Really Good Stuff Activity Guide Writers At Work Poster Set

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Stuart Craig
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1 Congratulations on your purchase of the Really Good Stuff Writers At Work 8-in-1 Poster Set! Inside this Really Good Stuff set you ll find: One 19" x 24" laminated poster Eight 9 1 4" x 13" mini posters This unique format allows you to display your new poster set in a variety of ways: Display posters one at a time. When mini posters are not being displayed, simply store them in the large poster, behind the mini poster on which you are focusing. (See A below) Place the mini poster that you are using in your current lesson in the center of the large poster, and display mini posters that have already been taught around the outside of the large poster. (See B below) Display all of the mini posters at one time, placing one mini poster inside the large poster and the others around the outside of it. (See C below) Our versatile design allows you to insert your mini posters into the main poster in two different ways: Tuck the mini posters into the slits at each corner of the display area. Tuck the mini posters into the tabs at the top and bottom of the display area. Enjoy your new 8-in-1 poster set! A B C All activity guides can be found online:

2 Writers at Work 8-in-1 Poster This versatile poster allows you to address eight literary terms one-at-a-time while showing that each is one of many writing devices. The Reproducibles accompanying the poster define each term and give students the opportunity both to identify and to use these word plays in their own writing. Introducing the Writers at Work 8-in-1 Poster Display the poster without a word play term inserted. Draw students attention to the graphics showing Quiet - Students Writing. Read aloud those words. Then ask, Why is quiet necessary when people write? Remind students that writing is thinking, and that most people think best without noise clutter around them. Then ask, What do you think it means to play with words? (Possible answers may include, to pick the best word, to make an idea clearer, to say what you really mean. Ask, When you normally think of playing with something, what do you mean? Students may need help understanding that oftentimes writers have fun with words that writers use words like artists use color to brighten, to attract, sometimes simply to amuse. Use the activity below, both before and after the class works on a specific kind of word play, to assess students' familiarity with the term. Word Play 1. What do you think (insert word play term) means? 2. Give an example of (insert word play).

3 ALLITERATION: repeating the same initial consonant sounds in neighboring words Alliteration is a sound device that's often used in poems and lyrics of songs. It is sometimes used as a word glue to join ideas. Example: A silvery glow was seen Hovering silently above the sea A. Directions: Add one word to show alliteration with the other two. Example: mustard, mirror, magic 1. greet, groggy, 2. poem, potter, 3. comic, careful, 4. relish, remember, B. Directions: Select one of the 3-word groups from the preceding exercise, and write a good sentence using alliteration. Example: The comic needed to be careful not to confuse the cameraman. C. Directions: Use alliteration to create a poem, humorous or serious. Example: The silly, slippery seal swam swiftly in the sea. Its simple song sang smoothly on, I'm strong, and I am free!

4 IDIOM: an expression that means something different than what the words actually say An idiom cannot be understood by taking a phrase's individual words literally. For example, I turned down a second piece of cake, does not mean that I turned a piece of cake upside down. Instead, it means that I refused the second piece. A. Pretend that you are helping a new friend who recently moved to your town. This friend is learning to speak English, but he cannot understand what is really meant by certain American idioms. Explain the meanings of the following idioms to him. 1. My mom likes to keep tabs on how much tv I watch each day. 2. My sisters and I were just hanging around the house. 3. Unfortunately, the run-down park was unfit for public use. 4. He was folding those papers a mile a minute. 5. They jumped at the chance to go to the concert. 6. Suzi's parents were worried when she didn't turn up by dinner time. 7. Carlos is always on my back about my taking his bike without asking him first. 8. I bumped into my cousin at the mall. 9. I need to keep an eye on the clock so I'm not late. 10. When I arrived late for work for the third time, my boss blew up at me. B. Think of another idiom - one not mentioned in this activity. Write it in the space provided, and explain what it means. Idiom:

5 METAPHOR: comparing two unalike things by saying that one is the other Poets often use metaphors to draw word pictures for the reader. Poet Naomi Long Madgett writes that life is a watch, and poet Langston Hughes writes that life is a staircase. Their poems then show how life is like those things. A. Explain the following metaphor. Tell how one's bedroom could be a cocoon. Metaphor: My bedroom is a cocoon. Explanation: B. Select one of the topics below (or create your own topic), and write a metaphor for it. Then, explain the metaphor. snow a book a traffic light Metaphor: Explanation:

