Writing Homeroom Prep #3

1. Writing Homeroom Prep #3 Week 10 Topic Sentences & Supporting Details

2. Day One: study the following Writing Plan Appearance (Where they live) Behavior (What they do) Topic: Manatees Habitat (Where they live) Diet (What they eat) Parts of the world where they can be found The type of environment they prefer

3. Answer the following questions: • Under which subtopic should details about subtropical waters and areas with sea grass be placed? • Behavior c) Appearance • Habitat d) Diet • Which detail below supports the subtopic “Appearance”? • Manatees can be found off the coast of Florida. • Manatees generally grow to be about 10 to 13 feet long. • Manatees in Florida feed on over 60 species of plants. • Manatees spend most of the day feeding and resting. • Which detail below supports the subtopic “Behavior”? • Manatees range in color from gray to brown. • Manatees “body surf” when they play. • Manatees are herbivores. • Manatees tend to prefer warm water. • Based on the writing plan, what kind of paper is Anna planning to write? • A paper that explains why manatees are endangered • A paper that describes the characteristics of manatees • A paper that compares manatees to other types of marine life • A paper that tells a story about a friendly manatee

4. Day Two: Read silently (1) When preparing a meal, it is always important to thoroughly cook your food. (2) Raw foods such as meat and chicken can have a lot of bacteria. (3) Carrots are okay to eat raw.(4) Cooking beef and poultry at a high temperature kills the bacteria, making the food safer to eat. (5) It also makes the food taste and smell better. (6) Baked goods, such as muffins, have a very pleasant smell that can make your mouth water. (7) Another advantage to cooking food is that it often helps to preserve it. (8) Many foods stay fresher when they are cooked. Answer the following: Identify the topic:___________________________________(general subject) Identify the main idea:_____________________________(specific message) Which sentences are on-topic?_____________________________________ Which sentences are off-topic?_____________________________________

5. Day Three: read silently No Tails (1) Did you ever wonder why people do not have tails? (2) It is a question that men have struggled with for ages. (3) Dogs and cats have tails, and they are mammals, just like us. (4) They are also covered with thick fur. (5) Tigers, zebras, and even elephants have tails, so why don’t we? (6) Animals have tails for different reasons. (7) Creatures that walk on all fours, such as pigs, cows, and horses, use their tails to help them balance. (8) Tree-climbing animals, like monkeys, use their tails for leverage while scrambling through trees. (9) Koalas don’t have tails; they use their claws. (10) Some animals also use their tails as a form of communication with other animals. (11) For example, you’ve probably noticed that when the family dog is happy, it wags its tail. (12) When it’s angry, it usually growls. (13) Tail movements can also be used to signal danger, or to intimidate other animals. (14) Simply put, humans do not have tails because we do not need them. (15) We also don’t need wings or gills. (16) The curvature of our spines allows use to walk upright, and we use words and other types of body language to communicate. (17) Nor do we need tails to climb around in trees like monkeys. Answer the following: Write the number of the sentence (s) that should be deleted. Write a new concluding sentence (s).

6. Day Four: Read silently (1) People have been cleaning their teeth for a long time. (2) Scientists have found evidence of ancient people all over the world using pieces of cloth, feathers, and small animal bones to keep their teeth clean. (3) Some people have even used porcupine quills to pick food out of their teeth. (4) It isn’t really safe to try to get a quill from a porcupine. Answer the following: Question 1: Which sentence should be deleted because it presents a detail that is unimportant to the article? • Sentence 1 B. Sentence 3 • Sentence 2 D. Sentence 4

7. Continued… (5) The most common tooth-cleaning tool was the twig. (6) People would put a twig in their mouths and chew on one end until it started to bristle. (7) When it is bristled enough, they would rub it on their teeth to get pieces of food out. (8) The first real toothbrush was made in China in the early 15th century. (9) These early toothbrushes were made with bamboo attached to wiry hairs from cold-climate pigs. (10) Bamboo is native to China. Answer the following : Question 2: Which sentence contains an unimportant detail that should be deleted from the article? • Sentence 8 c. Sentence 10 • Sentence 9 d. Sentence 11

8. Continued….. (11) Toothbrushes began to be mass-produced in the United States in 1885. (12) This happened during America’s Industrial Age. (13) In 1938, modern nylon bristles were invented. (14) In 1939, the first electric toothbrush was invented, but it wasn’t sold in markets until the 1960s. (15) Today, you can buy toothbrushes with interchangeable heads, folding travel toothbrushes, and all sorts of modern dental equipment designed to keep our teeth clean. Answer the following: Question 3: Which sentence should be deleted because it presents a detail that is unimportant to the article? • Sentence 11 c. Sentence 13 • Sentence 12 d. Sentence 14 Question 4: Which sentence below should be added to conclude the article? a. Even though they have changed quite a bit, toothbrushes have been around for a long time. b. Electric toothbrushes are better than regular toothbrushes. c. Modern toothbrushes are made of plastic, but they were originally made of wood. d. The next time you buy a toothbrush, you should look for one made with pig hair.