Writing and Reading: Lesson 5

Writing and Reading:Lesson 5 Grade 6

Warm up: Homonyms • Remember: Homonyms are words that sound alike but have different meanings and different spellings. • Choose the correct word for each sentence below. Can you explain what each boldfaced word means? (Peace, Piece) in the Middle East seems a distant dream now. England is known for its damp, and often cold, (climb, clime). The engineers were afraid the dam would (brake, break) if the water got any higher. The story of Paul Bunyan is a tall (tail, tale).

Multiple Meaning Words Many words have more than one meaning. That explains why there are so many definitions given for each word in the dictionary. That also explains why your teacher can’t answer you when you ask what a word means until you use it in a sentence! The meaning for a multiple meaning word depends on its context.

Your turn Read the first sentence below. Then choose the next sentence that uses the underlined word in the same way as in the original sentence. Can you use context to explain the three meanings of the word? My mom will weigh herself every day while she's on the diet. I will weigh factors such as salary, distance, and opportunity before deciding which job to take. The doctor will weigh the child to see how much she's grown in a year. The jury will weigh the evidence presented in order to decide the person's guilt or innocence.

Review • Poetry condenses language and may include figurative language (such as similes and metaphors), imagery (appeals to the senses), and/or rhyme patterns. • Poems often have lines that end with the same sound; these are called end rhymes. When a reader is analyzing end rhyme patterns, s/he uses a new letter of the alphabet to label each ending sound. • Setting your purpose before reading and determining importance (main idea and supporting details) are strategies that help you to improve your reading comprehension.

More Review • Prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing are the steps of the writing process. Writers often repeat the drafting and revising steps several times, and many times they choose only some of their drafts to complete all the way to publication. • Tell me about the prewriting and drafting of your descriptive writing assignment. Did you have any trouble with creating images and comparisons? What did you learn?

Reading comprehension: Setting a purpose—determine importance/main idea and use schema (make connections). We’ll start today with a fairly short poem by a student. After we read this poem, I will ask you to tell me your own statement of its main idea. Then I will ask what connections you can make to something in your own experience or to something you have read or seen.

“Still” by Jed Chambers It’s not always the big things that make life amazing. Yesterday I fell asleep on the couch with the dog asleep on my stomach, a look of solemn contentment riding her face.

And today I went outside and startled some deer into flight— white tails waving like banners. Although these events aren’t life-changing they are important to me, small signs that the world is still beautiful.

Your first response Tell me your own statement of this poem’s main idea. What connections you can make to something in your own experience or to something you have read or seen? Explain.

Theme Main idea and theme are closely related, but theme is always stated in general terms. For example, the main idea of this poem could be that the narrator viewed small events in his experience as important signs that the world is beautiful. If you were stating the theme of the poem, however, you would express it as a general truth about life that can apply to anyone. How would you write the theme of “Still”?

Reading comprehension: Setting a purpose—creating images, looking at word choice. We’ll read the same poem again. (Poetry, especially, should be read more than once for increased comprehension and enjoyment.) Notice how the poem changes for you as you read it with different purposes. After we read this poem, tell me two words that linger in your mind. Then, describe at least one image that you created by combining this poem with your own experience. Finally, I’ll tell you the two words I have chosen and one image that I created. 

“Still” by Jed Chambers It’s not always the big things that make life amazing. Yesterday I fell asleep on the couch with the dog asleep on my stomach, a look of solemn contentment riding her face.

And today I went outside and startled some deer into flight— white tails waving like banners. Although these events aren’t life-changing they are important to me, small signs that the world is still beautiful.

A rule of writing: the power is in the details. Even though theme is a general truth, interesting writing is very specific. Here is a valuable rule about writing: Don’t write about a general topic. Instead, always narrow your topic before you start drafting. Write about a specific, observable person, place, occasion, time, object, animal, or experience. When you follow this rule, the essence of your writing will lie in the sensory images you evoke: the observed details of sight, sound, smell, touch, taste; and the strong verbs that bring the details to life.

Examples of narrowing your topic • Don’t write about fall. Write about this fall day. Go to the window; go outside. • Don’t write about sunsets. Write about the amazing sunset you saw last night. • Don’t write about dogs or kittens. Observe and write about your dog, your kitten. • Don’t write about friendship. Write about your friend, about what he or she does or has done to be a good friend to you. • Don’t write about love. Write specifically about someone or something you love.

“Pebble” by Nathan Bonyun (a student) Now I’m not talking about any pebble— this one I mean— that’s polygon-shaped and has a rough yet gentle surface, that I can roll around in my palm,

that I can throw up in midair and catch in my hand, the one that dropped on the table makes a click, rattle, click,

that’s so light I can balance it on my thumb. Now, I hope I’m not asking too much

but can you look closely, like I did at this pebble, then find your own special thing in the world?

Break

Show, Don’t Tell Another way to say that specifics are better than generalities is to say that effective writers show instead of telling. Here is an example of telling: The coach had a bumpy trip over the stones on the rocky beach. Then it forded the river to the opposite shore. Next, read about the same coach, but this time with the writer showing what happened.

Showing [Barrio Boy by Ernesto Galarza] In the late afternoon, we came to the edge of a river and turned to follow its course on a wide rocky beach. The crunching of the wheels over the stones and the lurching of the coach gave us the worst shaking of the trip. When the driver found the ford, he reined the mules into it, and they began to pull slowly through the smooth shallow water. Feeling their way, they breasted the current until it reached above the hubs of the wheels, as I could see by craning my neck out of the window. When it lapped the floor of the compartment, the lady whispered, “Ave Maria Purisma.” With the deepest part of the ford behind us, we drove toward the opposite shore until the mules began to pull up the slope on the other side.

The Writing Process • Remember that writers often draft several times before choosing the writing they want to continue refining. • This week, you will be doing more prewriting and drafting.

Your writing assignment,Part 1: Prewriting Choose a topic. One of the hardest parts of writing is choosing a topic. Often, asking questions can help; think of what you are curious about. You could begin with the words, “I wonder.” You don’t need to know the answers; it can be interesting to explore the question itself. Narrow your topic. If you are going to show, instead of telling, you need a very limited topic so that you can include very specific details, examples, and comparisons. Write a statement (sentence) of your main idea. Make a list of descriptive words or phrases, examples, and comparisons (similes and metaphors) that you might use in your draft.

Your writing assignment, Part 2: Drafting Use your main idea and your list of ideas to write your draft. Be sure to include sensory language to help create images in the reader’s mind. Include at least two comparisons (similes and/or metaphors).

Submitting Your Homework Please email your homework to the following address within the next four days: worksheet@ed2netlearning.com

You did a wonderful job today!

Writing and Reading: Lesson 5