CMT Prep

Every Friday

December to March

No. 1

• Us kids are not like grownups who can work a long day.

• B. Insert a comma after grownups.

No. 2

• Before tackling our homework we need to go rest our brains.

• C. Insert a comma after homework.

No. 3

• If you are worried about the safety of students who’s parents work, I think you should make the after-school program available to everyone for free.

• B. change who’s to whose.

No. 4

• Then the students would be safe and the parents would have peace of mind the kids would be able to play or get their homework done.

• A is the answer. CMT people are not author’s craft people (but you should write that way in the persuasive essay).

No. 5

• I know that you have reasons for wanting to make the school day one hour longer. A longer school day would allow students more time to learn. Teachers would have more time to help students who need extra help. Students could do enrichment projects who were done with their work. A longer school day would help working parents because their children will be safe at school in the afternoon.

No. 6

• dear Dr. Frenette,

• C: Change dear to Dear

No. 7

• Sometimes I learn from my classmates, too.

• D: Make no change

No. 8

• Students could do enrichment projects who were done with their work.

• B: Students who were done with their work could do enrichment projects.

No. 9

• Sometimes I think it’s better we having to do things by ourselves.

• D: Sometimes I think it’s better when we have to do things by ourselves.

No. 10

• A longer school day would help working parents because their children will be safe at school in the afternoon.

• A: Change will to would

Participial Phrase (Adjective Phrase)

• Before tackling our homework we need to go rest our brains.

• Participle: usually the first word in participial phrase

– Ends in –ed, -ing

Introductory Participial Phrase

• Comes at beginning of sentence

• Needs a comma

• Roaring through the night, the tornado ripped through the wheat fields.

Essential Participial Phrase

• Comes in middle of sentence

• No comma

• Information is needed

• The woman wearing the long, red, silk dress won Best New Artist of the Year.

Nonessential Participial Phrase

• Comes in middle of sentence

• Needs a comma

• Information is extra

• The Sahara, covered by miles and miles of sand, is the largest desert in the world.

Writing a Response to a Story

• How do you answer a question like that?

• First, it’s asking you to do three things: 1. Determine the most important thing that

happened

2. Use information from the story to explain why you think that

3. Back that up with your own ideas about whatever happened

So How Do You Answer a Question Like That?

• By organizing our thoughts: Use “ADE” to AID you.

E: Explain or provide evidence

Support what you’re sayingGive personal opinion/make

connection

D: Include a specific detail from story

Detail showing cause or effect “Because in the story it said . . .”

A: Answer the question

What is the most important event? Why important?

Let’s Try

• Question: What was the most important event in Chapter 2 of “Stone Fox.” Use information from the story and your own life to answer the question.

A: Answer D: Detail E: Explain/evidence

Put It All Together

This is important because it helps Willy, later in the

chapter, realize that Grandfather is not sick

because he was worried about having a good crop.

We know this because after little Willy sells all the potatoes, Grandfather

signals “no.”

I know that not being able to communicate with someone is incredibly frustrating, and if little Willy had not discovered that, he would be entirely lost.

The most important event in Chapter 2 of “Stone Fox” is when

little Willy figures out how to communicate

with Grandfather, who has mysteriously not

spoken or gotten out of bed for weeks.

.

The most important event in Chapter 2 of “Stone Fox” is when little Willy figures out how to communicate with Grandfather, who has mysteriously not spoken or gotten out of bed for weeks. This is important because it helps Willy, later in the chapter, realize that Grandfather is not sick because he was worried about having a good crop. We know this because after little Willy sells all the potatoes, Grandfather signals “no.” I know that not being able to communicate with someone is incredibly frustrating, and if little Willy had not discovered that, he would be entirely lost.

A: Answer D: Detail E: Explain

Question: What was the most important event in Chapter 4 of “The Outsiders.” Use information from the story and your own life to answer the question.

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________

A: Answer D: Detail (from story) E: Explain (from own life)

NAME(S) ______________________________________ DATE __________

E&R Tip of the Day: Separating phrases with commas

• What’s wrong with this sentence?

• Before tackling our homework we need to go rest our brains.

• We need to go rest our brains before tackling our homework.

• We need to go rest our brains before we tackle our homework.

Writer’s Notebooks

• Turn them in before class begins

Before tackling our homework we need to go rest our brains.

Sentence Combination

The dishwasher was invented in 1889.

The dishwasher was invented by an Indiana housewife.

The first dishwasher was driven by a steam engine.

Invented in 1889, by an Indiana housewife,

Sentence Combination

5. The house sat stately upon a hill.The house was gray.The house was weather-worn.The house was surrounded by barren tobacco fields.

• The gray weather-worn house surrounded by barren tobacco fields sat stately upon a hill.

Commas? Quantity and Location?

• The gray weather-worn house surrounded by barren tobacco fields sat stately upon a hill.

• The gray, weather-worn house, surrounded by barren tobacco fields, sat stately upon a hill.

• Surrounded by barren tobacco fields: phrase (does not have a subject and verb)

• Since it begins with a “participle” it is a “participial phrase”

• It usually starts with a verb ending in –ed or –ing

• YOU ALWAYS SEPARATE IT BY USING COMMAS

Verb as Adjective: Participle

• Before tackling our homework we need to go rest our brains.

• We need to go rest our brains before tackling our homework.

• It’s when a verb – before tackling – is actually describing something; it’s when a verb is acting as an adjective. – When do we need to go rest our brains? Before tackling

our homework.

Activity

1. Choose another block of sentences, (#5 was about the houses), cut out the sentences and pieces of the sentences to create one long sentence that includes as much information as possible.

