for your slogan.

Phrases and Clauses

Mind Your Ps & Cs

A phrase is a group of words without a subject or a predicate. A clause contains a subject and a

predicate. There are different types of phrases, including the ones shown below.

• An independent clause can stand alone, but it can

also be joined to another independent clause by a

coordinating conjunction—and, but, or, nor, neither,

yet, for, so—or a semicolon.

• A dependent clause begins with a relative

pronoun—who, which, that, what, whoever,

whichever, whatever—or a subordinating conjunction,

such as when, before, after, since, or although.

• A restrictive clause is necessary to a sentence.

It begins with the relative pronoun that or who.

• A nonrestrictive clause is not necessary to a

sentence. It begins with the relative pronoun which or

who and is set off by commas.

Examples

The traffic was even worse on the way home,

so I closed my eyes and went to sleep. (two

independent clauses joined by so)

Although music was blaring out of the cars and

drivers were honking their horns, I slept the whole

way home. (dependent clause introduced by

although)

The Toyota that had the busted muffler was the

loudest car. (restrictive clause)

The Toyota, which is the kind of car I want, was

the loudest car. (nonrestrictive clause)

Types of Phrases

• A prepositional phrase can be used as an

adjective or an adverb.

• A gerund phrase is always used as a noun.

• A participial phrase is always used as

an adjective.

• An infinitive phrase can be used as a

noun, an adjective, or an adverb.

Examples

Let’s go out to the ball game! (prepositional phrase as an

adverb showing where)

Driving to the ball game took over an hour. (gerund phrase

as the subject)

The fan, alarmed by the speeding ball, ducked before it hit

him. (participial phrase as an adjective modifying fan)

To see her favorite player, Jorga stood outside the team’s

dressing room. (infinitive phrase as an adverb showing why)

Types of Clauses

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All About SpecificityWhoever writes English is involved in a struggle that never lets up even for a sentence. He is struggling against vagueness, against obscurity, against the lure of the decorative adjective, against the encroachment of Latin and Greek, and, above all, against the worn-out phrases and dead metaphors with which the language is cluttered up.

—George Orwell

Specificity is in the details—not too many and not too few. Specificity is finding the one word that will take the place of two or four or more. This mini-lesson focuses on the following aspects of specificity:

• adding details to enhance clarity• adding details to make writing more descriptive• removing unnecessary words and phrases• using technical terms

IntroductionWrite a short definition of specificity, such as the following, on the board: “Specificity isn’t a part of speech, but it uses every part of speech. Specificity isn’t a part of a sentence—it is the sentence: The sun sparked a fire in the crispy grass.”

TeachAsk students to define the word specific and to give synonyms for it such as exact, detailed, precise. Then distribute copies of the passage “Like a Tornado” on page 55 to students. Allow time for them to read the passage on their own or ask them to follow along as you read it aloud. Explain that the writer has already revised the first paragraph for specificity. Then use the teaching guide on page 54 for tips for discussing specificity.

ApplyBring in several familiar items such as a pair of dress shoes and a coffee mug that are black, and place them around the room. Distribute the reproducible Shades of Black on page 58. If possible, display a copy onscreen. Model the activity by selecting two items and beginning to describe them. Ask students for their input to add specificity and contrast. Then have them complete the reproducible on their own.

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A cumulonimbus cloud, the tallest type of cloud, forms in the sky. Its base is several miles wide,

and its head rises in a towering column. At its very top, the cloud spreads out again. It looks like

a giant mushroom in the sky. Lightning flashes inside the cloud. Then a long, thin, funnel

unravels from the base of the cloud. Touching the ground,

the funnel spins at 100 miles per hour. It’s a tornado! Rapidly rotating winds create other kinds of weather phenomena (events?) including gustnadoes, dust devils, fire whirls, and steam devils. Because these phenomena don’t descend from clouds, they aren’t classified as tornadoes. A gustnado occurs on the gust front of a

thunderstorm. In a gust front, cool air rushes, or gusts, down and out of the storm. The swirling funnel may look

like a weak tornado, but it builds from the ground up instead of from the clouds down.

