Week of January 12 - January 16, 2026

To begin the new year, we will review some of the skills we have studied in 2025! You will find a variety of items on this page in hopes of better comprehension, stronger communication, and ultimate test preparation!
Enjoy!

Part One
Idiom(s) of the Day
Directions: As you know, an idiom is a twist of language! It is a fun way to say something that gives us a better picture in our minds of what a particular situation is all about. It is also NOT literal, which means we have to FIGURE IT OUT. The words given to us in an idiom do NOT mean exactly what they usually do! They are, instead, figurative!

Example: It's raining cats and dogs.
Literal Meaning: Cats and dogs are falling from the sky!
Figurative Meaning: It is raining quite hard!

Hopefully, you will remember this as possibly the first idiom we studied in class. It is a good one because we are able to see immediately that the literal meaning does not make sense. Cats and dogs do not fall from the sky, after all! Our next step, therefore, is to ask ourselves what the writer could be trying to say! To do so, we often use context clues to help us find the true meaning of the idiom!

The following sentences contain idioms in bold print. Use the words surrounding the idiom to help you figure out what the writer may be trying to say. Write your answer in the blank space that follows!

1. Students studied hard and began passing every test. They realized that they are all in the same boat and helped each other in their quest for learning!

2. Jill was afraid to ask for a raise at her current job. Her mom reminded her, however, that the squeaky wheel gets the oil, so she decided to visit her boss that day!

3. There was a huge sale going on at the local mall, and Shawn made sure he was there before doors opened that morning. He knew that the early bird gets the worm and didn't want to miss such good prices!

4. Wow! These idioms are truly as easy as pie! I understood every one of them!

5. After reviewing the idioms on the page, students understood that the bottom line is this: The English language contains sayings that we often have to figure out, using meaning (or context clues) that the rest of the words in the sentences provide!

Part Two
Grammar Challenge
Directions: Today's challenge will have to do with selecting the correct homophones (words that sound alike but are spelled differently) based on the meaning of each sentence. We will be looking at contractions, possessive pronouns, and different parts of speech as we make our choices today!

1. (It's, Its) already 2026! I can't believe 2025 (flew, flu) by that fast!
2. (There, Their, They're) you are! I have been looking for you everywhere!
3. New students could be joining our class this week, (to, too, two)!
4. What type of clothing is appropriate to (wear, where) to a formal event?
5. The waves of the (sea, see) made the boat toss and turn as it made (it's, its) way back to shore.
6. It is (sew, so) nice the way you made that pillow. It is especially perfect for the holiday season!
7. I am looking for (there, their, they're) home; the directions show (it's, its) on this street.
8. Your baby is now (to, too, two) years old! Will you be bringing her (to, too, two) my house soon?
9. I truly am never (board, bored). I always have so many things I love to do!
10. The (principle, principal) of the school called a meeting for all faculty members.

Your Turn!
Directions: Create two sentences that include homophones, such as the sentences above do! You may use the homophones just covered, or you may try some others you know! Put the correct answer and a wrong answer in parentheses, as also shown above, but do not circle the correct answer on your own paper. You can switch papers with a partner and complete each other's work instead! Feel free to discuss your answers with your partner or group! Have fun!

Part Three
Literary Device Review
Directions: The following literary terms have been covered in class. Try to fill in each sentence blank with the word that fits best! If you forget a term, be sure to review it at home; it just may be on the next GED or HiSET you take! Good Luck!

alliteration                    simile                          anecdote                        biography                 epiphany
personification              metaphor                   protagonist                    climax                        foreshadowing
onomatopoeia               analogy                      autobiography              dialogue                    hyperbole

1. The mystery writer used _______________________________________ to drop hints and provide clues as to what was going to happen later in the story! 
2. When the same sound starts several words, we are using _____________________________. An example may be: Hope you had a happy, healthy holiday!
3. Splash! Pow! Bam! These are all examples of ____________________________________________, a word that sounds like the action the word conveys!
4. I always say I had an _____________________________ the moment I saw my children for the first time:) After that moment, everything in my life changed forever! In fictional stories, a character may have this when he or she has a sudden realization that stops them in their tracks! 
5. If I told you that a "new book was calling to me from my kitchen table," this is an example of ____________________________; it occurs when you give human qualities to inanimate (lifeless, unmoving) objects!
6. Her face was as red as a rose after her time outdoors. This is an example of a ___________________ in which you compare qualities of one item (in this case, the color of someone's face) to the qualities of another's (the color of a rose).
7. If I tell you finger is to hand as toe is to foot (and write it this way: finger : hand :: toe : foot), I have created an _____________________. It is a comparison in which you look at how the first two items are related, and find that same relation between the last two! A finger is part of a hand, while a toe is part of a foot!
8. He is a giant among men AND she is a fish in the water are both examples of ______________________,  direct comparison in which you say something IS something else!
9. If I tell you that I haven't slept in months or that I am starving, I am using __________________________. This is a deliberate exaggeration in which I want to emphasize something so much that I make it MORE than what it actually is!
10. The main character in a story is the _______________________________________. He is the one who has a conflict that needs to be resolved by the end of a work of fiction!
11. If you write a story about your own life, you are writing an ____________________________________.
12. The highest point of action in a story in which you cannot wait to find out what will happen next is called the _______________________________.
13. A story that we tell each other to share something that may have happened to us that day or even ten years ago is called an _______________________________. It is often a short bit of information that helps us communicate with others, whether to share something funny, sad, or scary, for instance. It can also serve as a caution or as a way to offer information to help others.
14. We place quotation marks around words a character says, which is also known as ____________________. 
15. If I write a story about you, I am writing a ___________________________, which is a secondhand account of your life story. 

Part Four
Writing
Directions: This writing assignment is in two parts. The first one is our usual creative writing piece in which I give you the beginning of a story, and you continue that story using the same point of view, verb tenses, and parallel sentence structure as the first few sentences contain!

The second assignment is to write a brief persuasive paragraph based on the opening sentence I will provide!

Writing #1:     January was off to a great start! Santoro had visited all his relatives throughout December, and he was back at a job he enjoyed as a mechanic at Tomas's Garage. This particular day, however, Santoro found himself alone since the other workers had finished their work early and already headed home. Santoro had one more oil change to complete when he heard the strangest noise coming from the back of the garage!






Writing #2:  Directions: You may select any one of the three paragraph starters below to write a brief essay on that topic!

a. A library is the ideal spot to read books and gain valuable information; it can never be replaced!

b. Having a lot of money is not the answer to happiness.

c. Children should be monitored on their social media accounts by the adults who care for them.