lively language lessons for reluctant learners book 1
TRANSCRIPT
Lively Language
Lessons for Reluctant Learners
Book 1
Written by R.E. Myers
Illustrated by Bron Smith
Teaching & Learning Company
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Cover design by Sara King
Illustration on page 56 by Ernie Hager. Used withpermission.
Copyright © 2005, Teaching & Learning Company
Teaching & Learning Company1204 Buchanan St., P.O. Box 10Carthage, IL 62321-0010
The purchase of this book entitles teachers to makecopies for use in their individual classrooms only.This book, or any part of it, may not be reproducedin any form for any other purposes without priorwritten permission from the Teaching & LearningCompany. It is strictly prohibited to reproduce anypart of this book for an entire school or school dis-trict, or for commercial resale.
All rights reserved. Printed in the United States ofAmerica.
This book belongs to
____________________________________________________________
This book is dedicated to my son Hal,who has been a source of inspirationand support through his lively lifetime.
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 iii
Table of ContentsCaps Capitalizing, Alliteration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Cool Art Nouns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Awesomely Cool Word Choice, Adjectives . . . . . . 11
Contrasts Adjectives, Vocabulary Building . . . . . . . 12
Sticky Fingers Adjectives, Synonyms,
Word Choice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Amazingly Adverbs, Puns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Moonlight Joggers Subjects, Predicates . . . . . . . 18
A Balancing Act Parallelism, Conjunctions . . . . . . 19
Minding Her Change Transitive Verbs . . . . . . . . . 21
Some Advice! Declarative Sentences,
Imperative Sentences, Irony. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
You, the Interviewer Questioning. . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Catch as Catch Can Idioms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Are You Ys? Word Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Twisters Puns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
It’s Vanity Word Play, The Character Sketch . . . . . . 31
Mix-Ups Spoonerisms, Short Story. . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Headlines Word Play. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Reversals Axioms, Word Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Sad Spaghetti Making Comparisons . . . . . . . . . . 40
Pick Your Spot Listening Intelligently . . . . . . . . . . 42
Sensory Intelligence Listening Intelligently . . . . . 44
Friendly Conversation Listening to Friends . . . . . 45
Three Puzzling Scenes Solving Mysteries . . . . . 49
Any Explanation? Dealing with Ambiguity . . . . . . 52
What’s Missing? Finding the Missing Facts . . . . . 54
A Searching Question Problem Solving . . . . . . 57
Break, Broke, Broken Word Usage, Idioms . . . . . 58
Wise Weavers and Greedy GamblersEpigrams, Alliteration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
The Ponderous Panda Alliteration. . . . . . . . . . . 61
Wise and Witty Aphorisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Metaphorically Speaking Metaphors . . . . . . . . . 64
In Other Words Maxims, Paraphrasing . . . . . . . . 66
Wise or Not? Personification, Aphorisms . . . . . . . 68
The Waiting Game Reminiscing . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Titling Titling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Orange Peels and Wart Hogs The Synopsis . . . 73
Novel Speculations The Plot Summary, Titling . . . 75
Soggy Citizens The Short Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Leisure The Essay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Unlikely Nicknames The Profile. . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Missing Nearly The Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Being Whale-Like The Couplet, Analogies . . . . . . 85
Random Notes The Character Sketch . . . . . . . . . 86
“Real” Haiku The Haiku. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Traces The Haiku . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Hands Poetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Green Power The Quatrain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Answer Key . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Dear Teacher or Parent,
That young people easily learn language and to communicate effectively with theirpeers is undeniable. The trouble comes when they are told how to speak and what tosay. Since they can communicate for most of their needs, they may be resentful thatteachers and parents want them to express themselves in certain ways. Politenessand rules may seem bothersome to them.
This book attempts to do what English teachers have tried to do from time imme-morial, in a palatable manner, putting life into the language arts curriculum. It isn’teasy to make grammar, spelling and punctuation lessons lively. You’ll notice that myapproach is offbeat, such as when your students translate weird sayings andspoonerisms. You can play various kinds of games with your students to enliven thecurriculum, using activities in this book such as those on pages 16-17. Your studentswill find the activities in this book different from the usual drills.
So be prepared for a little zaniness and off-the-wall humor. The lessons will work ifyou believe in them. Choose one of the activities that you think would help your stu-dents in an area in which they are not strong and do it yourself. You’ll get an idea ofwhat is involved, and you’ll be able to discern whether or not the activity will liven upyour curriculum. May this be an enjoyable teaching experience for you and fun learn-ing for your students!
Sincerely,
R.E. Myers
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Being Sensitive/Finding the Problem
Producing Alternatives
Being Flexible
Being Original
Highlighting the Essence
Elaborating
Keeping Open
Being Aware of Emotions
Putting Ideas into Context
Combining and Synthesizing
Visualizing Richly and Colorfully
Enjoying and Using Fantasy
Making It Swing, Making It Ring
Looking at It in Another Way
Visualizing Inside
Breaking Through/Extending Boundaries
Letting Humor Flow
Orienting to the Future
Analyzing
Judging
Hypothesizing
Educational theorists and teachers declare that the key to getting young people to probe, discoverand stretch their minds is to “motivate” them. But how is it done? The answer differs from individ-ual to individual.
What follows in this book is an approach that incorporates materials and techniques I have found tobe successful. They are neither prescriptions nor recipes, and the sequence or context of any activi-ty is not fixed. Any element can be changed or eliminated to fit your students.
The activities contain a feeling of playfulness and humor designed to encourage students to acquireand develop the skills for effective self-expression. The ideas take advantage of the natural fascina-tion young people have for language and capitalize upon their interest in a wide variety of topicsoutside the classroom as well.
The activities are designed to promote the 18 types of thinking processes in Torrance’s IncubationModel of Teaching. These have been described as creative thinking abilities; critical thinking skillsare also called for. (See the list of thinking skills below.)
Introduction
Thinking Skills
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Activity 1
CapsCapitalizing, Alliteration
Name__________________________________
In English, we capitalize certain words to give them a particular significance. Here is a brief sum-mary of the reasons for capitalizing words:
1. Beginning of a sentence
2. First person singular (I)
3. Given names (Father and Mother when they are used as names, Sonny, Karen)
4. Titles of people (Captain Andersen, Doctor Morgan, Governor Wilson, Senator Nunn)
5. Titles of books, periodicals, films, songs, articles, etc. (Newsweek, the New York Times, Gonewith the Wind, Jaws)
6. Geographical locations (Mississippi River, New York City, Africa)
7. Names of institutions and agencies (Salvation Army, United States Senate)
8. Specific commercial products (Buick, Revlon, Jell-O)
9. Lines of verse (The first word of a line of verse is often capitalized.)
10. References to sacred figures
11. Names of businesses (Safeway, Macy’s, America Online)
12. Name of an event or holiday (Independence Day, World War I)
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 7
Activity 1
CapsCapitalizing, Alliteration
Name__________________________________
Capitalized Word
1. __________________________________
2. __________________________________
3. __________________________________
4. __________________________________
5. __________________________________
6. __________________________________
7. __________________________________
8. __________________________________
9. __________________________________
Reason for Capitalizing It
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The paragraphs that follow are properly punctuated, but have no capitals. Write the capitals for thewords that need them. Then list those words on the lines and tell why they need capitals. Twenty-eight words need to be capitalized.
In Praise of Pickles
pickles aren’t for everyone. sometimes they make people pucker—probably the same peo-ple who also prefer not to eat sauerkraut. personally, i plan to eat as many pickles as are puton my plate (or pilfered by my pudgy paws). it’s part of my peculiar personality, i suppose.i like the pungent, perfume-like fragrance of a dill pickle and its potent, penetrating sharptaste.
when i was in the u.s. army, i once missed a dress parade presided over by the popular gen-eral paul prentice at fort benning, georgia. we had pickles for lunch that day, and i lingeredin the mess hall, hoping to panhandle pickles from procrastinating persons who perhaps had-n’t finished their repast. when i finished eating those pretty pickles, no one was in the messhall and i’d missed the parade.
a passion for pickles: that’s the reason i remained a poor private all during world war II.
8 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Besides the absence of capitals, what did you notice about this puzzling passage concerning pickles?
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Activity 1
CapsCapitalizing, Alliteration
Name__________________________________
Capitalized Word
10. __________________________________
11. __________________________________
12. __________________________________
13. __________________________________
14. __________________________________
15. __________________________________
16. __________________________________
17. __________________________________
18. __________________________________
19. __________________________________
20. __________________________________
21. __________________________________
22. __________________________________
23. __________________________________
24. __________________________________
25. __________________________________
26. __________________________________
27. __________________________________
28. __________________________________
Reason for Capitalizing It
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Activity 2
Nouns
Name__________________________________
The first thing a child does in acquiring language is to name people, herself, objects in her surround-ings, the parts of her body and food. Identifying all the phenomena in her world is crucial to herunderstanding it and her place in it. As the child grows older, her language develops rapidly, but nomatter how old she becomes naming things will be important to her.
The names we give to people and their jobs is sometimes a delicate matter. To be able to recall thename of someone you have met is a social necessity. Failing to remember a name is a commonembarrassment for almost everyone.
In English, words that name objects, groups of things and ideas are called common nouns. Wordsthat name particular people, places and special times are called proper nouns. Underline the com-mon nouns once and the proper nouns twice in the following paragraphs. Then list them in the twocolumns on the next page.
Although Hezzy isn’t considered odd by members of his social circle in Buffalo, most
people consider him odd, if not crazy. He insists on certain conditions being present
when he paints. Hezzy paints best, he claims, when the garret, or attic, in which he lives
is slightly below 25 degrees. For most of us, that temperature is all right if we want to
ski or ice skate, but it’s not at all comfortable inside a dwelling—even a dwelling such
as the one Hezzy lives in.
Maybe the reason Hezzy isn’t regarded as eccentric by his friends is because they are
unusual in their own ways. Carmen, a pizza chef, raises armadillos in her apartment.
Gracie, who earns her living as a belly dancer, has a diet that includes chocolate
grasshoppers and curdled ox milk. Phaeton, whose job is to clean up Nat’s Pizza
Paradise, the nightclub where Carmen works, collects toothpicks. He comes across
quite a few every morning when he is working, especially on Sundays. He washes the
toothpicks and then makes tiny doll houses with them. As a group, their idiosyncrasies
are unusual—even for Bohemians.
Cool Art
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Activity 2
Nouns
Name__________________________________
Cool ArtCommon Nouns
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Proper Nouns
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Activity 3
Awesomely CoolWord Choice, Adjectives
Name__________________________________
Adjectives help us describe things. Words such as foamy, sinister, breathless, wet, dark, nasty,loving, bossy, plain, miserable and stifling give us a better understanding of what someone is say-ing or writing. The difficulty in using adjectives is not choosing from the tremendous number ofwords at our disposal; it’s that we use the same adjectives over and over. (Examples: beautiful,great, awesome and cool.) Because of overuse, some adjectives become trite.
Replace each overused adjective (in parentheses) with a better one.
1. The half-time ceremony was just (awesome)! ____________________
2. “Kevin is really (cool) because he knows all the words to the latest songs,” Robin said.
____________________
3. That was a (tremendous) victory for our team. ____________________
4. With his (weird) sense of humor, Norville was as likely as not to put salt in the sugar bowl
and mayonnaise in the yogurt container. ____________________
5. “You should have seen the way he ate—it was (gross),” complained Myrtle.