2. Your group will use that long sentence for the in-class assignment.

NAMES __________________________________________DATE __________English

Combining Sentences Activity

DIRECTIONS:

1. Choose one of the sentences your group created by combining sentences.

2. Write your sentence here, with commas:

The gray, weather-worn house, surrounded by barren tobacco fields, sat stately upon a hill.

1. Match words/phrases to their sentence slots by gluing or taping.

Article: The

Adjective: gray

Noun: house

Verb: sat

Participial phrase: surrounded by barren tobacco fields

What’s Wrong?

• Enervated by the Special Forces team the enemy conceded defeat.

• When you go into a fast food restaurant you always see families with kids eating there.

• A tax on fast food, more difficult for families to eat out.

• It isn’t like restaurants are selling cigarettes. Cigarettes have been proven to cause cancer.

What’s missing?

• Back in the center of the gymnasium I take my initial position and skewer the dummy right through the heart then I sever the rope that holds the sandbag for boxing and the bag splits open as it slams to the ground

• Use punctuation to separate phrases and clauses

What are phrases and clauses?

• All sentences have . . . – Subject(s) and verb(s)– The baby cried.

• If it’s a sentence it’s a clause– Sentence=clause– Santa Claus

• If it’s not a sentence (subject, no verb; verb, no subject), it’s a phrase– The day after New Year’s Day– Biking up the mountain

Two Types of Clauses

• Independent

– The teenager took care of himself.

• Dependent

– Since his parents died

• Subordinate conjunctions

As after how although if unless until when as long aswhenever as much as now that where as soon as whereveras though since while

Phrases and Clauses

Type: What it has or doesn’t have:

What it looks like:

Phrase Has either a subject or a verb; it does not have both

Creating a PowerPoint presentation

Independent Clause Subject and verb and can stand alone with punctuation

Santa Claus is a folktalederived from a real European saint.

Dependent clause Subject and verb but can’t stand alone

Although Katniss is smart and strong

Sorting Phrases and ClausesPhrases Clauses

Eating a Big Mac He prefers Wendy’s

Standing in line Her father can eat whatever he wants

Disposing of garbage Chicken nuggets are favored by most children in America

Ordering a Happy Meal Fast food is cheap

Drinking a large, icy Coke He always loaded his roast beef sandwiches with pickles at Roy Rodgers

Before the creation of the Whopper Junior

When my family goes to Burger King

Since I can’t eat fatty foods

Because the McRib is awesome

Unless dinner costs less than $20

Has anyone ever survived on fast food alone

Who throws up at the sight of chopped meat

Sorting Clauses

Independent Dependent

He prefers Wendy’s When my family goes to Burger King

Her father can eat whatever he wants Since I can’t eat fatty foods

Chicken nuggets are favored by most children in America

Because the McRib is awesome

Fast food is cheap Unless dinner costs less than $20

He always loaded his roast beef sandwiches with pickles at Roy Rodgers

George, who throws up at the sight of chopped meat, is a vegetarian.

Has anyone ever survived on fast food alone

Who throws up at the sight of chopped meat?

Paragraph 1

• I have dinner that night in my room ordering an outrageous number of delicacies eating myself sick and then taking out my anger at Haymitch at the Hunger Games at every living being in the Capitol by smashing dishes around my room when the girl with the red hair comes in to turn down my bed her eyes widen at the mess just leave it i yell at her just leave it alone

Paragraph 1

• I have dinner that night in my room, ordering an outrageous number of delicacies, eating myself sick, and then taking out my anger at Haymitch, at the Hunger Games, at every living being in the Capitol by smashing dishes around my room. When the girl with the red hair comes in to turn down my bed, her eyes widen at the mess. “Just leave it!” I yell at her. “Just leave it alone!”

Paragraph 2

• I hate her too with her knowing reproachful eyes that call me a coward a monster a puppet of the Capitol both now and then for her justice must finally be happening at least my death will help pay for the life of the boy in the woods

Paragraph 2

• I hate her, too, with her knowing reproachful eyes that call me a coward, a monster, a puppet of the Capitol, both now and then. For her, justice must finally be happening. At least my death will help pay for the life of the boy in the woods.

Dependent Clauses Independent Clauses

Simple Sentence Compound Sentence Complex Sentence

Conjunction

Three Sentence Types1. Simple sentence

1. An independent clause, such as: The cow jumped over the moon.

2. Compound sentence1. Two independent clauses “living” together, like in a

compound, connected by words like “and” and “but.” 1. The cow jumped over the moon, and the little dog laughed

to see such a sport.

3. Complex sentence1. When an independent clause “lives” with a

dependent clause (things get complicated)1. Because it is a nursery rhyme, it does not make much

sense.

Sentence Sorting ActivitySimple Compound Complex

Sentence Sorting ActivitySimple Compound Complex

We start the cream and rose petal soup without them.

Peeta is bleeding too heavily, and Portia leads him off for medical treatment.

By the time we’ve finished, they’re back.

Peeta’s hands are wrapped in bandages.

He has done me a favor, and I have answered with an injury.

I seem frilly and shallow, although the others assure me I am charming.

But Peeta and I must make an early start.

The actual Games don’t start don’t start until ten, because so many of the Capitol residents rise late.

Haymitch crosses his arms and looks us both over.

When the anthem finishes and the screen goes dark, a hush falls on the room.

Because it’s Effie, she says she hopes she gets promoted to a decent district.

As soon as they leave here, they’ll be at the Games Headquarters.

NAMES__________________________________________DATE __________

Completing the assignment early the student

asked to go to the bathroom although he really

did not have to go