Language Arts F - Sonlight Arts F 4-Day... · Language Arts F (4-Day) ... they will never forget it! ... easier than getting one paragraph from them. So what should you do on those

INSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE

Language Arts F(4-Day)

“Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV)

by the Sonlight Team

FAges 10–13Grades 5–8

INSTRUCTOR’S GUIDE

Language Arts F (4-Day)

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Language Arts F | 4-Day | Section One | 5

Before You Begin …

You are about to embark on an exciting journey! With Sonlight’s Language Arts program as both your passport and map, you and your children will travel to exotic, won-derful places. Be aware, though, that you may at times face some rough seas. And that’s OK.

In fact, it’s more than OK. Confusion and frustration are perfectly common, natural reactions in any educational setting. Sonlight’s goal is to minimize such distractions on your Language Arts voyage. We thought it would be a good idea to explain a couple of things up front that we hope will calm the seas, fill your sails, and lead to safe harbor.

Leaving Your Comfort Zone

As you launch Sonlight’s Language Arts program, it will not take you long to notice that something different is going on here. Are you missing something? Probably not! The mental map of your experience probably does not match what you are seeing.

You were probably taught Language Arts in a traditional way using workbooks and repetition. Sonlight does not teach Language Arts this way. Our research revealed that traditional methods, while comfortable, produced inferior results and were boring!

Traditional methods focus on repetition and drive stu-dents to memorize chunks of unrelated material in order to pass a test. What happens after the test? Unfortunately, students usually soon forget what they learned. Has learn-ing really occurred then? Maybe. But, many students only learn how to beat the system!

“Memorize, pass test, forget” is not the pattern Sonlight promotes.

The Sonlight Way

Instead, Sonlight’s Language Arts program is based on the “natural learning” approach. “Natural” or “integrated” learning means students learn by discovery. They observe, analyze, and then seek to imitate what they have seen a master wordsmith do before them.

The “natural learning” approach is not as intuitively obvi-ous as the instruction found in most standard workbooks. Students will make a discovery, and we will reinforce it for them. However, they won’t find 50 similar “problems” neatly laid out for them to “solve.”

In “natural learning,” students see each principle at work in the natural context of a sentence or paragraph that they have read in one of their assignments. They have to really puzzle things through, and you will occasionally have to help them figure things out.

The “natural learning” approach is, in some ways, slower than traditional workbook methods. But here’s the key: when students “get” a principle that they’ve been striving to master via this method, they will never forget it! They will understand it thoroughly and be able to apply it in almost any context. That is true learning. That is our goal.

For more in-depth information regarding Sonlight’s Language Arts philosophy, go to: www.sonlight.com/ educational-philosophy.html.

Additional Resources

As you adjust to teaching with the “natural learning” ap-proach, you may want some additional assistance at times. For example, you may want to familiarize yourself with quality resources such as Dr. Ruth Beechick’s books. For further study, we recommend Dr. Ruth Beechick’s books The Three-R’s Series and You CAN Teach Your Child Successfully.

If you feel like your children just seem to be struggling or overwhelmed with their work, don’t hesitate to put some books away and simply wait awhile. Instead, spend more time on your Read-Alouds and simply continue to encour-age a love for reading. In a few months, try again, and you will probably find that allowing a little extra time for your children to grow made success easier for them to attain.

Join the Family

The Sonlight® Forums at forums.sonlight.com provide a wealth of information from other homeschooling parents. If you have any questions about how to teach, or why you might (or might not) want to do something; if you wonder if someone has an idea about how to do something better, or whether you or your children are “normal” or need spe-cial help or attention; or for whatever reason, you will find a large community of friendly, helpful people available. Generally, if you post a question in the morning, you are likely to have one or more answers by that night, and many responses by the next day. Come visit!

About this Instructor’s Guide

Sonlight’s Language Arts program seeks to develop your children’s writing abilities via dictation, application, and creative expression. It emphasizes spelling, phonics, vocabulary development, and handwriting. Your children will write daily in a variety of ways.

We provide a 36-week, normal school length schedule. Please take some time now to plan your school year so that you can meet your educational objectives as well as your family’s needs. It is okay to use more time to finish this program.

©2017 by Sonlight Curriculum

, Ltd. All rights reserved.

6 | Section One | 4-Day | Language Arts F

This guide consists of several parts.Section One provides a brief overview of your Lan-

guage Arts studies for the year. We want you to not only know what to do, but also why you do it.

Section Two includes the heart of the program: record-keeping/schedule sheets and notes. Use the schedule sheets to find each week’s assignments and to record what you’ve done each day. Simply place a check mark by each assignment as it’s completed. You can also use these sheets to record problem areas or subjects and topics needing special review. Please feel free to modify our suggested schedule to match your own—and your children’s—specific needs.

Keep these records to demonstrate to others (govern-ment authorities, in particular) what you have taught your children.

Immediately following the schedule, you’ll find Notes with instructions for assignments and Answer Keys. These notes contain Weekly Overviews that outline the skills and assignments covered that week, as well as Rubrics that will help you evaluate the week’s writing assignment. See the “Recommendations for Teaching Writing” article in Section Four for more information about rubrics. Directly after the Notes are the Weekly Activity Sheets with your children’s dictation passages as well as their other assignments.

Section Three includes Reader Study Guides that con-tain discussion questions and other teaching notes that will help you guide your students through the Readers scheduled in this guide.

Section Four contains several helpful resources for all users. This section contains an overview of topics sched-uled in this guide, teaching tips for how to use the tools included in this program, as well as suggestions that will help you modify this program to best fit your family’s needs.

We also recommend you visit the My Downloads sec-tion of your Sonlight Account for several other helpful teaching tools, including:

• Getting Organized—includes great tips about scheduling your school year, modifying our pro-gram and keeping records

• Tips When Using the Internet

Items You Will Need

• lined notebook paper

• #2 pencils

• art supplies for illustrations (crayons, colored pen-cils, or markers)

• lined index cards for a couple assignments (e.g., the research paper project)

If you might reuse your Instructor’s Guide and Student Activity Sheets in the future (for a younger child, for instance), we strongly suggest that you purchase an extra set of Activity Sheets when you buy the Instructor’s Guide. That way, when we update our Instructor’s Guides you will have matching Activity Sheets when you need them. Please contact us if you are looking for Activity Sheets from the past.

Program Features and Rationale

Dictation

Every year customers ask: “How can I teach my children proper grammar [punctuation, etc.]? They don’t know the first thing about proper sentence construction …” Our answer? Dictation! No matter how much your children complain, unless they consistently come back with 100% correct papers, make dictation a priority!

If you’re unfamiliar with dictation, it’s exactly what it sounds like. You read a passage to your children, and they write it exactly as read, concentrating on correct spelling, punctuation, etc. We agree with Dr. Ruth Beechick that dictation exercises provide a “well-rounded approach to language” by enabling the parent to deal with issues of grammar, punctuation, spelling, writing, and thinking in a natural (uncontrived) setting, with a relatively small time-expenditure and no workbooks. If you own her book, please read—or reread—Dr. Beechick’s comments in You CAN Teach Your Child Successfully (pages 69-89).

Your children may resist dictation at first. In the long run, they will come to enjoy it if you simply persist. Tell your children that they are “teaching their hands to obey their mind.”

Optional Dictation Passages

While our goal is for your children to write every day, we realize that there are some days when your children will just not feel like writing. All children will have “dry” days when it seems like getting blood from a stone would be easier than getting one paragraph from them.

So what should you do on those “dry” days? Mercilessly browbeat them into submission? Not if you value your own sanity! Just skip writing that day? Not if you want your children to learn to love and excel at writing … In-stead, we recommend another solution: dictation.

For your convenience, we provide an optional dictation passage each week. The next time you find yourself with a reluctant writer, just use it as your writing assignment for the day. And encourage your children to get some extra rest so that they’re ready to tackle their regular writing assignment the next day.

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Mechanics Practice

In order to become more proficient writers, we believe students need to not only practice writing but also under-stand “what’s going on under the hood” in what they’re reading and writing. Therefore, each week we offer an introduction to a grammatical or writing mechanics topic (grammatical rule, literary term, punctuation, capitaliza-tion, etc.). Look for the skills covered each week in the “Weekly Overview” table, located at the beginning of the Day 1 Creative Expression Notes. For a 36-week progres-sion of topics and skills studied this year in Language Arts, see our Schedule of Topics and Skills, located in Section Four.

Creative Expression (Writing)

Sonlight’s Creative Expression assignments encom-pass a wide variety of writing tasks, styles, and skills. For example, your children will encounter traditional com-position practice (ranging from formal essays to informal thank-you notes), research, poetry, book reports, analysis, and fun, inspired creative assignments. We believe that the breadth and variety of writing assignments will launch your children to new heights in their writing—and that they’ll have a lot of fun in the process!

We designed our writing assignments to help your chil-dren develop fundamental skills that they will build upon in the future. We hope you are looking forward to the new challenges we present this year. If you’ve had a chance to preview this guide and some of the work seems daunting, don’t worry: Just because we use new or advanced con-cepts (similes, metaphors, etc.) doesn’t mean the assign-ments themselves are hard. Give your children the benefit of the doubt! Let them try the assignments as they are, but feel free to modify if necessary.

Our desire at this point is not mastery (either of vocabu-lary or concepts), but acquaintance and familiarity. We believe mastery can come over years of repeated brief encounters with the same material.

For more information about how to use this program to help you confidently teach writing this year, please see the “Recommendations for Teaching Writing” article in Section Four.

Spelling

In our early elementary products, spelling has been incorporated into the Language Arts programs. From this point forward, however, you will need to decide how much more spelling practice your student needs. General-ly we recommend choosing a spelling program for at least Levels D-F and then continue with the spelling program if your student struggles. Spelling You See is a great option

to help your students as spelling challenges advance. Use the blank rows on the Schedule pages to record your spelling work.

As students get older, correcting their writing assign-ments will eventually become the natural spelling work for most students. You can also use the weekly dictation exer-cises to help you monitor your students’ spelling progress. Consider keeping records on the weekly schedule pages of errors you see consistently. Use the list of spelling rules included in the My Downloads section of your Sonlight account to help you review those issues with your student.

Grammar Ace

We recommend Grammar Ace for one year between 4th–7th grade. This self-paced grammar supplement con-tains a progressive journey through only the most practi-cal grammar your children need and makes a great addi-tion to Sonlight’s Language Arts. Once you have finished Grammar Ace, we recommend you choose either Grammar 5 & 6 with Winston Grammar or Keys to Good Language, but not both as the programs teach using a different format and lesson progression. Use the space on the Schedule page to record what you have done.

Vocabulary

While the bulk of our Vocabulary study is contained in the Read-Aloud study guide and part of the History/Bible/Literature Instructor’s Guide, you will see some terms defined in the Reader Study Guides in Section Three as well. The books we choose for you to read aloud often tie to the same historical time period as the rest of the texts we select, but are usually written at a higher reading level than the books we schedule as Readers. Therefore, Read-Alouds provide rich, content-relevant language presented during a time in which you can easily pause and discuss unfamiliar words with your students.

In all of our study guides, we categorize the words we highlight in two ways. Vocabulary words are words your students will probably encounter in other texts --not just those included in this curriculum. We list these words within an excerpt of the text from the book in which they are found so that you may challenge your students to de-fine the terms using the clues found in the context of the rest of the story. Simply read these short quotes aloud and see if your students can tell you the meaning of the bold italicized terms. For example:

Read: “Unobtrusively, Johnny got his notebook and pencil.”

Ask your child: “What do you think ‘Unobtrusively’ means?”



8 | Section One | 4-Day | Language Arts F

After your student answers, compare their response to the answer in parentheses: (in a manner to avoid notice)

Cultural Literacy terms are words that, if defined while your students are reading, will broaden and deepen their understanding of the text. However, these words are generally specific to course content, and we wouldn’t expect your students read or hear them on a regular basis. You may use these words, formatted in bold followed by a colon and their definitions, more like a convenient glos-sary. For example:

Define the word when it comes up in the text— amplitude: the arc of the horizon between east and west.

If you’d like more vocabulary practice, we recommend the Wordly Wise program. We schedule this optional work-book for you.

Student Activity Sheets

We have included Activity Sheets to help you help your children. For levels D-W, to enable your children to study independently, you will find the bulk of the Language Arts instruction on the Weekly Activity Sheets, with a small summary of what we teach each day included in your notes. Feel free to read and work with them through the lessons on the Activity Sheets, or give them the reins to work solo, once you feel they are able to do so.

Supplementary Websites

For your convenience, we have created a website that is dedicated to providing you with links that we thought may be helpful for supplementing the material your chil-dren will be learning. That website is www.sonlight.com /iglinks.html. Every time we have provided a correspond-ing link on this webpage, you will see this symbol :. We hope you find this helpful!

Corrections and Suggestions

Since we at Sonlight constantly work to improve our product, we would love it if we could get you to help us with this process.

Whenever you find an error anywhere in one of our Instructor’s Guides, please send a short e-mail to: [email protected]. It would be helpful if the subject line of your e-mail indicated where the problem is. For instance, “Language Arts D/Section Two/Week 1/Day 3.” Then, in the message portion of the e-mail, tell us what the error is.

If, while going through our curriculum, you think of any way we could improve our product, please e-mail your suggestions to: [email protected]. If you know of a different book we should use, if you think we should read a book we assign at a different point in the year, or if you have any other ideas, please let us know. Your efforts will greatly help us improve the quality of our products, and we very much appreciate you taking the time to let us know what you find. Thanks for your help! n

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The Sonlight Instructor’s Guide (IG) is designed to make your educational experience as easy as possible. We have carefully organized the materials to help you and your children get the most out of the subjects covered. Sub-jects are interwoven to avoid redundancy and to get the most out of your day.

This IG includes an entire 36-week schedule, notes,assignments, readings, and other educational activities. Sonlight’s unique literature-based approach promotes an enjoyable learning experience that will keep your children asking for “just one more chapter, please.” What helpful features can you expect from the IG?

Easy to useSchedule pages are laid out so a quick glance will tell you exactly what to do each day. Check off each assignment as you go to create instant records. Language Arts assignments follow directly behind the schedule page. Readers inspire the assignments and are located in Section Three to allow an adjustable reading pace for your children.

Instructor’s Guide Resources and New User InformationDon’t forget to familiarize yourself with some of the great helps you get when purchasing a guide from Sonlight. In the My Downloads section of your Sonlight Account, you will find New User Information, extra schedule pages, field trip planning sheets and so much more. An overview of topics covered is located in Section Four of the guide.

Vocabulary Built into the reading notes of each guide, Vocabulary sections present general vocabulary words as well as unfamiliar terminology (Cultural Literacy) to aid and grow comprehension.

To Discuss After You Read Need help checking your student’s comprehension? Use the provided Discussion questions to promote great conversations with your stu-dents, and also to help you assess how much they are learning.

Activity SheetsEngage your students with easy-to-use Activity Sheets to express their growing knowledge and creativity. Activity Sheets contain copywork or dictation, grammar mechanics, and writing assignments.

GrammarSonlight makes grammar easy to teach. Grade-appropriate passages demonstrate the concept. Then your student will apply the grammar concept using the Activity Sheet as an easy-to-follow guide.

Creative ExpressionEvery week students are encouraged to become creative thinkers and writers. Students will learn the writing process with ease as they find joy in creating their own written works.

Quick Start Guide—Language Arts

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Language Arts F | 4-Day | Section Two | Week 1 | 1

N Parental Notes

Level FLanguage Arts

Week 1

Date: Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4SpellingSpelling You See

Handwriting

Grammar/MechanicsOptional: Keys to Good Language 5

Pretest 1 Lesson 1 Lesson 2

ReadersLi Lun, Lad of Courage pp. 11–38 pp. 39–66 pp. 67–end

The House of Sixty Fathers chap. 1

Vocabulary DevelopmentOptional: Wordly Wise 3000, Book 5

Lesson 1A Lesson 1B Lesson 1C

Creative ExpressionDictation

& Mechanics PracticeThe Purpose

of WritingObservation Observation Essay

Other Notes:

Days 1–4Date: _______ to _______

Spelling

Spelling You See

To improve your children’s spelling, complete daily spelling exercises. We recommend the Spelling You See program. Use the “Spelling” line on your weekly schedule to record what you have done each week.

Weekly Overview

Mechanics Practice: Nouns—gender; concrete/ abstract; compound; collective

Creative Expression:

Skill: Sensory details

Assignment: Write an observation essay about something that interests you



2 | Week 1 | Section Two | 4-Day | Language Arts F

Handwriting

Consider handwriting instruction at this level optional—use a formal handwriting program only if your children need practice. Otherwise, use your children’s dictation work to check their handwriting.

If you choose a handwriting program, then use the line in your weekly sheet to record what your children do.

If you would like help scheduling any of the programs we offer, please go online to www.sonlight.com/ handwritingschedules.html and download and print the appropriate file.

Grammar/Mechanics

Do Grammar Ace for one year between 4th–7th grade. Choose the grade that works best for your children. Visit our website for product offerings that will help you continue your grammar study beyond Grammar Ace. We recommend you choose either Grammar 5 & 6 with Win-ston Grammar or Keys to Good Language, but not do both as the programs teach using a different format and lesson progression.

Optional: Keys to Good Language 5 | Pretest 1We schedule this optional workbook for you. Find in-

structions and answers in the Teacher’s Guide.

Readers

We include the Readers schedule and correspond-ing Study Guides in both the History and Language Arts Guides. However, we do not include the answer key maps for the map points in the Language Arts guides because we consider geography part of our History program. Please refer to your History/Bible/Literature F Guide for more information about maps. You will find the Study Guide notes for the weekly Readers in Section Three.

Vocabulary Development

Vocabulary

While the bulk of our Vocabulary study is contained in the Read-Aloud study guide and part of the History/Bible/Literature Instructor’s Guide, you will see some terms defined in the Reader Study Guides too.

In all of our study guides, we categorize the words we highlight in two ways. Vocabulary words are words your students will probably encounter in other texts—not just those included in this curriculum. We list these words within an excerpt of the text from the book in which they are found so that you may challenge your students to define the terms using the clues found in the context of the rest of the story. Simply read these short quotes aloud

and see if your students can tell you the meaning of the bold italicized terms.

Cultural Literacy terms are words that, if defined while your students are reading, will broaden and deepen their understanding of the text. However, these words are gen-erally specific to course content, and we wouldn’t expect your students read or hear them on a regular basis. You may use these words, formatted in bold followed by a co-lon and their definitions, more like a convenient glossary.

Wordly Wise

If you’d like more vocabulary practice, we recommend the Wordly Wise program. We schedule this optional work-book for you.

Creative Expression

Our goal is to have your children writing all week long. To keep things interesting and to offer a broad range of skill practice, this writing practice varies throughout the week. On the first day of the week, you may choose to have your children practice Dictation. If so, your children will first study the passage and then write it down as you read it aloud to them. After Dictation, they will learn about a concept for Mechanics Practice. On the remaining days of the week, they will work on more formalized Creative Expression assignments. These assignments vary widely each week in order to give your children experience in all types of writing—and oral presentation, too.

Preferred Dictation Method

Ask your children to read through the dictation pas-sage to familiarize themselves with it. They should note any words, capitalizations, or matters of punctuation that require special attention. They should ask you to clarify anything they’re unsure about.

Give your children no more than five to ten minutes to prepare to take dictation. Preparation may involve writing out unfamiliar words, practicing spelling them out loud or on paper, trying to remember how a word looks by “seeing” it in their minds, drawing a word in large letters written in mid-air with an imaginary pen, etc. When their time is up, give the dictation, clause by clause, reading each clause only twice (repeating it only once). Your chil-dren should write in the cursive style and, as you read the passage to them, you should not emphasize the different sounds in each word.

Before handing their papers to you, your children should check their work for errors. They should mark and correct any errors they find. Discuss with your children what you think they have done particularly well, as well as what they could do better.

If you see consistent spelling, punctuation, or handwrit-ing problems, keep a record on the weekly schedule and review those areas using the list of spelling rules included in the My Downloads section of your Sonlight account.

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About Mechanics Practice

Each week, we offer a brief introduction to one gram-matical or mechanical topic. This year your children will work through three basic groups of skills. We will study ba-sic grammar skills in two main sections: Sentence Basics (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.), and The Building Blocks of Sentences (phrases, clauses, active and passive voice, etc.). We’ll then intersperse the grammatical lessons with common Mechanics topics that we’ll schedule through-out the year.

Look for the skills covered each week in the “Weekly Overview” table, located after each weekly schedule. For a 36-week progression of topics and skills studied this year in Language Arts, see our Schedule of Topics and Skills, located in Section Four.

Feeling Overwhelmed?

Due to the myriad of concepts to cover—many of which may seem abstract—and the subjectivity that evaluating writing assignments often requires, the idea of teaching Language Arts may seem daunting. Understandably! For this reason we have included an article called “Recommen-dations for Teaching Writing” in Section Four of this guide to help you navigate the writing portion of your Language Arts journey this year. We hope the suggestions found here will help you determine how to use this program so that it works best for your family, and will provide answers to further teaching questions you may have.

Day

1 Dictation

Read through the dictation passage with your children. Note any words, capitalizations, or matters of punctuation that require special attention. Next, read aloud the pas-sage to your children as they write it down on a separate piece of paper.

