The language arts lessons below have been selected from the resources of our partner, Teacher Created Resources. The lessons below are appropriate for students in Grades 6-8. Click on a work sheet headline below for a complete teaching resource; the skill listed in parentheses next to each headline is the primary skill addressed within that work sheet. Answer keys are provided below for lessons that require them.
Reading Comprehension Tests: Poetry (prepare and practice for standardized tests)
ANSWERS: (Page 80) 1. C, 2. F, 3. C, 4. E, 5. C, 6. G
Gerunds and Participles (prepare and practice for standardized tests)
ANSWERS: (Page 79) 1. A, 2. F, 3. B, 4. G, 5. C, 6. E, 7. D, 8. H
Verb Tense (prepare and practice for standardized tests)
ANSWERS: (Page 79) 1. C, 2. G, 3. A, 4. E, 5. B, 6. F, 7. D, 8. H, 9. A, 10. G
Adjectives in Context (vocabulary)
ANSWERS: (Page 109) 1. E, 2. D, 3. F, 4. C, 5. A, 6. B
Activity: 1. robust, 2. sullen, 3. benevolent, 4. preposterous, 5. inaudible, 6. sheepish
Desert Blooms (vocabulary)
ANSWERS: (Page 107) 1. C, 2. B, 3. A, 4. D, 5. E, 6. F
Activity: 1. embark, 2. fleeting, 3. humdrum, 4. delineate, 5. captivating, 6. cognizant
Let Your Mind Work (vocabulary)
ANSWERS: (Page 106) 1. fissure, 2. steward, 3. javelin, 4. tirade, 5. vanguard, 6. panacea, 7. bard, 8. countenance
Activity: 1. bard, 2. panacea, 3. vanguard, 4. countenance, 5. fissure, 6. javelin, 7. steward, tirade
Words for Specialized Areas
ANSWERS: (Page 231)
A.) 1. G, 2. F, 3. E, 4. H, 5. B, 6. D, 7. A, 8. I, 9. C
B.) 1. ophthalmologist, 2. neonatologist, 3. criminologist, 4. ornithologist, 5. mineralogist, 6. psychologist, 7. etymologist, 8. histologist, 9. radiologist
Proofreading (mechanics and editing)
ANSWERS: (Page 176)
Thesaurus (reference materials)
ANSWERS: (Page 173) Check to make sure the student has written three synonyms for each word.
Check to make sure the student has replaced each underlined word in the sentences with one of the synonyms from the top of the page.
Metaphors (figurative language)
ANSWERS: (Page 172) Sample answers: 1. It is extremely hot and steamy. 2. She knows a lot of information. 3. The dog is very heavy. 4. The leaves were being blown around. 5. She has a lot of good luck. 6. She hit the wrong keys. 7. Her smile was big and showed a lot of teeth. 8. His feet smelled extremely bad. 9. He doesn’t listen to reason. 10. She had a lot of ideas.
Parallel Structure (sentence structure)
ANSWERS: (Page 168) Sample answers:
1. to hear 2. napping 3. students 4. bird
1. Greg and Joe watched television, ate pizza, and played football.
2. Amanda woke up, got dressed, and caught the bus.
3. The old house’s windows were cracked, dirty, and broken.
4. The bicycle has large wheels, a big seat, and tall handlebars.
5. Make sure you stir the mixture, pour it into the pan, and smooth it out.
6. The peacock’s feathers were bright, shiny, and long.
Collective Nouns (parts of speech)
ANSWERS: (Page 165) 1. is/was, 2. are/were, 3. are/were, 4. is/was, 5. is/was, 6. are/were, 7. is/was, 8. are/were, 9. has, 10. are/were
Check to make sure the student has written four collective nouns and four sentences that contain those collective nouns.
Unit 2 Crossword (fun with antonyms)
ANSWERS: (Page 45)
Unit 13 Crossword (fun with synonyms)
ANSWERS: (Page 48)
Word Ladders (mind twisters)
ANSWERS: (Page 87) 1. milk, mill, mall, mail, pail; 2. fire, hire, here, herd, head,heat; 3. fool, pool, poll, pole, pale, page, sage; 4. army, arms, aims, dims, dams, dame, name; 5. mice, mite, mate, mats, rats; 6. clock, crock, crook, croon, crown, clown
Ramadan Game (multicultural understanding)
Creative Writing (using imagination)
Writing Directions (following directions)
Writing Sentences: Adjectives (parts of speech)
Identifying Mood (elements of a story)
Definition Poems (writing poetry)
Paragraph Writing (comparison; contrasting)
Writing Free Verse Poems (writing poetry)
Twin Words (familiar expressions)
ANSWERS: 1.a. heels. b. down. c. thin. d. never. e. sound. f. there. g. less. h. square. 2.a. nail. b. round. c. span. d. take. e. low. f. neck. g. furious. h. again. 3.a. chips. b. butter. c. pepper. d. cold. e. fork. f. sound.
