Module 8: What's New in North America?
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08.01
What's New in North America
Writing
occurs for many purposes, as I am sure you are aware.
This assessment gives you the opportunity to
talk to others about their views on the importance of writing. Lesson
Help:
After using
the questions in the lesson to interview three people, write a
paragraph
summarizing what you learned from your interviews. Tell
me what you found most interesting; what
surprised/shocked you, what you learned, etc.
Yes, I am really interested! Post your
paragraph in the discussion board.
Please respond to other students.
Please use complete sentences, punctuation, and
capitalization. Don’t
forget to stop by from time to time to
check to see if you have any responses. Follow these
instructions to post in the discussion/groups area. 2. Click on the name of the
module in which you
wish to post. 3. Go down towards the bottom
of the page and
click new message. 4. Type the name of the
subject, your message,
and click where you want the message to be posted. 5. Spell check your message. 6. Go down to the bottom of
the page and click
submit. I hope this
helps you.
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08.02 Surfing the Waves I’m
sure
that you have written essays in the past for other courses and for
tests like
the FCAT. There are
many things to
consider when writing. It
can be
difficult to write when you have to write under a timeline. Test readers
don’t expect a “perfect”
essay. They will
not be as “picky” as
classroom teachers. They
know you don’t
have an unlimited time to write an essay.
(They don’t have unlimited time to read
your essay either.) Test readers
do want to see a focused, organized paper that presents and supports a
viewpoint. They
also expect to see a
paper that is reasonably free from spelling errors, punctuation errors,
and
grammar errors. If you are
planning to take the SAT, I encourage you to visit www.collegeboard.com
and review the
grading rubric for the essay. It’s
always helpful to know the criteria on which your score will be based. This
assessment requires you to make a choice.
If you wish to earn full credit, you must choose one
side of the issue,
present your viewpoint and support it. Hint: Notice the little word
“or” in the
prompt. Choose
either the past or the
future and write your essay based on your viewpoint.
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| 08.03
The Wild West You
will not submit anything for this lesson
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| 08.04
The Heart of America -- The Midwest Planning can
be a key to a successful issue. Few
people can write an effective essay “off the cuff”
without taking a minute or
two to think about the prompt and considering how they will respond. This
assessment gives you the opportunity to practice prewriting or the
planning
stage of the writing process. You are
given two prompts
in the
lesson. Take 2-3
minutes to consider
what you might write in response to the prompt.
Submit your prewriting.
Your
prewriting does not need to be long, elaborate, or extremely detailed. Remember, you should only
spend 2-3 minutes per
prompt on this assessment.
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I’m sure that you have written essays in the past for other courses and for tests like the FCAT. There are many things to consider when writing. It can be difficult to write when you have to write under a timeline. Test readers don’t expect a “perfect” essay. They will not be as “picky” as classroom teachers. They know you don’t have an unlimited time to write an essay. (They don’t have unlimited time to read your essay either.) Test readers
do want to see a focused, organized paper that presents and supports a
viewpoint. They
also expect to see a
paper that is reasonably free from spelling errors, punctuation errors,
and
grammar errors. If you are
planning to take the SAT, I encourage you to visit www.collegeboard.com
and review the
grading rubric for the essay. It’s
always helpful to know the criteria on which your score will be based. Lesson
Help:
Now, you get
to use the prewriting for an actual essay.
Choose one
of the two
prompts you were given in 8.04 and write an essay.
An essay is generally three to five
paragraphs. Single
paragraphs will not receive full credit. Please make sure that your
essay is three to
five paragraphs in length. I will be looking for: 1.
A
clearly stated viewpoint 2.
Organization,
including examples that support and clarify your viewpoint 3.