He stood up and shouldered the bundles again, happy that he was toiling up the mountain instead of sailing over the sea. The rocks were at peace among themselves; the waves were not.1

Mechanics Practice

Today your children will learn about common and proper nouns, the gender of nouns (feminine, masculine, neuter, and indefinite), concrete and abstract nouns, compound nouns, and collective nouns. See the Week 1 Activity Sheet for more information. If your children have trouble distinguishing all of the nouns from the passage, have them look up words they are uncertain about in the dictionary.

Answers:

1. Common Nouns: bundles, mountain, sea, rocks, peace, waves; Proper Nouns: none.

1. Carolyn Treffinger, Li Lun, Lad of Courage, (Walker & Company: New York, 1995), 27.

2. All of the nouns in the passage are neuter—they are all objects or ideas, which are neither male nor female.

Day

1 Optional: Dictation

For your convenience, we provide an additional dicta-tion passage each week. If your children are having an “off” day, just use one of these alternative dictation passages instead of your writing assignment for the day. Feel free to take a break instead of trying to grind your way through the regular assignment.

“And you think you are a coward,” the priest said kindly. “You have tended the rice, you have watered it faithfully, you have guarded it from the birds…You are no coward! You are brave, Li Lun. Braver than if you had gone fishing.”2

Day

2 The Purpose of Writing

This year your child will compile their writing assign-ments and other Language Arts work into a sketchbook. The Activity Sheets included with this Instructor’s Guide, collected in a separate binder, will provide the 36-week organizational selection for their sketchbooks. Have your children include assignments they complete on a seper-ate sheet of paper by filing them behind the appropriate week’s Activity Sheets. Today your children will begin their sketchbook by conducting a self-interview. See “The Purpose of Writing” on the Week 1 Activity Sheet for more information.

Day

3 Observation

This week your children will write an Observation Essay. Today they will simply observe something that interests them and take notes on it, jotting down sensory details they can use as they write the essay tomorrow. See “Observation” on Week 1 Activity Sheet for more information.

Day

4 Observation Essay

Today your children will use the notes from their obser-vation to write a simple essay. See “Observation Essay” on the Week 1 Activity Sheet.

We provide an example to help guide your children’s writing, as well as your efforts to evaluate their work. Use our examples as a rough guide to help your children gen-erate ideas and as an approximation of what we expect the end product of a particular assignment to look like.

I think the neighbor’s cat lost at least one of her nine lives today. Fluffy is her name. Stalking birds is her game. As I sat by my window typing merrily away, I caught sight of Fluffy walking slowly across the back yard. She crouched low to the ground and stared

2. Ibid, 60.




straight ahead with an eerie intensity. Her nose twitched as it searched for the scent of her prey. I glanced over to see her likely quarry a few yards away. A large woodpecker with a bright scarlet head sat peacefully poking at a nut it had found in the woods. As Fluffy got closer, it must have picked up on the sound of Fluffy’s paws crunching dry leaves on the ground. As Fluffy sprang into attack mode, the woodpeck-er flew in a quick circle and bopped Fluffy repeatedly on the head with its sharp beak. Fluffy screamed in pain and ran home with her tail between her legs. It pays to be observant. If I hadn’t noticed the scene unfolding in front of me, I never would’ve been able to help my neighbors figure out why Fluffy needed stitches!

How to Evaluate This Assignment

Since this is their first writing assignment of the year, don’t worry about evaluating it too heavily. Today, have your children simply focus on getting their thoughts on paper. When they’re finished, ask them to read their es-says to you and ensure they have an introduction, body, conclusion, and sensory details. If you’d like, you can also go back and work with them on the basic mechanics: capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and grammar. Did they include sensory details from multiple senses in their essay? If so, then they have succeeded.

Rubrics

Have you ever wondered how you should evaluate your children’s writing? Much of literary critique is subjective, but we understand that sometimes its helpful to have a concrete way to help you focus your critique. A rubric is a simple form that will help you give point values to certain characteristics of an assignment.

Each week, review the rubrics we offer and keep the

listed items in mind as you work on the assignments with your students. When they turn in their work, use the topics in the rubric to help you determine how your students performed each skill. Use the rubrics to help you more clearly gauge the areas your children could use more work and make note to revise your instruction accordingly.

At this age, we want to emphasize the writing pro-cess more than the final result. Think back to when your students learned to talk. They could probably understand your instructions and respond to you long before they formed a complete sentence. Now that they can read independently, expressing their own thoughts on paper is the next step. Learning to write is like “learning to speak on paper.” Plan to teach your children to write with the same small steps and gentle instruction you used when they learned to talk. Rubrics will help you focus on a few steps at a time, slowly each week.

For more information about rubrics, how to create your own and how to help your students use them indepen-dently as they grow, see the “Recommendations for Teach-ing Writing” article in Section Four. n

Sample Rubric for Observational Essay

Content

_______ 5 pts Wrote an observational essay about a topic of interest

_______ 5 pts Included various sensory details

_______ 5 pts Included an introduction, body, and conclusion

Mechanics

_______ 5 pts Worked with Mom or Dad to edit this assignment

_______ 5 pts Used the dictionary to research the spelling of a word

_______ ÷ 25 pts possible = _______%

Total pts

Dictation

Read through the dictation passage. Note any words, capitalizations, or matters of punctuation that require spe-cial attention. Then, listen to Mom or Dad read the passage aloud while you write it on a separate sheet of paper.

He stood up and shouldered the bun-dles again, happy that he was toiling up the mountain instead of sailing over the sea. The rocks were at peace among themselves; the waves were not.1

Mechanics Practice

By now we imagine that you know a noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. A proper noun names a specific person, place, thing, or idea, such as Pittsburgh, or Mary, or The Statue of Liberty, and common nouns do not name something specific: tomato, pencil, park. Proper nouns are always capitalized, whereas com-mon nouns are not.

Did you know that nouns can also denote gender? Nouns can be feminine, masculine, neuter, or indefinite. For example:

Noun Type Example:

Feminine: (female)

mother, aunt, hen, waitress

Masculine: (male)

father, uncle, rooster, waiter

Neuter:(neither male nor female)

table, lamp, car

Indefinite: (either male or female)

teacher, children, horse

Nouns may either be concrete objects (like a pool or a trampoline) or an abstract idea (like love, sadness, or justice). Compound nouns are made up of two or more words (like football, step-sister, or middle school), and a col-lective noun names a specific kind of group (like a gaggle, herd, or team).

1. Take a moment to underline all of the nouns in the Dictation passage above. If you find a proper noun, underline it twice.


2. Once the nouns are underlined, label the gender of each one. Use F for feminine, M for masculine, N for neuter and I for indefinite.

3. Think of your own example for each of the following type of nouns:

concrete: ____________________________________

abstract: ____________________________________

compound: __________________________________

collective: ___________________________________

Did you know … that writers use personification, a form of figurative language, to help them describe and create images for their readers? In literature, personi-fication means that an animal or an object has human characteristics. Read this week’s passage again. What does it mean that the rocks were at peace among them-selves and the waves were not? How can rocks have peace? How does this help describe the setting and Li Lun’s emotion? If you close your eyes, you may be able to imagine the calm rocks stacked against each other and the waves crashing and fighting. Li Lun feels calm with the rocks because they are still, and the land is solid. He doesn’t like the water because the waves are always moving, so he can’t trust the water because he doesn’t know what to expect.

The Purpose of Writing

Why do people write? Why should you write? Writing is an important form of communication that you use to con-nect to other people and yourself. Because of the recent advancements in electronic communication, you will probably find more reasons to write as an adult than your mom or dad do now.

Many businesses communicate electronically and advertise through web sites. If you get involved in busi-ness as you grow older, you will need to write clearly and precisely when delivering vital information or you may write for entertainment and enjoyment.

Your job this year is to learn new writing strategies and work to apply them to your writing. You will write fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. But where will you get your ideas? How will you know what to write?

Language Arts Week 1 Activity Sheet©

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Language Arts F | 4-Day | Week 1 Activity Sheet 3

The Sketchbook: Many artists keep a sketchbook and record their ideas in order to remember what they have seen and observed. They write their ideas down, so that they do not forget them. Sculptors, jewelry makers, fashion designers, and architects keep some type of file or notebook to help them develop new and original ideas. Writers are artists, too. As an artist, you will keep a sketch-book to help you develop your ideas. Not everything you collect will be developed into formal writing, but your collection will inspire your writing.

1. The Activity Sheets will serve as the basic skeleton for this year’s sketchbook. We recommend you put the Activity Sheets in a separate binder. That way you can insert additional pages of completed assignments after each week’s Activity Sheet, and compile your sketchbook as you work throughout the year. Continue to add to your sketchbook anytime you find something that you like. Strive to observe and be aware of the world around you. Cut out articles, pictures, photos, headlines, or phrases. If your hear song lyrics or if someone says something un-usual, write it in your sketchbook. If you learn something interesting in math, history, science, or foreign language, write it down. Entries for your sketchbook can come from anywhere. Language Arts is not your only source for ideas.

2. For your sketchbook’s inaugural activity, conduct an interview with yourself to record who you are today. When you look back at your sketchbook in weeks and years to come, this self-interview will provide context to the rest of the writing assignments in your sketchbook. The interview will help you remember why you wrote and thought in a certain way.

To conduct the interview, answer the questions below on a separate sheet of paper. Include any other facts you find important or interesting about who you are today.

I. How would others describe me?

II. How do I get along with members of my family?

III. If I could take three people with me on a trip to the moon, I would take:

IV. What do I want to do with my life?

V. What is my favorite school subject? Why?

VI. What things do I enjoy doing the most?

VII. If I could make one change in the world I would:

VIII. What special talents or skills do I use well?

IX. What special talents or skills would I like to have?

X. Other people say that I am good at:

Observation

This week your task is to write an Observation Essay in which you describe something you’ve observed. Try to include sensory details and things you’ve observed with each of your five senses. Today, select something that interests you. Observe and take notes as you observe it. Don’t worry about writing complete sentences yet—you will turn your notes into sentences tomorrow. Simply jot down a few words that will help you remember what you observed. Be sure to pay attention to what your senses tell you as you observe and make notes that will help you tomorrow.

Observation Essay

Today you will use the notes you took yesterday to write your Observation Essay. Write the observation as it played out like a short story and be sure to include the sensory details you made note of yesterday. To give your essay a little structure, include an introduction and a conclusion. In your introductory paragraph, define the essay’s focus. Present the main idea of the story you’re about to tell in the rest of the essay. In the last paragraph—the conclu-sion—tell what you learned from your observation. Is there something you can accomplish with this observa-tion? Decide on your audience. Who will be interested in reading your observation? Write as though you are talking to them.


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Week 1 Activity Sheet | 4-Day | Language Arts F4

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N Parental Notes


Days 5–8Date: _______ to _______

Week 2


Handwriting


Lesson 3 Lesson 4 Lesson 5


Lesson 1D Lesson 1E Lesson 2A

ReadersThe House of Sixty Fathers chap. 2 chap. 3 chap. 4 chap. 5


& Mechanics PracticeOutline for the

Definition EssayThe Definition Essay Revise

Other Notes:

Weekly Overview

Mechanics Practice: Hyphens and dashes


Skill: Use an outline to organize an essay

Assignment: Write a definition essay

Creative ExpressionDay

5 Dictation

Read through the Dictation with your children. Have them note any words, capitalizations, or matters of punc-tuation that require special attention. Then, you will read it aloud as your children write it down.

The family pig, the three ducklings, and the little stone mill to grind the rice for the baby sister—these they had saved from the mud house of the family of Tien that had stood a little beyond their village of The-Corner-of-the-Mountains-Where-the-Rivers-Meet. Besides these they had saved absolutely nothing, except Beauty-of-the-Republic, Tien Pao's baby sister.1

1. Meindert DeJong, House of Sixty Fathers, (HarperTrophy: New York, 1987), 3.




Mechanics Practice

Today your children will learn about hyphens and dashes. For more information, see the Week 2 Activity Sheet.

Answers:

1.

s t r a w | b e r | r y c o n | t r a r y

a m | b i g | u | o u s h o n | o r | a r y

2. To indicate a sudden break or change in the sentence.Day


Li Lun raised his eyes to the heavens. The sun had not yet risen, but how beautiful the sky! Purple and blue changing to red, to pink. Dawn had not yet reached its fingers to the island below. Gray mist shadows from the sea blanketed it. But here on the mountain-top the light of dawn touched everything!2

Day

6 Outline for the Definition Essay

After a brief discussion with you about connotation and denotation (see the Activity Sheet), today your children will complete the outline on the Week 2 Activity Sheet to compile their thoughts for the Definition Essay on cour-age they will write this week. They will probably need to use the internet for some light research. See “Outline for the Definition Essay” on the Week 2 Activity Sheet for more information.

Day

7 The Definition Essay

Today your children will use the outline they completed yesterday to write their Definition Essay. Help them see how each section of the outline will translate into a paragraph into their essay—they simply have to turn the thoughts they recorded into complete sentences. For more information, see “The Definition Essay” on the Week 2 Activity Sheet.


Day

8 Revise

Today your children will call on you to help them revise their Definition Essay. After they read their paper to you, help them see where they should add information to make their message more clear. Finally, they can use the Revision Checklist on the Activity Sheet to finish polish-ing their work. For more information, see “Revise” on the Week 2 Activity Sheet.

Here’s what a brief sample of a definition essay about courage might look like:

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God [is] faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of es-cape, that you may be able to bear [it].” 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NKJV) I always think of this verse when I hear the word “courage.” Sometimes I think courage is nothing more than our own self-image catching up to what God already knows about us. Recently, a friend learned that he has inoperable cancer. He quickly experienced the various stages of depression and settled into a comfortable role of “get-ting on with life and dealing with it.” He stopped ask-ing why God would allow this to happen to him. n

Definition Essay Rubric

Content

_______ 5 pts The essay is interesting with an attention-grabbing introduction

_______ 5 pts Organization includes a beginning, middle, and end

_______ 5 pts All paragraphs focus on one main idea

Mechanics

_______ 5 pts The essay uses correct capitalization and punctuation

_______ 5 pts The essay includes interesting and descriptive words

_______ 5 pts The sentences contain complete thoughts

_______ ÷ 30 pts possible = _______ %

Total pts

Dictation


The family pig, the three ducklings, and the little stone mill to grind the rice for the baby sister—these they had saved from the mud house of the family of Tien that had stood a little beyond their village of The-Corner-of-the-Mountains-Where-the-Rivers-Meet. Besides these they had saved absolutely nothing, except Beauty-of-the-Republic, Tien Pao’s baby sister.1

Mechanics Practice

Do you remember the difference between a hyphen and a dash? A hyphen is a short little line (like this: - ) that writers use to divide a word between two lines of text. Often, word processing software will automatically insert hyphens for you as you type, but how does it know where to split a word? We insert hyphens between syllables, which makes the word easier to read when it is printed on two lines. Therefore, you will never see the word “that” or

“you” hyphenated. If you need help knowing where the syl-lable breaks at, check a dictionary. A great place to insert a hyphen is often between the double letters. For example:

Pep-per col-lege

A dash (or em dash) is a longer line (like this: — ) that is somewhat of a cross between a comma, a colon, and an ellipsis. Here are a few of the ways it can be used:

I To indicate a sudden break or change in the sentence. Notice how the dashes are like parentheses here:

At the same time—and this was totally unplanned—Amy and I opened our sodas.

I For emphasis:

She was sunburned—and I mean crispy—from head to toe.


I To show interrupted speech:

“Well, I—ah—you see,” stammered Duane.

1. Draw lines ( | ) to show where you could insert hy-phens to split the words below. Generally speaking, it’s best not to hyphenate a word to leave a single letter alone on a line.

s t r a w b e r r y c o n t r a r y

a m b i g u o u s h o n o r a r y

2. Find the dash in this week’s dictation passage. Why did the author include a dash?

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Outline for the Definition Essay

Words can have the same meaning, but express differ-ent feelings. The same thing is true with concepts. Ideas like security, happiness, or luxury may have precise denota-tions, but they can transfer different connotations to dif-ferent people. One person may think that security means to have police protection, while another person may feel that security means to have enough money to pay the bills.

Look at the groups of words below. Each group has the same denotation or dictionary meaning. Discuss the feel-ings or connotations that each word has with Mom or Dad. Are some more positive than others? If so, why?

1. clever, smart, brilliant, cunning

2. fancy, elegant, frilly, showy

3. different, unusual, bizarre, weird

4. special, distinguished, particular, unique

5. command, invitation, order, plea

6. lean, slant, tilt, recline

7. copy, imitate, mimic, shadow

8. banquet, cookout, feast, potluck

9. car, vehicle, limousine, wagon

10. song, hymn, melody, tune

Courage is a major theme in your Readers this year. What does courage mean to you? This week you will write a definition essay for the word courage. In a definition


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essay, you explain what a term means to you. Use the outline below to outline your essay. Use a separate piece of paper.

I. Introduction

A. Denotation (definition of the word courage):

B. Interesting “attention-grabber” about courage (story, article summary, quote, etc):

C. How I feel about courage:

II. Body Paragraph #1:

My definition of courage:

III. Body Paragraph #2:

A description of someone I know who is courageous according to my definition:

IV. Body Paragraph #3:

Why my example person is courageous:

V. Conclusion:

Compare and contrast your personal definition of courage to the dictionary definition. How are they alike? How do they differ?

The Definition Essay

Use the outline you completed yesterday to help you write the first draft of your definition essay. Who is your audience? Are you writing for your friends, your teacher, a general audience?

Write an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclu-sion. In your introduction, catch your readers’ attention with a quotation, part of a song lyric, or any other interest-ing fact about courage. Then, include the dictionary mean-ing and tell your readers how you feel about courage.

For the body paragraphs, describe what courage means to you. Follow the outline to include not only your per-sonal definition, but also a description of someone you know who is courageous (or you have read about). The final body paragraph should explain why the person you chose for your example fits your definition of courage.

Finally, compare your personal definition of courage to the denotative meaning of the term in your conclusion. What did you learn about courage?

Revise

Why revise? Let’s say that a friend asks you to draw a picture of him or her. So, the two of you sit down and you draw the picture without erasing anything or starting over. Will the picture be a perfect copy of your friend? You would probably need to erase and revise a few times to create a good likeness of your friend.

Revision applies to writing, too, because even profes-sional writers do not write a perfect composition on the first attempt. You may not always have time to revise every paper that you write this year, but you will need to polish some compositions. Complete the following steps today to revise your Definition Essay.

1. Read your first draft aloud to your mom or dad. Listen to the flow of the words. How does it sound? Stop and make notes on your paper of any errors that you heard during your reading.

2. Next, have your mom or dad ask you questions about your paper. Are those questions answered in your paper? Do you need to add details? Stop and make notes on your paper to add details. What feeling do you get from the overall paper? How would you like your readers to feel after reading your paper? Does your paper contain that emotion? Replace words with synonyms that provide the correct connotations.

3. Finally, use the revision checklist below to check the rest of your work. Make corrections and write a final draft.

Revision Checklist

_____Ideas are interesting

_____ Organization includes a beginning, middle, and end

_____ Uses correct spelling

_____ Words are descriptive

_____ Uses complete sentences

_____ Uses capitals correctly



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N Parental Notes


Days 9–12Date: _______ to _______

Weekly Overview

Mechanics Practice: Adjectives—definition; articles; proper and common; compound


Skill: Convey tone in writing

Assignment: Write a scary story

Week 3


Handwriting


Lesson 6 Lesson 7 Lesson 8


Lesson 2B Lesson 2C Lesson 2D

ReadersThe House of Sixty Fathers chap. 6 chap. 7

pp. 119–131chap. 7

pp. 132–144chap. 8


& Mechanics PracticeN

Tone Create Tone Tone in a Scary Story

Other Notes:

Creative ExpressionDay

9 Dictation

Read through the Dictation with your children. Have them note any words, capitalizations, or matters of punc-tuation that require special attention. Then, you will read it aloud as your children write it down.

The mats parted. The golden-haired, blue-eyed god stepped into the sampan. Tien Pao’s knees quaked under him, but somehow he managed to take a few steps forward. He almost shoved the little pig into the white one’s arms. Then he backed away to the altar again, bowing deeply to the god as he backed toward the god’s own altar.1





Mechanics Practice

Today your children will learn about different types of adjectives. They will also briefly review nouns, pronouns and adverbs, which we will discuss more depth later. For more information, see the Week 3 Activity Sheet.

Note to Mom or Dad: This year, your children will delve more deeply into the mechanics of the English language, and we’ll begin to serve up some rather meaty gram-matical topics. To help both of you in your study this year, please see the Grammar Guide in Section Four that suc-cinctly explains topics we’ll discuss for Mechanics Practice. Please keep this appendix handy for reference as you work this year. We hope you make great use of it whenever you need a refresher on any topic.

Answers:

1. Which sentence is better? Hopefully your children selected the second sentence as the additional adjectives help to paint a clearer picture in the reader’s mind.

2. Adjectives in the Dictation Passage:

Common Adjectives

Proper Adjectives

Compound Adjectives

few Tien-Pao’s golden-haired

little blue-eyed

white

own

Use tally marks to record the articles you find:

the a an

8 1

Day


Tien Pao brought up mud from the bottom of the paddy and plastered his face with the oozy, syrupy, reeking stuff. He rolled himself in it. With bluish, vile mud dripping from him Tien Pao stood up and studied the little pig critically. He was encouraged. The thick mud must fool the spirits! Why, Glory-of-the-Republic looked like nothing but a mud ball with four mud legs. If his own plaster of mud was as good, the mountain spirits wouldn’t recognize him as the same scared, weak, hungry boy.2


Day

10 Tone

Today you will work with your children to identify tone in various writing samples.

