Skills, Vocabulary & Spelling

A Package for Mrs. Jewls

Humorous Fiction

Big Idea

• We never stop learning.

Essential Question

• How can an experiment clarify an idea?

Target Vocabulary

1. disturbing - upsetting

2. interrupted - stopped briefly

3. squashing - crushing of flattening

4. specialty - a featured item or attraction

5. struggled -tried very hard to do something but still had difficulty

6. staggered - walked very unsteadily

7. wobbled - moved unsteadily from side to side

8. collapsed - fell down

9. numb - having very little sensations or feeling

10. shifted - moved or changed your position

Comprehension

Target Skill

• Story Structure - important parts of the story, including the problem, or conflict, plot events and the problem's solution or resolution and how they work together.

• Point of View - The perspective from which the story is told. Depending on the point of view, the reader may know the thought and feelings of none, one, or all of the characters.

• Irony - is when an event or outcome is the opposite of what was expected.  Authors sometimes use irony to add interest to a story or make the ending more memorable.

Target Strategy

• Summarize - tell the most important parts of the text in your own words.

Fluency

• Expression - good readers use several techniques when they read aloud with expression. They change their tone, volume and pace to reflect the characters' feelings. Good readers also use punctuation to guide their expression.

Spelling / Decoding

• VCV Syllable Pattern - recognizing syllable patterns can help you know where to divide an unfamiliar word into syllables and how to decode and pronounce the word.

• breath          gravity          wobble          frantic

• blister          swift             crush            feather

• direct           comic            promise         bundle

• grasp           solid             numb             weather

• hymn           energy          shovel            stingy

Vocabulary Strategies

• Using Context - context refers to the words and sentences around a word that give clues to the word's meaning. Using context is one way readers can determine the meanings of unfamiliar words.

Grammar

• Complete Sentences - a sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. Every sentence needs two parts in order to be complete: a subject and a predicate. The subject names the person or thing the sentence is about. The predicate tells what the subject is or does.

Writing

Narrative Writing / Short Story

• Focus Trait: Purpose -

What is a short story?

• It has a clear beginning, middle, and ending with events presented in sequence.

• A situation is established, and the narrator or main character is introduced in the beginning of the story.

• The conflict is developed in the middle, and there is a conclusion that resolves the conflict.

• Colorful details and meaningful dialogue set a natural pace and help the reader understand the characters, events, and setting.

Links:

Online Textbook

Quizlet Vocabulary

Spelling City Vocabulary

Context Clues Game 1

Context Clues Game 2

Context Clues Game 3

Context Clues Video

Spelling City

 Focus Wall

Click to enlarge.

Skills, Vocabulary & Spelling

A Royal Mystery

Play

Big Idea

• We never stop learning.

Essential Question

• How can art and performance help people understan a text?

Target Vocabulary

1. interior - the inside of a space, such as a home or building
   honored - accepting or enjoying respect or distinction
   primitive - simple; unsophisticated or crude
   immersed - fully absorbed or occupied
   contagious - spread by contact; communicable
   discomfort - distress or unease
   secretive - concealing; not open or frank
   brandishing - waving about in a bold or daring manner
   bungled - botched; handled badly
   imprinted  - marked on a surface by printing or pressure

Comprehension

Target Skill

Theme- The big idea or lesson the author wants the reader to know.

Question - Students can stop at any point while reading to ask questions.  Asking questions can lead to a deeper understanding of the author’s ideas.

Characterization – Refers to the ways in which an author shows what a character is like.  We learn about characters from details in the text.  You can better understand a character by analyzing what they say, how they say it, what they do, and how they inter act with each other.

Elements of a Drama – Plays are divided into scenes, in the same way that books are divided into chapters.  Scenes fit together to form the structure of the plot.

Fluency

• Accuracy - Good readers know they may have made a mistake when something they read does not make sense.

Spelling / Decoding

• Long a and Long e

• awake  feast   stray    greet

• praise     disease    repeat   display

• braces    thief     ashamed  sleeve

• waist     beneath    sheepish   release

• remain  sway   training   niece

• 
  

• Vocabulary Strategies

• Prefixes– un, dis, mis

• Greek and Latin affixes are added to base words or root words to change the word’s meaning.  Un, dis, and mis all mean “not” or “wrong”.