Correct
spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
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08.06
The Big Apple
Lesson
Help: 1. Studying for a test takes time, but it helps students to earn higher scores. Hint: Notice there are two complete thoughts. 2. Many students take online courses to prepare for a test. Hint: How many thoughts can you find in the sentence? 3. Although test scores are important, students also need a high GPA to get accepted into college. Hint: You should be able to find one dependent clause and one independent clause in this sentence. 4. This one asks you to find the simple sentence. Hint: Remember a simple sentence has one complete thought. 5. This one asks you to find the compound-complex sentence. Hint: A compound-complex sentence has at least two independent clauses and one dependent clause. 6. Choose the smoothest way to combine these two sentences: a. My dog loves to run in the rain. b. He loves to jump in the puddles Hint: Sometimes, it helps to think about how you would say something if you were talking. 7. Choose the smoothest way to combine these two sentences: a. Derek smiled to himself. b. He received the job promotion. Hint: What would cause Derek to smile? 8. Choose the smoothest way to combine these two sentences: a. Our coach is new this year. b. Our coach works us very hard at practice. Hint: Again, think about how you might say this if you were talking. 9. What type of sentence has only one independent clause (one complete thought)? Hint: Look at the chart above. 10. What type of sentence contains one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses? Hint: Look at the chart above.
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08.07 Fishing in the Great Lakes I have always
told my students to “read what they wrote,
not you think you wrote” when rereading their work. I do suggest you read your
writing aloud, becuase what you hear is what I will see. It’s
good advice for finding errors in
sentences and/or passages, too. The lesson
presents some great tips! 1.
Read
the entire sentence quickly, but
carefully. Why?
If you read too slowly, you can
lose the meaning of the sentence.
If you
don’t read carefully, you might miss tricky errors. 2.
Say
the sentence aloud (to yourself). Why?
There is research that supports the idea that you
are more likely to
interact with text if you can use more than one of your senses. If you are in a position
to read the sentence
so that you can hear it out loud, do so.
You might be surprised at how many more errors you
find. 3.
Don’t
spend too much time on each question. Why?
Remember if you are taking tests
like the SAT and the ACT, they are timed.
You don’t have unlimited time to find
mistakes. 4.
Pay
special attention parallel structure when there are lists or sequences
in a
sentence. Why?
This is an easy place to make an
error when writing, speaking, or reading works for errors. This means keeping the
structure the same
throughout the sentence. For
example, I
would write, “I like reading, writing, and traveling to
different states”
instead of “I like to read, to write, and traveling to
different states.” 5.
Whenever
you see a pronoun, look for its
antecedent (the noun or subject to which the pronoun refers). Why?
It’s easy to start with a
singular subject and change to a plural pronoun and not realize that a
change
has occurred. For
example, a common
error is to use the singular subject(s) everyone, anyone, each, and
then use
the plural pronouns them or their by accident. 6.
Review
grammar concepts such as: end
marks, commas,
apostrophes,
semicolons/colons, dashes and hyphens, pronouns, verb tenses,
homophones, and
other usage mistakes. Why? It may have
been a while since you
used/studied these rules and it will make your writing stronger. Course
Help 1. Hint: This is one you might be able to catch if you read the sentence out loud. 2.
Hint Think about how trade normally happens. 3.
Hint: Subjects and pronouns must always agree. 4. Hint: Assuming that the term “Human beings” is correct, make sure that all other terms “go with” human beings. 5.
 Hint: Subjects and predicates must always agree. 6.
Hint: Even slow test makers get one right once in a while. 7.
Hint: Subjects and predicates must always agree. 8.
Hint: Even slow test makers get one right once in a while. 9.
Hint: That introduces essential clauses while which introduces nonessential clauses. 10.
Hint: Look for a non-essential word that does not have to be there.
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08.08 Southern Hospitality
You’ll
find
multiple choice questions on many different standardized tests. You’ll often be
asked to: a.
Identify
sentence errors b.
Improve
sentences c.
Improve
paragraphs Try to
understand the meaning of the entire sentence or paragraph. Figure out what you think
the answer should
be before reading the answer choices.
Don’t
forget to print the passage from
8.08. 1. A decision was reached to tear down the building. A
decision was reached
A decision was decided It was decided to The commissioners decided We made a decision Hint: Try
to be precise. Consider
how each part would fit into the
sentence. Who made the decision? Try to write in active rather than
passive voice. 2. In Florida, during hurricane season, it is important to take safety precautions such as listening to weather reports, purchasing emergency supplies and to know the locations of shelters.
and to know the locations of shelters. Hint: Consider
parallel structure 3. While running the marathon, a feeling of faint suddenly came over me.
a feeling of faint suddenly came over me. Hint:
How would you say this if you were talking? 4.