A dust devil forms on hot, clear days. This swirling column of air skips along the ground,

turning the same color as the earth as it picks up dirt and other debris.

A fire whirl is a spinning vortex (?) of hot air and gases that rises from an intense wildfire.

The whirl carries smoke, flames, and debris inside it. A steam devil can form at places that emit large amounts of smoke or steam, such as power

plant smokestacks and desert hot springs. The smoke or steam is wrapped and trapped inside a

rotating column of rising air.

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Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

What do you think of when you hear or read the word black? Does it matter if the word’s an adjective describing a black cat or a black coat? Do you picture the same color?

Find at least two objects in the classroom that are black. How would you describe the similarities

and differences between the colors of the two objects? Compare them in the Venn diagram below.

_________________________ _________________________

Now describe the color of each object without using the adjective black.___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

Repeat this activity for other senses: a salty or sour taste, a soft sound, a rough surface,

and a sweet smell.

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Adding Details to Enhance ClarityDon’t assume that your reader knows everything you know about a subject.

KEY POINTS• It’s always surprising to realize that the ideas

in our mind didn’t make it to the page. This is why it’s particularly important to have someone read our work and ask us questions.

Adding Details to Make Writing More DescriptiveLook for words that don’t stretch you or the reader. Replace them with words that may surprise the reader—and you.

KEY POINTS• Adding sensory details involves more

than describing a cat as black or a rose as sweet-smelling.

• As students refine the nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs they use in a piece of writing, urge them to take creative risks.

• Encourage students to make their own associations with certain colors, smells, tastes, sounds, and textures to add freshness to their writing.

Removing Unnecessary Words and PhrasesAs you revise your work, look for words and phrases that are repeated unnecessarily.

KEY POINTS• In our eagerness to make a point, it can be

easy to oversell it. Writers have to read their work to spot repeated words or phrases that don’t help emphasize a point or intensify an experience. We also have to seek out adjectives and adverbs that smother the words they modify.

Using Technical TermsDefine technical terms or give solid context clues so readers will understand them.

KEY POINTS• In speaking or writing, it’s essential that our

audience understands what we’re saying.

• Remind students to define technical terms clearly in their writing and to ask for your help if the terms are confusing.

• Context clues may help some readers, but a simple and concise definition will reach more of the audience.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE4 As she wrote, the writer wondered whether she needed to define the word phenomena.

5 The details in this sentence not only help explain what a gust front is, but also show how a gustnado got its name.

6 This sentence describes what a dust devil looks like and how it moves.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE3 Deleting long and inserting cone-shaped creates a more specific picture of the tornado as it’s being born.

8 The compound predicate wrapped and trapped accurately describes what happens to the smoke or steam—and it rhymes.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE2 The prepositional phrase in the sky isn’t necessary because the only place clouds form is in the sky.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE1 In this sentence, the tallest type of cloud helps define the technical word cumulonimbus.

7 The writer includes “(?)” because she wasn’t sure if readers would understand that a vortex is a spinning flow of air.

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Specificity

Like a Tornado

A cumulonimbus cloud, the tallest type of cloud, forms in the sky. Its base is several miles wide,

and its head rises in a towering column. At its very top, the cloud spreads out again. It looks like

a giant mushroom in the sky. Lightning flashes inside the ^ cloud. Then a long, thin, ^ funnel

unravels from the base of the cloud. Touching the ground,

the funnel spins at 100 miles per hour. It’s a tornado!

Rapidly rotating winds create other kinds of

weather phenomena (events?) including gustnadoes,

dust devils, fire whirls, and steam devils. Because these

phenomena don’t descend from clouds, they aren’t

classified as tornadoes.

A gustnado occurs on the gust front of a

thunderstorm. In a gust front, cool air rushes, or gusts,

down and out of the storm. The swirling funnel may look

like a weak tornado, but it builds from the ground up instead of from the clouds down.