Grammar

• Kinds of Sentences-
  imperative sentence gives an order and ends with a period
  exclamatory sentence expresses strong feeling and ends with an exclamation point

• declarative sentence tells something and ends with a period  interrogative sentence asks something and ends with a question mark  

Writing

Writing a Description

• A description has a lead sentence that introduces the topic and main idea and grabs the reader’s attention.

•  It has supporting sentences tell events in order and include sensory words, or words and details that appeal to the five senses.

•  It has a closing sentence that shows the writer’s attitude

toward the experience.

Links:

Online Textbook

Quizlet  - Story Comprehension

Quizlet - Theme

Quizlet - Context Clues

Quizlet - Character Traits 

Quizlet - Characterization

Quizlet - Story Structure

Quizlet Vocabulary

Spelling City Vocabulary

Spelling City Spelling Words

Quizlet - Kinds of Sentences

Skills, Vocabulary & Spelling

Off and Running

Realistic Fiction 

Big Idea

• We never stop learning.

Essential Question

• What can our differences teach us?

Target Vocabulary

1. debate - a formal public discussion about specific issues

2. prodded - encouraged to do something

3. gradually - slowly over a period of time

4. decorated - added things to make something more attractive

5. beckoned - signaled in some way, often with a gesture

6. scanned - quickly looked over

7. inflated - filled with air

8. stalled - delayed; stopped

9. shaken - upset

10. hesitated - paused before you said or did something

Comprehension

Target Skill

• Compare and Contrast - to find ways that two or more things are similar and different.

Target Strategy

• Infer/Predict- to figure out something that is not stated directly/figure out what might happen next.

Fluency

• Intonation - good readers read with correct intonation or rise and fall of a reader's vocal pitch. A reader's intonation should reflect the meaning of what is being read, such as an exclamation or a question.

Decoding

• VCCV Syllable Pattern - identifying vowels and consonants can help readers say unfamiliar words syllable by syllable.

Vocabulary Strategies

• Multiple-Meaning Words - words that have more than one meaning.

Grammar

• Compound Sentences - two sentence joined by a comma and conjunction such as and, but, or or. The complete subject is all the words telling whom or what a sentence is about. The complete predicate is all the words telling what the subject is or does.

Writing

Write to Express

• Focus Trait: Word Choice - the words a character says in a story -and the way those words are said- should express his or her feelings and personality

Links:

Online Textbook

Quizlet Vocabulary

Quizlet Skills

Quizlet Idioms

Quizlet Character Traits

Quizlet What are context clues?

Quizlet Context Clues Sentences

Quizlet Formal and Informal Language

Spelling City Vocabulary

Spelling City

Skills, Vocabulary & Spelling

Quest for the Tree Kangaroo

Informational Text

Big Idea

• We never stop learning.

Essential Question

• How can overcoming a challenge change someone's life?

Target Vocabulary

1. Presence - current existence
   outfitted - equipped
   procedure - method
   dwarfed - made smaller by comparison
   snug - close fitting
   perch - a spot above ground for resting or sitting
   transferred - passed from one place to another
   calculate - to figure; to compute
   enthusiastic - showing a high or excited interest
   beaming - smiling radiantly

Comprehension

Target Skill

• Cause and Effect – A cause is an event that makes something else happen.  An effect is something that happens because of an earlier event.
  
  Questioning - Students can stop at any point while reading to ask questions.  Asking questions can lead to a deeper understanding of the author’s ideas.

Target Strategy

• Summarize - tell the most important parts of the text in your own words.

Fluency

• Expression - good readers use several techniques when they read aloud with expression. They change their tone, volume and pace to reflect the characters' feelings. Good readers also use punctuation to guide their expression.

Spelling / Decoding

Vocabulary Strategies

• Antonyms and Synonyms -antonyms are  words that have opposite meanings .
  Synonyms are words that share similar meanings.

Grammar

• Verbs    A verb states the action of a subject. Linking verbs, such as the verbs be, become, or seem, do not describe an action. Instead, they link the subject to more information about the subject, 

Writing

Procedural Composition

• It begins with a topic—an observation and a focus for the composition.

• It develops the topic with facts, definitions, details, quotations, or other examples.

