Download English/Writing Study Guide

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5th Grade Writing/English Skills Review & Study Guide
Highlight Skills that have been taught or reviewed. U se w ith R ef er en c e Bo ok.
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 STEPS TO DECODING OR LABELING A SENTENCE:
Draw a line through all prepositional phrases
Put brackets around any dependent clauses
Underline the SUBJECT of the sentence one time
Underline the PREDICATE of the sentence two times and identify what type of verb
Highlight ALL punctuation (commas, semicolons, colons, quotation marks, etc)
Highlight ALL conjunctions
(FANBOYS = for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)
(ON A WHITE BUS = only if, now that - after, although, as - when, while, if, though,
even if - because, before - unless, until, since)
1. prepositions – connects or joins words in the sentence; shows how they are related
(aboard, about, above, across, after, against, along, among, around, as, at, before,
behind, below, beneath, beside, besides, between, beyond, but, by, despite, down,
during, except, for, from, in, inside, into, like, near, of, off, on, onto, out, outside, over,
past, round, since, through, throughout, to, toward, towards, under, underneath, until,
up, upon, with, within, without)
2. object of the preposition – the noun or pronoun that follows the preposition; answers the
question “what” or “whom” about the preposition
3. prepositional phrase – starts with a preposition and end with the object of a preposition
plus any words in between; adds meaning and can be located anywhere in the
sentence (aboard the boat - down the creaky stairs - under the old wooden staircase)
4. noun – a person, place, thing, or idea (there are many different types of nouns)
5. concrete noun – a noun that can be recognized by any of our 5 senses; person, place,
or thing (boy, Clint, home, Hernando, food, Playstation)
6. abstract noun – a noun that cannot be identified using our senses; ideas, beliefs,
feelings, or thoughts (freedom, patriotism, friendship, love, faith, trust)
7. compound nouns – 1two words joined to create one word (waterfall, cowboy,
mailbox); 2two or more words as a compound (whole number, Statue of Liberty, Yellow
Stone National Park); 3two or more hyphenated words (t-shirt, x-ray, two-thirds, thirtysix, step-father, mother-in-law)
8. pronouns – words that take the place of a noun (I, you, me, them, it, etc…)
9. antecedent – the noun that was replaced by a pronoun (antecedent=Mr. Darnell,
pronoun=he, him)
10. pronoun/antecedent agreement – when the pronoun and its antecedent match in
number (singular & plural) and gender (male, female, neuter/neutral)
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11. interrogative pronouns – words that are used in asking questions
[Don’t Forget…the OWL & WITCH] (Who, whom, whose? What which?)
Why, When, and Where are NOT interrogative pronouns.
12. reflexive pronouns – must end with “self” or “selves” (singular - myself, yourself, itself,
himself, herself plural - ourselves, themselves, yourselves)
13. demonstrative pronouns – represents a thing or things (this that, these, those)
14. indefinite pronouns - Singular Indefinite-these indefinite pronouns are all singular in
number, meaning the antecedents refer to only one person, place, thing, or idea
(anyone, everyone, no one, one, someone, anybody, everybody, nobody, somebody,
anything, everything, nothing, something). Plural Indefinite Pronouns-these are plural in
number, meaning the antecedents refer to two or more people, places, things, or
ideas (both, few, fewer, many, others, several). Singular or Plural Indefinite Pronouns
(all, any, more, most, none, some, such) Other Singular Indefinite Pronouns (another,
each, either, enough, less, little, much, neither, other, plenty)
15. verb – word or words that tell what the subject does (action verb – jumps, running, sit,
think) or what the subject is (being verbs – is, am, are, was, were, etc)
16. subject/verb agreement – means that when the subject is plural (more than 1) the verb
must also be plural; when the subject is singular (1) the verb must also be singular
(The girls are reading quietly. Girls is plural so the verb must be plural…are.)
(Bob was the Spelling Bee winner. Bob is singular and the verb must be singular…was.)
(Dogs run through the meadow. A dog runs across the playground.)
