Frequently Asked Questions: This page contains answers to common questions of students and parents.
General Classroom Guidance / General Academic information
Only write on the front of the paper. Always go to another piece of paper and then staple together. You may use pencil or pen,whichever you like as long as it is blue or black ink. Always bring your book every day. You never know when you may need it. Lack of preparation: If you do not have your homework, I will often have you call your parent so that they will be aware that you did not complete the assignment. There are not any extra credit assignments, however assignments may be corrected for a 70 or for 5 extra points.Back to Top
10 part report - Cover & back will be laminated 1. Cover page: Include a drawing of your character, the title of the biography, the author of the biography and your name. Do not use pictures from the internet. 2. Page 1: background information Tell the date and place where your character was born and raised. Don�t include too many family details or details about habits and hobbies that don�t have anything to do with their later work. Describe the early life of your character. Tell about what kind of person he or she was. What was it about your character that helped him or her to succeed? Did your character know what he or she wanted to become in the future? How did your character prepare for his or her future? 3. Page 2:Tell about the work your character did. Tell why his or her contribution was important, why the work was important. Did he or she invent something or teach others? How did he or she change the world? What lasting effects did your character have on the lives of others? 4. page 3: What should we all know about your character? How do we benefit today from him or her? What do you think was the most impressive thing about your character? 5. Page 4:Tell how your character has inspired you. In what ways would you like to be him or her? 6. page 5: Write a 3 day diary from your character(timeline) 7. page 6: Include a letter from your person to someone he/she knew. 8. page 7: Include a FAQ page - 10 questions with answers 9. page 8: Include a book review 10. page 9: Bibliography - where you obtained the information. 11. page 10: Optional additional information: any other exciting information about your person that you wish to share. DUE MARCH 11,2008Back to Top
Transitive & Intransitive Verbs (12/3 notes)
Transitive verb - verb that expresses an action toward a person, place, thing or idea (noun.) A transitive verb takes the action from the doer (noun,& subject) to the receiver of the action (noun & object.) The receiver is called the OBJECT of the transitive verb. Example: Sam greeted the people. SAM is subject which is a noun. GREETED is the transitive verb. PEOPLE is the noun which is the object of the transitive verb. Intransitive verb - expresses action without the action passing to a receiver or object. Example: The candy melted. Last night, we ate on the patio. Be careful of CONTEXT. The children play games. transitive The children play noisily in the yard. intransitiveBack to Top
Notes on Adverbs 12/12/07 updated 10/21/08
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives or another adverb. Adverbs make the meaning for definite. Adverbs answer the following questions: where? when? how? how often? to what extent? how long? how much? How? The runner ran swiftly. (swiftly is adverb modifying the verb, ran.) when? I read my homework late on Thursday. (late is adverb modifying verb,read) Where and when? Put the peaches there, and we will eat them later. (there is adverb modifying verb, put and later is adverb modifying verb phrase, will eat.) Common adverbs: where: away, here, inside, there, up when: later, now, soon, then, tomorrow how: clearly, easily, quietly, slowly how often or how long: often, always, usually, continuously, never, forever, briefly to what extent, how much: almost, too, more, least, extremely, quite, not, very Adverbs often end in -ly.Back to Top
Information on nouns, proper nouns:
Nouns name a person, place, thing or idea. Persons, places and things are concrete nouns and ideas are abstract nouns. Example of concrete: house, library, dog. Example of abstract: fun, bravery, happiness. Proper nouns name a particular person, place, thing or idea and start with a capital letter. A common noun is not usually capitalized and refers to a general person, place, thing or idea. common noun vs. proper noun examples: boy, Brian writer, R. L. Stine country, China monument, Statue of Liberty religion, Christian language, French city El Paso Mark nouns with n. Mark proper nouns with pn. Notice that many proper nouns consist of more than one word.Back to Top
What do the Reading and English spirals contain? / Information on vocabulary
READING 3 subject spiral- section 1 Vocabulary, section 2 Reading Response, section 3 Notes ENGLISH 3 subject spiral - section 1 DOL (Daily Oral Language), section 2 Daily Journal, section 3 English notes One subject spiral: Journal (numbered entries) Vocabulary from the interactive reader / literature book should be done in the spiral and should include the definition of the word that is appropriate to the story and use of the word in a sentence. The sentence should have at least 7 words and should be divided and marked as instructed. (See how do I mark sentences FAQ)Back to Top
List of conjunctions remember with "FANBOYS" , correlated conj. 10/23/08
Remember coordinating conjunctions with FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so. Mark as conj. in sentences. The semicolon ; can be used between two independent clauses in place of "and." Correlative conjunctions are pairs of conjunctions that join words or word groups: both.... and either .... or neither ... nor whether .... orBack to Top
What are the most common helping verbs discussed? revisited 11/28
am, are, is, been, being, be, was, were, do, does, did, has, have, had, can, could, may, might, must, will, would, shall, should. Mark as hv in sentences.Back to Top
How do I mark sentences to show subjects and predicates?