____________________
6. As soon as he learned of his promotion, Mr. Jenkins picked up a telephone and gave his wife
the (glad) tidings. ____________________
7. We saw a show that was simply (fantastic) last night—it has everything!
____________________
8. Mr. Murphy’s cat has all of the other cats in the neighborhood scared because he is so (macho).
____________________
9. “That was the (neatest) trick I’ve ever seen a magician do!” exclaimed Nancy.
____________________
10. “(Hopefully) we’ll have time to have lunch on the way,” Whitney said. (The missing overused
word in this sentence is an adverb and not an adjective.) ____________________
What words are you getting very tired of these days? List words that could be substituted for them.
Activity 4
ContrastsAdjectives, Vocabulary Building
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Commentators may say that two individuals have contrasting styles or personalities. This is fre-quently said of athletes, Presidents, actors, painters and writers. People are always comparingthings. That’s the way our minds work. We get a better understanding of the world by comparingthe methods, manners, customs, philosophies, etc., of people and the behavior of animals.
The English language is rich in words that indicate similarities and differences. For example, a per-son who is amiable contrasts sharply with one who is irascible, cheerless, grumpy, surly or ill-tem-pered. A flamboyant man is not colorless, timid, retiring or meek. Write words that contrast with:
1. pompous __________________________________________________________________
2. gracious ____________________________________________________________________
3. wise ______________________________________________________________________
4. tender ____________________________________________________________________
5. charming __________________________________________________________________
6. conscientious ________________________________________________________________
7. tactful ____________________________________________________________________
8. arrogant ____________________________________________________________________
Explain how two people can differ by having a pair of these contrasting traits.
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Name__________________________________
Write words that contrast with:
1. impersonal ______________________ 4. aggressive __________________________
2. efficient ________________________ 5. philanthropic ________________________
3. dangerous ______________________ 6. austere______________________________
Tell how a business or institution is different from another because they possess a pair of theseopposing characteristics.
______________________________________________________________________________
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Write words that contrast with:
1. tranquil ________________________ 4. remote ______________________________
2. squalid __________________________ 5. arid ________________________________
3. dreary __________________________ 6. luxuriant ____________________________
Explain how a pair of these adjectives could describe two very different types of surroundings.
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Activity 4
ContrastsAdjectives, Vocabulary Building
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Name__________________________________
Activity 5
Sticky FingersAdjectives, Synonyms, Word Choice
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Name__________________________________
Using the same words over and over causes listeners and readers to become bored. We need to findother words for the tired ones that are used all the time. A word that means the same or about thesame as another word is called a synonym. Synonyms allow us to express ourselves in less restric-tive and more interesting ways. Someone might say, “Their new car is really awesome!” Awesomeis an overused adjective often used indiscriminately. What are two other words that could be sub-stituted for awesome, assuming that the speaker meant to praise the car?
______________________________________________________________________________
Write two effective synonyms for each of the overused adjectives below.
1. serious ____________________________________________________________________
2. beautiful __________________________________________________________________
3. whole ______________________________________________________________________
4. scary ______________________________________________________________________
5. clumsy ____________________________________________________________________
6. frantic ____________________________________________________________________
7. gross ______________________________________________________________________
8. huge ______________________________________________________________________
9. insipid ____________________________________________________________________
10. nerdy ______________________________________________________________________
Activity 5
Sticky FingersAdjectives, Synonyms, Word Choice
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Here is a very short story that has a number of adjectives in key places. Write an appropriate syn-onym above each underlined adjective in the following story. Try to keep the meaning and moodof the story.
Mervin not only had sticky fingers; he had gummy gloves. The sly pickpocket was nearly
invisible at the fair. He stood out in the crowd about as clearly as a blackbird amongst a flock
of starlings on a rainy night in January. Nobody noticed him.
The elderly victim barely felt the slight bump that led to another contribution to Mervin’s
growing collection of wallets, watches and purses. He would have liked to thank the man, but
the wizened geezer looked as if the last time he gave to charity convinced him it was bad for
his health. It turned out he was right. That night, when he discovered his loss, the old boy had
a heart attack.
Now read the story again as you have rewritten it. Is the meaning the same? ________________
Is the mood the same? ____________________________________________________________
Name__________________________________
Activity 6
AmazinglyAdverbs, Puns
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Name__________________________________
Sometimes all you need to say to answer a question is “yes” or “no.” But in some cases you mayneed an adverb, adjective or prepositional phrase to express your response adequately. (Example:Sylvia goes to England and tries to find her way through a maze. She does it easily, without retrac-ing a step. How well did Sylvia do in getting through the maze? “Amazingly,” you might say,answering the question with a single adverb, which is also a pun.)
Answer these questions with adverbs that are also puns.
1. Jerry is a skilled boxer, exceptionally quick with his hands. A brash young newcomer chal-lenged Jerry to a fight one day in the gym. How did Jerry win?
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Rose’s mother is a kind lady and a good dressmaker. When Rose split the seam of her dress justbefore going on a date, she asked her mother to quickly repair the torn garment. Rose went onthe date and was complimented on her nice dress. Did Rose’s mother do a good job?
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3. Just before the end of the term, Tito had three big tests in one day. He was uptight before thetests, and out of sorts after taking them. When his mother asked Tito how his day went, howdid he answer?
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4. Of all the boys in his class, Frank was the most forthright and honest. Gerald had a ticklishproblem that he couldn’t take to his parents, so he sought out his friend Frank for help. Howdid he respond to Gerald?
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5. Nate was an amiable but awkward boy of 13. One afternoon in May, when it was actually toocool to go swimming, he accidentally bumped Cynthia and she fell into the pool. She had a robeover her swim suit, but when she came out of the water she was shivering. With a red face, Nateapologized profusely. How did Cynthia react to Nate’s apology?
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Activity 6
AmazinglyAdverbs, Puns
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6. Tom, a burly but sensitive linebacker, was the best defensive player on his team. Time andagain he stopped plays at the line of scrimmage. One team, however, took advantage of Tom’squickness and faked him out of position on a pass play, thereby scoring a touchdown and beat-ing Tom’s team. Tom was the one responsible for the player who scored, and the newspaperscalled him the “goat” of the game. How did Tom react to the criticism?
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7. Herb, the team’s platform diver, was badly stuck up. He thought he was above the others bothliterally and figuratively, and he let everyone know it. How did Herb regard his teammates?
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Write a short story with a question at the end that can be answered by an adverb that is also a pun.
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Name__________________________________
Activity 7
Moonlight JoggersSubjects, Predicates
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Name__________________________________
Below are six sentences that have been broken into three parts each and scrambled. Can you put thepieces back together to make six sentences again?
1. ________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________
3. ________________________________________________________
4. ________________________________________________________
5. ________________________________________________________
6. ________________________________________________________
Now go back and determine which parts of your sentences are subjects and which are predicates.Underline the subjects once and the predicates twice.
Which is your favorite sentence? ____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Why is it your favorite sentence? ____________________________________________________
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who jog in the moonlight
may retire early
Weavers
should get a grip on themselves
Electricians
who are wise
may get shocked
who eat buttered popcorn
can get wrapped up in their work
Trapeze artists
develop strong legs
who peek through keyholes
Ballerinas
Grandfathers
are wary of worms
who drink heavily
Private detectives
who go barefoot
Activity 8
A Balancing ActParallelism, Conjunctions
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Name__________________________________
Items in a series should be balanced; that is, each item should be of the same grammatical type asthe others. For example, if you want to list three ways to get ahead in life, you might say:
Success can be achieved by hard work, simple luck or clever cheating.
Each item in that series is a noun with an adjective modifier.
There are times, however, when you might not want the items to be balanced and grammatically thesame. A similar idea could be expressed this way:
In my opinion, success is a combination of working hard, being flexible and blind luck.
The first two items of the series are participles, but the last one is a noun modified by an adjective.
Which sentence do you think is more effective? ________________________________________
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Sometimes in a series of three, the third item is strategically placed to give an element of surpriseor emphasis. The reader or listener isn’t expecting the abrupt change because the third item is of adifferent character than the other two. For example:
Harry has a lot of charm, is a good dresser and makes his own doilies.
Parallelism in the sentence is achieved with consecutive predicates, ending with one that differs rad-ically in character from the first two.
Write an example of a series of predicates ending with one that differs radically from the first two.
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Activity 8
A Balancing ActParallelism, Conjunctions
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Finish each of these series with a surprise item. Make sure that the third item is parallel with theothers.
dirty faces, grimy hands and ______________________________________________________
very witty, quite gorgeous and ______________________________________________________
in a fog, out of touch or __________________________________________________________
Write sentences with three items, each with an adjective or an adjective with an adverb modifyinga noun. (Example: Mr. Jenkins is really a devoted husband, a wonderful father and a terriblescoundrel.)
1. __________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________
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3. __________________________________________________________________________
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Write a sentence containing three items, each of which is a predicate. (Example: Terry ate the sand-wich, drank the milk and refused the dessert.)
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Name__________________________________
Activity 9
Minding Her ChangeTransitive Verbs
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Name__________________________________
Nouns very often can be turned into verbs in English, and vice versa. (Example: When youexchange the verb and its object in “She changed her mind,” you have “She minded her change.”When a verb takes a direct object, we call it a transitive verb.
Following are pairs of phrases where the verbs and objects have been exchanged. The first of eachpair makes sense, but the second phrase needs some explaining. Explain the second phrase in eachset of verbs and objects.
1. cracked a hit ________________________________________________________________
hit a crack __________________________________________________________________
2. recorded a loss ______________________________________________________________
lost a record ________________________________________________________________
3. mock a teacher ______________________________________________________________
teach a mocker ______________________________________________________________
4. placed a book________________________________________________________________
booked a place ______________________________________________________________
5. headed the firm ______________________________________________________________
firmed the head ______________________________________________________________
6. played a trumpet ____________________________________________________________
trumpeted a play ____________________________________________________________
7. poked an eye ________________________________________________________________
eyed a poke ________________________________________________________________
Activity 9
Minding Her ChangeTransitive Verbs
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8. hit a leg ____________________________________________________________________
legged a hit ________________________________________________________________
9. shot a duck__________________________________________________________________
ducked a shot ______________________________________________________________
10. tracked the killer ____________________________________________________________
killed the tracker ____________________________________________________________
11. played his cards ______________________________________________________________
carded his plays ______________________________________________________________
12. walked his dog ______________________________________________________________
dogged his walk______________________________________________________________
What is the verb and what is its direct object in the following sentence?Our credit card offers special deals to you and your family.
verb __________________________________________________________________________
direct object ____________________________________________________________________
Name__________________________________
Activity 10
Some Advice! Declarative Sentences,Imperative Sentences, Irony
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Name__________________________________
Most people like to give advice but are less eager to receive it. Robinson Foster loved to give peo-ple advice. Unfortunately, some of his advice was confusing or hard to understand. Here are eightof his favorite pieces of advice. Write an “I” to the left of each imperative sentence and a “D” to theleft of each declarative sentence. Be careful—one or two are hard to classify. (Hint: The “I’s” arebalanced by the “Ds.”)
