Tuesday, March 19, 2013

ACROSTIC

In an acrostic, you start with a theme word and use each letter of that word to start another word or phrase that describes the theme word. The acrostic below is based on the theme word SNOW.
……………S     Slippery                                                                                   
……………N     Numbing                                                                                
……………O     Obliterating                                                   
……………W     Wintery

Write an acrostic based on one of the following themes:
EASTER, PASSOVER, BUNNIES, CHOCOLATE, SPRING, FLOWERS, LILIES, SACRIFICE, HOT CROSS BUNS, CRUCIFIXION

CINQUAIN POEM



A cinquain poem is a five-line poem that is diamond-shaped. Start with a theme word (noun) and then use the pattern 1 noun, 2 adjectives, 3 gerunds, 1 full sentence, and finally a synonym for the first noun.
.....................Snow.........................
…………..... Cold, white..................
......Falling, freezing, numbing......
.......It chills fingers and toes...... 
                                                      .....................Ice............................  

Write a cinquain poem based on one of the following themes:
EASTER, PASSOVER, BUNNIES, CHOCOLATE, SPRING, FLOWERS, LILIES, SACRIFICE, HOT CROSS BUNS, CRUCIFIXION

GRAMMAR QUESTION, March 19th, 2013

Please correct the errors in the following sentence.

There were to much peoples at the mall so I was hurried up shopping, I was too hurried that the shirt’s I bought's not big enough and I'm having to return them.

There are lots of possible answers--lots of opportunities to earn bonus points!

PUZZLE, March 19th, 2013

Previous Puzzle: There were several correct answers--congratulations to all!
Here is an example of the correct answers:
  1. u … super (u/us/sue/sure/super)
  2. e … hamper (e/he/her/hare/harem/hamper)
  3. o … erosion (o/so/son/ones/snore/sooner/erosion)
Other answers were possible.

 New Puzzle
Let’s try the same thing this week. Add one letter at a time to make a new word: example a to adios (a/as/sad/dais/adios)
  1. o … honor
  2. i … detail
  3. i … elation
There may be more than one correct answer again, so more than one bonus point may be awarded. All words used must be in the dictionary, not a proper noun, and each one must build upon the previous word. 

ALL CHANGE! March 19th, 2013

Change the words in the sentence below as indicated. You can only change the exact word in the sequence given; after someone else has posted the next change, then you can post another change. For instance, student 1 writes #1 Subject Noun, and changes the subject noun; Student 2 writes #2 Direct Object Noun, and changes that noun. Each student only makes one change at a time and keeps to the order indicated. If you complete all 7 changes, then start making more changes again from 1 to 7. Each student should build on the changes that the previous students make and number the change you make.
 
My younger sister gleefully received flowers for her birthday.

Changes: #1 Subject noun      #2  Direct object noun        #3 Indirect object noun         
 #4 Adjective               #5 Adverb       #6 Verb name              #7 Verb tense

SENTENCE COMPLETION, March 19th, 2013

Use the type of clause, phrase, or grammar indicated to complete the following sentence*; you can add the phrase or clause before or after (not both) to the clause below:

... Margaret Atwood is a well-known Canadian author ...
 
Sentence 1: add a phrase            
Sentence 2: add a dependent clause     
Sentence 3: add an independent clause
* Please write three separate sentences.

VOCABULARY, March 19th, 2013

Vocabulary building is important for both reading comprehension and writing. Use the following two words (note the part of speech) in one sentence.

antidote      (noun)     +      ecological      (adjective)

ACTIVE & PASSIVE, March 19th, 2013

Write one sentence in the active voice and one in the passive voice using the verb begin.

SENTENCE COMBINATION, March 19th, 2013

Learning to combine ideas into more complex sentences is an important skill in writing. There are many ways to do this--many possible bonus points! Try to combine the following three sentences.


Sentence 1: Easter is a four-day weekend for most of us. 
Sentence 2: Many people eat too much chocolate over this holiday period.
Sentence 3: Many of the symbols associated with Easter come from ancient spring-time celebrations.                                           

Monday, March 4, 2013

PREVIOUS GRAMMAR QUESTION

As the matter of fact, she was a person who hard being convinced for instant, she certainly would likes to thinks that his opinion are the corrected then any one else view.