Discuss the quoted passages on the Activity Sheet with your children. After you have discussed a passage, have your children read it aloud; placing emphasis on the ap-propriate words and phrases.

When you have finished your discussion, have your children complete the “Tone” activity on the Week 3 Activity Sheet.

Possible answers:

1. Desperate; Buck was completely at the mercy of his handlers.

2. Scared; His terror increased as his pleas went unanswered.

3. Frantic; I shall never reach the key and leave this place!

4. Sad; With a heavy heart, she lay awake and wished for morning.

5. Excited; Her energy caused him to feel quite alert as he sat up in bed.

Day

11 Create Tone

Today your children will write three paragraphs to portray the tone for their choice of three tone words listed on the Activity Sheet. See “Create Tone” on the Week 3 Activity Sheet for more information.

Day

12 Tone in a Scary Story

Today your children will use what they have learned about connotation and tone to write a short scary story. See “Tone in a Scary Story” on the Week 3 Activity Sheet for more information. Here’s an example of a brief story about a scary time in my life:

I woke up with a start. Although I usually sleep through the night with no interruptions, something had jarred me from my slumber. What could it have been? I listened intently. Thunder cracked outside and sheets of rain pounded the window next to my bed. Another May thunderstorm raged outside. But I can sleep through the worst of storms. Something else must be going on, I thought. As my feet hit the cold floor, a chill ran up my spine. Why was it so cold in my room? I crept downstairs slowly, suddenly very wary of what I might find there. When I reached the bottom of the landing, I im-mediately noticed the front door standing ajar. My heart raced as my eyes darted about the room, look-ing for any sign of a possible intruder.

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And there it was! In the corner, a strange creature sat up on its haunches with a piece of leftover pizza clutched in its grubby paws. When I flicked on the lightswitch, I discovered the mess the raccoon had made. The overturned trash can explained what must have caused a sound loud enough to wake me from a deep sleep. Relief flowed through me, as the raccoon made its way to the front door and back outside. I cleaned up his mess and then hit the hay again. I barely remem-bered the evening’s excitement when I awoke the following morning.

How to Evaluate This Week’s Assignment

For this week’s assignment, ensure your children wrote a scary story that conveys an appropriate tone to the reader. As your children are still building their vocabulary, give them credit for choosing words that have the correct connotation, but don’t mark them down if not every word is spot-on. If they wrote a scary story that is somewhat creepy, they’ve met the main goals of this assignment.

You may choose to use the sample rubric as-is or modify for your own purposes. If there’s some other skill you’d like to help your child develop, go ahead and add it to the rubric, assigning it a point value. Add up all of the points in the rubric to determine the number of points that will

equal 100%. After that, simply read through your children’s work, thinking about each point on your rubric as you go. Divide the number of points your children earned by the number of points possible to determine a percentage. n

Scary Story Rubric

Content

_______ 5 pts The narrative includes a beginning, middle, and end

_______ 5 pts Word choice reflects proper connotation

_______ 5 pts Adjectives help illustrate the tone

Mechanics

_______ 5 pts The essay uses correct capitalization and punctuation

_______ 5 pts The essay uses correct spelling

_______ 5 pts The sentences contain complete thoughts

_______ ÷ 30 pts possible = _______ %

Total pts

Dictation


The mats parted. The golden-haired, blue-eyed god stepped into the sam-pan. Tien Pao’s knees quaked under him, but somehow he managed to take a few steps forward. He almost shoved the little pig into the white one’s arms. Then he backed away to the altar again, bowing deeply to the god as he backed toward the god’s own altar.1

Mechanics Practice

A noun, as you probably remember, is a person, place, thing, or idea, and pronouns are words that rename nouns. For example, he is a pronoun we can use to refer to someone named Jason. To make nouns and pronouns more interesting, writers use descriptive words called adjectives to describe them. For example:

The car raced around the track.

The shiny new Indy car raced around the cold, wet track.

1. Which sentence is better? Why?

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

____________________________________________

Did you know that there are several different types of adjectives? The following sentences show examples of the different types:

My grandma’s spare room is my most favorite place to sleep. A downy soft pillow, sheets made from Egyptian cotton, and the sweet-smelling breeze that drifts through the open window lull me to sleep in an instant, and I always wake up to delectable smells wafting up the stairs from the kitchen.


Just as nouns have both common and proper desig-nations, adjectives may be proper as well. Can you find proper adjective in our example? The word Egyptian is a proper adjective that describes the noun cotton. Con-versely, spare is a common adjective that describes room. sweet-smelling is a compound adjective—two words joined together that act as an adjective. Even the words a, an and the, which are called articles, act as adjectives in the structure of a sentence.

2. Look at the dictation passage. What adjectives do you see? Remember, adjectives are words that describe nouns. If you see a word that describes a verb (an ac-tion), it is an adverb, which we’ll discuss later. Record the adjectives you find in the chart below:

Common Adjectives

Proper Adjectives

Compound Adjectives


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Use tally marks to record the articles you find:

the a an

Tone

Have you ever heard someone say, “Don’t speak to me in that tone of voice?” What does tone of voice mean? In litera-ture, tone is the attitude that a writer has for a written passage. As a writer, the words you use create the tone.

The best time to set the tone is when you are describing the setting or events in a story. For example, this week you will write about a scary moment you experienced in your life. You want to relate to your readers the feelings as you experienced them, so you will choose words that express how frightened you were.

Tone in Literature

Read the passages below with Mom or Dad and discuss the feelings that you get as you read them. Underline the specific words that contribute most significantly to the overall tone. Write a word to describe the tone at the be-ginning of the paragraph. Then, write a new sentence that matches the tone of the rest of the paragraph.

1. __________________________ “Buck had accepted the rope with quiet dignity. To be sure, it was an unwonted performance, but he had learned to trust in men he knew, and to give them credit for a wisdom that outreached his own. But when the ends of the rope were placed in the stranger’s hands, he growled menacingly. He had merely intimated his displeasure, in his pride believing that to intimate was to com-mand. But to his surprise the rope tightened around his neck, shutting off his breath. In quick rage he sprang at the man, who met him halfway, grappled him close by the throat, and with a deft twist threw him over on his back. Then the rope tightened merci-lessly, while Buck struggled in a fury, his tongue lolling out of his mouth and his great chest pant-ing futilely. Never in all his life had he been so vilely treated, and never in all his life had he been so angry.

But his strength ebbed, his eyes glazed, and he knew nothing when the train was flagged and the two men threw him into the baggage car. “

Adapted from Call of the Wild by Jack London

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2. __________________________ “At first, when he found himself in the grip of what he was sure must be the Robber Fly, Buster Bumblebee was so alarmed that he could not even scream. But in a moment or two he found his voice. And he shrieked ‘Help! Help!’ in a most frantic tone, hoping that some one would come and save him.”

Adapted from The Tale of Buster Bumblebee by Arthur Scott Bailey

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3. __________________________ “`That was a narrow escape!’ said Alice, a good deal frightened at the sudden change, but very glad to find herself still in existence; `and now for the garden!’ She ran with all speed back to the little door, but the little door was shut again, and the little golden key was lying on the glass table as before, `and things are worse than ever,’ thought the poor child, `for I never was so small as this before, never! And I declare it’s too bad, that it is!’ “

Adapted from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll



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4. __________________________ “She threw herself back on her pillow and buried her face. She did not cry, but she lay and hated the sound of the heavily beating rain, she hated the wind and its ‘wuthering.’ She could not go to sleep again. The mournful sound kept her awake because she felt mournful herself. If she had felt happy it would probably have lulled her to sleep. How it ‘wuthered’ and how the big raindrops poured down and beat against the pane!”

Adapted from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

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5. __________________________ “Bunny! Bunny! Wake up! It’s time!” ‘Wha--what’s matter?’ sleepily mumbled little Bunny Brown, making his words all run together, like molas-ses candy that has been out in the hot sun. ‘What’s the matter, Sue?’ Bunny asked, now that he had his eyes open. He looked over the side of his small bed to see his sister standing beside it. She had left her own little room and had run into her brother’s. ‘What’s the matter, Sue?’ Bunny asked again. ‘Why, it’s time to get up, Bunny,’ and Sue opened her brown eyes more widely, as she tried to get the

‘sleepy feeling’ out of them. ‘It’s time to get up!’”

Adapted from Bunny Brown and His Sister Sue by Laura Lee Hope

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Create Tone

Write three paragraphs in your sketchbook to create a tone for your choice of three of the following tone words:

1. happy

2. sad

3. annoyed

4. nervous

5. frightened

Choose words for your paragraphs with connotations that transfer or relay the specific tone. In the example below, notice that the words “slammed,” “stomped,” and

“ruined” communicate the anger that Sally feels. Only one rule: you cannot use the tone word in your paragraph. For example, if the tone word is anger, you cannot write the word anger. Instead show the reader the anger with examples and details:

Incorrect: Sally was angry because her sister made her mad.

Correct: Sally slammed the door to her bedroom and stomped across the room. Her sister had bor-rowed her clothes again without her permission. To make matters worse, her sister ruined the shirt when she spilled spaghetti sauce on it. Her sister wasn’t even in trouble. Sally was grounded because she yelled at her sister. It wasn’t fair.

Have someone read your paragraphs and identify your tone. They do not have to state the exact tone; as long as they get the sense, you’ll have succeeded. If your tone is joyful and your reader says that the tone is happiness, then you have still portrayed the tone in your writing.

How well did you do? How many tones did your reader recognize correctly? Add your tone paragraphs to your sketch book as ideas for future compositions.


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Tone in a Scary Story

Today, write a story about a time when you were scared.

Set the story in a scary tone that illustrates how you felt at the time. If you can’t think of a time when you were scared, write about a scary time one of your friends or family members has experienced. Focus on your word choice; use examples and details to show the tone.



ll rights reserved.


Readers

Language Arts F | 4-Day | Section Three | Li Lun, Lad of Courage | 1

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Week 1: Li Lun, Lad of Courage

Day

1 pp. 11–38

Setting

Lao Shan, China

Overview

Although his family and his village are all fishermen, Li Lun hates the sea. Angry, his father sends him to the top of the mountain to grow seven grains of rice. He cannot return home until he grows seven times that number. By himself for four months, Li Lun conquers the mountain, his fears, the gulls and rats, mildew and hunger, the rain and the drought, and returns to his village with ninety-nine grains. The Keeper of the Temple realizes that Li Lun is not a coward but brave, and that to grow a grain of rice is as great a work as the creation of a mountain, and Li Lun goes to the Temple to grow rice and teach others to do the same.

To Discuss After You Read

Q: At what age do boys in Li Lun’s village go on their first fishing voyage?

A: 10

Q: What does Li Lun fear about the sea?A: that evil spirits would pull him under the water

Q: How do the villagers get salt? A: the children carry sea water to holes in the mountain’s

rocks; the water evaporates and leaves the salt

Q: What is the purpose of the painted eye on the side of the sampan?

A: to show the fishing boat the way to travel in deep waters

Q: How did Li Lun show respect to Sun Ling?A: he bowed to him, waited for him to speak, spoke respect-

fully to him

The hour of short shadows would be noon.

Q: Why does Li Lun prefer the land over the sea?A: the rocks are at peace with each other and the waves

are not

Q: Retell the story of Lao Shan.A: the mountain was once Mei Shan [Beautiful Mountain],

but grew proud of its beauty and height; the wind and the sea decided to put the proud mountain under the sea where all vain things belong, so they lashed the mountain and destroyed everything on it; the mountain remained, renamed as Lao Shan [Sorrow Mountain]

Day

2 pp. 39–66


Q: How does Li Lun plant the rice grains?A: he finds sticks and reeds for the bottom of the rock hole he

chooses, which must not be too shallow or too exposed and must have sunshine; then he mixes the soil with bird droppings and puts this over the reeds; he puts each grain in the ground and marks the spot with a gull feather, cov-ers the soil with his jacket to ward off gulls, and waters the rice with his gourd

Q: What does Li Lun make during the rain?A: he builds a rock bench, then makes a girl-who-sweeps-

clear-the-weather doll

Day

3 pp. 67–end


Q: Why are the rats brave enough to come into the open to gnaw the stems?

A: Li Lun covered the stalks with a mat and so the sun doesn’t frighten the rodents away

Q: What does Li Lun do for the final stalk?A: he watches it all day and checks on it by night; when

harvest comes, he takes the whole stalk

Q: What does Li Lun say to the boys that tease him as a coward?

A: I am not a coward. I have done what I was sent to do

Q: How many grains of rice did Li Lun collect?A: 99

Q: The Good One tells Li Lun “the production of a grain of rice is as great a work as the creation of a mountain.” Do you agree with this proverb?

Q: What happens to each of the seven grains with which Li Lun began?

A: two are killed by gulls; three [probably four] are gnawed by rats; the remaining one produces ninety-nine grains of rice

Q: How does the story end for Li Lun?A: he will grow rice on the temple grounds and teach others

to do the same; his mother is very proud of him, and his father is still angry and distant, but is proud, too, a bit

Q: Read Matthew 13:1–9. How is Li Lun’s story like this parable? How does it differ? n

Teaching Vocabulary and Cultural Literacy

Vocabulary

Read each quote aloud and challenge your students to use the context presented to tell you the meaning of the word in bold italics.

Cultural Literacy

Use the list of definitions below like a glossary to help your students understand these terms as you read.

Language Arts F | 4-Day | Section Three | The House of Sixty Fathers | 3

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Weeks 1–4: The House of Sixty Fathers

Day

4 Chapter 1

Setting

China; World War II when the Americans came with air-planes to help the Chinese fight against the Japanese.

Overview

Tien Pao and his family fled cruel Japanese invaders by boat. However, as he naps, the sampan works loose from its moorings and he redrifts into enemy held territory. Together with his pet pig, he battles his way back toward his family. He fights hunger, aids an American airman, gets adopted by soldiers and struggles to find his family.

Cultural Literacy

sampan: a small boat used chiefly in rivers and harbors in China, Japan, and nearby islands; it usually has a cabin with a roof made of mats; many people use these boats for homes; they are rowed with one or more oars, and some have a sail.

piteous: of a kind to move to pity or compassion.


Q: Why was Tien Pao tied up in a new place on the river?A: his family had rowed upriver to reach the inland of China

to escape the Japanese invaders who entered the country by the sea

Q: What had the Tien family managed to save as they fled the village?

A: their lives, a pig, three ducklings, and a little stone mill

Q: Why did Tien Pao disobey his father and ferry the air-man across the river?

A: his family could use the money, and Tien Pao didn’t know how to tell the airman he couldn’t leave the bank

Q: Why do the Chinese have to protect the airmen?A: the Japanese would torture them for their information

Q: Describe how the Tien family managed to escape the attack on their village.

Day

5 Chapter 2

Cultural Literacy

torrents: a tumultuous outpouring.


Q: How did the sampan get loose?A: a water buffalo knocked the stake that was in the wet

bank and dislodged it

Q: Do you think the water buffalo were wild or tame?

Q: How far does Tien Pao travel with the current?A: beyond his old village almost to the sea

Q: Describe how Tien Pao managed to get the sampan to the shore and why couldn’t he have done that earlier?

A: the current was too strong to use the dishpan as a rudder

Day

6 Chapter 3

Cultural Literacy

coolies: unskilled laborers or porters usually in or from the Far East hired for low or subsistence wages.

debris: an accumulation of fragments of rock.

leering: casting a sidelong glance.

gall: bile obtained from an animal and used in the arts or medicine.

ponderous: of very great weight.


Q: Why is the travel so difficult for Tien Pao?A: he was traveling in a mountainous region, and he didn’t

dare use the paths

Q: What happens when Tien Pao is starving?A: he starts imagining things and he cannot see clearly

Q: Why would the children he met be starving?A: the Japanese burned villages and destroyed food stores,

leaving families with no reserves

Q: Why hasn’t Tien Pao seen any animals?A: hungry people will eat anything for nourishment

Day

7 Chapter 4

Cultural Literacy

caromed: rebounded especially at an angle.

shock: a dangerous condition that can occur if the blood fails to circulate properly in the body; usually related to a serious illness or injury; or emotional stress. In most cases, a person in shock should be positioned onto the back with the legs raised slightly; an individual in shock caused by heart trouble or difficult breathing should have the head and shoulders elevated, try to maintain body temperature and get professional help.


Q: What does it mean that the airman’s burn already looked poisonous?

A: it was infected; it was not healing properly

Q: What does the airman’s fever come from?A: his infection

Q: Describe how Tien Pao met his airman.

4 | The House of Sixty Fathers | Section Three | 4-Day | Language Arts F



Day

8 Chapter 5

Cultural Literacy

pinioned: disabled or restrained by binding the arms.

crone: a withered old woman.


Q: What was the role of the Chinese guerrillas?A: to fight and destroy the Japanese and then hide

Q: Why are the guerrilla soldiers in a hurry to get Tien Pao out of Japanese territory?

A: they know what happens to people who help the Americans

Q: How did the airman travel to safety?A: as an old graybeard pitiful Chinese carried on the back

of another man

Q: What is the Chinese attitude toward children?A: they all love and protect them—the children must live

Day

9 Chapter 6

Cultural Literacy

rickshaws: a small covered 2-wheeled vehicle usually for one passenger that is pulled by one man and that was used originally in Japan.


Q: What is a forced march?A: when soldiers are required to march farther than they

prefer—to take an enemy by surprise

Q: Why are the Chinese soldiers with bayonets at the train station rather than fighting the Japanese?

Q: Why is there such confusion at the train station?A: the Japanese are coming, and everyone wants to leave

town—the people in authority are not giving direction

Day

10 Chapter 7 pp. 119–131


Q: Why does Tien Pao decide to watch for his mother and father beside the train tracks?

A: where in all of China would he go and what would be-come of him—lost, homeless, starving

Day

11 Chapter 7 pp. 132–144

Cultural Literacy

squadron: a military flight formation.

bomber planes: bombers dropped explosives on enemy targets; they were equipped to find the target and direct bombs to it; the navigator guided the pilot over the target, then released the bomb; bombers also launched missiles.

fighter planes: fighters shot down enemy aircrafts and attacked ground targets; they were smaller and generally faster than bombers; however, many fighters performed bombing missions.

sergeant: a noncommissioned officer ranking in the army and marine corps above a corporal and below a staff sergeant and in the air force above an airman first class or senior airman and below a staff sergeant.


Q: Why do you think the airmen acted as they did toward Tien Pao?

A: they felt sorry for the Chinese people, but couldn’t help them all; here was one that they could help, and were glad to do so

Day

12 Chapter 8

Cultural Literacy

hordes: teeming crowds or throngs.

surreptitiously: acting or doing something with stealth.

dithering: shivering, trembling.


Q: How does Tien Pao care for the old man?A: he runs after him to give him money for food

Day

13 Chapter 9 pp. 162–176

Cultural Literacy

banking: inclining an airplane laterally.


Q: What is the point of buzzing the barracks and what idea does it give Tien Pao?

A: to give greetings to fellow soldiers; Tien Pao figures he can fly to find his parents

Day

14 Chapter 9 pp. 176–end

Cultural Literacy

revetments: barricades to provide shelter.