The
professor lectured for three hours, assigned twenty pages of reading
for
homework, and he reminded us to study for the midterm exam. and he
reminded us to study for the midterm exam.
and reminder to study for the midterm exam. and he also reminded us to study for the midterm exam. and the midterm exam. and reminded us to study for the midterm exam. Hint: Consider parallel structure. 5. My dog ran up the street, wagging his tail.
My
dog ran up the street, wagging his tail. Hint: Sometimes, the entire order of the sentence might need to be changed. 6. Jennifer worked in a hospital last summer, which may be her career choice.
Jennifer worked in a
hospital last summer, which may be her career choice. Hint: It’s OK to change the punctuation as well as the wording. It is not always appropriate to use the word which when writing. In fact, I know of one writing professor who encourages students not to use the word which or the word that. 7.
Choose the correct way to write the underlined portion of the following sentence:
Because of the recent problems in the airline industry, the price of plane flights has risen rapidly. Because of the recent problems in the airline industry,
There were recent problems in the airline industry, Recent problems in the airline industry, With all the problems being caused in the airline industry, Having many problems in the airline industry, Hint: You can leave some sentences alone. 8. Choose the correct way to write the underlined portion of the following sentence: The company bookkeeper embezzled funds for several years, the police arrested him after a recent audit by the IRS. The company bookkeeper embezzled funds for several years, the police arrested him after a recent audit by the IRS.
Embezzling funds for years, the police arrested the company bookkeeper after a recent audit by the IRS. After the police arrested the company bookkeeper, he embezzled funds for year. The company bookkeeper embezzled funds for several years, but the police arrested him after a recent audit by the IRS. Although the police arrested the company bookkeeper for embezzling funds. Hint: If the police arrested him, is he still embezzling? If not, how can you show the contradiction between the two parts of the sentence? Use the passage that you printed in Lesson 08.08 to answer the following questions. Remember, the passage is from an essay in its early stages, and some of it may need revision. 9. Sentence 6 would make more sense if it were: placed after sentence 1
placed after sentence 2 placed after sentence 3 placed after sentence 4 deleted altogether Hint:
Is
the sentence necessary? If
not, it can be deleted.
10. Sentence 9 would make more sense if it were: placed before sentence 6
placed before sentence 7 placed before sentence 8 placed before sentence 11 deleted altogether Hint:
Why
might people need companionship?
11. Which of the choices is the best revision to the underlined part of sentence 11? People tend to talk to their pets and say that they are like a member of the family. that they like members of family.
that they are like members of the family. that they are family. how they are like a member of the family. No change is needed. Hint:
Both
parts of the sentence have to agree.
Remember to check for agreement between the
nouns.
12. Which of the choices is the smoothest and most logical way to way to revise the underlined part of sentence 13? it gives them a way to socialize with others, gets them out of the house, and they feel less isolated.
it gives them a way to socialize with others and gets them out of the house and helps them to feel less isolated. it socializes them, gets them out of the house, and makes them feel less isolated. it gives them a way to socialize with others, to get out of the house, and to feel less isolated. No change is needed. Hint: Consider parallel structure. 13. Which transition word would be most appropriate if added to the beginning of sentence 16? For example,
However, In contrast, Also, Nevertheless, Hint: It sounds like this sentence
supports the
previous sentence. How
can you show
that?
14. Which of the following is the smoothest and most logical way to combine sentences 20 and 21? They can aid in the recovery from illness. They are a source of entertainment. They can aid in the recovery from illness; they are a source of entertainment.
Although they aid in the recovery from illness, they are a source of entertainment. They can aid in the recovery from illness, but they are a source of entertainment. They can aid and entertain. They can aid in the recovery from illness and provide a source of entertainment. Hint: Think
compound sentence.
15. Which sentence would be most appropriate to follow sentence 24? What do you think? Both medical research and the personal experiences of pet owners strongly support the belief that elderly people can increase both their mental and physical health through pet ownership. There is probably research against this idea as well. Dogs make better pets than cats. This essay has listed many reasons to show that this is true. Hint: Which one best sums up the
paragraph?
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