____ 1. Price is all you have to look for if you aren’t interested in quality.
____ 2. Get your chores done right away so you have more time to loaf.
____ 3. Read as fast as you can if you don’t like what you are reading.
____ 4. It is sometimes better to be swift than to be right.
____ 5. Dark glasses and potholes are a bad combination.
____ 6. Nothing is sweeter than success, especially if you can gloat about it.
____ 7. Walk slowly and speak softly if you want to be late and pushed around.
____ 8. Don’t think hard too often, or you’ll ruin your disposition.
Read his advice once more. After reading each sentence, counter it with another piece of advice thatrefutes what Mr. Foster said.
1. __________________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________________
5. __________________________________________________________________________
Activity 10
Some Advice! Declarative Sentences,Imperative Sentences, Irony
24 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
6. __________________________________________________________________________
7. __________________________________________________________________________
8. __________________________________________________________________________
Would you give your advice to anyone? ______________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Who would you give it to? ________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Some people think Mr. Foster is a master of irony. Which of his pieces of advice are ironical, if any?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Are any of your sentences ironical? If so, which ones? __________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Name__________________________________
Activity 11
You, the InterviewerQuestioning
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 25
Name__________________________________
Television talk show hosts, newspaper reporters and biographers of living people ask questionsbecause it is the basic activity of their jobs. Asking the kinds of questions that will provide enter-tainment and information for their audiences is the skill that will determine whether they are suc-cessful or not in their jobs. They may ask predictable questions, but often they can only get thereplies they want by clever probing and questioning.
Imagine that you are a reporter for a newspaper. You have been assigned to interview various peo-ple during the year, some with ordinary jobs, others with unusual jobs.
Write three questions that will produce interesting, enlightening or entertaining responses from thefollowing subjects. Begin by writing your interview goals.
1. a lighthouse keeper who has been stationed at the same lighthouse for 20 years
Goals of the questioning: ______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Your three questions: ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. a guard at Fort Knox who has had the job for three months
Goals of the questioning: ______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Your three questions: ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Activity 11
You, the InterviewerQuestioning
26 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
3. a wealthy chicken rancher with automated facilities for producing eggs
Goals of the questioning: ______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Your three questions: ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________4. a Native American princess who has played a key role in reviving her tribe’s religious and
social customs
Goals of the questioning: ______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Your three questions: ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
5. an Internal Revenue Service investigator who has had his job for nine years
Goals of the questioning: ______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Your three questions: ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Activity 11
You, the InterviewerQuestioning
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 27
Name__________________________________
6. a Wall Street financier convicted of swindling his clients out of millions of dollars
Goals of the questioning: ______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Your three questions: ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
7. a 62-year-old school bus driver who has been driving the bus for 14 years
Goals of the questioning: ______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Your three questions: ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Will one of your sets of questions work with a different subject? (Example: What if you asked theFort Knox guard the questions you had for the Wall Street swindler?) Write the responses you thinkyou’d get.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Activity 12
Catch as Catch CanIdioms
28 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
Did you ever think of how much catching you do? You might catch a ball, a ride, the flu, a favoriteprogram or a nap. Or maybe you’re just trying to catch up. When someone becomes engaged to aneligible person, he or she is called a “catch.” This kind of expression is called an idiom. The Englishlanguage uses many idioms, expressions that aren’t to be taken literally or whose constructiondeparts from the typical grammatical form. These are examples:
Henley caught fire in the second half and ended up with 25 points.I can’t get the hang of it.She’s rolling in dough.It didn’t dawn on us until much later that we were poor.That long hike nearly did me in.The boss bawled me out.
What happens when you are “caught short”? __________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What would you do if you caught
1. a train? ____________________________________________________________________
2. a fly? ______________________________________________________________________
3. a thief? ____________________________________________________________________
4. the mumps? ________________________________________________________________
5. a whopper? ________________________________________________________________
Yawns are “catching,” so are tunes and good humor. What would you most like to catch?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Why? __________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What was the best catch you ever made? Write a vivid description of it.
Activity 13
Are You Ys?Word Play
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 29
Name__________________________________
Here is a chance to show how you can make words change by using them in a “Ys” way. Add a “y”to each word below, and arrange the letters to change them into a different word. (Example: Add a“y” to the word tip, rearrange the letters and you have pity.) Proper nouns are allowed.
1. ram
2. set
3. tin
4. near
5. pins
6. word
7. name
8. rapt
9. laps
10. gnat
11. once
12. dear
13. toad
14. plum
15. raps
16. lode
17. peels
18. nomad
19. team
20. chest
Activity 14
TwistersPuns
30 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
Take an old soft drink advertising slogan, “the pause that refreshes,” and change pause to paws. Youhave a pun, which relies for its humor on the similarity of the way the two words with differentmeanings are pronounced. Draw a picture of “the paws that refreshes.”
Another kind of pun comes from the multiple meanings many English words have. (Example: If you“tipped the pitcher,” would you be knocking over a vessel or giving advice or money to a baseballplayer?)
Look through newspapers and magazines for advertising slogans that lend themselves to puns. Writefive punny slogans on the lines below.
1. __________________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________________
5. __________________________________________________________________________
Activity 15
It’s VanityWord Play, The Character Sketch
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 31
Name__________________________________
This item was in a newspaper column recently:WELL EXCUSE ME . . .At least one driver of a monster SUV makes nobones about feeling entitled to hog the road.The license sighted downtown grouses,YRNMYWAY.
Many vehicle owners choose license plates that deliver a message. The messages are usually likethe following:
U R A Q TC E E Y A
Y E E H A W2 2 G O
4 2 T U D E
Some people like licenses plates that identify them or even advertise their businesses or hobbies.S E W M U P
B I N DT U B A
P O S I E SH O T A I R
Take another look at the plates. Can you imagine what the owners are like? Guess their ages, gen-ders, occupations, dominant personality traits and favorite pastimes.
U R A Q T
gender: ________________________________________________________________________
occupation: ____________________________________________________________________
dominant personality trait: ________________________________________________________
favorite pastime: ________________________________________________________________
C E E Y A
gender: ________________________________________________________________________
occupation: ____________________________________________________________________
dominant personality trait: ________________________________________________________
favorite pastime: ________________________________________________________________
32 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Y E E H A W
gender: ________________________________________________________________________
occupation: ____________________________________________________________________
dominant personality trait: ________________________________________________________
favorite pastime: ________________________________________________________________
2 2 G O
gender: ________________________________________________________________________
occupation: ____________________________________________________________________
dominant personality trait: ________________________________________________________
favorite pastime: ________________________________________________________________
4 2 T U D E
gender: ________________________________________________________________________
occupation: ____________________________________________________________________
dominant personality trait: ________________________________________________________
favorite pastime: ________________________________________________________________
S E W M U P
gender: ________________________________________________________________________
occupation: ____________________________________________________________________
dominant personality trait: ________________________________________________________
favorite pastime: ________________________________________________________________
B I N D
gender: ________________________________________________________________________
occupation: ____________________________________________________________________
dominant personality trait: ________________________________________________________
favorite pastime: ________________________________________________________________
Activity 15
It’s VanityWord Play, The Character Sketch
Name__________________________________
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 33
T U B A
gender: ________________________________________________________________________
occupation: ____________________________________________________________________
dominant personality trait: ________________________________________________________
favorite pastime: ________________________________________________________________
P O S I E S
gender: ________________________________________________________________________
occupation: ____________________________________________________________________
dominant personality trait: ________________________________________________________
favorite pastime: ________________________________________________________________
H O T A I R
gender: ________________________________________________________________________
occupation: ____________________________________________________________________
dominant personality trait: ________________________________________________________
favorite pastime: ________________________________________________________________
Choose one of the car owners who interests you. What else can you imagine about that individual?Is the person good looking or unattractive? How does he or she dress? What kind of driver is thatperson? Is the individual single or married, and if married is he or she a parent? What are his or herpolitics?
On another sheet of paper write a character sketch of the imaginary car owner. Include these elements:
A description of the subject (prominent physical characteristics and dress)A few biographical incidents revealing the person’s characterA quotation from the person or from someone who knows him or her wellA reference to the way the person spends his or her spare timeA glimpse of the subject in real life
Activity 15
It’s VanityWord Play, The Character Sketch
Name__________________________________
34 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
In each sentence below, two words are mixed up; the beginning of one word was switched withanother. This kind of speech mishap is called a spoonerism. Spoonerisms are often hilarious, suchas when a minister told a groom that it is kisstomary to cuss the bride.
Write each sentence the way the speaker meant it to be spoken but couldn’t quite get it out right.
1. “Gerald fairly bound time to study last week,” his mother remarked to her neighbor.
__________________________________________________________________________
2. “Little Mike saw a bunny fair at the zoo,” commented Mr. Norris.
__________________________________________________________________________
3. “Come over and have lot puck tonight with us,” offered Gina.
__________________________________________________________________________
4. “They’re a berry munch,” remarked the drama teacher about her cast.
__________________________________________________________________________
5. “They’ll need a gravel tide before they go on their cruise,” advised the agent.
__________________________________________________________________________
6. “Mel is known for his wrong leech,” said the lady at the boarding house.
__________________________________________________________________________
7. “It was a measure to pleat you,” the young man said politely.
__________________________________________________________________________
8. “She has made a dumber of knives in the Pacific,” affirmed the oceanographer.
__________________________________________________________________________
Activity 16
Mix-UpsSpoonerisms, Short Story
Name__________________________________
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 35
9. “Haven’t seen you in a tong lime,” remarked the waiter to Mr. Lee.
__________________________________________________________________________
10. “It’s not all gun and fames in college, you know,” warned the professor.
__________________________________________________________________________
11. “It’s a mitt or hiss proposition,” said Mr. Andrews.
__________________________________________________________________________
12. “I saw a dare of pucks on the pond,” the hunter commented.
__________________________________________________________________________
Write a story with two or three spoonerisms in it. Write the story correctly; then convert two or threeof the sentences to spoonerisms. Read your story aloud and see if anyone understands your spooner-isms.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Write a title for your story here.
______________________________________________________________________________
Activity 16
Mix-UpsSpoonerisms, Short Story
Name__________________________________
Activity 17
HeadlinesWord Play
36 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
Family names often come from an ancestor’s occupation (Baker, Potter, Miller, Porter, Smith,Carter, etc.) and can produce some interesting sentences. (Examples: Saylor sails for the WestIndies, but Rather would rather not. Tinkers tinkers with another kitchen appliance.) Similarly, somegiven names can give us sentences such as: Pat pats her dog when he is good, Marvel marvels atcomputers, Wilt wilts under a broiling sun and Ford fords a stream.
Write a headline for each of the news items below using words with repetitious beginnings.(Example: Mark marks time before return to Rome. Nixon nixes break-in.) The trick is to have thesecond word in the headline repeat, or nearly repeat, the first word. Because of limitations of space,headlines can only be seven or eight words long. The first word in each headline should be a prop-er noun.
