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LANGUAGE ARTS
Language Arts Home/Staff | Curriculum | Resources | Learning Targets
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| CONTEXT CLUES |
- Text book writers usually know when they must use a word that will be new to their student readers. So they often include other words or phrases to help with the understanding of the new word. These words or phrases are referred to as context clues. They are built into the sentences around the difficult word.
- If you become more aware of the words around the difficult words you encounter in your reading, you will save your self many trips to the dictionary.
- You will be able to make logical guesses about the meanings of many words.
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| TYPES OF CONTEXT CLUES |
1. Examples
2. Synonyms and definitions
3. Antonyms and contrasts
4. Experience or “sense” of the sentence |
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| AUTHOR’S CLUES FOR STUDENTS |
- Using examples or illustrations, an author tries to show what a word means. A writer may give just one example or several. Remember that these examples are not synonyms. Look for words or phrases like "such as," "including," or "consists of." Colons (:) and dashes (-) can also signal examples.
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| EXAMPLES OF CONTEXT CLUES |
- The river was full of noxious materials such as cleaning agents from factories and pesticides from the nearby farms.
- This third grade was full of precocious children. One child had learned to read at two and another could do algebra at age 6.
- When going to an office party you should show your best decorum, for example, dress your best, drink and eat moderately, and be sure to thank the host before you leave.
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| GIST (PDF - 66k) |
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Jr. English Test Preparation
All of our ACT strategies boiled down.
READING
Read the whole first paragraph,
Read the first and last line of body paragraphs and SKIM in between.
Read the whole last paragraph.
When the questions tell you to refer back to a specific line in the passage, read the sentence before and after it so you can pick the best answer, otherwise most of the answers will feel correct.
Watch for questions that say, “Which is NOT the best answer?”
WRITING
Plan: Pro-con chart
Introduction: start with a story or background. Give a couple different perspectives.
Counter argument: You have to say what they other side thinks and why it doesn’t work. The introduction is an effective place to put your counter argument. Some may argue that…but…
Claim statement: you need your position and 2-3 reasons.
Schools should not assign homework because it interferes with students jobs, decreases extracurricular activities, and invades family time.
Topic sentences in 2nd & 3rd body paragraphs with transitions: Moreover, Furthermore, In addition to decreasing student jobs...
Body Paragraphs: 5-8 sentences each. Make up stories to illustrate your points. Use personal (When I was…), local (My school/community…), and global (In America…, Across the nation…) evidence.
Transition into conclusion: In light of the evidence, In short, After looking at the arguments
ENGLISH
When in doubt, go with the most concise answer ('short and sweet' but still clear what’s going on).
When you pick an answer, always reread the sentence with your selected answer dropped in to check it.
Watch for questions that say, “Which is NOT the best answer?” |
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Does Vocabulary Matter? Yes!
Your ability to mimic Webster's Dictionary isn't evaluated by most standardized exams, so you won't be expected to provide definitions for difficult words. However, your vocabulary will come in handy for the many indirect and hidden vocabulary questions you 'll encounter in most of these tests.
Find the hidden meaning
It's pretty common for tests to have reading comprehension passages that sometimes include vocabulary-in-context questions. These focus on particular words in the passage and ask you to determine their meaning. Sometimes these are "hard" words, but more often they are deceptively "easy" words that actually have several possible meanings. The more extensive your vocabulary is the better chance you'll stand of answering questions quickly and correctly.
A solid vocabulary can ease the large amount of required reading on most standardized tests, as well as the occasional math item that's made a bit more complicated with the inclusion of a challenging word.
So, there's no doubt about. Your vocabulary matters, but how do you go about building it?
Create your own word list
Get into the habit of reading every day, with your dictionary and a notebook nearby. When you encounter a new word, look it up. Next, jot it down, along with its definition and the sentence in which you encountered it. Review your list periodically — say, once a week. Making the effort to write down the words and their meanings will help fix them in your memory.
Study vocabulary daily
There are some topics for which you can easily cram. Vocabulary isn't one of them. Words generally stick in the mind not the first or second time you learn them but the fourth or fifth time. Try to start studying several weeks before the exam for 15-20 minutes a day. Periodically review all the words and quiz yourself, or have a friend quiz you. This simple regimen can help you learn several hundred new words.
Don’t overdo it
Don't try to gobble dozens of words in one sitting. They're likely to blur into an indistinguishable mass. Instead, pick a reasonable quantity of around 10 to 15 words and study them in-depth.
Learn words in families
Language is a living thing. Words are the product of creative beings twisting, reshaping, inventing, and recombining them. (Think of the new language being created online, for example.) As a result, most words belong to families, in which related ideas are expressed through related words.
For example, the adjective anachronistic means "out of the proper time". Here’s an example of the word in context: The reference, in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, to "the clock striking twelve" is anachronistic, since there were no striking timepieces in ancient Rome.
When you meet this word, you should also get to know related words. The noun anachronism means something that is out of its proper time. The clock in the above example is an anachronism; so are the pants worn by modern baseball players, which reflect a style that went out of date generations ago. When you learn the adjective, learn the noun (and/or verb) that goes with it at the same time.