A dust devil forms on hot, clear days. This swirling column of air skips along the ground,

turning the same color as the earth as it picks up dirt and other debris.

A fire whirl is a spinning vortex (?) of hot air and gases that rises from an intense wildfire.

The whirl carries smoke, flames, and debris inside it.

A steam devil can form at places that emit large amounts of smoke or steam, such as power

plant smokestacks and desert hot springs. The smoke or steam is wrapped and trapped inside a

rotating column of rising air.

In this passage, you’ll explore the following:

• adding details to enhance clarity

• adding details to make writing more descriptive

• removing unnecessary words and phrase

• using technical terms

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W R I T I N G P R O M P T S

SpecificityTeachers: Duplicate these prompts on sturdy paper and then cut them apart. You may also write the prompts on the board or display them onscreen.

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Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

A Penny for Your Thoughts/Your Thoughts for a Penny

Materials: penny, magnifying glass

Write! Take a few minutes to examine a penny. Use a magnifying glass to help you see

details on the coin that you may have missed before. Think about how the penny feels in your

hand or when you rub your finger across its surface. How does it smell? Based on the smell,

how do you think the penny would taste? (Don’t put it in your mouth—use your other senses

to help you describe what the taste would be like!) Jot down any ideas or images you think of.

Then write a paragraph describing the penny. Be as specific as you can about the coin.

With the Rest of the Class: Exchange descriptions with a partner. Read over each other’s

work. Write down any questions you have and any words and phrases you thought were specific

and original. How did those words and phrases help you see the penny even more clearly?

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Name _______________________________________________________________ Date ______________

What?!

Materials: dictionary

Write! Rewrite the paragraph below to make it more specific and descriptive.

Carrion flowers smell bad. (Buzzards eat carrion.) Flowers that smell sweet attract

bees and hummingbirds. Flowers that smell bad attract flies and beetles and other

ugly insects. Starfish flowers grow in Africa. They’re pretty, but they smell really

bad. They look like starfish.

With the Rest of the Class: Talk about how you tackled the rewrite. Which details did you

add? Which details did you remove? How were you able to make the paragraph more descriptive,

even though you probably haven’t ever seen—or smelled—a carrion flower?

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ACTIVITIES: SpecificityA Tantalizingly Tasty MenuMaterials: drawing paper, colored paper, colored pencils and markers

Tempt students with the following activity: Suppose you walk into a pizza kitchen that holds any ingredient you could wish for, and you get to create your own special

pizza. You can choose the kind of crust—thick, thin, whole wheat, peanut butter—sauce, toppings, and cheese. Write and illustrate a detailed description of your pizza for a class pizza menu. Even if your favorite pizza is a cheese pizza, be specific about the kind of cheese(s) and how tantalizingly tasty it is—and why. Finally, give your pizza a name that will make everyone’s mouth water.

With the Class: Call on students to share the description of their special pizza. Find out which specific details in the descriptions made the other students’ stomachs flip with hunger. Then have the class create a pizza menu that features all their special pizzas. (Maybe you can convince a local pizzeria to add them to its menu!)

Just the Facts, PleaseMaterials: large index cards, markers or pens

Ask pairs who they think the five most important people in the world are and to create a list. After pairs research each person’s life and accomplishments, they should make

a set of Top Five trading cards featuring their top five picks. Tell them to choose their words carefully and to be specific and concise—because they can use only 25 words, in complete sentences, on each card.

With the Class: Based on everyone’s Top Five trading cards, compile a class list of the most important people in the world. Combine and refine the information from the original trading cards to create a new set of the Top Five trading cards for the class choices.

Technical Translation

“Hire” groups to write and produce a television commercial for one of the following businesses:

• bicycle shop • iPod/MP3 player repair shop

• dental clinic • fish and reptile store

• sandwich shop

They must use technical words and phrases in the script for their commercial—without translating them into everyday English. Then groups should write simple definitions for each technical word or phrase. After rehearsing their commercial, have groups present it to the rest of the class. Everyone in the group should have a role in the commercial.

