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EditingWhen we write, we are always thinking and revising our work as we go. When we have "finished" writing, it is also very important for us to go back, reread, edit and revise our work.The best writers say that "Writing is rewriting."
To the right, are pictures of some common Editing Marks, as well as examples of how they can be used. During the year, we will be asked to edit our own work, as well as the work of our classmates. To get better at editing our own work, it is also important that we practice. Below are a series of short paragraphs, where mistakes have been made. It is helpful to practice with these paragraphs, because we can get feedback afterward to see if our work is correct. Editing Practice - Click on the links below to see the different short paragraphs that are in need of editing. Your teacher will have the answers for you to check to see if your Eagle Eyes caught all the mistakes. |
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Parts of Speech and Language Features help us to understand what the writer is saying. A writer uses different language features to help share their message. Writers use parts of speech such as nouns and pronouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, time connectives and others in their writing. Some purposes for writing use language features that others normally do not. Poetry, for example, often uses language features rarely seen in other types of writing.
When we learn about parts of speech and language features this year, we will try and do so within the context of our writing. For example, it is easier for us to learn about past tense verbs when we are writing recounts as it is easier to learn about metaphors when we are writing poetry. The section below will have some examples of the different parts of speech and language features we may find in our writing, as well as learning engagements to help us to better understand some of these features. There are also lessons on Study Ladder related to each of these features if you want to practice more at home or during our centres.
Parts of Speech
Noun - Often described as a person, place or thing. For example: dog, flower, girl, boy, mountain, rock.
Pronoun - represents a noun. Examples: he, she, her, him, it, they, them.
Adjective - a word that modifies a noun. It will describe a person, place or thing. Examples: small, heavy, red, orange, smart, kind, loyal, angry.
Verb - an action or a state of being. Examples: run, swim, jump, think, laugh, cry.
Adverb - modifies a verb. Sometimes they end in the letters “ly.” It can also refer to where or when something happened. Examples: quickly, forcefully, steadily, often, rarely.
Conjunction - connects two phrases together. If the phrases are independent, they should be separated by a comma after the conjunction. Examples: and, but, yet, so, or.
Interjection - used to express emotion or excitement. and they are usually followed by exclamation marks. Examples: Gosh, Phew, Wow, Yikes, Aha.
Preposition - describes information about phrases in a sentence, such as how words relate to each other. Examples: across, above, in, from, underneath, onto, on, behind.
When we learn about parts of speech and language features this year, we will try and do so within the context of our writing. For example, it is easier for us to learn about past tense verbs when we are writing recounts as it is easier to learn about metaphors when we are writing poetry. The section below will have some examples of the different parts of speech and language features we may find in our writing, as well as learning engagements to help us to better understand some of these features. There are also lessons on Study Ladder related to each of these features if you want to practice more at home or during our centres.
Parts of Speech
Noun - Often described as a person, place or thing. For example: dog, flower, girl, boy, mountain, rock.
Pronoun - represents a noun. Examples: he, she, her, him, it, they, them.
Adjective - a word that modifies a noun. It will describe a person, place or thing. Examples: small, heavy, red, orange, smart, kind, loyal, angry.
Verb - an action or a state of being. Examples: run, swim, jump, think, laugh, cry.
Adverb - modifies a verb. Sometimes they end in the letters “ly.” It can also refer to where or when something happened. Examples: quickly, forcefully, steadily, often, rarely.
Conjunction - connects two phrases together. If the phrases are independent, they should be separated by a comma after the conjunction. Examples: and, but, yet, so, or.
Interjection - used to express emotion or excitement. and they are usually followed by exclamation marks. Examples: Gosh, Phew, Wow, Yikes, Aha.
Preposition - describes information about phrases in a sentence, such as how words relate to each other. Examples: across, above, in, from, underneath, onto, on, behind.
Language Features
Simile - is a figure of speech that directly compares two different things. The simile is usually in a phrase that begins with the words "as" or "like." This is different from a metaphor, which is also a comparison but one says something is something else.
- As American as apple pie. As big as an elephant. As black as coal. As blind as a bat. As boring as watching paint dry. As brave as a lion. As busy as a bee. As cheap as dirt. As clean as a whistle. As clear as mud.
- Sing like an angel. Act like an animal. Eat like a bird. Fight like cats and dog. Work like a dog. Work like a dream. Soar like an eagle. Sound like fingernails on a chalkboard. Swim like a fish. Racing like a scared bunny. Have eyes like a hawk. Eat like a horse
Metaphor - is a literary term for comparing two things directly. Examples are:
- The rain came down in long knitting needles. - National Velvet by Enid Bagnold
- Above the hills, along the blue, Round the bright air with footing true, To please the child, to paint the rose, The gardener of the World, he goes. - Summer Sun by Robert Louis Stevenson
- I am the creamy white frost in vanilla ice cream and the milky smooth brown in a chocolate bar. I am the midnight blue in a licorice stick and the golden brown in sugar - Shades of Black: A Celebration of Our Children by Sandra L. Pinkney and Myles C. Pinkney,
- Eagle gliding in the sky, circling, circling way up high, wind is whistling through your wings. You're a graceful kite with no string. - Creatures from Earth, Sea, and Sky: Poems by Georgia Heard and Jennifer Owings Dewey
- Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby. The rain makes still pools on the sidewalk. The rain makes running pools in the gutter. The rain plays a little sleep song on our roof at night. And I love the rain. - April Rain Song by Langston Hughes
Hyperbole - is a literary term that refers to an exaggeration. Examples are:
- Well now, one winter it was so cold that all the geese flew backward and all the fish moved south and even the snow turned blue. - Babe, the Blue Ox
- It piled up to the ceiling. It covered the floor. It blocked the door. It went down the hall. It raised the roof - Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take The Garbage Out by Shel Silverstein
- There was an old woman tossed up in a blanket, Seventeen times as high as the moon; - The Old Woman Tossed Up in a Blanket by Walter Crane
- There was a Young Lady whose nose, Was so long that it reached to her toes; So she hired an Old Lady,Whose conduct was steady, To carry that wonderful nose. - Book of Nonsense Limerick 41 by Edward Lear
Personification - is a literary term for giving human attributes to objects or animals. Examples are:
- Hey diddle, Diddle, The cat and the fiddle, The cow jumped over the moon; The little dog laughed To see such sport, And the dish ran away with the spoon. - Mother Goose
- There's a cat named Joe and you wouldn't want to know, But he thinks he'd like to be a Hippopotamus... Oh, it wouldn't be so bad if he was certified as mad, But he's not... he holds a normal conversation - A Cat Named Jo by Leighton B Watts
- My food loves to prance, to jump, to dance; I wait for the time, I wait for the chance! - My Dinner Loves Dancing by L. John Riley Jr.