1. An eastern European country takes a national vote concerning unionism.
__________________________________________________________________________
2. A ruler named Nicholas is grazed by a would-be assassin’s bullet.
__________________________________________________________________________
3. A man whose given name is William invoices the city for damage to his broadleaf trees.
__________________________________________________________________________
4. Alcatraz reverberates from a riot.
__________________________________________________________________________
5. A Mediterranean country eases out a dictator.
__________________________________________________________________________
6. Former President Truman is pestered by hecklers.
__________________________________________________________________________
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 37
7. The major American oil company of the thirties remains firm about resisting governmentalinterference.
__________________________________________________________________________
Write seven headlines with beginnings similar to the previous ones for the past year’s news.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Activity 17
HeadlinesWord Play
Name__________________________________
Activity 18
ReversalsAxioms, Word Play
38 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
Sometimes it makes as much sense to reverse a well-known saying as it does to say it the way it’susually said. (Example: “He who hesitates is lost.” Reverse it to “He who’s lost hesitates.”) Canyou make sense of these other popular sayings and their reversals?
1. “Cleanliness is next to godliness” becomes “Godliness is next to cleanliness.” How does that
make sense? ________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. “Might makes right” or “Right makes might.” Is that true?____________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. When reversed, “Practice makes perfect” becomes “perfection makes practice.” Is that
possible? __________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
4. “Seeing is believing” becomes “Believing is seeing.” Does that make sense? ____________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
5. If you reverse “Where there’s life there’s hope,” it becomes “Where there’s hope there’s life.”
Does that seem reasonable? ____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
6. “It’s an ill wind that blows no one good” when reversed becomes “It’s a good wind that blows
no one ill.” How could that be true? ______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 39
7. “A soft answer turns away wrath” becomes “Wrath turns away a soft answer.” Can that make
any sense? __________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
8. “Haste makes waste” becomes “Waste makes haste.” Explain how that might be true. ______
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
9. The saying “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” is popular, but “If you can’t join ’em, beat ’em”
also might make sense. Explain how. ____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
10. “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” when reversed is “All play and no work makes
Jack a dull boy.” Can you make sense of that?______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Draw a picture of one of the reversed sayings to make your explanation clear.
Activity 18
ReversalsAxioms, Word Play
Name__________________________________
Activity 19
Sad SpaghettiMaking Comparisons
40 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
These questions may seem incongruous, but each contains a grain of truth. (Example: Bothspaghetti and twilight can be sad, depending upon the circumstances.) Answer each question andexplain your answer.
1. Which is faster—day or night? __________________________________________________
Why? ______________________________________________________________________
2. Which is rowdier—whale or a butterfly? __________________________________________
Why? ______________________________________________________________________
3. Which is wetter—new shoes or skiing? __________________________________________
Why? ______________________________________________________________________
4. What causes more confusion—peanut butter or trees?________________________________
Why? ______________________________________________________________________
5. Which is softer—breakfast or summer? __________________________________________
Why? ______________________________________________________________________
6. Which is sadder—spaghetti or twilight? __________________________________________
Why? ______________________________________________________________________
7. Which hurts more—Thursday or purple? __________________________________________
Why? ______________________________________________________________________
8. Which is heavier—generosity or insanity? ________________________________________
Why? ______________________________________________________________________
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 41
9. Which is more honest—perfume or sand? ________________________________________
Why? ______________________________________________________________________
10. Which is more frustrating—green or football?______________________________________
Why? ______________________________________________________________________
11. What helps more—dancing or wallpaper? ________________________________________
Why? ______________________________________________________________________
12. What takes more time—a crowd or water? ________________________________________
Why? ______________________________________________________________________
Write your own questions similar to the previous ones. Answer them and explain your answers.
1. __________________________________________________________________________
Explanation: ________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________
Explanation: ________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________
Explanation: ________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Activity 19
Sad SpaghettiMaking Comparisons
Name__________________________________
Activity 20
Pick Your SpotListening Intelligently
42 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
You often listen carefully: when someone gives you important directions or instructions, when youare waiting for someone to meet you, when you are awakened from sleep by a sound at night. Listencarefully for a total of 15 minutes today. Select three listening posts. At the first post, listen for fiveminutes; then move to the second post; then go to the third post and listen for the same length oftime. Do you think you will hear sounds you have never heard before?
Why? __________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Do you expect to be bored by the three listening periods?
Why? __________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Find a good location for your first listening post—a place where you can listen to sounds that inter-est you. Take a pencil and a notebook or pad along and write down everything you hear that isunusual, surprising, fascinating, pleasing, upsetting or in any way noteworthy. Next, move to a spotnear a group of people. Close your eyes and listen. Then write a brief description of what you heardthat was interesting. Go to a third location where you feel comfortable and inconspicuous. Perhapsa place where you cannot be seen by others (but not “hiding”). Write anything you hear that seemsnoteworthy. You may or may not close your eyes.
Answer these questions based on the “listening” notes you took:
1. Which of the three places was most satisfactory as a listening post? Why? ______________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Which method of listening was most productive—closed eyes or open? Why? __________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 43
3. Did you hear more when people where nearby? Why or why not? ____________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
4. Was your first location a good listening post? Why or why not? ______________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
5. Did you become a “sharper” listener by the time your three listening sessions were over? Why?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
6. Did you want to listen for a longer or a shorter period of time at any of the three locations?
Why or why not? ____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
7. Were you bored at any of the listening posts? Why or why not? ________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Summarize one of your listening experiences in a limerick or poem. ____________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Activity 20
Pick Your SpotListening Intelligently
Name__________________________________
Activity 21
Sensory IntelligenceListening Intelligently
44 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
How sharp are your senses? An important part of using your brain is using all of your senses.Imagine the things below and stir up your senses.
• the sound of a helicopter overhead• the sensation of suddenly tripping• the feel of cold water on your feet• the sound of a hacking cough• the sound of a baby’s coo• the sound of a large diesel truck• the taste of a fresh lemon• the sound of a chair scraping on the floor• the sight of light flickering through a tree• the taste of burned toast• the smell of sour milk• the sound of wind whistling past a window
We receive information through our ears constantly. Sounds as distinct as a yell and as subtle as thevibration of a passing truck are received and noted by our brains. We may not pay attention to sub-tle sounds: water running down a pipe or the hum of a motor in the distance. But we listen to music,to the conversation of people and to sounds indicating danger, such as explosions and shouts. Haveyou ever turned off the sound of the TV and tried to figure out what was happening by sight alone?
How do you wake up in the morning? Someone nudging you? Someone saying softly, “It’s time toget up, dear”? An alarm clock? Music from a clock radio? Birds singing? Sunlight entering your
room? Your mind telling you it’s time to get up?________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What sounds do you like to hear when you awaken? ____________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What sounds do you like to hear as you are preparing to go to sleep? ______________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Activity 22
Friendly ConversationListening to Friends
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 45
Name__________________________________
You can be an expert listener. When a friend talks with you today, listen with interest for importantdetails. After a few minutes, write three or four important details you heard. Wait until the conver-sation has ended and you have parted company with your friend, of course.
Before talking to your friend, guess what he or she will say to you first. Write it here.__________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What was the main topic of conversation during the three minutes that your friend talked? ______
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What were the important details you heard?
1. __________________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________________
5. __________________________________________________________________________
6. __________________________________________________________________________
7. __________________________________________________________________________
What particular things did you notice about your friend as he or she spoke to you? ____________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
46 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Did you have any difficulty remembering the details? Why or why not? ____________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
How close was your guess about what your friend would say first? ________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
How well can you answer these questions?
Detail #1:Why was this important? __________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
How do you know you have remembered this detail correctly? ____________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What else did your friend say that would make you think this detail is correct? ______________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Activity 22
Friendly ConversationListening to Friends
Name__________________________________
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 47
Detail #2:Why was this important? __________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
How do you know you have remembered this detail correctly? ____________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What did your friend say that would make you think this detail is correct? __________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Detail #3:Why was this important? __________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
How do you know you have remembered this detail correctly? ____________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What did your friend say that would make you think this detail is correct? __________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Activity 22
Friendly ConversationListening to Friends
Name__________________________________
48 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Detail #4:Why was this important? __________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
How do you know you have remembered this detail correctly? ____________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What did your friend say that would make you think this detail is correct? __________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Detail #5:Why was this important? __________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
How do you know you have remembered this detail correctly? ____________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What did your friend say that would make you think detail is correct? ______________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Activity 22
Friendly ConversationListening to Friends
Name__________________________________
Activity 23
Three Puzzling ScenesSolving Mysteries
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 49
Name__________________________________
Here are three puzzling scenes. Read them carefully and write your interpretation of each.
1. A man buys a shirt at a department store. He hands the clerk a 20-dollar bill. The clerk puts thebill in the cash register and is about to hand the man his change (about three dollars). Suddenlythe clerk stops, asks the customer to wait a minute and rushes toward a well-dressed man at thecenter of the floor. What is happening?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
50 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
2. On Monday while driving to work in heavy traffic on the freeway, a middle-aged woman lis-tens to the radio. Suddenly, she turns deathly pale, speeds up, changes lanes and swervesbetween cars. She mutters some words, reaches for the dial of the car radio and starts to pray.Missing a sports car by inches, she increases her speed. She crosses two lanes in order to leaveby the first exit ramp she comes to. What caused the woman to behave this way?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Activity 23
Three Puzzling ScenesSolving Mysteries
Name__________________________________
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 51
3. After glancing at the wall clock, a boy gets up from the breakfast table without finishing hismeal. He hesitates as he walks by his mother, clutches his stomach, begins to say something,then stops. After a few more steps, with an anguished look on his face, the boy leaves the roomand struggles down the hallway to his bedroom.
“Oh,” he moans as he enters the room. He continues to moan in a louder voice. His mothercalls, “What’s the matter, Honey? Are you all right?” The boy doesn’t answer. He falls on hisbed, knocking over his school books. What is wrong with the boy?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Activity 23
Three Puzzling ScenesSolving Mysteries
Name__________________________________
Activity 24
Any Explanation?Dealing with Ambiguity
52 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
Sometimes politicians and celebrities claim they have been quoted “out of context,” which meansquoting a sentence or two without showing what went before or after a statement. It is a legitimatecomplaint because quoting only a sentence or two can give a wrong impression of what the speakermeant to say. The words leading up to a statement are often all-important in understanding whatsomeone is trying to say.
The statements below by themselves, without any other information, seem odd. See if you can makesense of them. Beneath each statement explain what it might mean.
1. Tears won’t locate a lost toy. __________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Wash days are the best days of all. ______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. Forests aren’t meant for ballerinas. ______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
4. A smile can’t remove a failed examination. ________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
5. It’s torture to know the answer. ________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 53
6. We inherit their fingernails, too. ________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
7. When a sidewalk glistens, robins sing.____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
8. Tar is really worse than wax paper. ______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
9. The five people sat quietly in their six seats. ______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
10. Monsters dance slower in the moonlight. __________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Activity 24
Any Explanation?Dealing with Ambiguity
Name__________________________________
Activity 25
What’s Missing?Finding the Missing Facts
54 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
According to some mystery writers, the key to solving a crime is for the detective to find one pieceof evidence that clears up the mystery, in the same way that finding a missing piece of a jigsaw puz-zle, is the clue to completing the picture. Someone relates an incident that is supposed to be funnyor remarkable, but leaves out a vital detail. Without that fact, the story doesn’t make much senseand you don’t know how to react. Here is an opportunity for you to supply facts that will make senseof three puzzling stories.
Read this story as an example and decide what important fact has been omitted.
Alyssa went to town on a bus one Saturday to do some shopping. She got off the bus at a busycorner and walked into a large department store. She decided to take an elevator to the sec-ond floor and look at some hats. After trying on several hats, she started for an elevator whosedoors were just opening. When Alyssa was about to step into the elevator, a woman rantoward her and shouted, “Stop!”