• It explains each event or step in the procedure, providing illustrations or multimedia if useful.  • It includes a concluding statement or section

Quizlet Vocabulary

Quizlet Cause & Effect

Quizlet -Cause & Effect -Tree Kangaroo

Spelling City Vocabulary

Spelling City

Skills, Vocabulary & Spelling

Everglades Forever: Restoring America's Great Wetland

Narrative Nonfiction 

Big Idea

• Nature deserves our respect.

Essential Question

• What persuades us to protect the environment?

Target Vocabulary

1. endangered - threatened; for plants and animals, threatened with extinction

2. unique - unusual and special in some way

3. adapted - changed, to survive or fit into new conditions

4. vegetation - plants found in a particular area

5. conserving - using only what you need of something and protecting it; not wasting something

6. restore - to return something to its original state

7. guardians - people who protect or take care of others

8. attracted - drew attention and captured interest

9. regulate - to control

10. responsibility - a duty or job

Comprehension

Target Skill

• Persuasion - authors may include their viewpoint about a topic and will provide reasons to persuade the reader to think or act a certain way. Authors use details and facts to persuade readers.

Target Strategy

• Analyze/Evaluate - analyzing and evaluating the text carefully will help you respond to the topic.

Fluency

• Adjust Rate to Purpose - good readers adjust their reading rate depending on their purpose for reading. For instance, skimming for facts and reading difficult material require different reading rates. With practice, you can learn how to adjust your rate based on your purpose.

Decoding

• Homophones - words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings.

Vocabulary Strategies

• Prefixes en-, re-, pre-, pro- - "put in/to," "again," "before," "for" or "before." Derived from Latin to change the meaning of a word.

Grammar

• Conjunctions - two sentences with the same subject or similar ideas, or with contrasting ideas can be combined using conjunctions. Coordinating conjunctions join two words, groups of words or sentences. Some common coordinating conjunctions: and, but, or. When listing things, people or ideas, use a comma after each item and use a conjunction to separate the final two items. Subordinating conjunctions combine two clauses into a complex sentence and make one part of the sentence dependent on the other part. Some common subordinating conjunctions: while, because, although, if, since. If a subordinating conjunction begins a sentence, writers should use a comma after the first part of the sentence.

Writing

Write to Respond

• Focus Trait: Ideas - good writers state their opinions or goals clearly. An opinion is an idea based on personal thoughts and feelings. A persuasive paragraph states an opinion and tries to convince readers to take action based on information that supports that opinion. Good writers also give reasons for their opinions and support their reasons with facts and examples.

Skills, Vocabulary & Spelling

Storm Warriors

Historical Fiction 

Big Idea

• Nature deserves our respect.

Essential Question

• What conclusions can we draw about the sea?

Target Vocabulary

1. critical - something of great importance

2. secured - fixed or held firmly in place

3. realization - a sudden awareness of something

4. annoyance - something that is irritating

5. bundle - to wrap something in many layers

6. clammy - cold, sticky and damp to the touch

7. squalling - loud, harsh cries

8. commotion - a lot of noise and confusion

9. demolished - completely destroyed

10. elite - something that has special skills or qualities that make it the best

Comprehension

Target Skill

• Conclusions and Generalizations - smart guesses about ideas that are not stated in the text and broad statements that are true most of the time. Good readers use clues in the text and their own experiences to draw conclusions and make generalizations about details the author has not revealed. Identifying important details can help readers use their experiences to draw conclusions and make generalizations. 

Target Strategy

• Infer/Predict - making inferences about characters and events can help readers predict what will happen next. Making predictions about a text can increase comprehension.

Fluency

• Phrasing: Punctuation - good readers pay attention to punctuation because it helps them break sentences into phrases. Breaking sentences into phrases helps readers and listeners better understand what is being read.

Decoding

• Compound Words - include two or more words put together to make a new word. Look for familiar words within a compound word. Divide compound words between the words or word parts that make up the compound.

Vocabulary Strategies

• Greek and Latin Roots - many English words have Greek and Latin roots. A root is the base, or building block, of a word to which a prefix or suffix may be added. The Greek roots tele and photo mean "far" and "light." The Latin roots scrib and rupt mean "write" and "break."