With the Class: Set aside time for groups to act out their commercials. When an audience member is confused by a technical term, he or she calls out, “Translation, please!” Everyone in the group should respond with the definition.

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A C T I V I T Y

Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

SPECIFICITY

Shades of Black

What do you think of when you hear or read

the word black? Does it matter if the word’s an

adjective describing a black cat or a black coat?

Do you picture the same color?

Find at least two objects in the classroom that are black. How would you describe the similarities

and differences between the colors of the two objects? Compare them in the Venn diagram below.

_________________________ _________________________

Now describe the color of each object without using the adjective black.

Object 1

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

Object 2

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

Repeat this activity for other senses: a salty or sour taste, a soft sound, a rough surface,

and a sweet smell.

Both

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All About SentencesFor me, the big chore is always the same: how to begin a sentence, how to continue it, how to complete it.

—Claude Simon

A sentence can be one word—Go!—or it can be constructed out of layers of phrases and clauses. At the bare minimum, every sentence must consist of a subject and a predicate. It’s up to the writer to decide what other parts of speech to hang on it. This mini-lesson focuses on the following aspects of sentences:

• simple, compound, and complex sentences• combining sentences• varying sentence patterns• parallel construction

IntroductionTo begin a mini-lesson on sentences, read aloud the Claude Simon quote at the top of the page. Engage students in a discussion of the quote and whether they can identify with this writer’s dilemma. Then ask them to define what a sentence is and to explain whether all sentences are equal.

TeachDistribute copies of the passage “What Happened to Cahokia?” on page 61 to students. Allow time for them to read it on their own or ask them to follow along as you read it aloud. Use the teaching guide on page 60 to discuss the variety of sentences in the passage.

ApplyBring in an assortment of newspapers—including sensational tabloids, such as the World Weekly News—that feature stories about alien and Bigfoot sightings. You can also access front pages of newspapers on the Internet. Ask students what the purpose of a headline is. Talk about how a headline is similar to and different from a sentence (similar: usually has a subject and predicate, complete thought; different: no punctuation, capitalization, some words left out). After distributing the Read All About It! reproducible on page 64, work with students to rewrite the first headline as the first sentence in a corresponding news story.

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The city of Cahokia sits on the banks of the Mississippi River. In 1250, its population of

about 20,000 people was as large as the city of London’s. By 1400, the homes of Cahokia were

empty. Now all that’s left of the city are 80 mounds and several circles of wooden posts.

The largest mound is called Monk’s Mound, and it probably took about 300 years to build.

Although the builders had only stone tools, sticks, and their hands, they filled 15,000,000

baskets with earth to build the mound. A huge building once sat on top of Monk’s Mound; a

leader may have lived there. These people also erected several Woodhenges, circles of wooden poles that were used as

calendars. A henge is a large prehistoric earthwork—a place where ancient people dug into the

earth or built it up. Usually constructed in the shape of a circle, a henge could be made of stone,

wood, or soil. (You’d see slabs of stone set in a circle if you visited Stonehenge in England.)

Certain poles in the circle marked the beginning of winter and summer and spring and fall. Each

circle had a different numbers of poles, yet all the poles were made of red cedar. One circle was

never finished. That gave scientists a clue about what may have happened to Cahokia.

After 1200, the climate changed. This change may have harmed or killed plants, animals, and other resources like red cedar trees in the area. Other theories about what happened to Cahokia include war, disease, and rebellion by the citizens.

Nobody knows what our cities might look like in 1000 years. Maybe historians and scientists

will be wondering what happened to the people who used to live in your city.

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Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

How do these headlines grab you?

Choose one headline. Turn it into a complex or compound sentence and use the sentence

as the first line of a news story.___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

]

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Simple, Compound, and Complex SentencesWhen a writer adds one or more clauses to a simple sentence, the sentence becomes compound or complex.

KEY POINTS• A simple sentence has a subject and a

predicate and conveys a complete thought: Sami banged the drum.

• In a compound sentence, the writer joins two or more independent clauses: Sami banged the drum, and his sister covered her ears.