A number of different facts might be inserted into this story to explain why the woman wantedAlyssa to stop: (a) Alyssa forgot to pay for the hat on her head; (b) she had put another woman’shat on by mistake; or (c) she dropped her purse and the woman was rushing to return it before theelevator doors closed. See if you can come up with the missing fact in the following stories.
1. Mr. Michaels, a bachelor, turned the corner slowly in his new sports car. It was eleven o’clockat night and pitch black. There were street lamps lighting the sidewalks and streets of the neigh-borhood, however, so Mr. Michaels swung confidently into a driveway, parked his car andwalked up to the front door of the house. He thrust a key on his key chain into the lock andfound it didn’t fit.
“Maybe it’s the wrong key,” Mr. Michaels said aloud, and tried another key. Nope. The secondkey didn’t even go all the way in. Mr. Michaels was flabbergasted. He didn’t know what to do.
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
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Activity 25
What’s Missing?Finding the Missing Facts
Name__________________________________
2. Nelson drove his car to the lake one day when he felt like swimming. He parked his car by theside of the lake, got out and jumped into the water. After about 10 minutes he came out of thewater. Just as he reached into his car for a towel, a policeman told him he was under arrest.
Think of as many facts as you can which might have been left out of this little story that wouldaccount for the policeman’s action.
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. Brittany and her dog went down a pathway in the country on a sunny spring day. Two birdstwittered in an apple tree. A breeze stirred the branches of the tree, and several blossoms fell tothe ground. Suddenly a rabbit darted across the path in front of Brittany and her dog. Withoutpausing, Brittany and her dog proceeded down the path.
Why didn’t Brittany’s dog chase the rabbit? What are some missing facts which would explainthe dog’s behavior?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
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Write your own mystery story with a puzzle or mystery which isn’t revealed until the very end. Tryto be original with your ideas, and remember that the essential element of a mystery story is sus-pense.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Activity 25
What’s Missing?Finding the Missing Facts
Name__________________________________
Activity 26
A Searching QuestionProblem Solving
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Name__________________________________
Suppose you are a rural doctor driving alone at night to call on a patient in a town 23 miles fromyour home. Most of the two-lane road you are traveling is bordered by sagebrush and cactus, and ithas been 10 minutes or more since you have seen the lights of another car. Five minutes from yourdestination you hear thunder, and then your car is lashed by rain and wind. Suddenly, your carlurches into a deep rut in the road. You swerve back into your lane, but the front passenger dooropens and your medical bag falls out. Since you aren’t traveling very fast, you are able to stop yourcar about 70 feet from where you think the bag landed. The road is almost awash, which alarms youbecause your patient will need tablets in your bag that will dissolve if water seeps into it. What stepswould you take to recover your bag as quickly as possible?
Before you take those steps, consider the situation carefully. What things must you pay attention to
as you try to retrieve your bag? ____________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What is your most troubling problem?________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Write the steps you will take in order. ________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Activity 27
Break, Broke, BrokenWord Usage, Idioms
58 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
Have you ever been “broke”? Is it the same as being “broken”? Being “broke” has to do with one’sfinances, and being “broken” has to do with one’s spirit. We have many other uses in our languagefor the various forms of the word break. (Example: “Give me a break!” Someone just learningAmerican English might think that a strange request.)
List at least 10 more uses for the word break in its various forms.
1. __________________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________________
5. __________________________________________________________________________
6. __________________________________________________________________________
7. __________________________________________________________________________
8. __________________________________________________________________________
9. __________________________________________________________________________
10. __________________________________________________________________________
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When have you or someone else been confused by the use of one of the expressions on page 58?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Choose one of the uses of break and describe five situations in which it can be used in ordinary andextraordinary conversation.
1. __________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
5. __________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Activity 27
Break, Broke, BrokenWord Usage, Idioms
Name__________________________________
Activity 28
Wise Weavers and Greedy Gamblers
Epigrams, Alliteration
60 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
One day for no reason at all, Austin said to no one in particular, “Weavers, in their wisdom, are waryof worms.” He smiled to himself. What he had said sounded clever to him. Austin didn’t quite knowwhy it sounded clever, but it did. A few days later when he was crossing the street, Austin blurtedout, “Gamblers, never gratified, always go for the gold.” That didn’t sound quite as clever as hisfirst pronouncement, but it satisfied him anyway.
A week after he had coined the epigram about gamblers, Austin was sitting in a restaurant. Whenthe waiter came to take his order, he said rather grandiosely, “Stevedores seldom steal because thereare no more stemwinders.” The waiter dropped the menu he was about to give to Austin, and hit hishead on the table when he tried to pick it up.
It was soon clear to anyone around Austin, and maybe to Austin himself, that he was hooked onspewing forth epigrams that were highly alliterative and largely meaningless. Here are five more ofAustin’s attempts at epigrams.
1. Maverick meteorologists are generally misty-eyed.2. Careless crystal-makers cringe a lot.3. Docile donkeys are downtrodden, whereas hostile horses like to harry harriers.4. Parachutists who procrastinate are more populous than people think. 5. Never let a Nervous Nellie know you are normal.
Do any of those statements make sense to you? If so, which one(s)? ________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
An epigram is a witty, often paradoxical saying. Write your own epigrams, witty or worthless. Tryto think of at least three.
1. __________________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________
Activity 29
The Ponderous PandaAlliteration
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The panda paused, then padded toward a patch of bamboo, passing perilously close to thepath of the poachers.
The panda is an endangered species and is protected by law in China, but poachers still take pandasin rather large numbers. The sentence above, then, isn’t as remarkable for its meaning as it is for thepreponderance of words beginning with “p.” It’s an overdone example of the literary device calledalliteration. When not overdone, alliteration can be quite effective, as in this opening sentence of areview of a musical performance:
Violinist Chee-Yun brought a magnetic blend of muscle and musicianship to the BurbankCenter for the Arts on Saturday night.
Alliterative words have the same initial sounds, but not always the same initial letters. Cup and cel-ery, for example, are not alliterative.
Write an alliterative sentence about each of the following birds:
pigeon ________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
starling ________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
robin __________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
sparrow ________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Name__________________________________
62 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
blackbird ______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
canary ________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
mockingbird ____________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
gull __________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Write three more related sentences about one of the birds. Be sure to write sentences which are true.Use reference books, magazines or the internet if you need more information.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
Activity 29
The Ponderous PandaAlliteration
Name__________________________________
Activity 30
Wise and WittyAphorisms
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Name__________________________________
“The only certainty is that nothing is certain.”
What do you think of that sentence? Does it make sense? ________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Every culture has wise sayings called maxims, adages or aphorisms. A few are distinctly American,but may also be found, stated a little differently, in other cultures. These are a few of our commonaphorisms:
He who hesitates is lost.Look before you leap.There are three kinds of friends: best friends, guest friends and pest friends.Never give a sucker an even break.It never rains but it pours.
Aphorisms tend to be short and pithy. They give us bits of wisdom, but they can be disputed. Forinstance, which do you prefer: “Look before you leap” or “He who hesitates is lost”? Can we take
both pieces of advice? Aren’t they contradictory? ______________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Write your own aphorisms. Invent new sayings or change well-known ones. (Example: “It neverrains but it pours” could be changed to “Troubles follow one another like leaves falling from atree.”)
Here are some good topics: friendship, treachery, bravery, cowardice, chance, diligence, war, van-ity, truth, brutality, beauty, poverty, wealth, music, romance, nonsense, folly, understanding, divin-ity, force, education, business, poetry, genius or foolishness. Write at least five aphorisms below.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Activity 31
Metaphorically SpeakingMetaphors
64 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
A metaphor is a figure of speech that expresses relationships between things in such a way that aword or phrase ordinarily used for one thing is applied to another. A familiar example is: “Harrybreezed through his examinations.”
Underline the metaphor in the following passage:
As he turned from the boulevard to his street, Tom had an uneasy feeling. Then he saw it—ugly,
black smoke in the evening sky coming from the end of the cul-de-sac. A crowd of people, cars,
trucks and a fire engine were right in front of his new house! Tom sped up, unmindful of two or
three dark figures in the street scurrying toward the crowd. He slammed on his brakes, leaped out
and plowed through the crowd. As he rushed toward his front door, Tom was stopped and held back
by a burly policeman.
“Hold it, Bud. You can’t go in there!”
“But it’s MY house!” Tom yelled.
“Can’t help it. If you go inside you’ll be barbecued like a hot dog on a grill!” the policeman
shouted back.
Tom let out a howl and clenched his fists.
With the colorful language of the passage, it might be difficult to find the metaphor, but it is“plowed” in the fifth sentence. Guess what is the subject (“it”) of each metaphor below. Write it onthe line after each sentence.
1. Its shadowy arches rose higher and higher. ________________________________________
2. It ground to a cacophonous stop. ________________________________________________
3. Its measured rhythm of misery haunted him. ______________________________________
4. Then it appeared, rising Neptune-like from the sea.__________________________________
5. Stitched together hastily, it was nonetheless a success. ______________________________
6. It cast the shadow of vague and fearful tomorrows.__________________________________
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 65
Activity 31
Metaphorically SpeakingMetaphors
Name__________________________________
7. It whispered soothingly of rest and contentment and freedom from care. ________________
8. It had been strung on a fragile string. ____________________________________________
9. It stopped in that perfection, savored in all its perfectness. ____________________________
10. It became as sterile and barren as its own high heaps of tailings. ______________________
In addition to making language more interesting and enjoyable, metaphorical expressions can helpus gain insight about how to solve problems.
Use the words below metaphorically in sentences. They may be used in any of their forms.(Example: Label can be labels, labeled or labeling.
1. label ______________________________________________________________________
2. mirror______________________________________________________________________
3. ram________________________________________________________________________
4. circle ______________________________________________________________________
5. blank ______________________________________________________________________
6. brush ______________________________________________________________________
7. rock ______________________________________________________________________
8. liquid ______________________________________________________________________
9. train ______________________________________________________________________
10. glass ______________________________________________________________________
On another sheet of paper, write a poem, essay or short story about one of your metaphors.
Activity 32
In Other WordsMaxims, Paraphrasing
66 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
Many English sayings offer advice and are humorous. These sayings are called aphorisms or max-ims. They stay popular because they have the ring of truth and wry humor. A favorite maxim is“Faint heart never won fair maiden.” That saying could be paraphrased as “Weak-kneed suitorsdon’t win lovely girls.” Figure out the original sayings for these paraphrases:
1. What seems to be beautiful may be only on the surface.
Saying: ____________________________________________________________________
2. By copying someone, you give them a sincere compliment.
Saying: ____________________________________________________________________
3. Consuming apples is a good way of maintaining excellent health.
Saying: ____________________________________________________________________
4. Imprudent people rush headlong into situations into which angels are reluctant to go.
Saying: ____________________________________________________________________
5. Lack of knowledge can make the individual blithely unaware and thus happy.
Saying: ____________________________________________________________________
6. Where your affections lie is where your true home is.
Saying: ____________________________________________________________________
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7. Don’t try to fix something that doesn’t need repairing.