Always use / between complete subject and complete predicate, one line under complete subject, two lines under complete predicate. Mark simple subject (generally one word) or compound subject (watch for conjunction) and simple predicate (verb or verb phrase)or compound verb. On homework, on paper or in spiral: ALWAYS Write sentence! Skip lines to provide space for marking sentences! Only write on front of paper! Label nouns(n), proper nouns(pn), pronouns (pron), verbs(v), helping verbs (hv), verb phrase(vp), simple subject (ss), simple predicate (sp), compound subject(cs) and compound verbs(cv) and note conjunction (conj) joining compound subjects or compound verbs.Back to Top
Subject / verb agreement notes 3/26/08 compound subjects 4/2/08
- A verb should agree in number with its subject. - A singular subject takes a singular verb: The cloud fills the sky. Sam begins his homework. - Plural subjects take plural verbs: The giraffes run fast. The families move into the neighborhood. Notice: often PLURAL SUBJECTS end in "s" and often SINGULAR VERBS end in "s" Not all subjects and verbs follow the "s" rule. People (plural) talk. Geese (plural) hiss. Listen to context: Rain splashes. Night falls. Compound subjects using the "and" conjunction usually take a plural verb. Dogs and cats are my favorite pets.Back to Top
Information on pronouns updated on 12/10/08
Pronouns - mark as pron. in sentences. 1. Personal pronouns: 1st person, singular: I, me, my, mine. plural: we, ours, us, our 2nd person singular: you, your, yours. plural: you, your, yours 3rd person singular: he, she, him, her, hers, his, it, its. plural: theirs, they, them, their. 2. Reflexive & 3. Intensive: myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, themselves Reflexive- refers to the subject and is necessary to the meaning of the sentence. Mary enjoys herself at school. Intensive - emphasizes a noun and is not necessary to the meaning of the sentence. I, myself, love to eat pizza. 4. Demonstrative pronouns - points out a person, place, thing or idea: this, that, these, those Antecedent - the word or word group that a pronoun stands for. 5. Interrogative pronouns - introduce questions: what, which, who, whom, whose 6. Indefinite pronouns - refer to a person, place, thing or idea that may not be specifically named: all, any, anyone, each, either, everything, few, many, more, most, much, nobody, somebody, no one,, none, one, other, several, some. 7. Relative pronouns - introduce a subordinate clause. example: George Washington, who crossed the Delaware River, was our country's first president. (who is the relative pronoun.)Back to Top
Information on adjectives and articles (revised 10/22/08 notes)
Adjective - modifies (describes) a noun or a pronoun. What kind? How many? Which one or ones? How much? What kind? examples: hair is noun. long hair, curly hair. Which one or ones? seventh grade Demonstrative adjectives: these countries, any book How many? six children, no books Sometimes an adjective comes after the noun it modifies. A man, kind and helpful, gave us directions. (adjectives: kind, helpful) The most commonly used adjectives are the following articles: a, an, the Indefinite articles refer to any member of the group: a, an Definite articles refer to a specific member of the group: theBack to Top
How should I annotate in the Interactive Reader
In Interactive reader, annotate literary elements: setting (note changes), characters and character analysis (description of how characters look and feel), cause and effect (mother's concern for injury causes her to not want son to take art class.), conflict (man vs. man, man vs. environment, man vs. self), context clues for unfamiliar words, sequencing (what order events occur), drawing conclusions, fact vs. opinion, flashback (what a character remembers that has happened before), foreshadowing and inference of what will happen next, irony, point of view (1st person, 2nd person), plot(rising action, climax, falling action, resolution., theme (what is the message?), tone or mood.Back to Top
Action, Linking and helping verbs (11/07 notes, revised 10/20/08)
A verb is a word that expresses action or a state of being. I. Action verb - either physical or mental physical example: The bear GROWLED. The track star RAN a great race. mental example - She THOUGHT about it all day. I WISHED for a new ipod. II. A linking verb is a verb that expresses a state of being. A linking verb connects or links the subject to a word or word group that identifies or describes the subject. FORMS OF BE VERBS (not an all inclusive list!) am, is, are, was, were, has been, have been, had been, will be, shall be, may be, might be, can be, should be, would be, could have been OTHER (less obvious) linking verbs appear, become, feel, grow, look, remain, seem, smell, sound, taste, turn Note: Some words can be used as either action verbs or linking verbs depending on how they are used in the sentence. Kurt looked down the field. (action) Kurt looked pale. (linking) HELPING VERBS A helping verb helps the main verb express action (do something) A verb phrase contains at least one main verb and one or more helping verbs. Examples: Many people in Asia / can speak several languages. adj N(subj) prep PN hv v adj N verb phrase The ball / should have been caught by the nearest player. art N hv hv hv v prep art adj N ------verb phrase-- Some verbs can be either a helping verb or a main verb depending on how it is used in a sentence: Do your homework! (do is the main verb) Do you like pizza? (do is helping the main verb, like. "do like" is the v. phrase)Back to Top