Q: Describe how the Chinese workers made the airfield.A: all manual labor—they used pick axes, shovels, and bas-

kets to cart away the debris n

Language Arts F | 4-Day | Language Arts F—Scope and Sequence: Schedule for Topics and Skills | 1

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Language Arts F—Scope and Sequence: Schedule for Topics and Skills

Week Mechanics Practice Creative Expression1 nouns: gender, concrete/abstract, compound,

collective; personificationThe Purpose of Writing (Self-Interview/Sketchbook)Observation Essay (Descriptive)

2 hyphens; dashes The Definition Essay (Expository Writing)Revise (Writing Process)

3 adjectives: articles, proper and common, compound

Tone (Literary Techniques)Create Tone (Word Choice)Tone in a Scary Story (Application/Creative Writing)

4 verbs: action verbs, helping verbs, singular and plural verbs

Character Sketch Warm-up (Writing Process)Character Sketch First Draft (Descriptive)Revise (Writing Process)

5 types of adverbs Character Development (Character Analysis)Develop a Character (Creative Expression)Write from the Character’s Perspective (Imaginative)

6 pronouns: and antecedents, personal pro-nouns, possessive pronouns, subject pronouns

Active and Passive Sentences (Sentence Fluency)Plan Out the Friendly Letter (Writing Process)Write the Friendly Letter (Organization)

7 punctuation: commas as noun of direct ad-dress; interjections; to separate adjectives; to set off interruptions; appositive

Explore a News Article (Comprehension)The Straight News Article (Imaginative)Write the Straight News Article (Expository)

8 person of pronouns: first-, second-, third- Combine Sentences (Sentence Fluency)Outline for a Feature Article (Research & Outline)Write a Feature Article (Expository)

9 pronouns: intensive, reflexive, indefinite Fact or Opinion (Analysis)Prepare for the Letter to the Editor (Persuasive)Write the Letter to the Editor (Organization)

10 colons; semicolons The Purpose of Dialogue (Analysis)Dialogue Organization (Organization)Write Your Own Dialogue (Imaginative)

11 types of pronouns: relative, interrogative, demonstrative

Elements of a Great Story (Analysis)Research Your Animal and Take Notes (Research)Plan Out the Animal Adventure (Imaginative)

12 complete sentences: subjects & predicates—simple, compound, complete

Literary Elements–Personification and Sensory Impressions (Literary Techniques)Write the Animal Adventure (Imaginative)Finish the Animal Adventure Book (Organization/Artistic)

13 writing numbers Transitions (Sentence Fluency)Prepare to Write the Expository Essay (Expository)Write the Expository Essay (Expository)

14 clauses: conjunctions, independent clauses, coordinating conjunctions, correlative con-junctions

Combine Sentences with a Key Word (Sentence Fluency)Prepare for the Personal Narrative (Writing Process)Write the Personal Narrative (Narrative)

15 quotation marks Mind Mapping (Writing Process)Write the Bible verse Response (Personal Response)Revise the Bible Verse Response (Writing Process)

16 phrases: noun phrases, adverb phrases, verb phrases, appositive phrases

Cause and Effect (Analysis)Comic Strip (Creative & Imaginative)

(continued on the following page)

2 | Language Arts F—Scope and Sequence: Schedule for Topics and Skills | 4-Day | Language Arts F



Week Mechanics Practice Creative Expression17 dependent clauses; subordinating conjunc-

tions; relative pronouns; complex sentences

Cause and Effect in Science (Writing Process)Write the Cause and Effect Essay (Critical Thinking)Revise the Cause and Effect Essay (Writing Process)

18 verb forms: transitive verbs—direct objects, indirect objects; intransitive verbs

The Summary (Summarization)The Book Review (Opinion)Revise the Book Review (Writing Process)

19 types of adjectives: demonstrative, indefinite; demonstrative pronouns vs. demonstrative adjectives

Start with a Thesis Statement (Summarization)Begin Your Research (Research)Source Cards (Research)

20 sentence structure; simple, compound, and complete sentences

Note Cards—Quotations (Research)Note Cards—Paraphrase (Research)More Note Cards & Works Cited (Research)

21 plural nouns The Research Paper Outline (Organization)Refine Thesis and Begin Body Paragraphs (Expository)Complete the Body Paragraphs (Expository)

22 linking verbs: predicate adjectives, predicate nouns; how to write titles

The Introduction and the Conclusion (Expository)Revision (Writing Process)The Final Draft (Writing Process)

23 verb tenses: simple, perfect, past, present , future

Persuasive Writing (Analysis)Write a Persuasive Paragraph (Persuasion)Make It Better (Writing Process)

24 ellipses; parentheses Organize for a Speech (Oral Presentation)Speech Preparation (Oral Presentation)Speech Delivery (Oral Presentation)

25 prepositional phrases: prepositions, object of the preposition

Personification in Poetry (Literary Techniques)Draft a Personification Poem (Imaginative/Application)Finalize the Personification Poem (Writing Process)

26 noun/pronoun agreement Foreshadowing (Literary Techniques/Critical Thinking)Reflect on Your Predictions (Reflection)

27 adjective and adverb forms: positive, com-parative, superlative

Irony (Literary Techniques)Choose a Poem to Parody (Literary Techniques/Writing Process)Write a Parody (Imaginative)

28 use the right word; apostrophes Storytelling (Research for an Oral Presentation)Study the Story (Oral Presentation)Present the Story (Oral Presentation)

29 improve your spelling A Story with a Twist (Brainstorm)Write the Short Story (Imaginative)Revise the Short Story (Writing Process)

30 capitalization Modeling Sentences (Sentence Fluency)Combine Sentences to Create Paragraphs (Sentence Fluency)Improve Fluency (Writing Process)

31 improving sentences Information for the Travel Brochure (Research)Write the Tourist Attraction Advertisement (Expository/Per-suasion)Revise the Travel Brochure (Writing Process)

32 active and passive voice Research a Travel Proposal (Research)Prepare for the Proposal Summary (Summarization)Write the Proposal Summary (Summarization)

(continued on the following page)

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Week Mechanics Practice Creative Expression33 subject/verb agreement Symbolism (Literary Elements/Analysis)

Draft the Pre-Reader Picture Story (Imaginative)Finalize the Pre-Reader Picture Story (Writing Process)

34 similes and metaphors Theme (Literary Elements/Analysis)Write About Theme (Synthesis)Compare Similar Themes (Comparison)

35 types of sentences: declarative, imperative, interrogative, exclamatory

Brainstorm for the Movie Poster (Imaginative)Draft the Movie Plot (Imaginative)Compose the Movie Trailer Script (Summarization/Persua-sion)

36 abbreviations, acronyms, intialism Extended Scene (Imaginative)Plan the Sequel (Imaginative)Write a Sequel (Writing Process)

Language Arts F | 4-Day | Appendix 2: Recommendations for Teaching Writing | 5

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Appendix 2: Recommendations for Teaching Writing

Since we know that no two budding writers will grow and develop at the same pace, we have designed the writing program in this guide to be flexible. We also understand that parents may feel unprepared to teach writing. Some parents feel like they’re not good writers themselves. Other parents may write well, but do not understand how to communicate what they know in a meaningful way to their children. To all these parents, we say, “Don’t worry! You can do it.” The following suggestions will help you know how to use the tools we provide and, if necessary, how to modify this program to best meet your and your students’ needs.

Allow Students to Write at Their Own Pace

In the same way that we wouldn’t teach a toddler to ride a bike with a 10-speed on a nice steep hill, we don’t expect beginning writers to produce polished work on a tight schedule either. If you find that the pace we present in this guide is too much for your children, simply allow your chil-dren to work through the assignments at their own pace.

Start with our first writing assignment in Week 1. Ask your children to work on it for a set amount of time each day as it fits into your daily schedule. For older children, this could be part of their independent work time, but be careful not to let it consume all of their time. Of course we’re happy if they’re enjoying a project and don’t want to put it down, but don’t hesitate to set a timer so that they can have time to accomplish other work, too. A timer might also help when they’re struggling with an assign-ment, so they know that there is an end in sight to their writing time.

If your children can complete some of the brainstorm-ing activities in the time we suggest, have them do so. But we’d understand if the creative writing portion takes longer. Therefore, if your children seem to need more days to complete the assignments than outlined in our guide, give it to them. Don’t feel as though you have to move on to our next assignment if they’re still working on the last one. Writing is a creative process and at this level, please let the creative juices flow.

If you’d like to spend a day reviewing your children’s work with them when they complete an assignment, con-sider it time well spent. It is during these review sessions that you can reinforce the grammar and mechanical skills they learned that week by correcting issues and point-ing out things they’ve done well in their own writing. You could then cement lessons learned in your discussion by

having them use your edits to write a final draft. Simply give them the time they need to complete each task suc-cessfully. Then, pick up with the next assignment in the guide in whatever week you happen to be in when you’re ready.

If you start to feel like this slower paced method might jeopardize the variety of assign-ments your children are exposed to, or causes you to miss assign-ments you think your children might enjoy, use the Scope and Sequence list in Section Four to help you vary the assignments and select a more appropriate topic from another week. At this age, we want writing to be enjoyable, so select topics you think will most inspire your children. And remember, the more practice they get recording their thoughts on paper, the easier it will be for them when they’re older and do need to produce pol-ished work on a deadline.

The Writing Process

Coaching the Writing Process

For their first drafts, ask nothing more of your children than to simply put their thoughts on paper. At this stage, anything goes. If you’re working with them, resist the urge to correct their spelling or revise their sentence structure, and help them do the same—you will have the opportu-nity to edit later. Build their writing confidence and show you value their creativity by giving them the freedom to “just write,” and not interrupt their creative flow. Pay more attention to the fact that they’re meeting the require-ments of the assignment: Are they successfully writing a fairy tale? A poem? Are they impressing you with their inventiveness or imagination? If so, applaud them!

Have your children write their first drafts on wide-ruled handwriting paper, or by skipping every other line on notebook paper so you (and they) will have room to write edits directly on their rough drafts. At review time, sit with your children and ask them to read their pieces aloud while you read them over their shoulders. Watch for misspelled words and other mechanical errors that don’t align with the way your child reads what he or she wrote. Help them think through the corrections as you

Relax, slow down, and write at a

pace that is fun.

6 | Appendix 2: Recommendations for Teaching Writing | 4-Day | Language Arts F



go, but more importantly, help them make the words say on paper what they dreamed up in their heads. For now, your children probably speak better than they write. They form sentences correctly and can “hear” when something isn’t right, so simply help them align their writing to their speaking proficiency. More importantly, praise them when they catch and correct their own mistakes.

For example you might say “Oh! You just paused there, what kind of punctuation do you think you might need?” or “Let’s sound out the spelling of ‘incredible’ together.” Or, “let’s look that word up in the dictionary…” Practice review skills together that you’d like them to be able to use on their own later. Also, help them think through holes in their description or story line. If you see a conspicuous gap, ask them to stop reading and ask them questions about the story that any interested reader would have. If they can tell you answers that help to fill the gap, help them write a few sentences to include this information in the story for other readers to enjoy.

Simply modeling the right way to do something is a very effective teaching tool at this age. When you find mis-takes in their written work, pick and choose which ones you want them to help you correct, but sometimes simply demonstrate the right way to spell something or word a phrase in a sentence by quietly writing it on their paper as they read. Remember, they’ll see your correction and write it correctly when they rewrite their final drafts, so the more you can make your review session about showing you value what they created and less about making a big deal over every mistake, the more they’ll enjoy reviewing their papers with you…and the more they’ll like the writing process.

Think about how you’d like each child to handle words they repeatedly misspell. If it’s a word like “said” that they will use frequently now and in the future, you may ask them to rewrite it correctly on their rough draft each time it appears to help them memorize the correct spelling. If the word is lengthy, correct the spelling together for the first instance, and then simply circle the misspelled word each time it appears so they know to reference the first time you corrected it when they write the rough draft.

We strongly encourage you to review your children’s writing with them, rather than edit it yourself and hand it back to them later. By walking your children through the editing process each time, you will teach them how to edit and

Coach the writing

process and edit as a team.

revise their own papers, how to catch their own mistakes, and how to look up correct answers on their own. As the old adage goes: “Give a man a fish and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you’ll feed him for a lifetime.” By working with your children to edit and revise, you’ll be teaching them to fish, or, more accurately: to write!

How DO I Evaluate Writing Assignments?

Using Sonlight’s Rubrics

We understand that the idea of evaluating your chil-dren’s writing may be just as overwhelming for you as it was for them to write it. And yes, evaluating writing can be highly subjective. Therefore, we’ve included evaluation checklists or Rubrics for most assignments in your weekly notes that will help you focus your thoughts on the most important skills each assignment addressed. These rubrics should help you make the evaluation process more con-crete and less subjective. And by the time you get to the evaluation stage, you should be very familiar with your children’s work and the skills addressed because you’ve coached their progress along the way. Feel free to adjust or modify our rubrics at any time if you feel your child worked on skills we didn’t include on our list.

Much of literary critique is subjective, but we under-stand that sometimes its helpful to have a concrete way to help you focus your critique. A rubric is a simple form that will help you give point values to certain characteristics of an assignment

At this age, we want to emphasize the writing process more than the final result. Do you remember when they were learning to talk? If you pointed to that colorful float-ing orb in the sky and said “Look, a balloon!” and they repeated “Bay-yoon!” did you correct their pronunciation and then give them a bad grade? Probably not. We hope you laughed, and simply said it again the right way. Even if they called it a “bay-yoon” for the next three months, we imagine you simply kept presenting them with the correct pronunciation and eventually they learned it.

Please think of learning to write as “learning to speak on paper.” Since hopefully your children have had a few years to practice writing by this point, it’s okay to start honing their technique. Strive to teach your children with the same small steps, and the same gentle redirections—slowly, over time. Be careful not to expect too much too quickly. It will come. Celebrate the small accomplishments, and keep engaging your children with examples of good writing (just like the ones in the books you’re reading),

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they draft their final copies. Later in the year, you might put togeth-er an Editing Checklist with your children if you’d like them to begin editing their own papers independently as well. Draft such a checklist together, and be sure to include both basic content you always want them to check, and common mistakes you know they’re still working on. Most

importantly, use rubrics to help you more clearly gauge the areas in which your children could use more work and revise your instruction accordingly.

WriteAtHome™

Over the years, we have noticed that many parents who otherwise feel confident and competent to teach their children at home nonetheless experience some anxiety when it comes to teaching them how to write well. Such writing-related anxiety often stems from a feeling that writing is not one of their strengths, combined with the fact that judging “good” writing is a somewhat-subjective endeavor. While 2+2 will always equal 4, the quality of a particular paragraph can often be open for debate.

Does this describe you? If so, don’t worry—you’re not alone. What you feel is perfectly normal. But let us reassure you about a couple of things. First, you probably write bet-ter than you think you do. But even if writing is not your strong suit, you don’t have to be an exceptional writer to help your children learn to write well.

Second, don’t be afraid of the evaluation process. Trust your instincts. You know when something just doesn’t sound right. Be supportive and encouraging and work with your children to make their assignments better. Never forget that writing is a collaborative process. Even professional writers rarely get things perfect on the first try.

Some parents, though, may reach a point where they feel like they and/or their children need additional help. That is why Sonlight has partnered with WriteAtHome™ to provide a variety of services to parents and their children who want to learn to write better. For more information about the services WriteAtHome™ offers, visit www.sonlight.com/writeathome.html.

WriteAtHome™ offers different types of services to meet different needs. Need help evaluating a particular paper or assignment? Use WriteAtHome’s™ Pay Per Paper service. Choose either a Single Draft Evaluation or a Three Draft Process, and a professional writing coach will offer

and talk about what could be improved when you come across lesser samples.

Creating your own Rubrics

Please note that the items we chose to emphasize on our sample are just ideas of things you might want to include on a rubric of your own. As their teacher, only you will know how your children are writing—where they shine and what they need to polish up—so be sure to include both potential challenges and potential successes on rubrics you compose.

When you create a rubric, first draft a list of all the things you hope the assignment will accomplish, or you hope your child will learn or practice as they complete the as-signment. Sometimes it’s helpful to list skills by category, so you’re sure you’ve thought of everything you want to evaluate.

Next, assign a point value for each item, giving more points to skills you want to weigh more heavily (or see as more important). Add up all of the points in the rubric to determine the number of points that will equal 100%. After that, simply read through your children’s work, think-ing about each point on your rubric as you go. Divide the number of points your children earned by the number of points possible to determine a percentage.

Sample Rubric

Content

_______ 5 pts Presented a clean, polished, final copy

_______ 5 pts Successfully revised the description from Week 1

_______ 5 pts Included at least 1 simile

Mechanics

_______ 5 pts Worked with Mom or Dad to edit this assignment

_______ 5 pts Used the dictionary to research the spelling of a word

_______ ÷ 25 pts possible = _______ %

Total pts

When your children are older, it may help to hand them a copy of your evaluation rubric when they first begin an assignment. Isn’t it easier to hit the target when you can see what you should be aiming for? Afford this same op-portunity to your children in the future when they work on writing assignments.

At this age, you may be able to let your children write their first drafts independently, but they will probably still benefit from an “Editorial Review” session with you before

Rubrics; Writing

Evaluation made simple.

8 | Appendix 2: Recommendations for Teaching Writing | 4-Day | Language Arts F



constructive criticism and a final evaluation of a particular paper or assignment.

Want additional in-depth writing instruction? Try one of WriteAtHome’s™ online writing courses. WriteAtHome™ provides a number of options for middle and high school students. Choose either a comprehensive writing course or one of three specialized workshops that concentrate on essays, short stories, or research papers.

You can teach your children to write well. Keep the faith and work together with your children to improve their writing. If you need a little extra help from time to time, don’t hesitate to take advantage of Sonlight’s partnership with WriteAtHome™. You’ll be glad you did! n

Language Arts F | 4-Day | Grammar Guide | 9

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Appendix 3: Grammar Guide

IntroductionMost people struggle with grammar. The sheer number

of concepts to understand and master overwhelms many students. Moreover, once a student grasps the general rule applicable to a particular concept, the exceptions to the general rule rear their ugly heads and attack the student’s confidence! The multitude of concepts and rules—and exceptions to the rules—so thoroughly confuse and frustrate people, that many adults don’t speak and write with proper grammar … and therefore communicate inef-fectively.

The ability to communicate effectively—both orally and in writing—will determine much of a student’s success in academics and in life. Students must therefore learn to skillfully translate their thoughts into speech or writing. The concepts of grammar will serve as the building blocks of a successful foundation for students seeking to master effective communication.

We created this Grammar Guide appendix so that you can find a quick definition and example for each grammar concept. For many of the concepts, we include even more instruction to help you gain greater understanding (under the heading TELL ME MORE!). We hope this guide will serve as a valuable resource for you.

Note to Mom or DadYou can use the Grammar Guide appendix along with

any Language Arts program or as a stand-alone gram-mar guide. When you or your children need help with a grammar concept, look it up! Your children should learn at an early age to properly use a reference guide such as this Grammar Guide. In fact, we believe good research skills will benefit your children more than any particular gram-mar “rule” contained in this guide!

Speaking of “rules,” don’t pressure your children to memorize long lists of rules in order to pass a test. Work with them to make sure they grasp the concepts. If your children understand how to use a particular element of grammar properly and have repeatedly practiced using it well, they will have more success down the road than if they just memorize a set of rules.

There are, of course, some basic rules they do need to know, such as always beginning a sentence with a capital letter. But these rules should be practiced, not memorized. Rules are soon forgotten, but if your children understand the principles and have practiced them thoroughly, they will grasp the concept. And that’s really the goal, isn’t it?

Grammar Guide

10 | Grammar Guide | 4-Day | Language Arts F



AbbreviationsAbbreviations are shortened versions of commonly used words.

Ex. Mr. (for Mister) St. (for Street or Saint)

TELL ME MORE!One of the most common abbreviations is Mr. to stand for Mister and Mrs. which stands for Missus which, in itself, is a shortened version of Mistress. Normally, you indicate that you are using an abbreviation by putting a period after the abbreviation. Some more examples: Dr. for Drive or Doctor; Blvd. for Boulevard; etc. for etcetera.

An acronym is a special kind of abbreviation that does not need a period and is pronounced as one word.

Ex. NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Adminis-tration)

An initialism is a special kind of abbreviation in which each letter used to form the abbreviation is pronounced separately. Like acronyms, initialisms do not need periods.

Ex. FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation)

Acronym (see Abbreviations)

Action Verb (see Verb)

Active Voice (see Voice)

AdjectiveAn adjective describes or modifies a noun.

Ex. Green book Sleepy girl Hot potato

TELL ME MORE!Adjectives add to our understanding of nouns. If you have a box (noun), and then say it is soft, hot, dark, and wet, the words soft, hot, dark, and wet are all adjectives. If you are talking about a young man, young is an adjective; it describes the man. In yellow flower, yellow is an adjective; it describes the flower. If you are talking about his satin shirt, his and satin both serve as adjectives that describe the shirt.

Notice that some words—like soft, hot, and dark—are always and only adjectives. Other words—like satin and his—can serve as adjectives but are nouns (satin) and pro-nouns (his) as well. Notice, too, that even verbs can serve as adjectives: the shining star, a crumpled sheet of paper.

You can string adjectives together.

Ex. The green men ate. The three green men ate. The three tall green men ate. The three strong tall green men ate.

Adjectives come in one of three forms: positive, compara-tive, or superlative. The positive form modifies a word without comparing it to anything else. For example: That dog is big. The comparative form modifies a word by comparing it to one other thing. Comparative adjectives often use the ending -er or the words more or less. For example: That dog is bigger than my dog. The superla-tive form modifies a word by comparing it to two or more other things. Superlative adjectives often use the ending -est or the words most or least.

Ex.: That dog is the biggest dog on my block.

For further information about special types of adjectives, see Article, Determiner, and Quantifier.

Adjective/Adjectival Clause (see Clause)

AdverbAn adverb adds to or modifies our understanding of a verb. Adverbs tell us how, when, or where the verb hap-pened (or is happening or will yet happen). They can also describe or modify our understanding of an adjective or another adverb.

Ex: The green men ate quickly. (Quickly describes how the verb ate.)

The woman walked slowly. (Slowly describes the verb walked.)

Josh fell down. (Down is an adverb because it de-scribes the verb fall. It tells us about Josh’s falling: He fell down)

Emily will feel better tomorrow. (Tomorrow de-scribes when Emily will feel better.)

The deep green moss grew. (Deep describes the adjective green.)

The green moss grew extremely quickly. (Quickly describes how the moss grew. Extremely de-scribes the other adverb, quickly.)

TELL ME MORE!Here’s a clue that will help you identify many adverbs: if you find a word that ends in -ly, it is almost assuredly an adverb.

In the phrase talk loudly, the verb talk is modified by the adverb loudly. How did he talk? He talked loudly. Loudly adds to our understanding of talk. How about the phrase worked hard? Which word is the verb that tells us what happened? (worked is the verb) And which is the adverb that tells us how the person or machine worked? (hard is the adverb) How about suddenly remembered? What is the


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verb and what is the adverb? (remembered is the verb; sud-denly is the adverb)

You can find adverbs right next to the verbs they modi-fy—either in front of or after the verb; and you can find them at distances from their verbs.

Ex. He quickly jumped on the horse. He jumped quickly onto the horse. Quickly, the large man jumped onto the horse. He jumped onto the galloping horse quickly—be-

fore it got away.

Examples of adverbs that modify adjectives: in the phrase the very bright light, very is an adverb; it modifies the adjec-tive bright. (Notice that very does not modify light! You can’t have a very light!) In tremendously loud engine, tre-mendously is an adverb; it modifies the adjective loud; you can have a loud engine and a tremendously loud engine, but you can’t have a tremendously engine.