17. verb tenses – past-walked, flew; present-walk, walks, fly, flies; future (will + action verb)will walk, will fly; present perfect (has or have + AV - has walked, have flown;
past perfect - (had + past participle) - had walked, had flown
18. action verb – also called the main verb shows what the subject is doing (walk, walks,
walked, walking; sleep, sleeps, slept, sleeping)
19. helping verbs – works with the main verb to tell about the action (am, is, are, was, were,
has, have, had, do, does, did, can, could, will, would, should, must)
20. regular verbs – end with “ed” in the past and past participle forms (help -> helped,
study -> studied)
21. irregular verbs – have a different spelling for the past and past participle (sit > sat, know
> knew > known, give > gave > given)
22. linking verbs – links the subject of the sentence to a word or words in the predicate part
of the sentence (appear, become, feel, grow, look, seem, smell, sound, taste, …) or
(being verbs-is, am, are, was, were, be, …)
The cook tastes the soup. (action verb) [prove it = The cook is the soup. Changed the
meaning, and does not make sense.]
The soup tastes delicious. (linking verb) [prove = The soup is delicious. Does not
change the meaning and makes sense.]
23. predicate nominative – SUBJECT + LINKING VERB + PN=NOUN REMANING SUBJECT
(Mr. Darnell is Oak Grove’s principal.) (SN-Mr. Darnell + LV-is + PN-principal)
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24. predicate adjective – SUBJECT + LINKING VERB + PA=ADJECTIVE DESCRIBING SUBJ.
(The flower smells very fragrant.) (SN-flower + LV-smells + PA-fragrant)
25. adverbs - words that modify or describe verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs
verb
(He drove slowly. — How did he drive?)
adjective (He drove a very fast car. — How fast was his car?)
adverb (She moved quite slowly down the aisle. — How slowly did she move?)
26. double negatives – AVOID using two negatives in a sentence (negatives include no,
not, never, nobody, none, nothing, nowhere, no one; seldom, scarcely, hardly, barely;
contractions ending in -n’t, …)
27. adjectives – words that describe or modify another person or thing in the sentence.
(articles a, an, and the) (the tall professor, the strict lieutenant, a solid commitment, a
month's pay, a six-year-old child, the unhappiest, richest man.) Adjectives and
Predicate Adjectives are NOT the same.
28. interjections - Interjections are words used to express strong feeling or sudden emotion.
They are included in a sentence - usually at the start - to express a sentiment such as
surprise, disgust, joy, excitement or enthusiasm. (Hey! Get off that floor! or Oh, that is a
surprise. or Good! Now we can move on. or Jeepers, that was close.)
29. compound subject – is more than one subject in an independent clause
(The dog, cat, and mouse all lived together in a medium sized doll house.)
30. compound predicate – more than one predicate in an independent clause
(They ran over the bridge and jumped across the stream to escape.)
31. simple sentence – one independent clause, capital letter at the beginning, correct
punctuation at the end, must have at least 1 subject and at least 1 predicate, must
make sense
(Lovely, colorful flowers and leaves danced and twirled in the bright yellow sunlight.)
(We laughed.) simple sentences do NOT have to be short
*simple sentences may also have compound subjects and compound predicates
32. compound sentence – two independent clauses joined using a comma (,) and a
coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS), or they can be joined by a semicolon (;)
(I studied every night for my test, and I made an A on it.)
(I studied every night; I made an A on the test.)
*compound sentences may also have compound subjects and compound predicates
33. subordinating conjunctions (ON A WHITE BUS or AAAWWUBBIS), add to an independent
clause to make it a dependent clause (after, although, as, as soon as, because,
before, by the time, even if, even though, every time, if, in case, in the event that, just
in case, now that, once, only if, since, though, unless, until, when, whenever, whereas,
whether or not, while)
34. complex sentences – result of an Independent Clause and a Dependent Clause being
joined together (add an ON A WHITE BUS or AAAWWUBBIS to change an IC to a DC)
Or
(When the bell rang for a fire drill, the students left the building.
The students left the building when the bell rang for a fire drill.)
*complex sentences may also have compound subjects and/or compound predicates
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35. commas – interrupters and appositive are non essential information in a sentence. It will
be enclosed in commas if it is located in the middle of the sentence.
o interrupters – is a word or phrase that interrupts the flow of the sentence. (For
example, this book is what he would like. or Mrs. Brown, however, did not attend
the meeting.) you can ONLY remove the interrupter and still have a sentence
o appositives – a word or phrase that follows the noun and renames or
describes the noun.
(Mr. Franklin, the president of the golf club, will be retiring this fall. or We saw Mr.
