Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Thursday/Friday, April 13/14, 2017



Announcements and Reminders:
                         
The Reading/Listening portion of the SAGE ELA Test will be given at the beginning of May.  We are preparing for that now.  


Targets for Today:

  I can recognize where commas belong in a sentence, and can use them correctly for
  1. items in a series, 
  2. after first, second, third when in a series,
  3. with coordinate adjectives, 
  4. with a long introductory phrase or clause,
  5. with words or phrases or clauses that interrupt the train of thought,
  6. with direct address, 
  7. to set off appositives, 
  8. to set off the explanatory words with a direct quote, 
  9. with compound sentences,
  10. in certain dates, places, and addresses,
  11. following the greeting in a friendly letter
(Today we are briefly reviewing several of the above comma rules.)

I can read a short story and answer text-based questions with evidence-based answers.

I can read and comprehend short stories and recognize elements of literature within them. 


Today’s  Agenda:

  • If you still need to, finish answering the questions for "Smallest Dragonboy." 
    •  More page numbers
      • Question 4: page 49, column 1
      • Question 10: page 59, column 2, 2nd full paragraph
  • If you have finished that, work on "Rikki-tiki-tavi."
  • If you have finished that, work on "Three Skeleton Key."  
  • If you have not finished these three by the end of our work-time for stories today, we will have one more time to finish.  If you will not be able to do that, come for cavetime or finish them at home.  
If you have finished all three, you have some time for individual reading!  

The documents are attached to the assignments on Skyward, and you can find the stories here: 

"Rikki-tikki-tavi" at 
or 

"Three Skeleton Key" at 

If you have finished all three, you will have some time to read individually. 

_________________________________________________
Back to the Commas!  -- Coordinate or Not?????? 

Receive back and study your coordinate comma paper from yesterday.  Do you understand when to use a comma and when not to? 

Hint:  Any time you need to write in commas, make sure they are clearly shown. 



More Coordinate Adjectives with Commas

Then take a test on coordinate adjectives and the commas that live with them. 


Rules --
Do NOT put a comma between the last adjective and the noun.  


A1 OR A2 LOOKED BRIEFLY AT COMMAS IN A SERIES.
_________________________________

Commas in a Series

Commas -- Commas in a Series

Rules --

DO place a comma BEFORE the conjunction.

We ate apples, raspberries, and bananas.  -- Right.
We ate apples, raspberries and bananas.  -- Wrong! 


Do NOT put a comma AFTER the conjunction.  

    I like you, but I'd rather not spend time with you.  -- Right.
    I like you but, I'd rather not spend time with you.  -- Wrong. 

For the Kahoot Game, 
  • Ignore misspellings for your answers, but if you can point them out to me, you may earn extra credit! 
  • When it says "Where do the comma(s) go?" it is asking where additional commas should go. 







Combining sentences to create commas in a series:

 Combine these four sentence to create one complete sentence, using commas in a series:   You may add or leave out words, but do not leave out any of the meaning.

  •  Her cleats were in her backpack.
  • Her shin pads were in her backpack.
  • Her sweats were in her backpack.
  • Her backpack was slung over her shoulder and heavy with homework.










The above sentences could be combined to become this sentence:
Her cleats, shin pads, and sweats were in her backpack which was heavy with homework and slung over her shoulder.


If You Were Absent:

For your short story assignments, 
the documents are attached to the assignments on Skyward, and you can find the stories here: 
"Rikki-tikki-tavi" at 
or 
"Three Skeleton Key" at 



Vocabulary:



Coordinate Adjectives practice