Saying: ____________________________________________________________________
8. Hurrying to finish something will spoil the endeavor.
Saying: ____________________________________________________________________
9. If something about you is pointed out that is obviously true, own up to it.
Saying: ____________________________________________________________________
10. Responding to an angry outburst with a conciliatory response will preserve peace.
Saying: ____________________________________________________________________
Paraphrase these five aphorisms:
1. It never rains but it pours. ______________________________________________________
2. Handsome is as handsome does. ________________________________________________
3. There’s no fool like an old fool. ________________________________________________
4. Every cloud has a silver lining.__________________________________________________
5. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. ____________________________________________
Activity 32
In Other WordsMaxims, Paraphrasing
Name__________________________________
Activity 33
Wise or Not?Personification, Aphorisms
68 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
“Procrastination is the thief of time.” Statements such as this use a figure of speech called person-ification, talking about something as if it were a person. “Hope springs eternal in the human heart”is a fanciful example of personification.
Underline the aphorisms which have true personification.
Discretion is the better part of valor.
Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.
Two heads are better than one.
Good fortune is the comrade of virtue.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Wonder is the daughter of ignorance.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Hate and mistrust are the children of blindness.
A stitch in time saves nine.
Silence gives consent.
Many hands make light work.
Hope is a better companion than fear.
Look over those sayings again. Which one seems particularly wise to you? __________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Why? __________________________________________________________________________
Which one do you consider doubtful? ________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Why? __________________________________________________________________________
Activity 34
The Waiting GameReminiscing
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Name__________________________________
It seems we are always waiting for something: for dinner to be served, for someone to meet us orpick us up, for a doctor or a dentist to see us, for fish to bite. Waiting appears to be the chief busi-ness of life! Complete this survey. During the past month, did you wait:
1. For a phone call? __________
2. For a bus or a ride? __________
3. For a clerk to serve you in a store? __________
4. For a performance to end? __________ What was it? ________________________________
5. In a doctor’s office? __________ How long did you wait? __________
6. In a dentist’s office? __________ How long did you wait? __________
7. For a chance to say something in a conversation? __________
8. For a chance to talk in class? __________
9. For a meal to be served? __________
10. To fall asleep? __________
11. For the last class on Friday to be over? __________
12. For the dawn to break? __________
13. To talk with a prospective employer? __________
14. For a pot or kettle to boil? __________
15. For the mail to come? __________
16. For someone to come home? __________ Who was it? ______________________________
17. For an apology? __________ Did you get it? __________
70 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
18. For it to stop raining? __________
19. For retaliation? __________ Did you get it? __________ What happened? ______________
__________________________________________________________________________
20. To get into a theater? __________
How many of the 20 kinds of waiting did you experience in the past month? __________
What were some other occasions when you waited? ____________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
On which occasion were you the most patient? ________________________________________
On which occasion were you the least patient? ________________________________________
When haven’t you minded waiting at all during the past month? __________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
In your lifetime, what time do you remember best when you had to wait? Explain what happened.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Activity 34
The Waiting GameReminiscing
Name__________________________________
Activity 35
TitlingTitling
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Name__________________________________
Titles of movies, books, songs and articles are important. They can reveal exactly what the authoris writing about, or tease and only hint. Some individuals have a talent for coming up with catchytitles, but even they must struggle at times to produce titles that will get the consumer’s attention.How good are you at concocting titles? Write catchy titles for the following:
1. An anthology of poems by a modern poet who is known for his blasphemy
__________________________________________________________________________
2. A technical treatise on the defenses of moths
__________________________________________________________________________
3. A television program about environmentalists who have fought against industry
__________________________________________________________________________
4. A song about a captain who perished in a storm because he was too headstrong to turn back his
ship ______________________________________________________________________
5. A wire sculpture of a giant fighting a small man
__________________________________________________________________________
6. An essay about the futility of trying to give economic aid to foreign countries
__________________________________________________________________________
7. A comic strip whose central character is a humanized goat
__________________________________________________________________________
8. A discography of jazz records
__________________________________________________________________________
72 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
9. A tone poem that portrays courage in Siberia
__________________________________________________________________________
10. A short story about a family who moves to remote northern Canada to escape city life in
California __________________________________________________________________
11. A movie about a riot and subsequent massacre in Czechoslovakia
__________________________________________________________________________
12. A report about the superstitions of Melanesians in New Guinea
__________________________________________________________________________
What is your favorite title? ________________________________________________________
Why? __________________________________________________________________________
What is the best title you have ever come up with for a composition, essay, poem, song or story?
______________________________________________________________________________
Why? __________________________________________________________________________
Activity 35
TitlingTitling
Name__________________________________
Activity 36
Orange Peels and Wart Hogs
The Synopsis
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 73
Name__________________________________
How do musicians come up with names for their compositions? Some titles for old ragtime, bluesand Dixieland jazz pieces are intriguing. For instance, what did Pete Rugolo have in mind when hetitled one piece “Dream After Dream After Dream”?
How about authors’ titles? Hemingway’s title, The Old Man and the Sea is clearly about an old manfishing in the sea. Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities is also clear. What do the following titles conveyto you?
1. Happy to Be Here (collection of short stories) ______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Mandolins in the Moonlight (novel) ______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. Wart Hog Results (magazine article) ____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
4. Rancid Feelings and Wholesome Food (short story) ________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
5. Defending the Natural World (magazine article) ____________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
6. Mishap in Malaysia (short story) ________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
74 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Activity 36
Orange Peels and Wart Hogs
The Synopsis
Name__________________________________
7. Orange Peelings Over (poem) __________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
8. The Case of the Million-Dollar Umbrella (novel) __________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
9. The Careless Kitten (novel) ____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
10. The Mark of a Heel (short story) ________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Write a synopsis of one of the titles to show what you think it’s really about.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Activity 37
Novel SpeculationsThe Plot Summary, Titling
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Name__________________________________
The titles of books, films and short stories are important for they can either pique a reader’s inter-est or fail to arouse any interest at all
Here are 10 titles of novels sent to literary agents for appraisal. Each manuscript has only a singletitle and no synopsis. Imagine you are a literary agent who has received these manuscripts. Couldyou guess what their contents are? Write a brief summary of each book, and indicate who the maincharacters might be.
1. Too Good to Be True ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. Cleaned Out ________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. Sisters of the Devil __________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
76 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
4. Secrets of a Mourner ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
5. The Last Cynic ______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
6. St. Martin’s at Seven ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
7. The Robin’s Song ____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Activity 37
Novel SpeculationsThe Plot Summary, Titling
Name__________________________________
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 77
8. The Ridge Near Blue River ____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
9. Despised Passion ____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
10. The Triumphant Redemption __________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Activity 37
Novel SpeculationsThe Plot Summary, Titling
Name__________________________________
Activity 38
Soggy CitizensThe Short Story
78 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
People in western Oregon and Washington don’t seem to mind the rain too much. They understandtheir states’ geography and topography. The western regions are rainy and the eastern parts are dry.There are good things and not so good things about rain. This might be called a “mixed blessing.”Can you think of some other mixed blessings?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Explain how these happenings or situations might be mixed blessings.
1. finding money ______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. being very tall for your age ____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. taking a long trip ____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
4. having a very popular friend __________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 79
5. winning a race ______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
6. getting praise from your teacher ________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
7. living across the street from school ______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
8. having the best car of anyone in your group ______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
9. winning a pony in a raffle ______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
10. being elected class president ____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
11. catching a foul ball in the stands at a ballpark ______________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
12. being able to speak another language ____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Select the mixed blessing that interests you most, and write a short story about it. A short story hasthree important characteristics. It is carefully crafted, it is compact and it is unified. Remember thatall the details in a good short story have a purpose, and that they add to its total effect.
Activity 38
Soggy CitizensThe Short Story
Name__________________________________
Activity 39
LeisureThe Essay
80 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
The dictionary definition of leisure is “unoccupied time in which a person can indulge in rest orrecreation,” but we each define leisure in our own way. Some people use their leisure time to work,such as to build houses for others. Others enjoy doing nothing, exerting little or no energy. Somelike to chat or read. In the winter, men in some places sit in little huts ice fishing. They cut a holein the ice when a lake or pond freezes over, then drop in a line and try to catch a fish. This requireslittle action unless they catch a fish. How are they expending energy?
In the winter, what do people in cold climates do instead of
hiking? ________________________________________________________________________
playing golf? ____________________________________________________________________
swimming? ____________________________________________________________________
riding a motorcycle or bicycle? ____________________________________________________
Write about a leisure activity you believe is worthwhile. Your essay will be more successful if youwrite from personal experience. Use facts, examples and anecdotes.
In order to be persuasive, your ideas should be arranged logically, backed up by facts, examples andanecdotes. Write a strong summary statement at the end. Give your rough draft to someone whoseopinion you respect for a reading that will show up any flaws in your argument.
Activity 40
Unlikely NicknamesThe Profile
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Name__________________________________
Some nicknames, such as “Hot Lips” Page (for a jazz trumpeter) and “Peekaboo” Pennington (for aprivate detective), are quite fitting. Others may be deliberately inappropriate, such as “Speedy” foran impossibly slow boy. Here are some nicknames for people that point out that they are exactly thewrong ones for their vocations:
“Lefty” Johnson (right-handed pitcher)“Two-Ton” Norton (featherweight boxer)“Clueless” Jackson (private investigator)“Sweet Stuff” Maddox (nightclub bouncer)“Painless” Hersheimer (professional wrestler)“Shaky” Birnbaum (big game hunter)“Sunny” Rudolph (professional mourner)“Giggles” Monahan (circuit court judge)
What ironic occupations can you think of for these nicknames? Attach a surname to each one.
1. Mumbles __________________________________________________________________
2. Dizzy ______________________________________________________________________
3. Slim ______________________________________________________________________
4. Slugger ____________________________________________________________________
5. Marvelous __________________________________________________________________
6. Porky ______________________________________________________________________
7. Dodo ______________________________________________________________________
8. Bubbles ____________________________________________________________________
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Write a profile of one of the people listed on the previous page. A profile points out an individual’sdistinguishing characteristics. It presents information to help readers feel they know the person. Besure to tell about the person’s occupation.
Begin with a glimpse of the person that reveals why he or she is distinctive. Then, give more detailsabout the person’s distinctiveness. Include facts about the subject’s background and an incident ortwo illustrating something about his or her character. End with a brief summary. Use your imagina-tion.
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Activity 40
Unlikely NicknamesThe Profile
Name__________________________________
Activity 41
Missing NearlyThe Play
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Name__________________________________
There are many occasions in life when we just-miss. We may just-miss hitting a ball or catching abus or getting an “A.” Sometimes there is some satisfaction in having a near-miss, but more oftenit brings us disappointment and frustration. Describe the results of a near-miss in:
1. hitting a balloon at a carnival __________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. throwing a snowball __________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. aiming for a spittoon __________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
4. a field goal try ______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
5. a basketball game ____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
6. a job promotion ______________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
7. an anti-aircraft barrage ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
8. an assassination attempt ______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
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9. airplanes colliding in mid-air __________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
10. becoming valedictorian ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
11. predicting the weather ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
What near-miss would be as good or desirable as a hit? __________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What near-miss, other than one of those previously listed, would be better than a hit? __________
______________________________________________________________________________
Write a play about one of the near-miss situations. Be sure you give your play a good title.
