1.4
WORD STUDY Exact Words
OBJECTIVES • To use exact words to add meaning to a sentence • To identify and distinguish between homophones • To identify descriptive adjectives and their position
WARM-UP READ, LISTEN, SPEAK Share your example from yesterday’s For Tomorrow homework. Model how to enhance the sentence by correcting it if it is a rambling or run-on sentence or by eliminating redundant words. Have students work in groups to share the rambling sentences, run-on sentences, or redundant words they found. Ask students to take turns explaining why their sentences need work and how to improve them. Then invite volunteers to share their sentences with the class.
GRAMMAR CONNECTION
Take this opportunity to talk about descriptive adjectives and their positions. You may wish to have students point out descriptive adjectives and their positions in their Read, Listen, Speak examples.
Have volunteers take turns reading aloud the Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs sections. After each example sentence is read, invite volunteers to suggest additional exact-word replacements. Have students listen as you read the The Land I Lost excerpt. Ask students to raise their hands and then identify the exact words that help create visual images. Discuss words such as mischievous, malicious, and unpredictable. Remind students that adjectives usually come before the word they modify, but they can also come after the word they modify.
LESSON
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Exact Words LiNK
My good friend, you should not only chain your monkey to a tree but also inspect the chain every day. You came to live in our hamlet only a short while ago and you may not know how mischievous, malicious, and unpredictable these monkeys can be. Quang Nhuong Huynh
Good writers know the importance of word choice when trying to convey a specific, intended meaning to their readers. Exact words also help create visual images for the reader.
Nouns General nouns, such as fruit and clothes, often produce an incomplete picture for the reader. More specific nouns, such as blueberries and raincoat, create a detailed picture. Compare the nouns in the following sentences: We ate vegetables for a snack. We ate carrot sticks and green pepper strips for a snack.
Verbs Choosing an exact verb can intensify an action and make your sentences come alive. Instead of using a common verb, such as run, consider using more specific verbs, such as sprinted, raced, and jogged. Which sentence creates the more vivid picture?
Have students listen as you read the following: After my walk, I was happy to be finally sitting down to a dinner of meat and vegetables.
Henry walked slowly across the gym. Henry lumbered across the gym.
Adjectives
Ask students to listen again:
Adjectives are modifiers that can make the nouns they accompany clearer. However, some adjectives are so common that they add little meaning to a sentence, for example, big, small, and good. Examples of colorful adjectives include gigantic, miniscule, and breathtaking. Read the following example sentences:
After my five-mile hike, I was grateful to be finally sitting down to a dinner of steak, carrots, and mashed potatoes.
Ask students to explain which account is more vivid and why.
We entered the attic, hoping to find Grandma’s lamp. We entered the musty attic, hoping to find Grandma’s antique lamp.
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236 • Chapter 1
ACTIVITY A Suggest that students use a dictionary or thesaurus for help completing the activity. When students have finished, ask volunteers to write their sentences on the board. Then invite students to select an ordinary object in the room such as a piece of furniture or a writing tool. Challenge students to choose exact words that describe the object and then write a short newspaper advertisement for the object.
Word Study
The Land I Lost
TEACH
PRACTICE
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Chapter 1