Adverbs come in one of three forms: positive, compara-tive, or superlative. The positive form modifies a word without comparing it to anything else. For example: He runs fast. The comparative form modifies a word by com-paring it to one other thing. Comparative adverbs often use the ending -er or the words more or less. For example: He runs faster than my dog. The superlative form modi-fies a word by comparing it to two or more other things. Superlative adverbs often use the ending -est or the words most or least. For example: He runs the fastest of all the dogs on my block.

Adverbs add power to your writing. Use them often.

Adverb/Adverbial Clause (see Clause)

Agreement (see Subject-Verb Agreement)

AlphabetizationAlphabetization is the process of placing a series of words in alphabetical order—in order from a to z beginning with the first letter of the word. When two words start with the same letter, then you compare their second letters. When two words share the same first and second letters, then you compare the third letters . . . and so on until you find a letter on which they disagree.

Ex. aardvark, adjective, adverb, amber, ambulance

AnalogyAn analogy compares two (or more) things that, although otherwise dissimilar, are similar in some important way. Analogies are used to suggest that because two (or more) things are similar in some way they are also similar in some further way. For further information about special types of analogies, see Simile and Metaphor.

Ex. Phil hates receiving unsolicited “spam” e-mail be-cause deleting it from his inbox wastes so much time. He insists there must be some solution to this problem on the horizon! Of course, he also used to think that, by now, he wouldn’t need to continually pitch the “junk” mail that accumulates in his mailbox on a daily basis. (The analogy in this paragraph suggests that “spam” e-mail, like postal “junk” mail, may be here to stay!)

AntecedentAn antecedent is the noun that a pronoun refers to.

Ex. Emily cooked breakfast. She is a good cook. (Emily is the antecedent for the pronoun she.)

TELL ME MORE!“Ante” means “before” or “in front of.” The noun to which the pronoun refers usually comes before or “ante” the pronoun.

When you say, He came, the person you’re talking to wants to know “Who is he? To whom are you referring when you talk about him or he?” If you answer, “Oh! I’m talking about John (or whoever),” John (or whoever) is the antecedent. That is the noun to which he refers.

Antecedents are extremely important, especially when you begin to use pronouns. For example, read the fol-lowing sentences: Mike and Tim were talking. Tim said he could marry Sarah because he didn’t mind if Sarah didn’t like him. Every pronoun in the second sentence must have an antecedent or an implied antecedent. Tim is obvi-ously the one who’s talking. Tim says he (who? Tim? Mike? Someone else?) could marry Sarah because he (who?) didn’t mind if Sarah didn’t like him (again, who is Tim talk-ing about?). Never use a pronoun unless you know that its antecedent is obvious! Besides the pronouns where it is very obvious that you need to know the antecedent, there are a few pronouns where you can usually figure out what the antecedent is . . . even if no one tells you.

Ex. I/me/my you/your/yours we/us/our/ours

AntonymAn antonym is a word that means the opposite of another word.

Ex. Up is the opposite of—or antonym for—down Cold is the antonym for hot Out is the antonym for in.




ApostropheAn apostrophe (’) is a punctuation mark that can show possession, make contractions, or show when letters are left out. Apostrophes are also used to make letters, num-bers, and signs plural.

Ex. the kids’ cookbook (the cookbook belongs to the kids)

didn’t (did not) I’m waitin’ for him. (shortened version of waiting) Z’s, 9’s, $’s

AppositiveAn appositive is a noun or noun phrase (appositive phrase) that renames or describes the nouns or pronouns that come immediately before it. Appositives are usually surrounded—or set off by—commas.

Ex. Mark, first baseman for the Rangers, had a strong season.

Carmen, a mother of three, barely had time to make dinner.

My guitar, an Ibanez, is a real beauty.

TELL ME MORE!Use an appositive when you want to say something important about the subject, but you want the sentence itself to focus on something you consider even more important. So, for example, you want to say that Samson lost all his strength when he cut his hair. That is the main message you want to tell people. But in order for them to really understand what you are saying, you need to tell them that he was normally a strong man. So you insert the appositive: Samson, a strong man, lost all his strength when he cut his hair.

Appositive Phrase (see Appositive)

ArticleAn article is a special type of adjective. There are three articles—the, a, and an. Articles tell something about the nouns that follow them.

Ex. The dogs fight A plane flies An apple falls.

TELL ME MORE!The is called a definite article, because it defines exactly which one: the specific apple that we’ve been talking about or the apple that we are about to talk about. The tells you that the noun that follows is a particular one.

Ex. The apple (one specific apple) An apple (any apple)

A and An are called indefinite articles, because you can’t be sure which particular item they are talking about. They just say that it is some item. A and an mean the same thing. A is used when the noun that follows it begins with a consonant sound. An is used when the noun that follows it begins with a vowel sound.

Ex. a boa constrictor a one-dollar bill an ant an hour

AttributionAn attribution is the phrase that indicates who said what-ever is being quoted.

Ex. Eddie said Josh yelled Caitlyn laughed

TELL ME MORE!An attribution can be placed before, in the middle of, or after the quotation. When the attribution is before the quotation, identify who is being quoted, follow that with a comma, and then begin the quotation.

Ex. Michael said, “I sure am hungry.” Duane says, “I love to eat Italian food.”

When an attribution is in the middle of a quotation, at-tach the attribution to whatever comes before it. Then, follow the attribution with a comma and treat it and the quotation that follows as if the attribution were before the quotation.

Ex. “I love that idea!” said Amber. “This will be so much fun.”

“I’m not sure,” commented Chase, “if it will work.”

When an attribution is placed at the end of the quotation and the quotation ends with a period, replace the period with a comma and follow the comma with the closing quotation mark. Then, write the attribution.

Ex. “We can figure this out,” Pam said. “I’m happy with whatever everybody else wants,”

Kelly stated.

However, when a quotation ends with an exclamation point or a question mark, those punctuation marks must be retained. Don’t replace them with commas.

Ex. “Can I hang out with you guys?” Bo asks. “Yes you can!” Sondra answers.

In dialogue, you should always begin a new paragraph whenever a new speaker begins to talk. You should never have two or more speakers speak one after the other in a single paragraph. It is not always necessary to attribute each statement in dialogue. If two people are conversing, once you have told your audience who the two speak-ers are, and once they begin talking back and forth, the


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change of paragraph alone can serve to indicate that the speakers have changed.

Ex. “Sam the ram can pass Val the nag,” said Matt. “Oh, sure!” said Jen. “He can! He can! I’ll prove it to you.” “Oh, yeah? How?”

Many authors attribute quotations with the simple word said. There is nothing wrong with using said. When writing dialogue, you want people to focus on the words that the characters are saying rather than—or, at least, more than—they focus on the attributions. But! Sometimes it is helpful to use interesting words. If you use said in every paragraph, readers can become bored.

Ex. Joe Felder asked, “What are you doing?” Julian replied, “Nothing.”

Auxiliary Verb (see Helping Verb)

Being Verb (see Verb)

BracketsBrackets ( [ ] ) are marks of punctuation used within quoted material to set off additional and/or clarifying information or to indicate editorial corrections.

Ex. “She [the author’s wife] is my greatest source of support.”

“I’d like to buy twenty-seven [baseballs] before the start of the season.”

Brackets may also be substituted for parentheses within parentheses for added clarity.

Ex. The fish tank (which is 39 gallons [the largest the store carries, of course] and very large) needs to be cleaned soon.

CapitalizationCapitalization is the process of capitalizing—beginning words with upper-case letters. You should always capital-ize all proper nouns, titles, and the first word in a sentence.

Ex. Some people believe that George Washington, the first President of the United States, could not tell a lie.

TELL ME MORE!There are many specific rules regarding capitaliza-tion, a few more of which are summarized below.

Ex. Sections of the country (Northwest) (But don’t capitalize words merely indicating direction: Drive north two miles, and then go four more miles east.)

Religions, races, languages, and nationalities (Christian, English, Japanese)

References to God, the Bible, and books of the Bible (the Lord, the Word, Exodus)

Titles (Denver Post, Discipleship Journal)

Associations, teams, or organizations (Colorado Avalanche, Republican Party)

Abbreviations (CIA, FBI, NASA)

Letters used to indicate shape or form (U-turn, T-shirt)

Words used as or part of proper names (Uncle Randy, Dad) (But don’t capitalize such words if they are not being used to replace or complement proper nouns: Ask your mom for some money.)

Titles of courses (Psychology 101) (But don’t capi-talize such words when used to refer to a field of study: I am a psychology major.)

Days, months, and holidays (Monday, January, Easter)

Special events or periods of history (the Boston Tea Party, the Dark Ages)

Trade names (Nissan Xterra, Rio Karma)

Geographical references (Earth, North America, Indonesia, Colorado, Indianapolis, Broadway, Southwest, San Juan Mountains, Ohio River, Washington Square Park) (But don’t capitalize general geographic references: We love to swim in the ocean.)

ClauseA clause is a group of related words that includes a subject and a predicate. All complete sentences include at least one clause. Many sentences include two or more clauses.

Ex. Will (subject) slept (predicate). Pete (subject) ate ice cream all night (predicate) [clause]; then he (subject) felt sick the next day (predicate) [clause].

TELL ME MORE!Some clauses have one subject but two or more predi-cates:

Ex. Stan (subject) walked (predicate) and jumped (predicate).

The actress (subject) stumbled (predicate) at the top of the stairs, almost recovered (predicate), but fell (predicate) anyway.

Some clauses have two or more subjects to whom or to which the same predicates apply:

Ex. The bobcat (subject) and coyote (subject) howled (predicate) and screeched (predicate).

Sarah (subject), Jenny (subject), and Lisa (subject) crashed (predicate) into each other at the top of the stairs, stumbled (predicate) a moment, almost recovered (predicate), but fell (predicate) anyway.




If different predicates apply to different subjects, then you have separate clauses.

Ex. Stan (subject) stayed up all night (predicate) [clause]; then he (subject) slept the next day (predicate) [clause].

The bobcat (subject) howled (predicate) [clause] while the coyote (subject) screeched (predicate) [clause].

Sarah (subject), Jenny (subject), and Lisa (subject) crashed into each other at the top of the stairs (predicate) [clause], but it was Michael (subject) and Barry (subject) who fell (predicate) [clause].

Clauses can serve different functions within a sentence. Adjective (or adjectival or relative) clauses usually be-gin with a relative pronoun and serve as an adjective.

Ex. That tumbled to the floor

Whose blond hair shimmered in the light

Adverb (or adverbial) clauses usually begin with a subor-dinating conjunction and serve as an adverb.

Ex. When the clock strikes twelve

Where the stream meets the river

See Relative Pronoun or Subordinating Conjunction for more information.

Cleft SentenceA cleft sentence is a complex sentence formed when an original declarative sentence is divided (“cleft”) into two clauses—a main clause and a subordinate clause—for the purpose of emphasizing a particular part of the sentence. Cleft sentences usually begin with either the word there or it, followed by some form of the verb to be.

Ex. Original sentence: Michael came up with the idea for the new lunch plan.

Cleft sentence: It was Michael who came up with the idea for the new lunch plan.

TELL ME MORE!Cleft sentences have delayed subjects. In other words, the true subject of a cleft sentence is not there or it; the true subject—if there is one—is whatever noun follows the verb. See also Subject.

If there and it are not subjects, what are they? They are called expletives, because they simply fulfill a structural function within the sentence. See also Expletive.

Cleft sentences can also be created with what. Cleft sentences beginning with what will usually make an initial noun clause out of the primary verb of the sentence:

Ex. Your stubborn attitude caused this problem.

What caused this problem is your stubborn attitude.

ColonThe colon (:) is a punctuation mark with many functions. Using a colon is like saying, “I’m going to tell you some-thing important: Now here it is.” What follows the colon usually explains or expands upon what came before. We use also use colons to introduce clauses, quotations, and lists.

Ex. Emphasis: He knew what frightened him: sky div-ing.

Quotations: A whisper floated in the air: “Help me!”

Lists: Sarah has plenty of toys: dolls, a playhouse, and a rocking horse.

Salutations: Dear President Bush: Time: 9:23pm

Chapter/Verse: Psalm 46:1 (also used to separate titles/subtitles and volumes/pages)

TELL ME MORE!Colons should not come between verbs and their objects.

Ex. I have: a dog, a horse, and a rhinoceros. (incorrect)

I have several animals: a dog, a horse, and a rhi-noceros. (correct)

CommaThe comma (,) is a versatile mark of punctuation. Among its many uses, one of the most prominent is as a separator, helping to add clarity to a sentence.

Ex. 1. Between independent clauses that are joined by a coordinating conjunction. (I went to the gro-cery store, but my best friend went to the hockey game.)

2. To separate items in a series. (I went to the grocery store to buy apples, soda, dog food, and laundry detergent.)

3. To separate nonrestrictive clauses from the rest of the sentence. (The grocery store, which was built last year, is always busy on Saturdays.)

4. To separate multiple adjectives. (It was an excit-ing, busy day at the grocery store.)

5. After introductory phrases or clauses. (After a hard day of work, I like to go grocery shopping.)

6. To set off dates or items in addresses. (On July 2, 1997, I went to the grocery store located at 7 Lucky Drive, Anytown, Colorado 54321.)

7. To clarify large numbers. (1,000 apples or 1,000,000 oranges)

8. To separate contrasted or parenthetical infor-mation. (Sue, not Judy, is the guilty one.)


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9. To set off explanatory phrases or appositives. (Samson, my Weimaraner puppy, is fond of per-petual motion.)

10. To set off dialogue and nouns of direct ad-dress. (“Thad, put the spatula in the dishwasher,” said Joan.)

11. To set off interjections or interruptions. (Hey, stop that! In my opinion, well, you just shouldn’t be doing that.)

12. To set off titles or initials. (John F. Kennedy, Jr., started George magazine.)

13. To clarify otherwise confusing text. (What the production department does, does change the shipping department’s work schedule.)

TELL ME MORE!The series comma: always separate three or more items in a list by using commas between them. However, do not use commas between the members of a series composed of only two items—unless the comma is necessary for clarity’s sake! If the last item in a list is preceded by the word and, you may, but you don’t have to, place a comma between the next-to-last item in the list and the word and:

Ex. Please buy peanut butter, jelly, bread, graham crackers, and milk.

Please buy peanut butter, jelly, bread, graham crackers and milk.

Common NounA common noun is a general word that refers to a person, place, thing, or idea not named directly.

Ex. Proper Noun Common Noun

Winston Churchill man

Maggie girl

Denver city

Complete PredicateThe complete predicate is everything in a clause other than the complete subject, i.e., the simple or compound predicate plus all its modifiers.

Ex. Sondra’s favorite restaurant burned to the ground.(burned to the ground is the complete predicate)

Complete SubjectThe complete subject includes a simple or compound subject, as well as any words that modify or describe the subject—including adjectives, adverbs, and articles.

Ex. Sondra’s favorite restaurant burned to the ground. (restaurant is the simple subject—Sondra’s favor-ite restaurant is the complete subject)

Complex SentenceA complex sentence consists of an independent clause and a dependent clause.

Ex. After a hard day of work (dependent clause), I like to go grocery shopping (independent clause).

When Phil saw April 1 on his calendar (dependent clause), he broke into a cold sweat (independent clause).

Compound PredicateA compound predicate is made up of two or more simple predicates applied to a single subject. The subject and the compound predicate, together, still form one clause.

Ex. Sondra’s favorite restaurant caught on fire and burned to the ground. (The simple predicates caught on fire and burned to the ground tell what happened to the single subject restaurant.)

The dog with only three legs jumped through the ring of fire and rolled onto his side. (The simple predicates jumped through the ring of fire and rolled onto his side describe what the single sub-ject dog did.)

Compound SentenceA compound sentence is composed of two or more simple sentences (independent clauses) that have been joined together in one of several ways.

Ex. By a coordinating conjunction (Pam saw the shark and she screamed.)

By a coordinating conjunction and a comma (I heard Pam’s scream, but I could not see what had frightened her.)

By a semicolon (Pam screamed; Amber screamed; everyone ran!)

By a semicolon and a conjunctive adverb (I saw the shark; however, it didn’t scare me.)

Compound SubjectA compound subject is made up of two or more simple subjects. The compound subject and its predicate(s), together, still form one clause.

Ex. Ryan and Bo love Japanese food.

Michael, Duane, and Kelly prefer Italian food.

Compound WordA compound word is a word made up of two or more smaller words.

Ex. campground (camp/ground); pillbox (pill/box)




Compound-Complex SentenceA compound-complex sentence consists of at least two independent clauses and one dependent clause.

Ex. Ashley wanted an eagle for her birthday (in-dependent clause), but because eagles are an endangered species (dependent clause), her par-ents bought her a turkey instead (independent clause).

Although she wasn’t crazy about turkeys (depen-dent clause), Ashley took the bird under her wing (independent clause), and it became her new best friend (independent clause).

ConjunctionA conjunction shows the logical connections between other words or groups of words. By paying attention to the conjunctions, you can usually see the logical relations between sentences and parts of sentences.

Ex. And says that two or more things belong together. (Seth threw a ball, and Maggie caught it.)

But shows a contrast between two or more things. (Seth threw a ball, but Maggie dropped it.)

Or says that only one of two different things is true. (I will go to the grocery store, or I will go to the movies.)

So says that one thing is true because something else is true. (I will go to the grocery store, so I will have food to eat tomorrow.)

ContractionA contraction is a shortened version of a common word combination. When writing a contraction, leave no space between the words and use an apostrophe in place of the missing letters.

Ex. don’t (do not)

can’t (can not)

didn’t (did not)

should’ve (should have)

it’s (it is)

Coordinating ConjunctionA coordinating conjunction connects words, phrases, or clauses when the words, phrases, or clauses are of equal importance. There are seven coordinating conjunctions that can be memorized by simply remembering: FAN BOYS.

Ex. For (Wayne must be fl ying his kite, for it is the fi rst windy day in weeks.)

And (peas and carrots)

Nor (neither rain nor snow)

But (I love peas, but I do not care for carrots.)

Or (this or that)

Yet (Ashley loves her new turkey, yet it is not exactly the present she had hoped for.)

So (Jason and Jennifer are hungry for Italian food, so they are heading to Little Italy.)

TELL ME MORE!In the same way that a mechanic needs nuts and bolts to hold his machinery together, so our sentences need certain words to hold them together. Conjunctions are just those kinds of words. They are the words that hold sentences together. Coordinating conjunctions are single words that hold equal parts of sentences together. Besides holding simple sentences together to form compound sentences, coordinating conjunctions can also hold two or more nouns or verbs together.

Independent clauses can also begin with a coordinating conjunction! You may get the feeling that the indepen-dent clause is really and truly just as dependent on the clause that came before as is any dependent clause. If you see a sentence that begins, “And _____,” you realize something came before. And you probably want to know what came before. But, of course, it is acceptable to begin a simple sentence with and, or, or but.

If you memorize the coordinating conjunctions (FANBOYS—for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so), you can figure that any other conjunctions are subordinating conjunc-tions that begin dependent clauses.

Correlative ConjunctionsCorrelative conjunctions are conjunctions that work only in pairs.

Ex. either/or (Maggie wants either the red one or the blue one.)

Neither/ nor (I have neither the money nor the time to invest in this!)

DashThe dash (—) is a very useful punctuation mark that may best be described as a cross between a comma, a colon, and an ellipsis. The dash is sometimes known as the em dash. Here are a few examples of its many functions.

Ex. To indicate a sudden break or change in the sen-tence. (At the end of her shift—and this was not all her fault—Sarah forgot to clock out.)

To set off an introductory series from its explana-tion. (A cake, a few close friends, a new turkey—these things made Ashley’s birthday special.)


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To set off parenthetical material that explains or clarifies a word or a phrase. (My favorite place—the grocery store at the end of the block—changed this neighborhood forever.)

To indicate interrupted speech in a dialogue. (I cried, “What is—” “It’s a turkey!” exclaimed Ashley.)

To emphasize a word, a series, a phrase, or a clause. (And then I turned around and saw who it was—the butler!)

Declarative SentenceA declarative sentence gives information. The speaker is making a declaration of what he thinks is true. Declarative sentences end in periods.

Ex. Indian elephants have smaller ears than African elephants.

Defi nite Article (see Article)

Delayed Subject (see Subject)

Demonstrative Pronoun (see Determiner)

Dependent Clause (see Subordinate Clause)

Descriptive ParagraphA descriptive paragraph is dedicated primarily to de-scribing something. Descriptive paragraphs paint a clear picture of a person, place, thing, or idea—how it looks, smells, sounds, tastes, and/or feels. Descriptive paragraphs are distinct from, though they may contain elements of, persuasive, expository, or narrative paragraphs. You may find descriptive paragraphs in just about any written work, though they are more common in historical works and works of fiction.

Ex. The turkey clucked in excitement as it escaped from the box. It was the most unique bird Ashley had ever seen. Its long, silky feathers of every col-or glistened in the light like a sunset. Its sparkling eyes somehow knew her already. As it pranced around the room, it made a peculiar sound that Ashley knew meant Thanksgiving would never be the same again.

DeterminerDeterminers, like articles and quantifiers, serve as adjec-tives and always come immediately before the nouns they modify. Determiners, in particular, specify which specific thing (or things) you are talking about. If they are used by themselves, most determiners can also serve as demon-strative pronouns.

Ex. This aardvark That badger These missiles Those children This is fantastic! (This is also a demonstrative pro-

noun in this sentence) I’m not so sure about that. (that is also a demon-

strative pronoun in this sentence)

DiagonalA diagonal (/), or slash, is a mark of punctuation used to cre-ate fractions, show choices, or indicate line breaks in poetry.