- In the book The House Takes a Vacation by Jacqueline Davies: When the family goes on vacation, the house decides to go on vacation, too.
- In Charlotte's Web by E.B. White: The pig and the spider converse throughout the book.
Alliteration - is a literary term that means two or more words in a row that all start with the same sounds. For example:
- Three grey geese in a green field grazing, Grey were the geese and green was the grazing. - Three Grey Geese by Mother Goose
- Many mumbling mice are making midnight music in the moonlight. - Dr. Seuss's ABC by Dr Seuss
- What kind of bug is in the rosy red rectangle box? A bright blue big-mouth bug. - More Bugs in Boxes by David Carter
- Two toucans tying ties, turtles tasting tea, and tigers trying trousers. - Faint Frogs Feeling Feverish and other terrifically tantalizing tongue twisters by Lilian Obligado
- Runk lives in rain barrels and eats raindrops, rusty rainbows - Zoophabets by Robert Tallon
Onomatopoeia - is a literary term used when a word imitates the sound it is describing. Examples are:
- Pitter, patter. Pit. Pit. Patter. Splitter, splatter, down comes the rain - Chicky Chicky Chook Chook by Cathy MacLennan
- Our washing machine went wishity whirr, Whisity whisity whisity whirr - Our Washing Machine by Patricia Hubbell
- Bow-wow, says the dog, Mew, mew says the cat, Grunt, grunt, goes the hog, And squeak goes the rat. - Animals by Mother Goose
- When Pop drops pop-bottles, Pop-bottles plop! Pop-bottle-tops topple! Pop mops slop! - Song of the Pop-Bottlers by Morris Bishop
- Susie's galoshes, Make splishes and sploshes, And slooshes and sloshes. As Susie steps slowly along in the slush. - Galoshes by Rhonda Bacmeister
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Handwriting
While computers and typing have changed the way we communicate, it is still important to be able to write neatly. In fact, there are many studies that suggest when handwriting, as opposed to typing, we retain more information. There are many different styles of handwriting and many different fonts. The goal we will eventually have is to choose a particular style of joined handwriting (sometimes called cursive writing), which we can practice, in order to produce writing that is consistent, neat, and written with some degree of speed. Linked here is a "Check Point" to show your handwriting at different stages of the year and here is a link to an Assessment, so that you can see what teachers are looking for. Below are some printing and handwriting booklets to help us practice and to the right is a form that we can fill out to show how we are feeling about our handwriting / cursive and what we need to improve |
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Typing
Even though we use an iPad for a lot of our technology in class, learning how to type properly is still a skill that many of us will need as we grow older. At some point, there may be a better way than using the QWERTY keypad, but for now, it is important for us to learn how to increase our speed and accuracy when typing. Fortunately for us, we have access to some Apple computers, which we can practice with during our language centres.
We will use Dance Mat Typing and Typing Club to help us improve our typing by following the instructions and doing the lessons to the best of our ability during our Language Centres. We will also make sure that we are using only our accounts when using Typing Club and that we are keeping track of our progress. It is also important for us to type properly and use the correct fingering, even if we are not as fast as we would like to be.
Even though we use an iPad for a lot of our technology in class, learning how to type properly is still a skill that many of us will need as we grow older. At some point, there may be a better way than using the QWERTY keypad, but for now, it is important for us to learn how to increase our speed and accuracy when typing. Fortunately for us, we have access to some Apple computers, which we can practice with during our language centres.
We will use Dance Mat Typing and Typing Club to help us improve our typing by following the instructions and doing the lessons to the best of our ability during our Language Centres. We will also make sure that we are using only our accounts when using Typing Club and that we are keeping track of our progress. It is also important for us to type properly and use the correct fingering, even if we are not as fast as we would like to be.
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There are two websites which we can use for practicing our typing. One of these is Dance Mat Typing, which has 4 Levels and 12 Stages. During your centres, you can keep track of what Stage you are on. Practice each stage until you feel comfortable. It is okay to repeat stages.
We can also use the website Typing Club, which keeps track of your progress when you sign in. You can use your Google Sign in and school e-mail. Finally, we have a simple Typing Speed Test, where you can check to see how fast you are typing. You can record your speed in Words Per Minute and different times in the year to see how much you have improved. Goal Setting - The form to the right is for Goal Setting and tracking improvement. You will keep track of your progress using the Language Centre tracking sheet. You can also fill in the form to show how you are progressing. |