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Title: __________________________________________________________________________
Activity 41
Missing NearlyThe Play
Name__________________________________
Activity 42
Being Whale-LikeThe Couplet, Analogies
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Name__________________________________
When people think of teens, some think of electronic games, rock music and unpredictable behav-ior. But we think of whales. Why?
• Young people are whales that must emerge regularly from their element to view asometimes hostile outer world.
• Young people are whales in the sea of knowledge, filtering and digesting bits ofinformation at an incredible rate.
• Young people are whales whose rapid growth poses some difficult problems attimes.
• Young people, like whales, can be trained to be very clever and to perform tricks foraudiences.
• Young people are whales whose blowing off steam is more indicative of naturalprocesses than of a bad nature.
We call these comparisons “analogies.”
When you think of teens, what analogies do you think of? See if you can associate three objects andfour living creatures with teens.
Objects1. __________________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________
Creatures1. __________________________________________________________________________
2. __________________________________________________________________________
3. __________________________________________________________________________
4. __________________________________________________________________________
Take a good look at each of your analogies. Which is closest to the truth or most amusing? Onanother sheet of paper write two or three statements based on that analogy.
Activity 43
Random NotesThe Character Sketch
86 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
Do you doodle on envelopes, scratch paper or telephone books? Here are some notes found onenvelopes, scraps of paper, desk calendars and telephone books. Explain what you think each isabout and write it.
1. “always humming . . . don’t see why” ____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. “every time . . . breaks me up” __________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. “Marvelous mellowing, by next week”____________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
4. “Generals on the spin” ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
5. “from office to stupid” ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
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6. “never in this zoo”____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
7. “one thing or another won’t cut it” ______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
8. “if I only had the money” ______________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
9. “that’s all he ever does”________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
10. “Hah! Hah! Hah! That’s funny!” ________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Choose one of the scribbles and write about it and the person you think wrote it. Write all your ideasabout her or him and organize them into an outline. Use the outline for the basis of a charactersketch about the person. Deal with the person’s character, looks, personality, talents, idiosyncrasies,fears, likes and dislikes. The more you think about what he or she is like, the better your charactersketch will be.
Activity 43
Random NotesThe Character Sketch
Name__________________________________
Activity 44
“Real” HaikuThe Haiku
88 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
Name__________________________________
The Japanese miniature poem, haiku, has often been modified to convey word pictures about allkinds of thoughts and emotions. To the Japanese it is a form that gives a glimpse of nature. Its sym-metry and brevity seem ideal for expressing impressions about the living and non-living phenomenain our everyday world.Examples:
A chilled lily floatsBelow shifting horizonsQuavering at dawn
The cold atmosphereFreezes the regular thoughtsOf an early iris
Since these poems were written by young students and not by sophisticated adults, it can be seenthat haiku is not too difficult to master for any age. It consists of three short lines of five, seven andfive syllables. That pattern restricts the writer to a few words, and tends to encourage the writer touse only words that will produce the picture in his or her mind. If necessary, one syllable too fewor too many, is allowed.
Choose one of these first lines. Add two more lines to make a haiku. The three lines together shouldvividly suggest or express a thought, experience, feeling or observation.
• Spring’s moist warming breath ____________________________________• Toad’s coppery eyes • See the yellow bee ____________________________________• Towering alone • For the white poppy ____________________________________
Think of a scene you have recently observed: ____________________________________a garden, a stream, an animal, the sky, a rock formation or anything in nature. Write three ____________________________________lines of haiku that give a genuine feeling about your subject. ____________________________________
Activity 45
TracesThe Haiku
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Name__________________________________
A trace is the evidence of the former existence, influence or action of some agent or event.Frequently, traces are left to indicate that an event has taken place. They can be as obvious as asnail’s trail on the pavement in the morning or the contrail of a jet airplane that has passed overhead.Some traces, however, are not so obvious. A detective might have to search very hard to find a tracethat can help solve a crime.
Describe the traces of these things:
1. a snake’s travels in the desert __________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
2. a flood ____________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
3. a fire in a fireplace____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
4. an anti-aircraft barrage ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
5. music that has been played ____________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
6. someone’s impulse on the wet cement of a sidewalk ________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
7. a broken promise ____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
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Activity 45
TracesThe Haiku
Name__________________________________
8. a thief’s fear ________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
9. a kindness __________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
10. a bitter argument ____________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
Select any two of the traces you have identified and link them in a brief poem such as a haiku. Thereare 17 syllables in a traditional haiku, arranged on three lines. The first line has five syllables, thesecond has seven and the third has five. Here is a very famous example of haiku by Issa, a Japanesepoet of the eighteenth century:
Hi! My little hutIs newly thatched. I see . . .Blue morning glories.
Write your “traces” haiku below.
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
HandsActivity 46
Poetry
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Name__________________________________
Scientists have said that one of the traits that makes us human is our hands, with flexible thumbsand opposable fingers. Hands enable us to do many things: typing or keyboarding, playing a musi-cal instrument, shooting a gun, dealing cards, buttoning a coat, dialing a phone. Some handicappedpeople learn to perform with their feet tasks which we think of as designed exclusively for hands.Do you think it would be possible to play a clarinet without hands? Explain.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Which of these do you need two hands to do?1. scratch your forehead 6. use a screwdriver2. lace shoes with shoelaces 7. cut hair with scissors3. button a shirt 8. catch a ball4. knit a sweater 9. ride a bicycle5. prune a branch from a tree 10. replace a car’s carburetor______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
What are some other tasks you need hands to do?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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HandsActivity 46
Poetry
Name__________________________________
Which of these tasks would be impossible to do without at least one hand?1. thread a needle 6. throw a ball2. eat with a fork 7. turn the pages of a book3. chop wood with an axe 8. take a picture with a camera4. blow your nose 9. wind a clock5. write your signature on a check 10. dial a telephone
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Write a poem about one of the kinds of hands listed below. The poem doesn’t have to rhyme.
stubby-fingered handsslender, lovely hands
sticky handsstrong hands
wrinkled handsnervous handshealing handscalm handsquick handscold hands
clumsy handstiny hands
If you have a camera, photograph hands that you think are interesting or sketch someone’s hands.
Green PowerActivity 47
The Quatrain
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Name__________________________________
What kind of plant is the most important in the world? (Hint: The common name of this plant isfound in nearly all books about home gardening.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Here are four lines about this plant from a very famous poet.It so little has to do,—
A sphere of simple green,With only butterflies to brood,
And bees to entertain,
Have you changed your mind about what the plant is? Write its name here:
______________________________________________________________________________
For another clue, here is the second stanza of the poem:And stir all day to pretty tunes
The breezes fetch along.And hold the sunshine in its lap
And bow to everything;
Need more clues? Here’s more of the poem:And thread the dews all night, like pearls,
And make itself so fine,—A duchess were too common
For such a noticing.
And even when it dies, to passIn odors so divine,
As lowly spices gone to sleep,Or amulets of pine.
94 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
The poet didn’t attach a title to this poem (she didn’t give titles to any of her poems). What titlewould you give it?
______________________________________________________________________________
What plant was the poet describing? ________________________________________________
The poet, Emily Dickinson, wrote the stanzas of her poem in quatrains. Most quatrains rhyme, butshe did not choose to rhyme except in the second and fourth lines of the fourth stanza. Choose asubject that is universal, and write at least two quatrains about it. Some universal themes include:joy, sunshine, mortality, love, friendship, conflict, seasons, devotion, reverence, nature, faith andhome. If you choose to have your lines rhyme, use any of these rhyming schemes: abab, abba orabcb.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Green PowerActivity 47
The Quatrain
Name__________________________________
Answer Key
TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010 95
Caps, pages 7-81. Pickles—Beginning of a sentence2. Sometimes—Beginning of a sentence3. Personally—Beginning of a sentence4. I—First person singular5. It’s—Beginning of a sentence6. I—First person singular7. I—Beginning of a sentence and first person singu-
lar8. When—Beginning of a sentence9. I—First person singular
10.-12. U.S. Army—Name of an institution13. I—First person singular14.-16. General Paul Prentice—Title and given name17.-18. Fort Benning, Georgia—Geographic location19. We—Beginning of a sentence20. I—First person singular21. Mess Hall—Name of a place22. When—Beginning of a sentence23. I—First person singular24. Mess Hall—Name of a place25. I’d—First person singular26. A—Beginning of a sentence27. I—First person singular28. World War II—Name of an eventCool Art, pages 9-10The modifiers in “pizza chef,” “belly dancer,” “dollhouses” and “ox milk” are nouns that function as adjec-tives.
Awesomely Cool, page 11Answers may include:
1. dazzling, spectacular, entrancing or magnificent2. impressive or talented3. crucial, monumental or momentous4. strange, bizarre or grotesque5. revolting or disgusting6. happy or welcome news7. exceptional or extraordinary8. aggressive or bullying9. slickest or most masterly
10. let’s hope or if we’re luckyContrasts, pages 12-13Answers may include:
1. pompous—unassuming, modest, bashful, reserved,timid, shy
2. gracious—grudging, reluctant, discourteous,gruff, churlish
3. wise—dull, unknowing, foolhardy, irrational, stu-pid, obtuse, foolish
4. tender—rough, hard-hearted, unfeeling, callous,harsh
5. charming—gauche, oafish, offensive, repulsive
6. conscientious—indifferent, unscrupulous, negli-gent, careless
7. tactful—tactless, indelicate, unrefined, vulgar,rude, undiplomatic
8. arrogant—meek, subservient, servile, obsequious,modest, humble
1. impersonal—personal, warm, partial, interested2. efficient—inefficient, ineffectual, clumsy,
bungling3. dangerous—safe, dependable, trustworthy4. aggressive—submissive, defensive, yielding, con-
ciliatory5. philanthropic—misanthropic, selfish, antisocial,
close-fisted, stingy6. austere—mild, tolerant, compassionate, easygoing
1. tranquil—turbulent, tumultuous, restless, fren-zied, chaotic
2. squalid—orderly, clean, sanitary, luxurious3. dreary—light, luminous, bright, gleaming, vivid,
brilliant, lively4. remote—near, close, neighboring5. arid—humid, damp, moist, muggy, rainy, soggy,
wet6. luxuriant—barren, infertile, withered, stark, bleak
Sticky Fingers, pages 14-15Answers will vary.Amazingly, pages 16-17
1. Jerry won handily.2. Rose’s mother seemingly did a great job.3. Tito answered his mother testily.4. Frank, of course, responded frankly.5. Cynthia reacted coldly (coolly).6. Because he was very sensitive, Tom reacted defen-
sively.7. Herb regarded his teammates loftily (airily).
Moonlight Joggers, page 18Answers may include:
1. Weavers who are wise are wary of worms.2. Grandfathers who jog in the moonlight develop
strong legs.3. Electricians who go barefoot may get shocked.4. Trapeze artists who eat buttered popcorn may
retire early.5. Ballerinas who drink heavily should get a grip on
themselves.6. Private detectives who peek through keyholes can
get wrapped up in their work.A Balancing Act, pages 19-20Answers will vary.Minding Her Change, pages 21-22Answers may include:
1. You can hit a crack in the road driving a bike, caror bus.
2. A record can be lost; it can be a record from a fileor a music record.
3. A teacher can teach a student who mocks.4. People commonly book a place in an auditorium,
restaurant, airplane or motel.5. A sculptor firms the head of his subject with a tool
or hands.6. A press agent’s job for a touring company is to
“trumpet” a play, letting the public know about it.7. A Gold Rush prospector might eye his poke (bag
or sack) of gold dust before going to town.8. “Legging a hit” is an expression used in baseball,
although it is usually “legging out a hit.”9. If you duck a shot, you might be avoiding a pho-
tography session or a turkey shoot.10. If a killer is tracked, he might kill his tracker.11. A coach could “card his plays,” that is put the
plays on cards for reference.