Ex. Although the recipe called for ½ cup flour, Marga-ret mistakenly put in 1½ cups.

To change channels, use the up/down button on the remote control.

Roses are red/ violets are blue/ I hope this ex-ample/ is helpful to you.

Direct ObjectA direct object is a noun that receives the action or is af-fected by the action from a subject.

Ex. Zelda kicks a ball. (Zelda is the subject, and ball is the direct object.)

TELL ME MORE!Here are a few more examples. The ball hit the tree. Identify the two nouns in this sentence. (ball and tree) Which of the nouns is the subject of the sentence or, put another way, which noun is doing the action? The ball is the thing that hits, so it is the actor, and therefore, the subject of the sen-tence. Which noun is the direct object of the sentence, the thing that receives the action or is affected by the action? The tree is the thing being hit, so it is the direct object.

Pharaoh’s servants whipped the Israelite slaves. Identify the two nouns in this sentence. (servants and slaves) NOTE: On its own, Pharaoh would be a noun. But Pharaoh doesn’t stand by itself. In fact, the word is not Pharaoh, but Pharaoh’s. And Pharaoh’s is followed by another noun: servants. The noun servants is being modified by the word Pharaoh’s; so Pharaoh’s is an adjective and servants is the noun. What about Israelite; is it a noun? Is slaves a noun? (Slaves is a noun; Israelite is the adjective that describes the slaves.) Which of the nouns is the subject of the sentence? The servants are doing the whipping, so they are the subject of the sentence. Which noun is the direct object of the sentence? The slaves are being whipped, so they are the direct object.

An object complement is a noun, pronoun, or adjective that follows a direct object and renames it or tells what the direct object has become.

Ex. The product development department elected me president.




EllipsisAn ellipsis ( … ) is a punctuation mark that looks like three periods in a row. Ellipses (plural for ellipsis) can indicate missing material, a pause, or an incomplete thought.

Ex. To indicate in formal quotations that a portion of the quoted section has been left out. (Original: We the students of Andersen High School, in order to improve our education, do hereby pro-test. Quotation: “We the students … do hereby protest.”)

To indicate a pause. (Ashley untied the bow and opened the box. Inside was a … could it be … yes, it was … a turkey!)

To indicate that a speaker didn’t finish his sen-tence. (I just couldn’t remember what I was going to …)

TELL ME MORE!Ellipsis pauses are unlike comma, colon, and semicolon pauses, because they do not help the reader understand what the speaker is saying. They do help the reader know how the speaker is saying something, which can shed light on the speaker’s meaning and character. Also, when used in quotations, they alert the reader to missing text, which is important to know for academic pursuits.

Ellipses can also indicate a pause: perhaps a speaker, gasping for breath, had to take a break from speaking; maybe he had to think deeply about exactly what word to use next, and so paused in mid-sentence before continu-ing … . Or maybe … the author … simply … wants … to slow … the reader … down. The ellipsis says, “Take note! Things … slow … down … here.”

Ellipses at the end of sentences are always preceded by the closing punctuation of the sentence—a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point. It is for this reason that you find four “periods” in a row at the end of sentenc-es. The first period is truly a period; the other three dots are simply parts of an ellipsis.

Em dash (see Dash)

Exclamation PointAn exclamation point (!) is a punctuation mark that goes at the end of an interjection or exclamatory sentence. It communicates strong emotion or surprise.

Ex. My dog jumped over the fence!

Exclamatory SentenceAn exclamatory sentence is a sentence that communicates strong emotion or surprise and ends with an exclamation point.

Ex. My neighbor’s cat is missing!

ExpletiveAn expletive is a word or phrase that conveys no indepen-dent meaning but merely fulfills a structural function with-in a sentence. Expletives usually take the form of the word there or it, followed by some form of the verb to be. They are commonly found at the beginning of cleft sentences. See also Cleft Sentence.

Ex. It was the papaya that fell off the kitchen table.

There were seven football players who got hurt.

Expository ParagraphAn expository paragraph explains something; it exposes the meaning of something or the reason why. An ex-pository paragraph is meant to convey information or to help the reader’s understanding. It is distinct from, though it may contain elements of, a persuasive, narra-tive, or descriptive paragraph. Even if it is telling a story or describing something, an expository paragraph’s primary purpose is explanation.

Ex. Natural disasters often result in uncommon scientific collaborations. For example, seis-mologists are geophysics specialists who study earthquakes. Oceanographers, on the other hand, study the many features of oceans. While these experts in land and sea would normally have little interaction, an undersea earthquake that causes a tsunami—a giant tidal wave—will force them to combine their expertise in order to understand the events.

TELL ME MORE!As when we dissect an animal, peeling back its skin, muscles and bones to reveal what lies beneath and inside, so the expository paragraph peels back and exposes what is inside a topic of discussion. Encyclopedia articles are almost always made up of purely expository paragraphs. But you’ll find expository paragraphs elsewhere as well: in fiction, you may find that the author has a character think something through so that you understand what you (and the character) did not understand before. In non-fiction books, most authors who expose you to new information want to do more than merely teach you something new. They want to convince you that they are correct about some matter. If a paragraph goes beyond merely inform-ing and is obviously written to convince you about a mat-ter, it has a different name.


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ForeshadowingForeshadowing is a writing technique used to heighten the tension in a story. When using foreshadowing, an au-thor will give hints or clues about what is going to happen later. Those hints and clues give you an inkling of what is to come … before it actually happens.

Ex. Michael was finishing his last long run of the week. As he turned the last corner toward home, he sensed that something was different. The cars parked along the street were not the usual ones he remembered seeing on previous trips down this block. (This paragraph gives the reader an inkling that something different is about to occur, probably involving the parked cars.)

Fragment (see Sentence Fragment)

GerundA gerund is a noun made from a verb. Gerunds end in –ing.

Ex. I love singing.

Playing is fun.

Running back and forth to the store is no fun!

TELL ME MORE!Gerunds can take objects, just like regular verbs do. They can also be modified by adverbs, just as regular verbs can be modified. If you use a gerund in a sentence, you are writing in the passive voice. Get rid of gerunds whenever possible!

Ex. Climbing stairs is a lot more difficult than riding an escalator. (The gerund climbing takes the ob-ject stairs, and the gerund riding takes the object escalator.)

Gerund PhraseA gerund phrase consists of the gerund itself, plus any adverbs, objects, or other words whose meanings are directly tied to the gerund. A gerund phrase—like the gerund by itself—serves as a noun.

Ex. Climbing stairs is a lot more difficult than riding an escalator.

Helping VerbA helping (or auxiliary) verb modifies the meaning of a primary verb. It can control verb tenses and express a sense of necessity, certainty, probability, or possibility. See also Verb Tense.

Ex. Seth had gone.

Maggie was going.

Herman will go.

That might have meant a lot of trouble for her.

The children were taken away. –or- the children will have to be taken away.

We must go.

HomographHomographs are words that are spelled alike but have dif-ferent meanings. Homographs may or may not sound alike.

Ex. bow (on a package); bow (what a violinist uses); bow (to shoot an arrow); bow (what a violinist does when the audience claps); bow (the front part of a boat)

Wind (blowing air); wind (what you have to do to the spring of a mechanical watch)

HomonymIn the strict sense, homonyms are words that both sound the same and are spelled the same, but do not mean the same thing.

Ex. rose (flower); rose (stood up) fair (carnival); fair (reasonable) bee (insect); bee (group of people: quilting bee) saw (cuts wood); saw (past tense of “see”)

TELL ME MORE!Homonyms, by definition, are also homophones and homographs. For example, the homonyms bow (on a package) and bow (used to shoot an arrow) are homo-phones because they are two words that sound alike and homographs because they are also spelled alike. But not all homophones or homographs are also homonyms. The chart below may help you see the distinction.

Keep in mind that many use the term homonym more loosely, to mean “words that share the same spelling, regardless of pronunciation or share the same pronuncia-tion, regardless of spelling.” Therefore, you will probably find true homographs like object (a tangible thing) and object (to disagree), and true homophones like bow and bough classified as homonyms.

Homographs Homophones

Same Sound&

Same Spellingrose/rose

Same SoundSame or Different Spelling

do/dew

Same SpellingSame or Different

Soundwind/wind

Homonyms




HomophonesHomophones are words that sound the same but have dif-ferent meanings. Homophones may or may not have the same spelling.

Ex. deer/dear be/bee piece/peace

HyphenA hyphen is a punctuation mark with multiple uses. It looks like a short dash (-).

Ex. To divide words between their syllables when they are too long to fit on a single line

To join two or more words in compound numbers (twenty-four, ninety-nine, etc.)

To make compound words (sixteen-year-old boy)

To join single letters with other words (T-shirt)

To join numbers in scores, votes, life spans, etc. (1865-1903, 24-17)

To join two or more words that form a single adjective before a noun (hard-working man)

To prevent confusion (re-create instead of recreate)

IdiomAn idiom is a group of words that paints a mental picture (a “word picture” or “figure of speech”) that means some-thing totally different from what the words themselves imply. Some idioms can sound quite silly if you don’t recognize them for what they are.

Ex. Phil was pulling my leg. The product development team was having a ball.

ImperativeAn imperative is a sentence in which one person com-mands another to do something. When you issue a com-mand, you are saying that it is imperative—necessary—that someone do what you say. The subjects of imperative sentences are usually implied or understood. The subject is almost always you (the person being spoken to).

Ex. Go to your room!

Tell the doctor what he needs to know.

Go to the zoo to see the elephants.

Implied Subject (see Subject)

Indefi nite Article (see Article)

Indefi nite Pronoun (see Pronoun)

IndentationAn indentation is an extra space that has been pushed in from the margin toward the middle of the page. Usually, the first line in a paragraph is indented.

Ex. Although Michael desperately wanted his computer fixed, Ryan decided that the prob-lem was best ignored. Frustrated, but resigned, Michael continued his work. Unfortunately, the problem continued to rear its head. It would not be ignored!

Independent ClauseAn independent clause contains a subject and a predicate, conveys a complete thought, and can stand alone as a sentence.

Ex. Wayne and Sue were too busy to play. Skeeter goes to school.

Indirect ObjectThe indirect object of a transitive verb receives the action of the verb indirectly. In other words, it receives the action after the direct object receives it and as a result of the direct object having received the action.

Ex. He threw Fran the ball. (Fran receives the ball as a result of the ball receiving the direct action of being thrown.)

Shelly handed her son the keys. (The keys are the direct object; they are what receive the direct action of being handed; Shelly’s son is the indirect object, because he receives the keys as a result of the keys having received the direct action of being handed.)

NOTE: Although a prepositional phrase may tell you the same information that an indirect object does (Shelly handed the keys to her son), a prepositional phrase is never an indirect object. It always remains a prepositional phrase.1

1. To be precise, grammarians can’t quite agree whether indirect objects are part of a prepositional phrase. Some say indirect objects are never part of a prepositional phrase while others say there is an indirect object no matter how it is expressed. For our purposes, we’ll say they are not part of a prepositional phrase.


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Indirect Quotation (see Quotation Marks)

Infi nitiveAn infinitive is a verb form, usually beginning with the word to, that functions as a noun, adverb, or adjective. Although an infinitive is made from a verb, it does not function as a verb. Infinitives can take objects, just like regular verbs do. They can also be modified by adverbs, just as regular verbs can be modified.

Ex. To climb those stairs would about kill me. (The infinitive to climb takes the object stairs.)

I really don’t want to drive the car. (The infinitive to drive takes the object car.)

TELL ME MORE!Some verbs almost always come together with infinitives. In fact, they don’t make sense without infinitives.

Ex. I used to go to the grocery store. I am going to buy a caramel latte. She has to eat the pickle.

We usually think of the verbs that follow used to, going to, and has to as completely separate from the two words that precede them. But you should always interpret the verb that precedes the word to (used, going, has, etc.) as combining with the infinitive (to go, to buy, to eat, etc.) to form what grammarians call a modal or phrasal verb.

Infi nitive PhraseAn infinitive phrase consists of the infinitive itself plus any adverbs, objects, or other words whose meanings are di-rectly tied to the infinitive itself. Like an infinitive, an infini-tive phrase can serve as a noun, an adverb, or an adjective, but never as a verb.

Ex. To climb those stairs would about kill me. I really don’t want to drive the car.

Initialism (see Abbreviations)

Intensive PronounAn intensive pronoun is a pronoun with the suffix -self or -selves. An intensive pronoun intensifies or emphasizes the noun or pronoun to which it refers.

Ex. Sondra picked the restaurant all by herself. We, ourselves, want nothing to do with it!

InterjectionAn interjection is a one- or two-word expression of emo-tion that doesn’t communicate significant meaning. It usually ends with an exclamation point, or it can be set off from the rest of a sentence with commas.

Ex. “Oh, I wish I could go on vacation.” “Wow! Do you really have a turkey?”

Interrogative SentenceAn interrogative sentence asks a question of (interrogates) the person who hears it. Interrogative sentences always end with question marks.

Ex. Did you know that Bo’s favorite sport is shuffle-board?

Interrogative PronounInterrogative pronouns are pronouns that are used only when asking a question. They include who, whose, whom, which, and what.

Ex. Who are you?

What do you want?

Whose bright idea was it to let her pick the restau-rant?

Intransitive VerbWhen a verb has no direct object it is called an intransitive verb. It does not transfer (that’s where we get that word transitive) any action from one noun to another. Intransi-tive verbs talk about actions that affect no one and noth-ing other than the subject itself.

Ex. Fran slept. (You would never ask, “What did Fran sleep?” or “Who did she sleep?” Those questions don’t even make sense! Fran did the sleeping, and the sleeping affected Fran herself.)

John jumped. (You don’t need to ask, “What did John jump?” John did the jumping. His body jumped.)

ItalicsItalics is a printing term that refers to type that is slightly slanted. In this sentence, the word xylophone is in italics. If you underline handwritten text it is normally set in italics when typeset. Italics are usually used for emphasis or ease of identification.

Ex. To identify titles of books, magazine titles, and album titles. (Michael is reading The Design of Everyday Things. Sondra has a subscription to Bon Appetit. MercyMe’s song “I Can Only Imagine” is on the album Almost There.)




To add emphasis to a particular word or phrase. (No wonder you’re lost! I told you to take the right turn in Albuquerque, not the left.)

To identify words being used. (The word so is a coordinating conjunction.)

To show that a word is in a foreign language. (Mix it all up and voila, you have a masterpiece.)

Linking VerbA linking verb describes the way things are or seem to be. Linking verbs help identify connections between subjects and other nouns or adjectives. The nouns and adjectives to which linking verbs tie their subjects are called predi-cate nouns and predicate adjectives.

Ex. Rutabagas are bitter. (are is the linking verb and bitter is the predicate adjective)

Turkeys are birds. (are is the linking verb and birds is the predicate noun)

Water seems clear. (seems is the linking verb and clear is the predicate adjective)

TELL ME MORE!Notice that besides speaking of things in unmistakably true and unchanging states, there are a number of linking verbs that suggest mere belief or sense that something is true (feel, look, smell, etc. He looks tall) or that suggest the situation may be changing (grow, become, stay, etc. He grew taller).

A linking verb connects a subject with a noun, no matter how many adjectives modify that noun. The linking verb connects the subject with the predicate noun; it does not connect the subject with the adjectives.

Ex. The condor is a bird. (The linking verb is connects the subject, condor, and the predicate noun, bird.)

The condor is big. (The linking verb is connects the subject, condor, to the predicate adjective, big.)

The condor is a big bird. (The adjective big and the article a refer to and modify our understand-ing of the noun bird. They do not directly refer to the noun condor. [We know that they refer to condor only because we first know that they refer to bird.] The linking verb is connects the subject, condor, to the predicate noun, bird. The fact that the predicate includes two adjectives as well does not alter the fact that the sentence includes a predicate noun and not any predicate adjectives.)

Linking verbs are relatively weak verbs because—as their names explain—they simply link; they don’t do anything! Whenever possible, you should replace linking verbs with active verbs—verbs that actually do something. Sentences with active verbs are much more enjoyable to read. Com-mon linking verbs include the following: are, am, appear,

stay, was, small, sound, look, were, seem, taste, turn, be, grow, feel, get, been, become, and remain.

MarginThe margin is the space around the outside edges of a sheet of paper beyond the printed area.

Ex. This page you are reading has top, bottom, left, and right margins.

MetaphorA metaphor is an analogy that compares two different things using imaginative phrases to make them seem the same when they are really different. Instead of being directly compared, though, one thing is actually said to be another. In each case, the statement is not literally true, but it communicates something that is true in a powerful way. The reader is expected to interpret what the truth is.

Ex. She is ice. (Is she frozen in water? No, but she is cold!)

He was a rock. (Is he an actual rock? No, but his muscles are solid and hard!)

TELL ME MORE!A metaphor compares two things, but doesn’t tell us it is making a comparison. We have to figure that out.

Metaphors help readers to understand and remember better what, exactly, an author is talking about. They help us form pictures in our minds. The phrase, “A man’s home is his castle,” is an example of a metaphor. Clearly, most men’s homes (your father’s home, for example!) are not castles. So what does this phrase mean? It means a man’s home is supposed to be a place of refuge, a place of pro-tection from outside pressures.

David used a metaphor when he said that “[God’s] word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).

Is God’s word truly a lamp? Does it produce physical light? No. But it is like a lamp, isn’t it? If you were to think of your life as being like a path, then God’s word is like a lamp. God’s word helps you to see your way through life.

Here is another biblical example of a metaphor. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches; if a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit” (John 15:5). Clearly, Jesus was not (and is not) a fruit vine. And neither you nor I nor anyone else Jesus was talking to were or are branches on a vine. None of us produces grapes. But there is a sense in which what Jesus said is true. Isn’t it true that in the same way a branch must remain connected to the grape vine if it is to bear fruit, so, too, we must remain con-nected to Jesus if our lives are to be fruitful?

Advertisers often use metaphors to market their prod-ucts. Red Bull claims their energy beverage is “the drink that gives you wings.” This is a metaphor, because it is not telling you Red Bull is like having wings or is as good as


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having wings, but rather that it gives you wings. Obviously, Red Bull does not literally give you wings. But the makers of Red Bull want you to think of their drink as uplifting and energizing. Likewise, the advertisements for the Yellow Pages say you should, “let your fingers do the walking™.” They don’t mean you should stand on your hands and walk upside-down on your fingers. They mean that if you use the yellow pages you can discover what you need with your fingers, so you don’t have to walk around town to find it.

Besides helping us to “see” what they are talking about, authors can use metaphors to cause readers to think more deeply about things. Indeed, metaphors can impart deep-er significance. Orthodox and Roman Catholic Christians, for instance, say Jesus’ statement at the Last Supper, “this is My Body. . . this is My Blood,” is to be understood literally (at Communion the bread and the wine actually become Jesus’ body and blood). Protestants say Jesus’ statement is to be understood metaphorically or symbolically. Even if the Protestants’ interpretation is correct, no Protestant would want to suggest that Jesus was setting up a simple analogy: “this bread is like My Body” or “this wine is like My Blood.” They would say Jesus meant something more, something deeper. Exactly what He was saying, exactly how deep was His symbolism and how obscure His meta-phor: that is a matter of great debate.

MeterMeter is the “beat” of a piece of writing. Poetry, for exam-ple, can feature many different types of patterned repeti-tion of stressed and unstressed syllables, giving poems a “feel” that often complements what their words express.

Ex. Many of Dr. Seuss’ books feature delightful meter as a primary element.

Modal Verb (see Phrasal Verb)

Narrative ParagraphA narrative paragraph tells a story; it expresses what hap-pened. It is distinct from, though it may contain elements of, a persuasive, expository, or descriptive paragraph.

Ex. Martha shut the door. She couldn’t believe this was happening. What would the others think? She turned the key and locked the deadbolt. Stooping, she slid the key through the mail slot at the bottom of the door. With a tear in her eye, she turned and walked down the stairs for the last time.

Negative StatementA negative statement expresses that something is not true. Negative statements usually feature words such as no, not, nothing, or no one.

Ex. I am not hot. There is nothing to see here. We have no more money.

TELL ME MORE!No and not can also be adjectives or adverbs that modify nouns, adjectives, verbs, or other adverbs.

Ex. Modifying an adjective: That is not a cold duck. (Negating cold)

Modifying a noun: That is not a duck. (Negating duck)

Modifying a verb: He is not flying. (Negating fly-ing)

Modifying an adverb: He’s not flying high. (Negat-ing high)

Nonrestrictive Clause or PhraseA nonrestrictive clause or phrase adds information that is interesting but not essential to the meaning of a sentence. You can tell that a clause is nonrestrictive if the meaning of the sentence does not change when you remove it. When you include a nonrestrictive clause or phrase, sur-round it by commas.

Ex. I smiled, resting a weary arm on my friend’s shoul-der. (The phrase resting a weary arm on my friend’s shoulder certainly adds information, but it is not essential to understanding the message of the sentence: I smiled.)

In my house, small as it is, I can’t hear the kids when they are in the basement. (That the house is small is interesting, but does not affect the mean-ing of the sentence: I can’t hear the kids when they are in the basement.)

TELL ME MORE!There is often confusion about the proper usage of the words that and which. That should be used at the begin-ning of restrictive clauses, while which should be used at the beginning of nonrestrictive clauses.

Ex. The ape that attacked the child was caught yes-terday.

The ape, which many people find repulsive, is a jungle dweller.




