Fiction and Nonfiction fantasy: an idea or a belief that is not based on facts fiction: a story or book that is about imaginary people and events realistic: based on what is really possible rather than on what one might wish for true: based on facts unbelievable: hard to believe because it does not seem probable Lacy told the following story to Bill, Stuart, and Kim: I was at home, minding my own business, when the doorbell rang. My mom opened the door to a woman that I never saw before. She was wearing lots of shiny jewelry and a long silver gown. She had a magic wand. She said, Lacy, there you are! Come here my child, and I will grant you three wishes! I wished for three things. The next thing I knew all three wishes came true! Each of Lacy s friends had a different reaction to the story. DIRECTIONS: Use the word(s) given in parentheses to write what each friend said to Lacy use your journal. (unbelievable, fantasy) Bill (realistic, true) Stuart Kim (fiction) Big Question Vocabulary 2
People must learn facts in order to make decisions. The following words can help you talk about how to separate facts from opinions. 1. decision: a choice or judgment that a person makes after discussion or thought 2. determine: to find out the facts about something 3. fact: a piece of information known to be true 4. opinion: a person s belief about something 5. prove: to show that something is true by using facts and information DIRECTIONS: Fill in the dialogue in your journal or notebook using the word(s) in parentheses. I think that you should study hard and get good grades so you can go to a good college, Mario s father told him. 1. Mario did not believe that he needed better grades to go to a good college. He said to his father: (opinion) 2. His father wanted to do some research to see if he was correct. He said: (determine, fact) 3. They looked at some college Web sites and Mario discovered that he would need A s and B s to be considered. His sister asked what they were doing. Mario responded: (prove) 4. Based on what he saw, Mario spent the afternoon studying instead of going to the park. He told his friends: (decision)
Sometimes it takes work to find out the truth. The following words will help you talk about how people work to get at the truth. 1. confirm: show that something is definitely true by getting more proof 2. evidence: a fact, an object, or a sign that makes you believe something is true 3. investigate: to try to find out the truth about something 4. study: to find out more about a subject 5. test: to examine something in order to get information DIRECTIONS: Read the passage. Then, fill in the dialogue in your journal using the words in parentheses. Aha! said Dr. Trooper. My experiment will prove that I am correct. Carrots improve eyesight! How do you know that? asked Mia. My dear, it has been my life s work, said Dr. Trooper. Come to my laboratory. Let me show you. Mia followed Dr. Trooper into his laboratory. In the laboratory, they found Doug, Dr. Trooper s assistant. He was eating carrots and reading very fine print on a sheet of paper. Mia asked, What are you doing? DIRECTIONS: Read the passage, then fill in the dialogue using the words in parenthesis. (study, test, investigate) Doug What have you discovered? Mia Dr. Trooper (evidence, confirm)
Fiction is a form of writing that tells a story about made up characters and events. The purpose of fiction is to entertain. Fiction always has the same features: A group of events called the plot The beginning of the story called the exposition where we learn the o People or animals called characters o The time and place of the story called the setting o The problem, or conflict, the main character faces The rising action where all of the events are told in order leading up to the climax The climax is the most exciting and tense part of a story Followed by the falling action or events that lead to the resolution The resolution or how the story ends A message or idea about life called theme Someone called a narrator who tells the story A point of view There are two basic points of view: First person point of view where the narrator is part of the story. The narrator will use the word I to tell what happened. Third person point of view which means the narrator is not part of the story. The narrator uses he or she to tell what happened to others. Study these words from Greyling and My Heart Is in the Highlands. Then, complete the activities. Word List A childhood [CHYLD hød] n. the time when a person is a child Anna looked back on her youth, remembering childhood as a happy time. delicious [di LISH us] adj. great tasting or great smelling I can t stop eating those delicious oatmeal raisin cookies. foam [FOHM] n. mass of tiny bubbles When Sheila opened the can of soda, foam sprayed out. mansions [MAN shuhnz] n. houses that are very big and grand The rich woman owned two mansions with many elegant rooms. mended [MEND id] v. fixed; repaired A balloon cannot be mended; if it pops, just throw it out. memories [MEM uh reez] n. things that you remember from the past Jack has great memories of the party; he recalls that it was fun. relatives [REL uh tivs] n. family members Uncle Jack, my cousin Steve, and Grandma Lil are my favorite relatives. stunned [STUHND] v. extremely shocked or surprised I was so sure my team was going to win that when we lost I was stunned.
Word List B driftwood [DRIFT wød] n. pieces of wood that float up on a beach We found enough driftwood on the beach to make a big bonfire. dwell [DWEL] v. to think about for a long time When Leslie and Will dwell on their problems, they always feel sad. endure [en DOOR] v. put up with something The noise was so loud that Tammy found it hard to endure. fiction [FIK shuhn] n. stories about characters and events that are not real I like reading fiction more than I like reading about real life. grieving [GREE ving] v. feeling terribly sad Charlotte was grieving for weeks when her best friend moved far away. rebuilding [ree BIL ding] v. completely fixing, putting something back together Workers spent weeks rebuilding a home that was damaged by the storm. sleek [SLEEK] adj. shiny and smooth Trevor washed and waxed his car; it had never looked so sleek before. technique [tek NEEK] n. a way of doing something that requires skill I practiced the new batting technique that my coach had shown me.
Exercise A Write the following in your journal or notebook but fill in each blank in the paragraph below with an appropriate word from Word List A. Use each word only once. Jon was keeping a family journal. He asked some [1] to recall their earliest [2]. Jon s grandfather was the first to talk about his [3]. When I was small, everything seemed bigger, he said. Small houses seemed like enormous [4]. The little trees in our backyard towered into the sky. One day I fell out of one. I sat on the ground feeling [5]. My leg was broken. The bones [6] fine, but I was stuck in bed for weeks. Mom brought me ice cream sodas to cheer me up. I thought they tasted [7]. I d scrape up the last bit of [8] from the bottom of the cup, using my straw. Exercise B Decide whether each statement below is true or false. Write each sentence in your journal and then tell if it is true or false. Then explain your answer. 1. A cat is one animal that has a sleek appearance. T / F 2. Reading a lot is a good technique for improving your vocabulary. T / F 3. You will often find driftwood under trees at the top of a mountain. T / F 4. Rebuilding a town destroyed by an earthquake is a job that can be done in a day. T / F 5. Most people find that vacations are hard to endure. T / F 6. Movies about people who don t really exist are works of fiction. T / F 7. You will probably find many grieving people at a funeral. T / F 8. You dwell on a problem when you spend just one second thinking about it. T / F