• In a complex sentence, the writer joins one or more dependent clauses to an independent clause: When Sami banged the drum, his sister covered her ears because she couldn’t concentrate on her homework.

Combining SentencesCoordinating conjunctions or semicolons are used to combine sentences.

KEY POINTS• A writer can use a coordinating conjunction or

a semicolon to create compound sentences.

• A comma should not be used to connect independent clauses; a comma splice creates a run-on sentence. (See the exception below.)

Varying Sentence PatternsA strong piece of writing contains a variety of sentence patterns.

KEY POINTS• In sticking to a subject-verb, subject-verb,

subject-verb pattern, a writer runs the risk of boring the reader.

• Exception: Repeating the same sentence pattern can create a poetic rhythm or suspense or can emphasize a point. For example: The boat rocked on the waves, their white caps washed the deck, my life vest washed out to sea.

Parallel ConstructionAll the parts of a compound subject or a compound predicate must be parallel.

KEY POINTS• Parallelism helps a reader understand the

connection between the parts of a sentence.

To play basketball and marching in the band wear me out. (not parallel)

Playing basketball and marching in the band wear me out. (parallel)

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE1 Although the first three sentences are simple sentences, not every one begins with a subject. Some begin with prepositional phrases.

4 This sentence begins with a dependent clause, set off from the independent clause with a comma, so it’s a complex sentence.

6 This complex sentence contains a dependent clause if you visited Stonehenge in England. This clause also could have begun the sentence.

8 After 1200 is a prepositional phrase and not a clause; it doesn’t contain a subject and predicate.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE3 The coordinating conjunction and joins these two sentences (independent clauses).

5 The semicolon takes the place of a coordinating conjunction in this compound sentence. Ask students which coordinating conjunction they would replace it with.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE7 You might be tempted to begin this sentence with but to make it more dramatic: But one circle was never finished—but the sentence is dramatic enough as it is.

TEACHING WITH THE MODEL PASSAGE2 80 mounds and several circles of wooden posts are both noun phrases.

9 The verbs in this sentence are parallel. You don’t need to write may have harmed or may have killed because readers understand that may have goes with each verb.

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61

Sentences

What Happened to Cahokia?

The city of Cahokia sits on the banks of the Mississippi River. In 1250, its population of

about 20,000 people was as large as the city of London’s. By 1400, the homes of Cahokia were

empty. Now all that’s left of the city are 80 mounds and several circles of wooden posts.

The largest mound is called Monk’s Mound, and it probably took about 300 years to build.

Although the builders had only stone tools, sticks, and their hands, they filled 15,000,000

baskets with earth to build the mound. A huge building once sat on top of Monk’s Mound; a

leader may have lived there.

These people also erected several Woodhenges, circles of wooden poles that were used as

calendars. A henge is a large prehistoric earthwork—a place where ancient people dug into the

earth or built it up. Usually constructed in the shape of a circle, a henge could be made of stone,

wood, or soil. (You’d see slabs of stone set in a circle if you visited Stonehenge in England.)

Certain poles in the circle marked the beginning of winter and summer and spring and fall. Each

circle had a different numbers of poles, yet all the poles were made of red cedar. One circle was

never finished. That gave scientists a clue about what may have happened to Cahokia.

After 1200, the climate

changed. This change may have

harmed or killed plants, animals,

and other resources like red cedar

trees in the area. Other theories

about what happened to Cahokia include war, disease, and rebellion by the citizens.

Nobody knows what our cities might look like in 1000 years. Maybe historians and scientists

will be wondering what happened to the people who used to live in your city.

In this passage, you’ll explore the following:

• simple, compound, and complex sentences

• combining sentences

• varying sentence patterns • parallel construction

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W R I T I N G P R O M P T S

SentencesTeachers: Duplicate these prompts on sturdy paper and then cut them apart. You may also write the prompts on the board or display them onscreen.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name _______________________________________________________________ Date _______________

That Will Be History One Day

Write! Some of the events that happened in your lifetime will be historical events to people

50 or 100 years from now. Think about the important events in

America that have happened since you’ve been born. When people

look back at this time period, what do you think they’ll be talking

about? What will they want to know about? Write a description of an

event from your point of view to help future historians really understand

what happened.

