Blackboard Skills for February 16, 2023

A. Idiom of the Day: Time flies when you're having fun!
[Take a moment to write this idiom and its meaning in your notebook.]

B. Homophones (and other confusing words): Homophones are words that have the same pronunciation but different meanings or spellings. 
[I like to think about the phone part of homophone to help me remember that a homophone deals with sound.

Here are some examples:

1. allowed                 aloud
2. to                           two                           too
3. new                       knew
4. in                           inn
5. one                        won

Take a moment to write down the meaning of each of these words, and then write each one in a complete sentence of its own. Use your notebooks for this assignment. I will start you off with the word allowed.

1. The word allowed is the past form of allow, which means to give someone permission to do something.
Sentence: Because Marc is too young, he is not allowed to go on some of the rides at Canobie Lake Park.

C. Literary Device: Metaphor (more practice!)
A metaphor is a direct comparison between two things that do not seem to be related.

Examples:
​1. Her eyes were diamonds in the night.
2. He is a bear in the morning (before he has his coffee).
3. Her life is a soap opera.
4. That mall was a zoo last Saturday because of all the sales!

[Let's select the two nouns being compared in each example and talk about which qualities the author has decided they share!]

Bonus: Can you think of one more metaphor? Remember not to use like or as in a metaphor; we use those words in similes instead!

D. Simile Review: A simile is a figure of speech that makes a comparison between two things using the words like or as within the description.

Examples:
1. Her face became as white as a ghost when she heard the strange knocking on her back door.
2. Sam ran like a cheetah, and no one could catch him.
3. This paper is as easy as pie; I know I will get everything right!
4. Tomas became so embarassed that his face looked as red as a rose.

Bonus #2: Can you think of one more simile? Are you able to see the difference between metaphors and similes? 

E. Greek and Latin Roots:

Origin              Root                            Definition                                                   Examples 
Latin                ambi-                           both                                                            ambidextrous, ambiguous

Latin                aqua-                          water                                                           aquarium, aquatic

Latin                aud-                            to hear                                                         audience, audition, audible 


True or False:

1. If you are ambidextrous, you can only write with one hand.                                 True                      False
2. An aquatic animal would enjoy splashing around in your swimming pool.         True                      False
3. If you did not understand the directions on a test, it might mean that the
​writing was ambiguous.                                                                                               True                      False
4. The sound of most lawn mowers is not audible.                                                     True                      False
5. The reason for many singing auditions is to hear the quality of someone's
voice.                                                                                                                              True                      False






                                                            
 
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