12. To “dog” someone’s walk means to follow themclosely.
verb—offers direct object—dealsSome Advice!, pages 23-24
1. Declarative D2. Imperative I3. Imperative I4. Declarative D5. Declarative D6. Declarative D7. Imperative I8. Imperative I
Possible rebuttals to Mr. Foster’s advice may include:1. If all you are looking at is price, you may or may
not get a good deal.2. Make sure your chores are done right, then you
can take it easy.3. If you simply read for speed, you probably won’t
understand what you have read, so why read?4. Sometimes if you act in haste, you may find that
you’ve done the wrong thing.5. The driver who wears the right kind of dark glass-
es doesn’t miss seeing potholes in the road.6. The person who gloats over his success leaves a
bad taste in the mouths of others.7. Take prompt action and be firm if you want to be
able to defend yourself.8. When your brain is disengaged, you are vulnera-
ble to life’s vicissitudes.All of the sentences are ironical except the fifth one.You, the Interviewer, pages 25-27Answers will vary.Catch as Catch Can, page 28Answers will vary.Are You Ys?, page 29
1. ram—Mary, army 12. dear—ready2. set—stye 13. toad—today, toady3. tin—tiny 14. plum—lumpy, plumy4. near—yearn 15. raps—spray, prays5. pins—spiny 16. lode—yodel6. word—rowdy, dowry 17. peels—sleepy7. name—meany 18. nomad—Monday,8. rapt—party dynamo9. laps—palsy, plays 19. team—meaty, matey
10. gnat—tangy 20. chest—scythe11. once—coney*,
Coney (Island)*A “coney” is a European rabbit.Twisters, page 30Answers will vary.It’s Vanity, pages 31-33Answers will vary.Mix-Ups, pages 34-35
1. fairly bound—barely found2. bunny fair—funny bear3. lot puck—pot luck4. berry munch—merry bunch5. gravel tide—travel guide6. wrong leech—long reach7. measure to pleat you—pleasure to meet you8. dumber of knives—number of dives9. tong lime—long time
10. gun and fames—fun and games11. mitt or hiss—hit or miss12. dare of pucks—pair of ducksHeadlines, pages 36-37Answers may include:
1. Poland polls citizens about unions.2. Nick nicked by bullet. (“Nick is a nickname for
Nicholas.)3. Bill bills city for damage to trees.4. “The Rock” rocks from riot. (The nickname for
Alcatraz prison is “The Rock.”)5. Greece greases the skids for dictator.6. Harry harried by rowdies.
Common Nounsmemberscirclepeopleconditionsgarretatticdegreestemperaturedwellingdwellingonereasonfriendswayssingerarmadillosapartmentlivingdancerdietgrasshoppers
milkjobnightclubtoothpicksmorningtoothpickshousesgroupidiosyncrasiesProper NounsHezzyBuffaloHezzyHezzyHezzyCarmenGraciePhaetonNat’s Pizza Paradise ClubCarmenSundaysBohemians
96 TLC10462 Copyright © Teaching & Learning Company, Carthage, IL 62321-0010
7. Standard stands firm against government.(Standard Oil Company)
Reversals, pages 38-39Answers my include:
1. “Godliness is next to cleanliness”—Some peoplethink it is less important to be good (godly) thanclean.
2. “Right makes might”—Abraham Lincoln said,“Let us have faith that right makes might,” andmany people want to believe it is so.
3. “Perfection makes practice”—To remain perfect,one must keep on practicing!
4. “Believing is seeing”—People tend to perceivewhat they expect to see.
5. “Where there’s hope there’s life”—We all needhope in this life.
6. “It’s a good wind that blows no one ill”—Goodwinds are helpful, to sailors especially.
7. “Wrath turns away a soft answer”—An angry per-son is not likely to listen to a soft answer.
8. “Waste makes haste”—When something, such astime is wasted, we have to hurry to remedy the sit-uation.
9. “If you can’t join ’em, beat ’em”—If you arepassed over when members of a team are chosen,try to beat them on another team.
10. “All play and no work makes Jack a dull boy”—Those who only want to spend their lives in leisurebecome just as dull as workaholics.
Sad Spaghetti, pages 40-41Answers will vary.Pick Your Spot, pages 42-43Answers will vary.Three Puzzling Scenes, pages 49-51Answers will vary.Any Explanation?, pages 52-53Answers may include:
1. Children who can’t find a toy won’t find it by cry-ing.
2. Wash days are fine if you aren’t the one doing thewashing.
3. As a place to practice their leaps and twirls, a for-est isn’t usually suited for ballerinas.
4. A sheepish smile won’t satisfy a parent if the stu-dent failed the test.
5. It’s torture to know the answer when the teacherwon’t call on you.
6. Heredity means getting a type of fingernail as wellas eye color, height and shape of nose from par-ents.
7. Wet sidewalks indicate showers, and robins arelikely to sing after the sun comes out.
8. Tar is a lot worse than wax paper when it comes togarbage disposal.
9. One of the five people was so large he had to taketwo seats.
10. When they dance in the moonlight, monsters areprobably more deliberate and graceful in theirmovements. (See Maurice Sendak’s Where theWild Things Are.)
What’s Missing?, pages 54-55Answers may include:
1. Mr. Michaels drove into the wrong driveway bymistake.
2. (a) Nelson didn’t see or had ignored a sign thatswimming was prohibited. (b) He was arrested forindecent exposure or illegal parking.
3. The dog’s vision, hearing or sense of smell isdefective.
A Searching Question, page 57Answers will vary.Break, Broke, Broken, page 58Answers may include:
1. broke (no money)2. break bread
3. break in the clouds, broken sky4. break in boxing (break the clinch)5. break in music, especially jazz6. Give me a break.7. daybreak (dawn)8. brokenhearted9. “break in the action” (television sportscast)
10. break in communication (telephone, etc.)11. breach of confidence (couple “break up”)12. break or rest (taking a break on the job)13. broken arrow14. broken record15. break of spirit, as in breaking horsesWise Weavers and Greedy Gamblers, page 60Answers will vary.The Ponderous Panda, pages 61-62Examples of alliterative sentences:pigeon—This pigeon was called a pouter, but it didn’texhibit a bit of emotion as it pecked and pranced on thesquare.starling—The huge flock of starlings stormed over theorchard, stealing all of the farmer’s fruit and startlinghis little dog.robin—If a robin becomes riled when he sees a rival inyour backyard, don’t be surprised—he’s defending histerritory.sparrow—Since they commonly dislodge bluebirds inboxes built for birds of small size, sparrows are regard-ed as villains by many people.blackbird—When the hawk approached, the black-birds rose up together to bluff the raptor and block itsway to their nests.canary—Canaries can court coyly in their coveredcages.mockingbird—White feathers flashing, the mocking-bird flew straight at the menacing marauder.Moonlight, magnolias and the mockingbird—these areenduring symbols of the Old South.gull—The gull glided gracefully above the rooftop,then landed with regal aplomb.Wise and Witty, page 63Answers will vary.Metaphorically Speaking, pages 64-65Answers will vary.In Other Words, pages 66-67
1. Beauty is only skin-deep.2. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.3. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.4. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.5. Ignorance is bliss.6. Home is where the heart is.7. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.8. Haste makes waste.9. If the shoe fits, wear it.
10. A soft answer turns away wrath.Wise or Not?, page 68Aphorisms with personification:
Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.Good fortune is the comrade of virtue.Necessity is the mother of invention.Wonder is the daughter of ignorance.Hate and mistrust are the children of blindness.Silence gives consent.Hope is a better companion than fear.
Titling, pages 71-72Answers will vary.Orange Peels and Wart Hogs, pages 73-74Answers will vary.Novel Speculations, pages 75-77Answers will vary.Soggy Citizens, pages 78-79Answers may include:
1. finding money—You might wonder what to dowith it—turn it in and worry that someone mayclaim it. This is the quandary most people havewhen they find money.
2. being very tall for your age—You get called onto get things other people can’t reach, but youalso outgrow clothes quickly. People think youare older than you really are, and this is bothgood and bad.
3. taking a long trip—It’s nice to get away and seenew things, but you may not know where to getinformation, obtain things or go in an emer-gency; and you might get homesick.
4. having a very popular friend—People may talkto your friend and ignore you, but good friendsare precious.
5. winning a race—People remember and admirewinners, but some may resent you.
6. getting praise from your teacher—Some stu-dents cringe at the thought of being praisedaloud by a teacher, though they may deserve itand secretly want it.
7. living across the street from school—It doesn’ttake long to get to school, you can leave home atthe last minute if you want to. On the otherhand, you may be called upon to help out whenyou don’t want to.
8. having the best car of anyone in your group—Your friends will want to always go in your car,but you’ll be popular!
9. winning a pony in a raffle—What if you have noplace to keep a pony? The upkeep of ponies canbe quite expensive, but winning a prize isalways nice.
10. being elected class president—There is prestigein being elected president, but the job may callfor speech-making and you may hate speakingto groups.
11. catching a foul ball in the stands at a ball park—Catching the ball may hurt if you don’t have aglove on, and you may take a jostling from otherfans who are trying to catch it. Bullies may tryto take it away from you. But catching the ballwill bring applause and admiration.
12. being able to speak another language—You mayhave to translate for someone when you wouldrather be doing something else, but it’s anadvantage in many ways to be bilingual.
Leisure, page 80Answers may include:
Instead of hiking, people can go cross-country skiing.Hockey isn’t exactly comparable to golf, but it can be
played indoors or outdoors.Instead of swimming, people can ice skate.Snowmobiling is a popular recreation to take the place
of cycling.Unlikely Nicknames, pages 81-82Answers may include:
1. “Mumbles” Murphy (elocution teacher)2. “Dizzy” Gorman (steeplejack)3. “Slim” Schmidt (circus fat man)4. “Slugger” Pembroke (last in batting in the
American League)5. “Marvelous” Nesbitt (all-time loser in horseshoe
tournaments)6. “Porky” Marinez (fitness model on television)7. “Dodo” Karsakov (chess champion)8. “Bubbles” Evenson (head mistress of a girls
school)Missing Nearly, pages 83-84Answers will vary.Being Whale-Like, page 85Answers will vary.Random Notes, pages 86-87Answers will vary.Traces, pages 89-90Answers will vary.Hands, pages 91-92Answers will vary.Green Power, pages 93-94grass
Answer Key
PreK-3TLC10589
Teaching & Learning Companya Lorenz company • P. O. Box 802 • Dayton, OH 45401-0802
www.LorenzEducationalPress.com
Teaching & Learning Company
Each Theme Includes:• Mini-bulletin board pattern• Mobile• Paper hugger• Easel sign• Box ends• and much more!
Easy-to-Create Seasonal Projects for a
One-of-a-Kind Learning Environment
by Veronica Terrill
for Early Learners
includes
24 seasonal
themes
4
ISBN 978-1-4291-1831-6
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