Grammar

• Complex Sentences - are sentences made of a dependent and an independent clause joined by a subordinating conjunction. A subordinating conjunction joins two clauses to form a complex sentence. A dependent clause cannot stand on its own as a complete thought and is usually introduced by a subordinating conjunction. An independent clause can stand on its own as a complete thought.  

Writing

Write to Respond

• Focus Trait: Ideas - in a response to literature, good writers support their ideas with strong reasons and give specific details from the selection to support each reason. Good writers also include details that show, rather than tell, their ideas to the reader.

Cougars

Information Text 

Big Idea

• Nature deserves our respect.

Essential Question

• What are the most important ideas about cougars?

Target Vocabulary

1. unobserved - hidden or unnoticed

2. available - ready to be used or taken

3. detecting - working to discover something

4. mature - to grow and develop over time

5. ferocious - very aggressive and scary

6. resemble - to be or to look similar to something or someone

7. particular - specific or special

8. vary - to change something

9. contentment - total happiness

10. keen - sharp or alert

Comprehension

Target Skill

• Main Ideas and Details - important, or major, ideas about the topic and facts or examples that tell more about main ideas. 

Target Strategy

• Monitor/Clarify - good readers monitor, or pay attention to, the main ideas and supporting details to help them understand and clarify text. Readers can clarify what they find confusing by reviewing text details.

Fluency

• Stress - good readers stress, or emphasize, certain words as they read. Using stress properly helps readers understand and enjoy a text. Reading with no stress or incorrect stress can make it difficult to understand the meaning of the text. With practice, you can make reading more enjoyable and easier to understand by using appropriate stress.

Decoding

• Recognizing Schwa + /r/ Sounds - the part of a word that sounds strongest in a multi-syllable word is the accented or stressed syllable; other syllables are unstressed. In many two-syllable words with an r-controlled vowel in the second syllable, the first syllable is stressed and the vowel and r in the second syllable make a schwa + /r/ sound. The schwa + /r/ sound rule doesn't apply to a stressed syllable.

Vocabulary Strategies

• Analogies - are word problems that contain two pairs of words. The words in the first pair have a relationship to each other. The words in the second pair have a similar or the same relationship to one another as the words in the first pair. The key to solving an analogy is to figure out the relationship between the first pair of words and to apply it to the second pair. Sometimes the relationship may be that the words in the pair are synonyms and antonyms.

Grammar

• Quotations - are the exact words a character or person says and are surrounded by quotation marks. When a direct quotation is a full sentence, the first word in capitalized. When other text comes before a direct quotation, a comma and a space come between the last word of the other text and the quotation mark. Sometimes writers split the dialogue, or what a character or person says, into two parts. Both speaking parts begin and end with quotation marks. Unless the second part begins with a proper noun, the first words in not capitalized. In between the split quotation the writer usually tells who is speaking and what the speaker is doing, or how she or he is speaking.

Writing

Write to Respond

• Focus Trait: Sentence Fluency - improved sentence fluency will make a writer's opinion easier for readers to understand. To improve sentence fluency, writers combine choppy sentences and fix run-on sentences. In a response to literature, the topic sentence should be a clear opinion statement, or specific opinion about the text.

Quizlet Vocabulary

Main Idea

Main Idea 2

Spelling City Vocabulary

Spelling City

Skills, Vocabulary & Spelling

They Called Her Molly Pitcher

Narrative Nonfiction 

Big Idea

• History is made by individuals.

Essential Question

• How do individual acts of bravery shape history?

Target Vocabulary

1. legendary - something or someone who comes from legends; well known

2. formal - something that follows set traditions

3. gushed - poured our in a very fast and forceful way

4. strategy - a plan for reaching a goal

5. retreat - a withdrawal from an attack

6. foes - enemies

7. shimmering - reflecting light to seem sparkly; glimmering

8. magnificent - very beautiful and impressive

9. revolution - a sudden change in the way things have been, usually political in nature

10. plunged - dove in suddenly

Comprehension

Target Skill

• Conclusions and Generalizations - a judgment reached through reasoning and a broad statement that is true most of the time. To draw conclusions or make generalizations, you need evidence or support. Readers can draw conclusions based on text details.