With the Rest of the Class: Exchange work with a partner. As you read the work, look for

places where sentences could be combined or rewritten as separate sentences.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name _______________________________________________________________ Date ______________

A Desert Island Survival Kit

Write! Imagine you were shipwrecked on a desert island with

no electricity or running water. (Maybe you’re on a reality TV show,

or maybe your expensive yacht hit a sandbar and sank.) What items

would you absolutely, positively have to have with you? Narrow your

list to five essential items. Write a paragraph about how those items

would help you survive.

With the Rest of the Class: Compare your list of items and record them on the board. Trade

one of your original items for an item on the board and rewrite your paragraph. As you write,

look at the structure of your sentences. Do they all start the same way? If so, vary your sentence

patterns. Be sure to read aloud your work to see how the new sentences fit and flow together.

Write your

full response

on a separate

sheet of paper.

$

$

Write your

full response

on a separate

sheet of paper.

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ACTIVITIES: Sentences That’s Simple!Materials: bells, clackers, or other noisemakers

Prepare an overhead or whiteboard with simple, compound, and complex sentences from a variety of sources. Then have students play the following game: A group of three student contestants competes in this game to

identify different types of sentences. The teacher, as game-show host, reveals one sentence at a time and asks whether it’s a simple, compound, or complex sentence. Each contestant rings a bell or uses another noisemaker to answer. Whichever contestant is first must identify the sentence and explain why it is simple, compound, or complex. The host keeps score.

With the Class: The winner from each group meets and competes in a class-wide contest. The other members of the original groups help the contestants review the elements of simple, compound, and complex sentences.

Spin a Conjunction Materials: spinner divided into five sections and labeled with the following coordinating conjunctions: and, or, but, for, yet; pencil, paper clip

In this game, one partner thinks of a simple sentence. He or she spins the spinner. The other partner uses the coordinating conjunction

the spinner lands on and thinks of a sentence to add to create a compound sentence that makes sense. Pairs take turns and build their compound sentences into a story. To create complex sentences, they can make a spinner that’s divided into at least six sections and labeled with some of the following subordinating conjunctions: when, while, before, after, since, if, although, so, where. One partner thinks of a sentence and spins. The other partner comes up with a dependent clause that begins with the subordinating conjunction and adds the clause to the sentence.

With the Class: Have pairs share their stories with the class and then discuss how they created the first sentence and how it set the tone for the story.

A Parallel Universe Materials: a variety of age-appropriate graphic novels, paper, colored pencils or markers

Display the graphic novels and explain that a graphic novel tells a story with words and illustrations. It’s like a comic book or comic strip but longer. Ask partners to work

together to create the idea for a graphic novel about a pair of siblings or friends. They are so close that they complete each other’s sentences—however, one is invisible to everyone but the other main character. (In other words, the characters are working together to create simple sentences with compound subjects or predicates, compound sentences, or complex sentences.) Then have pairs create at least two sample pages for their graphic novel, including words and illustrations. Remind pairs to make sure their compound subjects and predicates are parallel.

With the Class: Post sample pages on a bulletin board. Have the writers/illustrators answer any questions about their books. If students get really inspired, encourage them to keep working together on their novel.

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A C T I V I T Y

Name _____________________________________________________________ Date _________________

SENTENCES

Read All About It!

How do these headlines grab you?

White House to Be Painted Sky Blue

Soda Machines Banned in Local Schools

UFO Lands in Grand Canyon

Buster Named Top Mixed Breed at Dog Show

Route 49 Wiped Out After Heavy Spring Rains

Blue Dogs Bite Back to Beat the Panthers in Overtime

Choose one headline. Turn it into a complex or compound sentence and use the sentence

as the first line of a news story.

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________________

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