Skills Board for April 14, 2023

Directions: Here is a brief review of skills we covered in class this week. In addition, there are directions on the Resources page on this website for continuing your reading assessments on commonlit.org. The class code is listed for those of you who have not yet created an account, and instructions are given on how to proceed. Since we have a presentation from Middlesex Community College at 10AM, you may not finish everything this morning, but we can continue after vacation. Have a great week off!

Review Work:
1. Find the adverbs in the following sentences.
Note: Adverbs can the following types:
manner - how something is done, such as happily
place - where something is, such as there
time - when something happened, such as today (if used in this way-- Jeffrey came by today.)
negation - when you wish to negate or cancel out the meaning in a sentence with words such as not or never
affirmation - when you wish to affirm something you are saying is accurate or emphasize that what you are saying is true, using words such as really

a. Jim quickly changed the subject because he did not want to talk about his job with Chris.
b Randy would never leave someone out of a conversation.
c. Carlos will arrive soon.
d I will see Joan tomorrow.
e. The deer ran swiftly through the woods.
f. Come here, please.
g. I truly enjoyed hearing your essays yesterday. (Note: There are two adverbs in this sentence!)

Now, using the sentences above (from a to g) find the following:
1. a conjunction (that connects a clause)
2. a proper noun
3. a preposition (that leads to a phrase)
4. the sentence in which a subject is not listed, but it is understood
5. direct objects (Note: First find the verb in the sentence, and then ask yourself what or whom is receiving the action, as in the example Tom threw the football. Football is the direct object.) 
6. pronouns (that take the place of nouns)

Part Two:
Directions: Select the best answer to each of the following questions.
a. When you are given a baker's dozen of donuts, your box will contain: 
     1. 12 donuts
     2. Dunkin' Donuts
     3. no donuts
     4. 13 donuts

b. If someone is crying wolf all the time, what is likely to occur?
     1. People will not believe her when she is finally telling the truth.
     2. She will become too hoarse to speak.
     3. She will get what she wants.

c. The theme of a story could be:
     1. If you try hard enough, you can achieve anything.
     2. Tom and Susan lived happily ever after.
     3. The house was situated directly on a beautiful lake.

d. Paraphrasing is a method of taking words you have read or heard and then writing or saying them your own way without changing the meaning. When you paraphrase, you do not need to put quotation marks around what you are saying because you are not writing down someone else's words exactly.

Question: Which of the following does NOT have to do with paraphrasing:
     1. reading a sentence carefully for meaning
     2. deciding how to write what you have just read in your own way
     3. copying something someone said exactly as written and pretend his words are yours

e. True   False   A speaker implies and a listener infers.

f. True    False   When you have an epiphany, something you expected all along has taken place.

g. An example of onomatopoeia is:
     1. Buzz!
     2. Super job!
     3. No way!

Quick Creative Writing Exercise:
Please finish the story below. If possible, try to copy the words down in your notebook to get a jumpstart on point of view, mood, and plot. Write two or more solid sentences, remembering to keep them parallel with the sentences already typed below.

     Sal could not wait for spring break! His bags were already packed, and his rental car would arrive soon. In fact, when the doorbell rang, he thought it was his friend Jerry, on time as usual and eager to accompany Sal on his trip. But when he opened the door ____________________________________________________________________________________

Have fun creating the rest of this story!

Go to the Resources Page next  for information on how to work on your Reading Assessment and/or articles I programmed for you on commonlit.org. You will be able to continue from where you left off yesterday!