Poetry vocabulary / Storytelling 5/1/08
Storytelling - common elements of oral tradition Keep past alive. Teach lessons about human behavior. Reveal values of society. 1. Myths - attempts to answer basic questions about the world. They are considered truthful by their originators. 2. Fables - Short stories that illustrate human morals and have characters that are animals. 3. Folk tales - Are told primarily for entertainment. Feature humans or humanlike animals 4. Oral history - Is based on real events. Is considered factual by the teller. Passes along information.Back to Top
Information on Prepositions - updated 10/28/08
1. A preposition shows the relationship between a noun or pronoun and another word in the sentence. 2. Prepositions show the position of a noun (person, place, thing or idea) 3. A prepositional phrase includes a preposition, a noun or pronoun (the object), and modifiers of that object. Hint: A preposition is something you can do to a box. For example: over (the box), under, underneath, through, past, within, on, around... A prepositional phrase always starts with the preposition (prep). A prepositional phrase ends with the object of the preposition (obj). The object is a noun, pronoun or word that is functioning as a noun or pronoun. Example: under glass (UNDER is the preposition, GLASS is noun subject) by the sunny seashore (BY is the preposition, SEASHORE is the noun subject, THE is the definite article modifying seashore, SUNNY is adjective modifying seashore) Common prepositions: aboard, about, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, as, at, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, down, during, except, for, from, in, in front of, inside, instead, into, like, near, next to, of, off, on, out, out of, over, past, since, through, throughout, to, toward, under, underneath, unlike, until, up, up to, upon, with, within, without. 4. Mark prepositional phrases by putting parentheses around the phrase. 5. The prepositional phrase begins with the preposition and ends with the first noun or pronoun. Example: (In this story,) a nameless character goes outdoors (on a terribly cold day) (in the Yukon.) Prepositions are IN, ON, and IN. Note that when the prepositional phrase(s) are removed, the remaining words form a simple sentence.Back to Top
What kinds of conflict do we note in stories? UPDATED 9/25/08
Conflict - Struggle between two forces 2 main types: Internal - from within External - From outside Man versus man - external - a struggle between two or more characters, usually the main character and others. This may or may not involve a physical struggle. Man versus environment - external - a struggle between the major character or characters and the elements of nature. (For example, a character lost in the woods.) Man versus self - internal - a struggle or conflict between the major character and himself (for example: inner turmoil in the character's mind, second thoughts on the character's actions)Back to Top
Notes on clauses - independent and subordinate clauses updated 1/22/09
An independent clause expresses a main thought and can stand by itself in a sentence. It differs from a sentence in one way: A sentence stands alone while an independent clause is joined by a subordinate clause. A subordinate clause does not express a complete thought and cannot stand alone. When alone, a subordinate clause is a sentence fragment that has a subject and verb but does not express a complete thought. Signal words that indicate a subordinate clause: because, if, since, that, until, which, whom Clauses that start with these signal words are likely to be subordinate. Examples: I went to sleep last night. - sentence I went to sleep last night because I had an early test. - Independent clause " I went to sleep last night" Subordinate clause: "because I had an early test."Back to Top
Compound sentences, complex sentences & compound complex sentences 1/22/09
Compound sentence - two independent clauses connected with a conjunction. Example: I went to the store and I bought a new CD. Complex sentence - contains ONE independent clause and AT LEAST ONE subordinate clauses. Types of subordinate clauses: adjective clause or adverb clause: Adjective clause - describes a noun, and usually begins with a relative pronoun (signal words such as who, which, whom, that, whose) Complex sentence examples with adjective clauses: Bob Brown, (who is the student council president,) is my best friend. One interesting event, (that is held in the Southwest,) is Tribal Indian Ceremonial, (which involves many different Indian peoples.) - Independent clause is "One interesting event is Tribal Indian Ceremonial." Two dependent adjective clauses. Adverb clause - describes a verb, and usually begins with a subordinating conjunction (signal words such as after, as, because, if, since, when) Example: (When I leave for school,) I will take the bus. Compound / complex sentence contains at least two independent clauses and at least one subordinate clause. (See FANBOYS for conjunctions that join independent clauses) Examples: The crowd cheered loudly and the team began to play when the referee blew his whistle. Independent clause: the crowd cheered loudly Conjunction: and Independent clause: the team began to play Subordinate adverb clause: when the referee blew his whistle. ( when is signal word) Whenever we go on vacation, our neighbors mow our yard, and they collect our mail. Subordinate adverb clause: whenever we go on vacation (whenever is signal word) Independent clause: our neighbors mow our yard Conjunction: and Independent clause: they collect our mail.Back to Top