Target Strategy

• Analyze/Evaluate - analyzing and evaluating text details helps to draw conclusions and make generalizations. Ask questions about how the details are connected. Analyzing and interpreting parts of the text will help evaluate the author's purpose and how well it is achieved. 

Fluency

• Phrasing: Pauses - good readers automatically group words together into phrases. Phrasing helps readers and listeners make sense of ideas in the text. Good readers usually pause slightly to mark natural phrases in their reading.

Decoding

• Recognizing Initials and Medial Digraphs - a consonant digraph is two letters that stand for a single sound, such as sh, ch, ph and th. Initial digraphs appear at the beginning of a word, as in childhood, and medial digraphs appear in the middle of a word, as in merchant. The letters of a digraph are never separated into different syllables. Think of a consonant digraph as though it is a single consonant.

Vocabulary Strategies

• Thesaurus - reference tool that provides an alphabetical list of words and their synonyms and sometimes their antonyms. Synonyms are words that have the same, or almost the same, meaning. Antonyms are words that have opposite or very different meanings.

Grammar

• Regular and Irregular Verb - regular verbs add -ed or -d to its present tense to show action that happened in the past; may use helping verbs has, have, had. An irregular verb is not formed by adding -ed or -d to its present tense. Some forms need to be memorized.

Writing

Write to Persuade

• Focus Trait: Ideas - a persuasive letter clearly states a goal and supports it with reasons. Including facts and examples makes the supporting reasons stronger. A clearly stated goal helps convince readers because it leaves no question about what the writer wants to do.

Skills, Vocabulary & Spelling

James Forten
Biography

Big Idea

• History is made by individuals.

Essential Question

• What events led James Forten to fight for freedom?

Target Vocabulary

1. persuade - to convince someone to do something

2. apprentice - someone who works with a master craftsman to learn a trade

3. contributions - improvements or aids toward bringing something about

4. influential - having the power to make other people do things

5. aspects - different views that show the parts of a whole

6. authorities - people, such as government officials, who have the power to enforce laws or command obedience

7. bondage - bound to work against your will; in slavery

8. provisions - food and supplies that help you survive

9. dexterity - flexibility and skillful movement

10. tentative - uncertain

Spelling

https://www.spellingcity.com/view-spelling-list.html?listId=13623027

Comprehension
Target Skill

• Sequence of Events - the order in which events take place. Using the sequence of events to summarize will help understand informational text. Authors may organize their information and ideas in chronological order, or time sequence. When signal words such as first, then and finally are not used, it is up to readers to infer sequence. A Flow Chart will help organize events in order.

Target Strategy

• Summarize - to briefly restate important parts of a text in your own words. You can summarize paragraphs as you write events into a Flow Chart.

Fluency

• Expressions - Reading with expression makes what you read more understandable and enjoyable for your listeners. This includes changing the pitch and volume of your voice, depending on what you are reading, and stressing certain words. Change expression based on what's happening in the text. Words, phrases and punctuation help to read with expression. With practice, you can improve your expression.

Decoding

• VV Syllable Pattern - Vowel digraphs are two vowels that together stand for a single sound. Vowel digraphs are never separated into two syllables. Sometimes two vowels together stand for two separate sounds. When that is the case, the vowels are divided into different syllables.

Vocabulary Strategies

• Greek and Latin Roots- a word root is part of a word that has meaning but cannot always stand alone. Greek and Latin word roots form the bases of many words in the English language. Word roots can be combined with affixes or other word roots to form words: graphmeans "write," and an autograph is a written signature; meter means "measure," and a thermometer measures temperature; portmeans "carry," and transport means to carry across a distance; ject means "throw," and eject means to throw out. Reading a word in its context is necessary when a word has more than one meaning. Words and sentences around a word that give readers clues to its meaning is context.

Grammar

• Active Voice and Passive Voice - tells what the subject does and tells what was done to the subject. Passive verbs usually include a form of be as a helping verb. Writing in the active voice is more direct and often move lively. Writers often revise sentences to change the passive voice to active voice. Not all passive voice sentences can, or should, be changed.

Writing

Write to Persuade

• Focus
  Trait: Organization - the main points and supporting ideas in a persuasive essay should be presented in a clear, logical order or a way of arranging ideas so that they make sense. The author of "James Forten" organizes ideas in a clear, strong way that is logical and easy to understand.