Non-vocalized SoundsA non-vocalized sound is created when you say a word and/or create sound without using your vocal chords. You can tell if a sound is non-vocalized by placing your finger-tips on your throat.

Ex. Say the /p/ or /k/ sound. You should feel no vibra-tions. Sometimes the suffix -ed is non-vocalized (it sounds like /t/—as in fixed).

NounNouns are the most important parts of speech to under-stand. Nouns name people, places, things, or ideas. The first word you ever learned was probably a noun—maybe a person (Mama or Dada) or a favorite toy (Pooh). Nouns come in three forms: proper, common, and pronouns. Proper nouns are names; common nouns speak of the general kind of thing that proper nouns name; pronouns are used in place of proper and common nouns.

Ex. People: man (common noun); Phil (proper noun); him (pronoun)

Places: city (common noun); Denver (proper noun); Paraguay (proper noun)

Things: boat (common noun); Queen Mary (proper noun); it (pronoun)

Ideas, concepts, or feelings: love (common noun); freedom (common noun)

TELL ME MORE!Nouns have many functions. For example, nouns can operate in a sentence as: subjects, direct objects, indirect objects, objects of prepositions, appositives, or predicate nouns. Each of these functions is described in greater detail in its own section of this appendix.

Nouns of Direct AddressA noun of direct address identifies to whom one is speak-ing. Always use commas to set off nouns of direct address from the rest of the sentence in which they appear.

Ex. “Mom, do I have to?” “Of course, Karleen, you know you have to.” “Would you like fries with that, Mr. Ballard?”

NumeralsNumbers can either be spelled out (four, nine) or written as numerals (4, 9). There are many rules that govern when to use words and when to use numerals.

Ex. For numbers one to nine, use words; for numbers 10 & above, use numerals.

Use a combination for large numbers (7.9 trillion).

Maintain consistency if numbers are being com-pared or contrasted (four to ten or 4 to 10).

Use numerals for statistics, decimals, pages, chapters, and identifications (33%, 14.7, page 3, chapter 6, 555-1234, 14 Memory Lane, January 13, 1971, A.D. 36)

Use words for numbers at the start of a sentence (Twelve students are absent today).

For time and money, use numerals if abbrevia-tions or symbols are used, but use words if spelled out (3:30 P.M., six o’clock, fifty dollars, $100).

Object (see Direct Object or Indirect Object)

Object Complement (see Direct Object)

Object of the PrepositionThe object of a preposition is the noun or pronoun whose meaning is attached to a preposition, i.e., the noun or pronoun helping to complete the meaning of the preposi-tion. The preposition and the object of the preposition, together, form a prepositional phrase.

Ex. Up the chimney (Up is the preposition: it estab-lishes direction; chimney is the object of the preposition: it tells us where the subject went up.)

Across the bay (Across is the preposition: it estab-lishes direction; bay is the object of the preposi-tion: it tells us where or what the subject went across.)

OnomatopoeiaOnomatopoeia means a word that imitates the sound it represents.

Ex. splash, buzz, purr, boom, crash

PalindromeA palindrome is a word, or group of words, that spells the same thing frontward and backward.

Ex. mom, pop, sis, gag, race car, Stanley Yelnats

ParagraphA paragraph is a group of sentences that convey a com-mon idea or hold together in a logical manner. For example, a paragraph of dialogue may not even include a complete thought, but it holds together logically, be-cause it conveys the complete expression of one speaker. A paragraph may consist of just a couple of sentences or hundreds of sentences. Paragraphs are set apart from one another either by indenting the first line of each paragraph by four or five spaces or placing extra space between them.

Ex. Duane really missed off-roading. Even though he loved his minivan, he longed for the days when


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he could attack a backwoods trail and see sights reserved for the truly adventurous. Perhaps his wife would buy him a new four-wheel-drive ve-hicle for his birthday. What a gift that would be!

TELL ME MORE!Four or five hundred years ago, you could find authors who wrote single sentences that lasted a full page or more; they would then write paragraphs that lasted for several pages. Nowadays, you would be hard-pressed to find a well-known author who writes sentences that are longer than three or four lines or paragraphs that are lon-ger than half a page at the most. In most books, you will find at least two paragraphs per page, and, generally, four, five, six, or more.

Unfortunately, there really is no definition of a paragraph that always makes sense and will always help you to write more effectively. There is a general guideline, though, that will help you decide whether you’re looking at a good paragraph or not: a well-written paragraph hangs togeth-er visually and it hangs together logically.

Visually: Paragraphs are groups of sentences. In each paragraph, the sentences are strung end to end: after the final punctuation of one sentence, there is a space, and then the next sentence begins. Because of the way English is written, and because of the manner in which words are printed on a page, paragraphs are laid out in blocks, with a left margin and a right margin: a line on the left and a line on the right beyond which no letters are written.

The first character of the first sentence in a paragraph is normally indented four or five characters from the left margin. Otherwise, every line begins at the same spot on the left margin. While the left margin forms a perfectly straight line, and every line begins at the same spot rela-tive to the left edge of the page, the right margin is usually more ragged: the lines extend to within a few spaces on either side of a vertical line down the right-hand side of the page (or column). Some people add a little bit of verti-cal space between paragraphs. That is what holds para-graphs together visually.

Logically: What causes paragraphs to hang together logi-cally is not as clear. Logically, a paragraph should be a set of sentences about “the same subject.” But what does that mean? An entire book is normally about one topic! The question is: how big a topic should one cover within a single paragraph? And there is more! What if you are not really writing about a subject, but you’re telling a story? Or what if you’re recounting a conversation between two people? What if you’re trying to present an argument? …

Paragraph BreakA paragraph break indicates a separation between para-graphs or a transition to a new paragraph.

Ex. When different speakers talk to one another, each person’s speech is placed in its own paragraph, thereby requiring frequent paragraph breaks.

ParenthesesParentheses [ ( ) ] are marks of punctuation used to set off additional explanatory material that might otherwise disrupt regular sentence structure.

Ex. Kaitlyn (my dog) loves to play in the snow.

Participial PhraseA participial phrase consists of a participle plus any help-ing verbs, adverbs, objects, or other words whose mean-ings are directly tied to the participle. Participial phrases, like participles, serve as adjectives.

Ex. Eating her lunch, Kelly discovered a worm in an apple. (the participle eating takes the direct ob-ject lunch and modifies the proper noun Kelly)

Having hit the sack at 10 o’clock, Pam was ready to milk the cows at dawn. (the participle having hit takes the object sack and modifies the proper noun Pam)

ParticipleA participle is a verb that acts as an adjective. These verbs most often end with -ing or -ed. Since participles are verbs that act like adjectives, they are sometimes called verbal adjectives.

Ex. Climbing equipment can be expensive! Ryan fell into the churning water. Jay thinks that thunder is terrifying.

TELL ME MORE!Participles can take objects, just like regular verbs do. They can also be modified by helping verbs and adverbs, just as regular verbs can be modified. Participles are good in-dicators of passive sentences. Try to eliminate the passive voice whenever possible! See Voice.

Ex. Eating her lunch, Kelly discovered a worm in an apple. (the participle eating takes the direct ob-ject lunch and modifies the proper noun Kelly)

Having hit the sack at 10 o’clock, Pam was ready to milk the cows at dawn. (the participle having hit takes the object sack and modifies the proper noun Pam)




Passive Voice (see Voice)

Past Tense (see Verb Tense)

Perfect Tense (see Verb Tense)

PeriodThe period (.) is the mark of punctuation used at the end of sentences that make a statement, request, or mild com-mand. It is also used after abbreviations or initials and as a decimal.

Ex. The aardvark is Phil’s favorite animal.

Mr. Whelan entered the U.S. at exactly 9:42p.m.

The population of Bolinville is about 1.2 million people.

Personifi cationPersonification means giving an inanimate object human qualities.

Ex. The wind moaned and breathed, speaking to all that winter is here.

The sun smiled on the park, calling children from all around to come and play.

Persuasive ParagraphA persuasive paragraph seeks to convince (persuade) its audience that something is true or that a particular view-point is preferred. Persuasive paragraphs are distinct from, though they may contain elements of, narrative, exposi-tory, or descriptive paragraphs.

Ex. Our state should have a mandatory seatbelt law. Using seatbelts has proven to be a power-ful factor in reducing traffic-related fatalities and injuries. Plus, it is a sad, but proven fact that some people will simply not do certain things in their best interest unless forced to do so.

TELL ME MORE!Have you ever seen a truly convincing or persuasive paragraph? Plenty of paragraphs are parts of much longer persuasive essays. But it’s pretty tough to persuade some-one with only one paragraph! Still, some paragraphs are obviously meant to persuade rather than merely explain or expose.

Phrasal VerbA phrasal (or modal) verb is a verb that requires another word—a helping verb, an infinitive, or a prepositional adverb—in order to make sense.

Ex. That coat stands out. (Coats don’t stand. The preposition out is part of the phrasal verb stand out.)

They get along well together. (The sentence has no direct object for them to get. The preposition along is a part of the phrasal verb get along.)

The criminal was picked up by the police. (Up and by are both prepositions; but up does not indicate, as you might expect, a direction. Here, the preposi-tion up is a part of the phrasal verb picked up.)

Note: Sometimes the direct object of a phrasal verb (the thing that the phrasal verb affects) may come between the base verb and the preposition: Hand over the keys. –or- Hand them over.

PhraseA phrase is a group of words that is missing a subject, a predicate, or both. Together, these words express meaning within a clause or sentence. Phrases commonly fulfill the function of a single word—a noun, a verb, an adjective, or an adverb, etc. A phrase always has two or more words but is never a complete sentence.

Ex. Chasing the cat is a participial phrase in which the cat is the object of the participle chasing, and the participle chasing is, by definition, an adjective. There is no subject or predicate.

Under the bridge is a prepositional phrase that could be used in a sentence as an adjective to describe where something is or as an adverb to describe where something is occurring.

Running from the law is a gerund phrase that could be used as the subject of a sentence.

PluralPlural means there is more than one of something. Usually, plurals are formed by adding s to the singular version of a noun. However, there are many exceptions to this rule.

Ex. Mr. Meyers has one dog. We have three dogs.

John has a child named Amy. Jason has three children named Jonathan, Julia, and Jenna.

Sarah grabbed one tomato. Old Man Jenkins stuffed four tomatoes into his bag.

I need a dish! The dishes are over there.

Waiter! There’s a fly in my soup! Get over it. There are flies everywhere in here.

This donkey won’t move. Well, donkeys are known for being stubborn.


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My name is Abby. There are three Abbys in my class.

I love my wife. The wives of pastors must be very patient people.

My roof is leaking. After the hurricane, all the roofs in town are leaking.

I love my pet goose. He stays with me even when all the other geese fly south for the winter.

My brother-in-law used to live in a yurt. You can never have too many brothers-in-law.

My teacher gave us a quiz today. She has given us three quizzes this week!

Possessive NounA possessive noun—meaning that it owns something else—will end with an apostrophe-s (’s) or s-apostrophe (s’).

Ex. Matt and Jean’s pig (the pig belongs to Matt and Jean)

Ms. Andersen’s armadillo (the armadillo belongs to Ms. Andersen)

The books’ covers (the covers are owned by more than one book)

Bess’s cow (the cow belongs to Bess)

Mr. Hernandez’s speakers (the speakers belong belong to Mr. Hernandez)

TELL ME MORE!What if someone says Andy’s ten? Does that mean “the ten belongs to Andy”? Yes, if it’s a $10 bill. More likely, it is a contraction meaning “Andy is ten.”

Also be aware that, although things may sound similar, the possessive changes the meaning:

The chipmunks are playing. (more than one chip-munk is playing)

The chipmunk’s asleep. (one chipmunk is asleep)

The squirrel is eating the chipmunk’s food. (the food belongs to the chipmunk)

I found the chipmunks’ house. (the house belongs to the chipmunks)

When more than one person in a series owns something, only attach the apostrophe-s (’s) to the last person.

Ex. Randy and Tim’s aardvark ran away. (the aardvark is owned by both of them)

Randy’s and Tim’s aardvarks love to play together. (each owns his own aardvark)

Possessive PronounA possessive pronoun is a special form of pronoun that shows possession. To make a possessive pronoun, do not add an apostrophe-s (’s) or an s-apostrophe (s’) to the root pronoun. Instead, use a special form of the pronoun.

Ex. If I own something, it is my thing, or mine. If we own something, it is our thing, or ours. If you own something, it is your thing, or yours. If he owns something, it is his thing, or his. If she owns something, it is her thing, or hers. If it owns something, it is its thing, or its. If they own something, it is their thing, or theirs.

NOTE: Do not use apostrophes on any possessive pro-noun. None. Never. Do not ever add an apostrophe to any possessive pronoun!

PredicateThe predicate is everything other than the subject in a clause. Every clause or sentence has a predicate. The predicate tells you about the subject: what the subject did, what happened to it, or what it “is.” A predicate must always include a verb. In fact, the simplest predicate is a verb all by itself. The verb, by itself, is called the simple predicate. A compound predicate is one in which there are two or more simple predicates. The complete predicate is everything other than the complete subject in a clause, i.e., the simple or compound predicate plus all its modifiers.

Ex. Simple: Boa constrictors slither.

Compound: Boa constrictors slither through the jungle and squeeze unsuspecting prey.

Complete: Boa constrictors sleep for hours at a time.

TELL ME MORE!You will often find clauses in which the predicate is merely understood: Pamela asked, “Would you please bring me a glass of water?” “I might,” Philip replied. We know what Philip means, but his sentence does not include the complete predicate: “I might bring you a glass of water.” The predicate is implied.

Predicate AdjectiveA predicate adjective is an adjective that comes after a linking verb and modifies or describes the subject of a sentence. See also Linking Verb.

Ex. Rutabagas are bitter. (are is the linking verb; bitter is the predicate adjective)

Water seems clear. (seems is the linking verb; clear is the predicate adjective)




Predicate NounA predicate noun is a noun that comes after a linking verb and defines or describes the subject of a sentence. See also Linking Verb.

Ex. Frogs are amphibians. (are is the linking verb; amphibians is the predicate noun)

Turkeys are birds. (are is the linking verb; birds is the predicate noun)

Prefi xA prefix is a letter combination added to the begin-ning of a root word to change its meaning. Think of pre-fixes as the letters before (“pre”) the root word.

Ex. Un-, when added to a root word, reverses its meaning. (Someone can do something, and someone else can undo it. One person may say an idea is important, and someone else may say it’s unimportant.)

Im- has a similar effect. (One person may think that something is possible, but another may be-lieve it’s impossible.)

PrepositionA preposition tells you where, when, or how something takes place. Most prepositions indicate direction or posi-tion (notice the word position within the word preposition).

Ex. on, at, in, around, through, towards, away from, under, over, up, down, behind

Christian was a waiter at the hotel.

Sandy found a half dollar in the sand.

Wanda went to her friend’s house.

Four prepositions—of, by, for, and with—don’t indicate direction or position. However, they speak of logical rela-tions between things.

Ex. Life is like a box of chocolates.

Friends are for life.

I will stand by you.

Randy went to Mexico with Linda.

TELL ME MORE!Prepositions normally require an object—a noun—called the object of the preposition. The object of the preposi-tion tells you the cause of the action or where it takes place (or by whom or what it happens). Some prepositions consist of more than one word. Many of these multi-word prepositions include the word of.

Ex. because of, in front of, to the side of

Besides standing at the heads of prepositional phrases, prepositions often modify verbs. Grammarians speak of these verb-modifying prepositions as either adverbs or

parts of phrasal verbs. Prepositions serve as adverbs when there is no object of the preposition.

Ex. Kristen put the coffee cup down. She looked up.

Prepositional PhraseA prepositional phrase is a phrase that includes the preposition, its object, and any words—adjectives and/or adverbs—that modify the object. Prepositional phrases almost always serve as adjectives or adverbs. You can save yourself a lot of time when you’re trying to figure out the parts of a sentence if you identify the prepositional phrases first.

Ex. The dog ran up the ladder. (Up is the preposition; it shows a direction or relationship in space or time; ladder is the object of the preposition. Up the ladder is the prepositional phrase. The phrase as a whole serves as an adverb because it modi-fies the verb ran. It tells where the dog ran.)

Ken called in the dark. (In is the preposition; it shows a position in space or time; dark is the ob-ject of the preposition. In the dark is the preposi-tional phrase that serves as an adverb, because it modifies the verb called. It tells where Ken called.)

TELL ME MORE!You will probably be able to “feel” when a preposition doesn’t belong in a prepositional phrase. The words that you would think should form the phrase won’t “make sense” together. They certainly won’t act as adjectives or adverbs!

Ex. In the sentence The dog ran up the ladder, up the ladder makes sense as a prepositional phrase, because it also makes sense as an adverb: the phrase tells you where to run.

But in the sentence Hand over the keys, over the keys makes no sense as a prepositional phrase, because it doesn’t modify or explain the verb hand. However, the keys makes sense as the direct object of the phrasal verb hand over. Indeed, if the keys was not part of this phrase or clause, we would be hard-pressed to know what the person was supposed to hand or hand over. We need a direct object, and if the keys is supposed to be the object of the preposi-tion over rather than the direct object of the verbal phrase hand over, we have real problems!

If you find a prepositional phrase at the head of a sen-tence, it can serve as a noun as well, but writing this way is discouraged.

Ex. During communion is not a good time to talk.

Back on the farm is where I long to be.

Present Tense (see Verb Tense)


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PronounA pronoun is a noun substitute, i.e., it takes the place of a common noun or proper noun.

Ex. he, him, his, she, her, hers, it, its, they, them, their, theirs, we, you, I, us, me

TELL ME MORE!You must use a common or proper noun before you use a pronoun. The noun or pronoun to which a pronoun refers is called the pronoun’s antecedent. All pronouns require clear antecedents.

Ex. Christian likes to wear pink shirts. People tell him the color doesn’t look good on him, but he doesn’t care. (Christian is the clear antecedent of the pronouns him and he in the second sentence. There is no confusion here.)

Here is an example of poor pronoun usage: Bruce and Alex were talking. Bruce said he could marry Vivian, because he didn’t mind if Vivian didn’t like him. (There is no way of know-ing what the writer means each time the word he or him is used in the second sentence. The pronouns [he and him] do not have clear antecedents that tell the reader who “he” is.)

Relative pronouns connect (relate) phrases or clauses to nouns or other pronouns. The most common relative pronouns are who, whoever, which, and that.

Ex. The anteater who runs the fastest usually wins the race.

Indefinite pronouns are pronouns that refer to nothing in particular. The most common indefinite pronouns are everybody, anybody, somebody, all, each, every, some, none, and one.

Ex. Everybody was excited about the big anteater race.

Pronoun—CaseEach personal pronoun has three cases:

1. Nominative (naming)—when the pronoun is the subject of a sentence (I, we, you, he, she, it, they)

2. Objective—when the pronoun is the object of the sentence (me, us, you, him, her, it, them)

3. Possessive—when the pronoun owns something (my, mine, our, your, his, her, its, their).

Ex. The table below shows the correct pronouns to use depending on the case, person, and number of the noun:

NOTE: Except for the neuter, you cannot substitute the first and third person nominative and objective cases. For example, you can’t say, “My mom gave I (nominative case) a dollar.” You have to say, “My mom gave me (objective case) a dollar.”

Pronoun—PersonThe person of a pronoun gives more information about the pronoun. When two people are communicating, whoever is speaking is called the first person, whoever is being spoken to is called the second person, and anyone or anything being spoken about is called the third person.

Ex. First person: I, me, my/mine, we, us,our/ours (only people who are talking use these pronouns)

Second person: you, your, yours (a speaker will use these words only to refer to the person[s] to whom he is speaking)

Third person: he, him, his, she, her, hers, they, them, their/theirs, it, its (except in very strange circum-stances, a person will use these words to refer only to people or objects that are not part of the conversation)

Proper NounA proper noun is the name of a particular person, place, or thing.

Ex. Winston Churchill (proper) (a corresponding com-mon noun would be man)

San Francisco (proper) (a corresponding common noun would be city)

Denver Nuggets (proper) (a corresponding com-mon noun would be team)

PunctuationA punctuation mark is a symbol used within or at the end of a sentence to clarify meaning.

Ex. comma (,) period (.) exclamation point (!) question mark (?) colon (:) semicolon (;) hyphen (-) dash (—) quotation marks (“ ”) apostrophe (’) brackets ([ ]) parentheses ( )

Quantifi erA quantifier is a special adjective that always comes imme-diately before the noun it modifies. Quantifiers tell us how many or how much of a thing we’re talking about.

Ex. Twenty bags of flour. No papayas. A few cordless screwdrivers. All the bed bugs.




Person/Number Nominative/Subject Possessive Objective/Object

1st/Singular I went to bed. That is my bed. That hurt me.

1st/Plural We went to bed. Those are our beds. That hurt us.

2nd/Singular You went to bed. That is your bed. That hurt you.

2nd/Plural You went to bed. Those are your beds. That hurt you.

3rd/Sing Masc He went to bed. That is his bed. That hurt him.

3rd/Sing Fem She went to bed. That is her bed. That hurt her.

3rd/Sing Neut It went to bed. That is its bed. That hurt it.

3rd/Plural They went to bed. Those are their beds. That hurt them.

TELL ME MORE!If they are used by themselves, most quantifiers can serve as pronouns.

Ex. There are none left. I own about twenty. Hey! I said I wanted two!

Question MarkThe question mark (?) is the punctuation mark used at the end of a sentence that asks a direct question. It can also be used within parentheses to indicate uncertainty. Sentenc-es with question marks are called interrogative.