1. Article usage: Only use “the” to refer to specific items; for singular non-specific items use “a”, e.g. a matter of fact.
2. Word form: although the sound is similar, don’t confuse “instant” with “instance”--the meanings are quite different.
3. Passive form: “hard being convinced” seems to be a passive construction, but the form is incorrect--hard needs to be introduced by “was” and followed by an infinitive (was hard to convince).
4. Verb form: After a modal verb, use the verb name--“like” not “likes”.
5. Infinitive: The infinitive is formed from “to” + the verb name--there is no “s” or any other verb ending on an infinitive, so change “to thinks” to “to think”.
6. Pronoun agreement: it makes better sense to change “his” to “her”--“his” is possible, but it just doesn’t make as much sense.
7. Word form: “corrected” is a past participial adjective; here comparison is needed--more correct. A good correction would be change this expression to “better”.
8. Word confusion: “then” and “than” often sound alike, but there meaning and function is quite different; here you need “than” because there is an implicit comparison.
9. Possessive: “view” belongs to someone--here “anyone else”, so it needs to be possessive (anyone else’s).
10. Punctuation: The first independent clause ends with “convince”; a semicolon is needed here.

Possible Answer: As a matter of fact, she is a person who was hard to convince; for instance, she certainly would like to think  that her opinion is better than anyone else’s.

GRAMMAR QUESTION, March 4th, 2013

Please correct the errors in the following sentence.

Less people in Canada are planning travelling over this year because of the worse weather that happened in to many parts of the country recently and because it is expensive.


There are lots of possible answers--lots of opportunities to earn bonus points!

PUZZLE, March 4th, 2013

There were more possible answers than I expected--congratulations to all of you who had correct answers.


Previous Puzzle--one possible answer.
1. a/at/rat/tear/treat
2. a/as/sea/seal/false/flames
3. u/us/sun/urns/nurse/nursed/undress
New Puzzle
Let’s try the same thing this week. Add one letter at a time to make a new word: example a to adios (a/as/sad/dais/adios)
  1. u … super
  2. e … hamper
  3. o … erosion
There may be more than one correct answer again, so more than one bonus point may be awarded. All words used must be in the dictionary, not a proper noun, and each one must build upon the previous word. 

ALL CHANGE! March 4th, 2013

Change the words in the sentence below as indicated. You can only change the exact word in the sequence given; after someone else has posted the next change, then you can post another change. For instance, student 1 writes #1 Subject Noun, and changes the subject noun; Student 2 writes #2 Direct Object Noun, and changes that noun. Each student only makes one change at a time and keeps to the order indicated. If you complete all 7 changes, then start making more changes again from 1 to 7. Each student should build on the changes that the previous students make and number the change you make.

Canadians often play winter sports in the cold weather.

Changes: #1 Subject noun      #2  Direct object noun        #3 Indirect object noun          
 #4 Adjective               #5 Adverb       #6 Verb name              #7 Verb tense

SENTENCE COMPLETION, March 4th, 2013

Use the type of clause, phrase, or grammar indicated to complete the following sentence; you can add the phrase or clause before or after the clause below:

…Daylight Saving Time begins this weekend …

Sentence 1: Add a phrase
Sentence 2: Add a dependent clause
Sentence 3: Add an independent clause

Please see the information in the side bar for help with this question.

VOCABULARY, March 4th, 2013

Vocabulary building is important for both reading comprehension and writing. Use the following two words (note the part of speech) in one sentence.

subserviently       (adverb)     +       malicious      (adjective)

ACTIVE & PASSIVE, March 4th, 2013



Write one sentence in the active voice and one in the passive voice using the verb give.

SENTENCE COMBINATION, March 4th, 2013

Learning to combine ideas into more complex sentences is an important skill in writing. There are many ways to do this--many possible bonus points! Try to combine the following three sentences into just ONE sentence.

  1. Daylight Saving Time begins on March 10th this year.
  2. Spring officially starts on March 20th this year.
  3. Despite the calendar information and time change, most of Canada is still definitely experiencing winter.