Central Idea
What is the correct definition of a central idea?
The main point of a story/article the author wants you to take away.
What is the correct definition of a summary?
Summarizing is a brief idea of a story or article using YOUR OWN words.
Bald eagles are majestic creatures. They sail and dive through the air like trained acrobats. They also have wingspans of up to 90 inches. That’s more than seven feet long!
What type of word choice is the author demonstrating with the word "wingspan?"
A. Connotative
B. Figurative
C. Technical
C. Technical
One winter a Monkey found a Snake stiff and frozen with cold. He had compassion on it, and taking it up, placed it in his bosom. The Snake was quickly revived by the warmth, and resuming its natural instincts, bit the monkey, inflicting on him a mortal wound.
What is the moral of this story?
A. It is better to do one thing right than a hundred things incorrectly.
B. Question people's intentions.
C. You cannot always change someone's nature by helping them.
D. Treat others as you would like to be treated.
C. You cannot always change someone's nature by helping them.
Choose the correct response style for the prompt below:
Now that you are in 8th grade, think back to your first day of 6th grade. Write at least four paragraphs that describes the similarities and differences between your first days.
Narrative, Informative, Argumentative, Compare and Contrast
Compare and Contrast Essay
Central idea can also be known as the ___________
Main idea
True or False, a summary should be subjective, or contain your personal opinion or viewpoints.
False, a summary should be OBJECTIVE, or stick to the facts of the story or article.
Bald eagles are majestic creatures. They sail and dive through the air like trained acrobats. They also have wingspans of up to 90 inches. That’s more than seven feet long!
What type of word choice is the author demonstrating with the phrase "like trained acrobats?"
A. Connotative
B. Figurative
C. Technical
B. Figurative Language
What is the theme of this article?
A young girl from Gulfport had an important dream. She knew that if she worked hard and practiced nonstop, her athleticism would increase and she could achieve great things. Those dreams came true in 2012 when Brittney Reese became an Olympic gold medalist in the Olympic Games in London. She is now known as the greatest American long-jumper of all time.
Hard work and determination pays off.
Never give up on your dreams.
Choose the correct writing response to the prompt below:
Write about a time when you worked hard toward accomplishing a goal. Tell the story about the goal, why you set the goal, the steps you took to accomplish the goal, and how you felt once it was accomplished.
Narrative Writing
If a central idea is directly stated, or found written in the text, it can usually be found in the ____________ or ______________ sentence.
First or last
Summaries contain the central idea plus one or two _______________________.
What are SUPPORTING DETAILS.
Bald eagles are majestic creatures. They sail and dive through the air like trained acrobats. They also have wingspans of up to 90 inches. That’s more than seven feet long!
What type of word choice is the author demonstrating with the word "majestic?"
A. Connotative
B. Figurative
C. Technical
A. Connotative
What is the theme of the following story?
Annorah looked across the cafeteria and saw the new girl, Brooklyn, sitting at the table by herself. Every time someone walked by with a tray they glanced at the new girl and walked off. Whispers spread that the new girl was very angry and had a bad attitude. Annorah picked up her tray and walked over. Brooklyn smiled as she sat down and thanked her for coming over. She was new to the school and had been frustrated after being lost and trying to fit in. Annorah was glad to make a new friend this day.
Don't judge a book by its cover.
You shouldn't judge someone just off an initial appearance.
Choose the correct style of response to the writing prompt below:
Describe the process of mitosis and meiosis using grade-appropriate academic vocabulary in at least four paragraphs.
Informational Writing
A central idea should be supported by __________________
Supporting details
LeVar was lost. He didn't know where he was, or how to get where he was going. He had left the directions at home and he didn't have a map. Now, he was in a strange neighborhood and he was confused. If he could find a familiar landmark, he might figure things out. Summarize the passage.
LeVar was lost and needed to find a landmark to help him find his way.
Using words to express their dictionary definitions:
A. Literal language
B. Figurative language
C. Connotative language
D. Foreign language
A. Literal language
A monkey put his hand into a jar of cookies. He grasped as many as he could possibly hold, but when he tried to pull out his hand, he was prevented from doing so by the neck of the cookie jar. Unwilling to lose the cookies, and yet unable to withdraw his hand, he burst into tears and bitterly lamented his disappointment.
What is the moral of this story?
A. Learn to work now and play later.
B. Don't be greedy.
C. There is strength in unity.
D. Appreciate what you have.
B. Don't be greedy.
Choose the correct response style to the writing prompt below:
What tribes were native to the Mississippi river? Give a brief description of the tribes, including their primary style of building houses, their main food source, and their family structure.
Informational Writing
Dolphins are mammals that live in the ocean. Mammals are different than fish, reptiles or birds. As a mammal, dolphins breathe oxygen, even though they live in water. Because they are mammals, a dolphin mother gives birth to a live baby, unlike reptiles and birds who lay eggs. A dolphin mother also feeds her baby milk like other mammals. What is the main idea?
Many people buy lottery tickets, but not many win. Even fewer give away their prize. Paul Sherman, a fast food assistant manager, won $10,000 in the state lottery and decided to give the money to a youth club. The club's director could not believe Paul's generosity. Paul didn't think it was any big deal. "The kids need it more than I do," he said. Summarize the passage.
A fast food manager won a lottery and generously gave the money to a youth club.
Figurative language is all about using words to express ideas in unusual or unique ways. What are three types of figurative langugage?
Answers can include:
hyperbole, simile, metaphor, idiom, personification, alliteration, onomatopoeia, oxymoron
In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant passed by, bearing along with great toil an ear of corn he was taking to the nest. "Why not come and chat with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of toiling and moiling in that way?" "I am helping to lay up food for the winter," said the Ant, "and recommend you to do the same." "Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; we have got plenty of food at present." But the Ant went on its way and continued its toil. When the winter came the Grasshopper had no food and found itself dying of hunger, while it saw the ants distributing every day corn and grain from the stores they had collected in the summer. Then the Grasshopper knew.
Work now, play later
Choose the best style response to the writing prompt below:
Should cell phones be permanently banned from school? Research agrees with higher performance in schools that have banned phones, but many teens may disagree. Write an essay discussing whether or not cell phones should be banned, with at least three pieces of evidence from the article to support your claim.
Argumentative/Persuasive