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Comprehension Strategies 1.Asking Questions 2.Summarizing 3.Predicting

Plot Every good plot has a beginning, a middle, and an end A problem that one or more main characters have is introduced at the beginning of the story. In the middle of the story, the characters go through one or more conflicts as the try to solve the problem. Excitement occurs when the conflicts take place. The highest point of interest in the story is called the climax. At the climax the problem begins to e resolved. The conclusion occurs after the climax. The conclusion finishes telling how the problem is solved. Draft

A plural noun names two or more persons, places or things. Regular Plurals are made by: adding –s inflectional ending to a word. (program / programs) adding –es inflectional ending to words ending ch, s, ss, sh, x, and z. (porch/porches, guess/guesses, flash/flashes, reflex/reflexes, quiz/quizes) changing a y ending to I and adding –es. (hobby/hobbies) changing some f and fe endings to v and adding –es. (loaf/loaves; wife/wives) Irregular plurals are made by: changing their spellings. (tooth/teeth) changing nothing at all. (sheep/sheep)

Adverbs 1. An adverb describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. For example, in the sentence “The dancers move gracefully,” the adverb gracefully describes the verb move. 2. An adverb may answer the question When? Where? How? How much? Or How often? For example, in the sentence above, the adverb gracefully answers the question, “How did the dancers move?” 3. Many adverbs are formed by adding –ly to an adjective. The spelling of the workd may change when the –ly ending is added. For example, in the sentence above, the adverb gracefully was formed by adding –ly to the adjective graceful.

Comprehension Skills Sequence Sequence is the chronological order in which events happen in a story. Authors use time-order words to help their readers understand that time is passing in a story. Examples “it was a town before Columbus discovered America,…” (pg. 264) “Once, when I was six, …” (pg. 265)

Comprehension Skills Making Inferences Authors do not directly tell everything they want readers to know. Good readers use clues from the text and their own knowledge to better understand a character, thing, or event in a story. Practice Luisito tells the story about the bus ride from his Uncle Ricardo’s Point of view. 1. What do you infer from this about Luis’ memory of the event? 2. Identify clues in the story that lead to this inference. 3. What does Uncle Ricardo infer from the remarks he hears Luisito’s parents make?

Analyzing Character Traits The author reveals many things about her characters by showing what they say, think, or do. For example, Ms. Cameron tells more about Celia by describing her laugh project than by using a list of adjectives. Examples of characterization: page 267, last paragraph: Luisito describes his grandfather as being born poor and having never gone to school, working from the time he was six years old. (He has been ambitious and hard-working his whole life.) page 268, second paragraph: Luisito describes how his grandmother only learned to read four years earlier and was making his aunts and uncles as well as himself study hard in school. (She is ambitious for her children and grandchildren; she is courageous to learn to read so late in life.)

Listening/Speaking/Viewing Which reader did you enjoy the most? What kind of vocal qualities did you notice (loudness, softness, animated tone, relaxed tone)? How did you distinguish the voices of the different characters? Did their reading style change at all during the reading? How did the author’s language choices and the reader’s delivery of each story work together to affect the tone of each author’s message? How did the delivery of each story make you feel?

Using a Thesaurus A Thesaurus is a listing of synonyms and antonyms. It is a valuable tool for clarifying a word’s meaning and usage or for avoiding using the same word too often. Do you think the President understands our problem? What are other words for understand? Your turn: Brainstorm a list of words that you overuse when you write.