Ex. Where is my armadillo? The armadillo is the fastest (?) mammal native

to Arizona.

Quotation MarksQuotation marks (“ ”) are marks of punctuation used to indicate exactly what someone said. Quotation marks are placed immediately before and after what was said. If the words aren’t being quoted exactly as they were spoken, then they should not be placed inside quotation marks.

Ex. Maggie said, “Give me the ball, Seth.” Maggie asked Seth to give her the ball.

Quotation marks are also used for titles of certain works and to set off special words or phrases.

Ex. “Like A Rolling Stone” (song title) Pam is not allowed to use the phrase “bling

bling” around her teenage daughter.

TELL ME MORE!All end punctuation (commas, periods, question marks, etc.) must be placed inside (before) the closing quotation mark.

Ex. “Come to the baseball game,” he said. “You’ll have a great time.”

If the quotation is a question, the question mark should come inside the closing quotation mark. If, however, the quotation itself is not a question, but you are asking a question about the quotation, then the question mark is placed outside of the quotation mark.

Ex. “Am I dreaming?” Did she really hear him say “You must have been

dreaming”?

Similarly, with exclamation points, if the quotation itself is an exclamation, then the exclamation point is placed inside the final quotation mark. If the quotation is not an excla-mation, but you are exclaiming about the quotation, then the exclamation point should come outside the quote.

Ex. “You are amazing!” Imagine, he couldn’t remember her saying “You

are amazing”!

The phrase that indicates who said whatever it is you’re quoting—Daren said, Jenny yelled, etc.—is called the at-tribution. (See Attribution.)

A regular quotation is enclosed within regular, double quotation marks (“ ”). If the person being quoted then quotes someone else, the quote he is quoting is enclosed within single quotation marks (‘ ’). If this quote-within-a-quote should happen also to include a quote, this third quote-within-a-quote-within-a-quote will be enclosed within double quotes once more . . . and so the pattern would continue.

If you modify the words that someone said in any way your quotation is called an indirect quotation. You will not use quotation marks to indicate indirect quotations.

Ex. There are two common ways authors modify indirect quotations:

They change the tense of the verbs from present to past. Instead of writing, Chicken Little yelled, “The sky is falling!” (present tense: the sky is fall-ing), they will write, Chicken Little yelled that the sky was falling (past tense: the sky was falling).


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They shift the person of the pronouns, rephrasing what would have been, originally, a first-person reference into a second-person reference. Instead of writing, Chicken Little yelled, “I’m sure the sky is falling!” (first-person: I’m sure), they will write, Chicken Little yelled that she was sure the sky was falling (third-person: she was sure).

Refl exive PronounA reflexive pronoun is a pronoun with the -self or –selves suffix. A reflexive pronoun is used as the object of a sen-tence when referring back to the subject of the sentence.

Ex. Randy hurt himself. Linda talks to herself.

Relative Clause (see Clause)

Relative Pronoun (see Pronoun)

Restrictive Clause or PhraseA restrictive clause or phrase adds information that is essential to the meaning of a sentence. Unlike with a non-restrictive clause or phrase, you should not set off a restric-tive clause or phrase with commas, parentheses, dashes, or any other punctuation that might set it apart from the rest of the sentence.

Ex. Customers with strollers may not use the escala-tor. (If you remove the phrase with strollers, the meaning of the sentence would change.)

You can’t get there from here. (The meaning of this sentence changes if you remove the restric-tive phrase from here. Without that essential phrase, the sentence would mean, simply, you can’t get there at all!)

TELL ME MORE!Some appositives, however, are restrictive; they narrow or focus the meaning of the noun they are renaming or describing. You should not surround restrictive appositives with commas.

Ex. My favorite is the author Robert Ludlum.

The band Relient K just produced its first gold album.

I think his ferret Hildegard is spoiled.

There is often confusion about the proper usage of the words that and which. That should be used at the begin-ning of restrictive clauses, while which should be used at the beginning of nonrestrictive clauses.

Ex. The ape that attacked the child was caught yes-terday.

The ape, which many people find repulsive, is a jungle dweller.

Rhetorical QuestionA rhetorical question is a question for which no answer is expected because the answer is so obvious or is simply not required.

Ex. Are you kidding? Can you believe it?

RhymeRhyme is a term used to describe words with endings that sound very similar. Words do not need to be spelled simi-larly in order to rhyme; they only need to sound the same.

Ex. hiking/biking mad/dad red/bed/head

Root WordAlthough many words come in different forms, each word has a root or core meaning. We can add parts—suffixes and/or prefixes—to the root word to change its meaning.

Ex. want: wants, wanting, wanted blink: blinks, blinking, blinked snow: snows, snowing, snowed

SemicolonThe semicolon (;) is a punctuation mark that acts like a weak period or a strong comma. The semicolon acts as a weak period when it replaces the period at the end of one sentence and stitches that sentence together with the next to form a single sentence. It acts as a strong comma by clearly showing the breaks between the members of a series (especially when one [or more] of the clauses or phrases in a series already contains commas).

Ex. I did not call myself a musician; I told people that I played the guitar. (joining two or more indepen-dent clauses that are not con-nected with a coordinating conjunction)

I never forget to bring my beach gear when I go to the ocean—sun block, visor, and sunglasses; snorkel, fins, and water wings; towel, bathing suit, and flip flops. (separating groups of words that already contain commas)

SentenceA sentence is a group of words that (1) has a subject (who or what the sentence is about), (2) has a predicate (a verb) that tells you something about the subject, and (3) ex-presses a complete thought. A sentence, then, will usually have at least two words. There are two other important rules about sentences: (1) a sentence always begins with a capital letter; and (2) a sentence always ends with a clos-ing punctuation mark—either a period, a question mark, or an exclamation point.




Ex. Karleen ran. Warren jumped over the river! Did Margaret fall in the pool?

TELL ME MORE!Sentences come in four basic structures: simple, com-pound, complex, and compound-complex. Each sentence is designed to fulfill one of four functions: declarative, im-perative, interrogative, or exclamatory. Occasionally, you may see one-word sentences. One-word sentences always occur in the midst of other sentences. They don’t make any sense on their own, so the sentences that surround them must supply the missing meanings.

Ex. “Hey!” or “Wow!” or “Really?” or “Run!”

Sentence FragmentA sentence fragment is one or more words that do not form a complete thought punctuated as a sentence. It is not a complete sentence, because it is missing a subject, a predicate, or both. A sentence fragment may also be a subordinate clause.

Ex. Penguins across the ice. (The sentence fragment is a missing a verb. Adding a verb will make it a complete sentence: Penguins skated across the ice.)

When the Zamboni was finished. (This sentence fragment is a subordinate clause. Adding an inde-pendent clause will make it a complete sentence: When the Zamboni was finished, penguins skated across the ice.)

Spinning and doing pirouettes. The penguins rocked the house. (The sentence fragment Spinning and doing pirouettes is followed by a complete sentence. The two can be joined to form one complete sentence: Spinning and doing pirouettes, the penguins rocked the house.)

SimileA simile is an analogy that compares two things that are not obviously similar and suggests there are similarities. Similes use the word like or as.

Ex. Marie was stiff as a board. Ed was cold as ice. The seven penguins were like princesses. Flash was fast as lightning. Larry was cool as a cucumber.

TELL ME MORE!Similes help readers to understand and remember better what, exactly, an author is talking about. They help us form pictures in our minds. Here is a simile from the Bible: “Like a club or a sword or a sharp arrow is the man who gives false testimony against his neighbor” (Proverbs 25:18). Clearly, Solomon wanted to compare a man’s false testimony to a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow. A man who

makes such a testimony is using a deadly weapon! Besides helping us to “see” what they are talking about, people use similes to cause those who hear them to think more deeply than if they spoke in a simpler manner. For instance, do you think you would pay as close attention or think as deeply about Solomon’s message if he had simply said, “A man who gives false testimony against his neighbor hurts his neighbor”?

When using similes, you also have to think about conno-tation, or what kind of feeling the word gives you. If you were trying to describe your dad’s new car, you might say it is “red as a cherry” or “red like an apple.” The words cherry and apple have pleasant connotations, and that pleasant feeling carries over to the car. You probably wouldn’t say the car is “red as blood.” The word blood gives a very differ-ent feeling and conjures up images of danger and injury. When you think about a new car, you don’t want to think about blood. It just doesn’t fit the mood. Make sure your similes fit the feeling you are trying to give.

Similes are frequently used in advertising. Chevrolet, for example, uses a simile when they say their trucks are “like a rock™.” This marketing campaign seeks to convince you that their trucks are strong, sturdy, and dependable. They compare their trucks to rocks not because the trucks are made out of sandstone or quartz but because the trucks have rock-like qualities. A similar example is when State Farm Insurance boasts, “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.” They want you to think that their company is reli-able and friendly in the same way a good neighbor is.

Simple Predicate (see Predicate)

Simple SentenceA simple sentence is a sentence comprised of a single independent clause, though it may have a compound subject and/or a compound predicate. A simple sentence can have one or more phrases, but it cannot have any dependent clauses.

Ex. The porcupine danced. The porcupine and the skunk danced. The skunk danced and sang with the porcupine.

Simple Subject (see Subject)

SingularSingular means there is one of something.

Ex. The singular form of geese is goose.

SlangSlang is the nonstandard vocabulary of a particular group or subculture, consisting usually of colorful figures of speech. Often used in fiction or personal writing, slang should be avoided in formal writing.


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Ex. Phil needs to seriously chill out. (Phil really needs to relax.)

Michael couldn’t believe his homey had ratted him out to the fuzz. (Michael couldn’t believe his friend had turned him over to the police.)

Slash (see Diagonal)

SubjectThe subject, which is always a noun or pronoun, is what a clause is about. Every clause has a subject. Subjects come in three varieties: simple, compound, and complete.

Ex. A simple subject is the noun or pronoun by itself. (Most apprentices obey their masters.)

A compound subject includes two or more simple subjects. (Ben and Jerry make ice cream.)

A complete subject includes not only a simple or compound subject, but also any words that modify or describe the subject—including adjec-tives, adverbs, and articles. (Most young appren-tices are careful to obey their masters.)

TELL ME MORE!Implied (or understood) Subject: You may occasion-ally notice that a sentence is missing a subject, yet it still makes sense! Why? Such sentences have implied (or un-derstood) subjects. The implied subject is understood by the reader, even though it is not stated. You will often find implied (or understood) subjects in sentences expressing a command.

Ex. Go to your room! (The subject of the sentence, you, is implied [or understood].)

Delayed Subject: Cleft sentences contain delayed sub-jects. The true subject of a cleft sentence is not there or it; the true subject—if there is one—is whatever noun follows the verb. See also Cleft Sentence.

Ex. It was Michael who came up with the new lunch plan. (It is not the subject of this cleft sentence; Michael is the delayed subject. It is an expletive. See also Expletive.)

Subject-Verb AgreementAll nouns (or subjects) have two forms. They can be either singular (one) or plural (more than one). Verbs also have two forms: one form for singular subjects and another for plural subjects. The verb must be in agreement with the subject (noun or pronoun).

Ex. The girl writes. The girls write. The dog eats quickly. The dogs eat quickly. My mom loves to cook. My parents love to cook.

Subjects and verbs must also agree in person. Subjects (nouns and pronouns) occur in first, second, and third

person. First person refers to one’s self or one’s own group. The first-person pronouns are I (singular) and we (plural). Second person refers to the person or group to whom you are speaking. The second-person pronoun is you (for both singular and plural).

When you are referring to someone or something that is neither first nor second person—“those people over there” or “that thing”—you are speaking in the third person. There are many pronouns for the third person. Correct usage of third-person pronouns depends on three things: (1) the number and gender of the thing you’re talking about; (2) whether what you’re talking about is a person or thing; and (3) whether it is the subject or the object of your conversation. The following chart summarizes correct third-person pronoun usage:

Gender Subject/Object Singular Plural

Malesubject he they

object him them

Femalesubject she they

object her them

Neutral (thing)

subject it they

object it them

TELL ME MORE!There are two cases where it is difficult to determine subject-verb agreement: when using a collective noun and when using proper names that include a plural noun.

Collective nouns always take singular verbs.

Ex. The word family is considered a collective noun because a family consists of more than one individual in one group. When you talk about your family, you say that it includes more than one person. The word includes is a verb in its singular form. The plural form of the same verb doesn’t even sound correct. (Your family include more than one person). If you feel that you must use a plural verb, then speak of the members of the collective noun (Your family members include . . .).

Proper names that include a plural noun also take singular verbs (like The Discoverers—a book by Daniel Boorstin). In these instances, the entire name is a proper noun, and it is a proper noun representing a single thing.

Ex. The Discoverers is a great book. (NOT The Discover-ers are a great book.)

Be careful to make sure that your nouns and pronouns don’t flip back and forth between singular and plural and between first, second, and third person.

Ex. A person came into a store to buy some bubble-gum, but then they forgot what they wanted. (This sentence started with a singular third-per-son subject [“a person”], but quickly shifted to a




plural third-person subject [“they”]. This is a very common error!)

Subordinate ClauseA subordinate (or dependent) clause contains a subject and a predicate but does not convey a complete thought and/or cannot stand alone as a sentence. It is subordinate to—depends on—a separate, independent clause to “hold it up.” Subordinate clauses begin with subordinating con-junctions and do not convey complete thoughts because of the subordinating conjunctions. See also Subordinating Conjunction.

Ex. Although everyone else wanted to eat Italian food

Because eagles are an endangered species

Subordinating ConjunctionA subordinating conjunction connects two clauses such that one of the clauses depends on the other to make sense. In other words, subordinating conjunctions place one clause under—subordinate to—the other, making it dependent on the other. Subordinating conjunctions always come at the beginning of a subordinate or depen-dent clause. See also Subordinate Clause.

Ex. Joe ran when he saw the bear. –or- When he saw the bear, Joe ran. (In both of these cases, when is the subordinating conjunction. We have to know that Joe ran before the clause when he saw the bear makes much sense.)

NOTE: The following is a list of some subordinating con-junctions: after, because, so that, when, although, before, that, where, as, if, though, whereas, as if, in order that, till, while, as long as, provided that, unless, as though, since, and until.

Suffi xA suffix is a part added to a root word after the root to change its meaning.

Ex. Book is a root word. If you add the suffix -s to it, it becomes books. What happened? Adding the suffix -s changes the meaning from singular to plural. Similarly, adding the suffix -ed to the end of the root word want changes it from present tense to past tense (wanted).

Syllable/Syllabication RuleA syllable is a small unit of speech made up of a single, un-interrupted sound. Words may have one or many syllables.

Ex. jump (one syllable—jump) jumping (two syllables—jump-ing) anesthesiologist (seven syllables—

an-es-the-si-ol-o-gist)

TELL ME MORE!The main reason to study syllables is learn to break words when they need to be broken. Syllables are the small-est parts of words that you are allowed to print on one line. If you need to break a word, you should write all the syllables you can on the first line, place a hyphen at the end of the line, and then finish the word on the line that follows.

Ex. A common break point between syllables is between two consonants that are between two vowels (vc/cv—with v indicating vowels, c consonants). The syllables in the word picnic, for example, break between the consonants c and n, which are, in turn, between two vowels—i and i, respectively (pic/nic).

SynonymSynonyms are words that have the same (or nearly the same) meaning.

Ex. big—large little—small

Tense (see Verb Tense)

Topic SentenceA topic sentence introduces the subject of a paragraph. Topic sentences let the reader know what the paragraph will discuss. A topic sentence is usually found at the begin-ning of each new paragraph. Not all paragraphs have topic sentences, but they should be used in every persuasive paragraph and every paragraph of a formal essay.

Ex. In first grade, Seth learned some of the harsh realities of life.

More people should know how to administer first aid.

Michael and I are not strangers.

TELL ME MORE!A topic sentence introduces the subject of a paragraph, but it doesn’t necessarily knock you over the head and scream this is what this paragraph is about! Instead, it whispers what the paragraph is about; it gives you hints. Using the sentences above, think about the paragraphs they introduce.

In first grade, Seth learned some of the harsh realities of life. What is this paragraph going to be about? What would you expect to find within it? You would probably expect to find a list of lessons about life that Seth learned in first grade. Maybe it will contain some stories about the circumstances and experiences by which he learned his lessons.

More people should know how to administer first aid. This paragraph probably has to do with first aid, why it is im-


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portant, and/or the reasons why more people should learn how to administer it.

Michael and I are not strangers. This paragraph is probably meant to demonstrate how and why the author and Mi-chael are not strangers. Put another way: it should tell how and why the author knows Michael.

Transitive VerbA transitive verb is a verb that requires two nouns: (1) the subject to do the action; and (2) the object to receive the action or to be acted upon. Transitive verbs transfer action from one noun to another.

Ex. Noah (subject) pushed the zebras (object) into the ark.

Ed read. (But what did Ed read? The label on a car-ton of milk? The newspaper? The Bible? You need to know who did the reading and what was read.)

Marie baked. (If someone told you that Marie baked, you would want to know what Marie baked. A cake? A pie? Cookies? The transitive verb bake requires a direct object.)

Understood Subject (see Subject)

VerbA verb is a word that tells what someone or something did, does, or will do, or about what it was, is, or will be. The two types of verbs are action verbs and being verbs.

Action verbs express actions. When an action verb is used, it is possible to write a sentence using only two words.

Ex. jump, talk, laugh, smile, shout

Sue jumps. (Which word is the noun? [Sue] Which is the verb? [jumps] Jumps tells what Sue is do-ing—it represents an action.)

Being verbs express states of being using the verb to be. They require at least three words, and the third word in a being-verb sentence is not a verb. The verb to be (in all its forms) links subjects with various characteristics. To be shows a logical connection between the subject and a noun or an adjective. In this way, a being verb clarifies the subject.

Ex. Margaret is a teacher. Zelda is angry. The celery is green. Bunny rabbits are fluffy.

The following chart summarizes the proper uses of the verb to be:

I had beenPast Perfect (Complete)we/you/they had been

he/she/it had been

I was

Pastwe/you/they were

he/she/it was

I have beenPast Progressive

(Continuing)we/you/they have been

he/she/it has been

I am

Presentwe/you/they are

he/she/it is

I will be

Futurewe/you/they will be

he/she/it will be

TELL ME MORE!If you find that many of your sentences include some form of the verb to be, you can be sure you’re writing in the pas-sive voice. Replace as many to be’s as you can with other, more active verbs!

For more information about specific types of verbs, see also Helping Verb, Intransitive Verb, Linking Verb, Phrasal Verb, or Transitive Verb.

Verb TenseA verb’s tense tells you when an action took, takes, or will take place—in the past, present, or future. We can speak of actions taking place in any one of a dozen or more tenses.

Ex. Simple (the action simply happens): - The simple past: The man walked. - The simple present: The man walks. - The simple future: The man will walk.

Continuing (the action keeps happening over a period of time):

- The continuing past: The man was walking. - The continuing present: The man is walking. - The continuing future: The man will be walking.

Perfect (the action has concluded prior to the time frame of which we are now speaking):

- The past perfect: The man had walked. - The present perfect: The man has walked. - The future perfect: The man will have walked.

NOTE: Many tenses require more than just some form of the root verb; they require helping or auxiliary verbs.




If you put together a list that shows various tenses of a single verb, the list is called a conjugation. To conjugate a verb means to show its different forms, based on tense. Here is a sample conjugation of the verb walk:

he had walked before sometime in the past

he had been walkingwhile something else

was happening sometime in the past

he walked sometime in the past

he was walking for a period of time in the past

he has walked before now

he walks now

he is walking for some period of time right now

he will have walked after now but before some-time in the future

he will have been walkingfor some period of time

after now but before some-time in the future

he will walk sometime in the future

he will be walking for a period of time in the future

Vocalized SoundsA vocalized sound is created when you say a word and/or create sound by using your vocal chords. You can tell if a sound is vocalized by placing your fingertips on your throat.

Ex. Say the /m/ sound. Can you feel the vibrations? Those indicate you are vocalizing. Sometimes the suffix -ed is vocalized (it sounds like /d/—as in played).

VoiceVoice is a term used to describe whether the subject of a sentence is acting (active voice) or being acted upon (pas-sive voice). Active-voice sentences always tell you who did the action. The subject comes first, and the subject does the action.

Ex. The gardener mowed the grass. Students will memorize words.

In passive-voice sentences, the subject of the sentence is acted upon, but does not act. The subject of the sentence is the object of the verb.

Ex. The grass was mowed. Words will be memorized by students.

TELL ME MORE!If a sentence doesn’t tell you who is doing the action, it must be a passive sentence.

Ex. The stones were picked up. (by whom?)

To make a passive sentence active, you must not only pro-vide information about who does the action, but you must make sure that you have the subject do the action!

Ex. The stones were picked up by Sally. (passive—The stones [subject] are still the object of the verb, although we do now know that Sally was the one who picked them up.)

Sally picked up the stones. (active—Sally [sub-ject] is responsible for the action.)

If you add the suffix -ing to a verb, it becomes a noun or an adjective. If it is used as a noun, it is called a gerund. If it is used as an adjective, it is called a participle. Participles and gerunds are good indicators of passive-voice sentences. When you use participles and gerunds, your sentences lose the strength they would have if you were to use your verbs as true verbs. Avoid participles and gerunds when-ever possible!

To write well, use a lot of active-voice sentences. It’s not necessary to avoid all passive-voice sentences, but keep in mind that the passive voice is deadly, dull, and weak. When subjects don’t do anything, it slows things down and weakens the meaning. n

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