6 ONOMATOPOEIA: a word that resembles the sound it represents A. Directions: Write the letter of the object next to the sound it would make. 1. boom 2. pitter patter 3. sizzle 4. tick tock 5. squish a. bacon cooking b. sponge c. clock d. thunder e. raindrops B. Directions: Draw a simple picture of an object that would make each of the following sounds. slurp buzz chirp

7 OXYMORON: a short phrase combining two terms that are normally contradictory Oxymorons serve a useful purpose in our language; they imply an idea that goes beyond the meanings of the individual words. We hear oxymorons daily without even realizing it. For example, The car he's driving is pretty ugly. Well, which is it, pretty or ugly? Those two words are contradictory. Consider this: I babysat for the twins once again. If you babysat before, then it's not once; it s at least twice. Once and again are contradictory. Examples: 1. plastic glasses: if they're plastic, how can they be glass? 2. a new classic: classic refers to something with age; new does not 3. an open secret: open means not secret Directions: Explain why the following phrases are oxymorons. 1. healthy tan: 2. new and improved: 3. awfully good: 4. free with purchase: 5. a numb feeling:

8 PALINDROME: a word or phrase that reads the same forwards and backwards PALINDROME PASSPORT GAME GOAL: The goal of this game is to earn passports to move from one level of palindrome expertise to the next, eventually achieving the rank of Expert. Directions: 1. Make multiple photocopies of the passports template. Cut to make individual passports. 2. Explain to students what palindromes are, and give examples. 3. Start players off with a Level 1 Beginner passport in which you have filled in the level number and Beginner status. To advance to Level 2, Beginner players must produce 10 single word palindromes (i.e. Bob, noon ) written on the back of the passport. (Teacher keeps completed passports to confirm attainment of each level.) 4. Successful Level 1 players then receive a Level 2 Intermediate passport (which you have filled in with the correct number and expertise). To advance to Level 3, Intermediate players must produce a wordgroup palindrome (i.e. Madam, I m Adam ) written on the back of the passport. 5. Successful Level 2 players receive a Level 3 Advanced passport already filled in by you. To advance to Level 4, Advanced players must produce a palindrome sentence of at least 3 words, including subject and predicate, written on the back of the passport. 6. Successful Level 3 players receive a Level 4 Expert passport filled in by you. To win the game, Expert players must produce a palindrome in verse, i.e., a 3-4 line poem, each line of which is a palindrome. Note: This activity is intended to be completed over an extended period, perhaps a bit at a time, by students who complete class work earlier than most or by students for whom such word play, is, quite simply, fun! Warning: If students use the Internet to search palindromes, this activity will be completed very quickly! (In addition, some Web-Based palindromes may be unsuitable for children.) Palindrome Passport Into Level Palindrome Passport Into Level Name: Name: Name: Name:

9 PUN: confusing similar sounding words or phrases in order to be funny We have all heard very young children who are just learning to speak. Sometimes they unintentionally substitute one word for another, and it sounds funny. Occasionally, homonyms create written puns. A. Directions: In the following examples, circle the word pun. On the lines provided, explain what word should have been used in its place, and tell why. 1. Customers may not enter the store in bear feet. 2. National news broadcasters reported the arrest of a cereal bank robber. 3. Fishermen who needed fuel lined up early at the bass station. B. Directions: Locate the word puns in the following sentences. Then, tell why they are funny. Hint: Usually they're funny because a word has more than one meaning. Tell what both meanings are. 1. A circus lion won't eat clowns because they taste funny. 2. What do you call cheese that is not yours? Nacho cheese. 3. To write with a broken pencil is pointless. 4. Math teachers have a lot of problems.

10 SIMILE: comparing two unalike things by using the word like or as Good writers use specific details to describe vividly what they want readers to see with the eyes of their minds. Among a writer's descriptive tools are similes. For example, In the summer, the pavement is like a bed of fiery coals under my bare feet, and The basement was as dark as a cave. In their minds, readers can feel fire's burning heat, and they can see a cave's darkness. A. Explain the following simile, telling how the clouds are like cotton candy. Simile: The August clouds were like cotton candy against the bright blue sky. Explanation: B. Select one of the topics below (or create your own topic), and write a simile for it. Then, explain the simile. a crayon winter frost an alarm clock Simile: Explanation:

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