Bauer, the manager of the store.) you can remove EITHER the noun or the
appositive and still have a complete sentence (appositives also interrupt the flow
of a sentence)
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editing – editing covers a huge amount of information…GRAMMAR - When you edit a
written piece of work, you look for the following information: (www.factmonster.com
has great information regarding all the elements of editing that you have learned over
the years. Please check it out!)
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End marks - are punctuation at the end of a sentence or question such as a
period (.), question mark (?), or an exclamation mark (!).
Capitalization – all sentences begin with a capital letter. Also, observe all
rules you have learned about capitalization thus far.
Apostrophes – check sentences to make sure you are using apostrophes
correctly.
AVOID Fragments - a sentence fragment is a group of words that do not
express a complete thought. It is not a sentence.
AVOID Run-ons sentences - a written sequence of two or more
independent clauses that are not separated by an end mark or joined as a
compound sentence using a semicolon or a comma and a conjunction.
AVOID Comma splices – a sentence that uses a comma when a comma is
not needed or when you need more than just a comma.
Or
(John studied hard for the test, he failed it anyway.
Mary ran across the playground, and jumped the fence.)
Colons – Business Letters – The greeting or the salutation must be followed
by a colon. (Dear Mr. President:)
Colons – Lists – when listing items at the end of an independent clause, you
must separate the list from the complete sentence using a colon.
(CORRECT = I went to the store to buy the items on my grocery list: eggs,
milk, bread, butter, and cookies.)
(INCORRECT = I went to the store to buy the following: eggs, milk, bread,
butter, and cookies.)
Semicolons – Compound Sentences
Abbreviations – capitalization and punctuation
Spelling as well as legible handwriting is also important in editing.
Quotation marks – dialogue and direct quotes
Titles (quotation marks = small & fits inside something BIG)
(underlining or italics = BIG & small things fit inside it) *See examples at the
bottom of the Study Guide.
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or
Planning
or
Sharing
38. Descriptive Text - is the clear description of people, places, objects, or events using
appropriate details. An effective description will contain sufficient and varied
elaboration of details to communicate a sense of the subject being described. Details
used are usually sensory and selected to describe what the writer sees, hears, smells,
touches, and tastes
 Vivid language - is aimed to bring your ideas alive by painting pictures
with words. (Example: I visited the snow-capped peaks of the Canadian
Rocky Mountains, where I stayed at a skiing resort.)
 Specific Details - create word pictures that can make your writing easier to
understand and more interesting to read.
 Adjectives and Adverbs - are known as modifiers. These two parts of speech
make descriptive writing possible. They modify a word by adding or
emphasizing information. We group adjectives and adverbs because they add
meaning to sentences in similar manners.
39.Narrative/Personal Narrative Text –is a personal account which offers details, and a
personal opinion from a particular happening or event, experienced by the writer.
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40.Informational Text - is text designed to deliver factual information. Informational text
may use techniques such as lists, comparing/contrasting, or demonstrating
cause/effect, order of importance, problem/solution, and may be accompanied by
graphs or charts. Most textbooks consist of primarily informational text.
41.Persuasive Text - Text that is designed to move or sway the reader/listener through the
use of argument and/or request, whether to change the reader's opinion or to rally
support for a cause or belief. Persuasion is considered one of the four traditional forms of
composition (along with description, exposition, and narration).
42.Inquiry and Research Text - is a document which presents and establishes the
author’s view of a topic with adequate support from the sources and ample evidence.
TITLES:
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BOOKS - Gone with the Wind or Gone with the Wind
PERIODICAL/MAGAZINE TITLES - Time, Journal of American History
LONG POEMS - Paradise Lost
PLAYS - Romeo and Juliet
MOVIES/TV SERIES - Star Trek
PAINTINGS/SCULPTURE - Mona Lisa, Pieta
SHIPS - Titanic
+ Note: Underline letters and spaces
 BIG TITLES must either be underlined or in italics. Never both!
CHAPTER TITLES - “How to Choose a Topic"
ESSAYS - “Civil Disobedience"
ARTICLES IN PERIODICALS/MAGAZINES - "The No-Pesticide
Revolution"
SHORT POEMS - "Kubla Khan"
TV EPISODES - “Trouble With Tribbles"
TITLES OF WEB PAGES - "Evaluating World wide Web Information”
 Little titles can only punctuated with quotation marks.
BIG THINGS are Underlined
“ Little
Things”
are in Quotation Marks