Lesson 5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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1 1 Let's Write More Sentences! Lesson 5 Here is what we will learn in this lesson: How do I use specific words in my writing? How can I use my senses to write? What are homophones? How do I write a closing sentence? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Part 1: Specific Words As we talked about in Lesson 4, words that show movement and words that make noise are ways to help us write more specifically. Specific means to be detailed or name something particular. The reason good writers use specific words is so that their readers know EXACTLY what they are trying to say instead of trying to guess what they mean. Non- Specific Example: The Tree There is a tree. It's brown and has green leaves. The tree is tall. It is by our house. Specific Example: Old Elm A giant Elm tree stands tall next to our old farmhouse. The dark brown bark and the vivid green leaves make it look like it s not real. The height of the tree shades our house from the glaring sun.

2 2 The first paragraph is very general which means it does not have much detail. All we know is that there is a tree that is brown with green leaves. That could be any tree. The second paragraph is a lot more specific. We find out that it is an Elm tree that is standing by a farmhouse. We also find out that it is so tall that it blocks the sun from the house. We WANT our writing to be specific like this! Part 2: Using Your Senses Another way that we can make our writing more detailed and specific is by using our senses. The five senses are hearing, seeing, smelling, touching, and tasting. Writing is kind of like painting a picture. We want our readers to see the pictures. To do this, we can include details that describe what we heard, saw, smelled, touched, and tasted (if we tasted something). Here is an example of a paragraph written using the five senses: Game Day Fun One warm July day, my family and I headed to the ballpark. As we arrived, we met crowds of people flowing in the same direction as us. The park was scented with the aroma of hot dogs, popcorn, and sweet cotton candy. My tongue was satisfied by the salty corn dog that I ate for lunch. Over the sound of chatting voices, we could hear the announcer saying the starting line up. As luck would have it, I caught a foul ball. The ball was rough in my hands as I felt the red stitches over and over. After the game, we drove home glad that our team had won. After reading the paragraph, make a list of a few items for each sense below. Touch: Taste: Smell: Hear: Saw:

3 3 Part 3: Homophones and Homonyms Sometimes, in our writing, we can use words that sound alike but have different meanings. These are called homophones. Homophones can be a common source of confusion when writing. That is why it is important for us to be aware of common homophones, so that in our writing, we use the correct word. Here are some examples of homophones: Which house do you live in? I was a witch for Halloween. The bee buzzed near the hive. Don't be a baby! I want to go. I like it too. They have two kids. Not only do we run into homophones in our writing, but we also run into words that have more than one meaning. These words are called homonyms. Homonyms share the same spelling and we say them the same way, but they have different meanings. Here are some examples of homonyms: They're going to the zoo. I have a key to their house. There is a storm coming. The bear (the animal) can bear (tolerate) very cold temperatures. The driver turned left (opposite of right) and left (departed from) the main road.

4 Part 4: Closing Sentence LWMS L5 4 The final part of a paragraph is the closing sentence. We first had the top bun of our hamburger which was the topic sentence. Then, we added the meat, cheese, and toppings which were the detail sentences. Now, we need the bottom bun of our hamburger. The top bun and the bottom bun are similar. They hold together the meat, cheese, and toppings. In the same way, the topic sentence and the closing sentence hold together all the detail sentences. We need a sentence that will wrap it all up and let the reader know we are finished talking about our topic. That is exactly what the closing sentence should do. Many times the closing sentence will say something similar to the topic sentence using different words. Here is the paragraph with a topic sentence and detail sentences from our previous lesson. Take a look at the closing sentence that wraps up our paragraph. My mom is the best person in the world. She always takes care of me when I am sick. She cooks the best food and bakes delicious cookies. She helps me with my homework. No other person in this world can compare to my mom! This closing sentence sounds similar to our topic sentence, and ties our entire paragraph together.

5 5 Let s Write More Sentences! Lesson 5 Assignments: When you type your assignments in Word, please make sure to use MLA format. Also, when you me your assignments, please make sure that the subject line includes your name, the class name (LWMS), and the assignment number or numbers. Example: Subject: Jenny-LWMS-5A 5A Use the Dictionary or (if sending more than one) Subject: Jenny-LWMS-5B and 5C For this assignment, you will be using a dictionary (the book, not the internet) to look up words. You will have 3 parts for each word, and you need to type these in a Word document to to me. Here is an example of what you need for each word: 1. Tree Type the word. 2. A tall plant with a wood stem and branches. Type the meaning of the word. 3. The tree is very tall. Write a sentence using the word, but do not END the sentence with the word. Please look up two of these three words for your 4A assignment: jot, rude, eel. 5B Homophones Using the homophones their, they re (they are), and there, write 3 different sentences using them correctly in each sentence. Using the homophones to, too, and two, write 3 different sentences using them correctly in each sentence.

6 6 Type your 6 sentences in a Word document and them to me. Please underline the homophones that you use in each sentence. 5C Closing Sentence Write a closing sentence for the following paragraph. Type the entire paragraph in a Word document with your closing sentence, and it to me. Also, please write a title for this paragraph and make sure it is centered and capitalized correctly. Don t forget to indent your paragraph using the Tab key as well. [Add a title here.] One hot summer day, my family and I went boating. We hooked up the boat to our SUV, and we pulled out early in the morning. We traveled for a couple hours to Lake Delavan where we unloaded our boat at the boat ramp. We spent all day soaking up the sun rays and enjoying the refreshing water. [Add your closing sentence here.]