Learn root words
The two words we just discussed are like brother and sister. Their origins can be traced back to the Greek word chronos, which means time. As you explore vocabulary, you'll find that many words come from Latin and Greek. As people in England and America imported words from Greek and Latin, they rarely imported just one from a given root. Thus, a root can help you to learn several words at once. In addition to anachronism and anachronistic, chronos is the source of the words chronic, chronicle, chronograph, chronology, and synchronize. All have to do with the concept of time.
Use the words you learn
Include the new words you're learning in your daily speech and writing. It will impress people and it will help solidify your memory of the words and their meanings. Maybe you've heard this about meeting new people: If you use a new acquaintance's name several times, you're likely never to forget it. The same is true with words: Use them, and you won't lose them.
www.StudentEdge.com |
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Master Standardized Tests
Learn the structure and directions for the test ahead of time
You can save yourself a few seconds on each part of the test by doing this. That may not seem like much, but if you only have 35 seconds to answer a question, those few seconds could mean the difference between scratching your head and earning another point towards a higher score.
Mark your answer sheet carefully
Blacken ovals completely; erase answers completely. If you skip a question, put a check next to it in your answer booklet — NOT your answer sheet because marks on there might confuse the automated machine scoring. The check mark will help you find the question easily if you have time to come back to it.
Use your test booklet for scratch paper
You may not be able to bring scratch paper, but you can mark all over your test booklet if you need to try out an idea or work out a problem. The answers on the answer sheet are the only answers that count, so scribble in your booklet to your heart’s content if it helps you get through the test.
Take an educated guess
If an answer doesn’t come to mind immediately but you do know something about the content of the question, eliminate one or two answer choices you know probably aren’t right.
Pace yourself
Write out a pacing schedule in your test booklet if you need to.
For the essay, remember that it’s quality, not quantity, which counts
A simple strategy is to devise a five-paragraph essay — an introduction that sets up your idea, three body paragraphs to support it, and a concluding paragraph that sums it all up.
PRACTICE! PRACTICE! PRACTICE!
Studentedge.com.
ACT/PSAE Test Preparation
It is never too early to start preparing for the ACT/PSAE test taken by Juniors during the month of April each school year. Students can prepare for the test by logging onto Studentedge.com. Additionally, students can review the following tips for additional help with test preparation.
The Skinny on the ACT Writing Test (PDF - 44k)
Language Arts Test Tips (PDF - 43k)
Style Manuals
On-line Bibliography Creation
Specific guidelines for how to cite web pages, e-mail, electronic databases and other electronic formats
http://citationmachine.net/
Electronic Reference Formats Recommended by the American Psychological Association
Specific guidelines for how to cite web pages, e-mail, electronic databases and other electronic formats.
http://www.harpercollege.edu/library/
Elements of Style
William Strunk, Jr.’s classic book on writing well.
http://www.bartleby.com/141/
Standardized Testing
Official ACT Web Page
http://www.act.org/
Official Advanced Placement Web Page
http://www.collegeboard.com/splash/
The online ACT prep company (Peterson's) has received outside funding resources and is providing us the opportunity for all BHS students and staff to have access to the site.
www.studentedge.com
Reading Lists
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction Winners
http://www.pulitzer.org/cgi-bin/catquery.cgi?type=w&category=Fiction&FormsButton2=Retrieve
Pulitzer Prize for Nonfiction Winners
http://www.pulitzer.org/cgi-bin/catquery.cgi?type=w&category=General+Non-Fiction&FormsButton2=Retrieve
Pulitzer Prize for Poetry Winners
http://www.pulitzer.org/cgi-bin/catquery.cgi?type=w&category=Poetry&FormsButton2=Retrieve
Book Lists from the Young Adult Library Service Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/yalsa/booklistsawards/booklistsbook.cfm
The Modern Library’s Top 100 Novels
http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html
Online Resources for Reading and Writing
Writing
Purdue OWL
Purdue’s online writing lab, where you can get help on all kinds of writing questions.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
Semantic Rhyming Dictionary
Doubles as a rhyming dictionary and thesaurus. Find rhymes, near rhymes, homophones, synonyms, and semantic siblings of any English word. Ideal for writing poetry and lyrics.
http://www.rhymezone.com/
Blue Book of Grammar & Punctuation
A great source for grammar and punctuation rules.
http://www.grammarbook.com/
English Grammar Resources
Find help on writing, punctuation, & word use. Also find books on-line.
http://papyr.com/hypertextbooks/grammar/clark.htm
Guide to Writing a Basic Essay
The essential information you need to get started on an essay.
http://www.members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/
Roget’s Thesaurus
Looking for the best word for your ideas? Check out this site.
http://humanities.uchicago.edu/orgs/ARTFL/forms_unrest/ROGET.html
Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
http://www.bartleby.com/bartlett/
Literature
American literature chronological index
Sam Houston State University’s literature site with hyperlinks to additional sources.
http://www.shsu.edu/~eng_wpf/amlitchron_index.html
Classic American Literature
Access to Crane, London, Poe, and Twain
http://www.literature.org/authors/index.html
Great Books Online
Text of novels and poetry online including purchase sources.
http://www.bartleby.com/
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