Identifying Voice in Writing (persuasive writing)
Synonyms (word meaning; vocabulary)
ANSWERS: 2. Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. 3. Goldilocks and the Three Bears. 4. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. 5. Hey Diddle, Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle. 6. Jack Sprat Could Eat No Fat. 7. Old Mother Hubbard. 8. Sleeping Beauty. 9. Three Blind Mice. 10. Little Bo Peep. 11. upon-on. 12. locate-find. 13. vivacious-lively. 14. swindle-deceive. 15. prudent-careful. Answers for 11-15 may vary.
Similes and Metaphors (figures of speech)
Punctuation (writing titles)
ANSWERS: Note: Underlining may be substituted for italics. 1. The Wall Street Journal. 2. The Secret Garden. 3. "The Ransom of Red Chief." 4. "Man in the Moon." 5. Indian Princess. 6. "Ancestors." 7. Sports Illustrated, Good Housekeeping. 8. Porgy and Bess.
Onomatopoeia (using language)
Using Adjectives (descriptive writing)
Context Clues (reading comprehension)
ANSWERS: Exercise C. 1. c. 2. good things that happen when an animal does what it is supposed to. 3. something unpleasant that follows a wrong move.
Pie Charts (graphing)
Writing and Sending E-Mail (letter writing)
Writing Autobiographical Stories (main idea; topic sentences)
Prepositions (parts of speech; grammar)
ANSWERS: (Page 35) Exercise 1. Underlined words: 1. at. 2. during. 3. with. 4. in. 5. on. 6. under. 7. to. 8. across. 9. on. 10. to. Circled words: 1. South Pole. 2. speech. 3. bathwater. 4. pan. 5. TV. 6. table. 7. movies. 8. road. 9. table. 10. top. Exercise 2. Accept appropriate responses. (Page 36) Accept appropriate responses.
Prepositions (parts of speech; grammar)
ANSWERS: (Page 68) 1a. from. 1b. between. 1c. at. 1d. with. 1e. under. 1f. down. 2a. beside. 2b. near. 2c. against. 2d. around.2e. under. 2f. through. 3a. with. 3b. to. 3c. on. 3d. of. 3e. with. page 69. 1a. in. 1b. on. 1c. across. 1d. down. 1e. against. 1f. off. 2. Answers will vary. 3. Answers will vary. (Page 70) 1. preposition/object. 1a. in/park. 1b. to/farm. 1c. underneath/table. 1d. on/lawn. 1 e. through/trees.
2.
2a. over. 2b. into. 2c. past/through. 2d. through/past. 2e. off. 2f. from. 2g. down. 2h. with
Pronoun and Antecedent Agreement (grammar)
ANSWERS: 1.his or her. 2. their. 3. her. 4. her. 5 his or her. 6. his. 7. their. 8. his or her. 9 their. 10. his. 11. his or her. 12. his or her. 13. their. 14. her . 15. his or her.
Photography (caption writing)
Comic Book Project (plot development; using language)
Action Verbs (descriptive writing)
Puppetry Internet Activity (planning; performing)
Clauses (grammar -- main clause; subordinate clauses)
ANSWERS: (Page 101) 1. subordinate. a. that I read yesterday? b. who was arrested by the police. c. where the railroad station was. d. if we get any hail. e. when the snow begins to fall. f. because her uncle has arrived. g. whose dog bit the policeman. h. which has yellow blossoms on it. 2. main/subordinate. a. The student was punished/who stayed away from school. b. The lady spoke to the teachers/who is in charge of the school. c. I broke the bottle/that had juice in it. d. The farm belongs to my uncle/where the grapes are grown. e. The shed was burned to the ground/that houses the equipment. f. The cupboard is made of mahogany/that is used to store glasses. g. The food is in the refrigerator/that is fit to be eaten. h. We visited the place/where stone is mined. (Page 102) 1. a. that killed the sheep. b. which began on Easter Day c. which was planted in spring. d. whose father is from Paris. e. that likes to chase its tail. f. which is in the museum. 2. Answers will vary. 3. Answers will vary.
Writing and Following Directions (writing details; following directions)
Complex Sentences (grammar -- subordinate conjunctions; adverb clauses)
ANSWERS: 1. *Although* he was tired, mad, and hungry. 2. None. 3. *even though* he does not have a job. 4. *When* he found out that the price for the buffet did not include a soft drink. 5. *When* Luke made homemade ice cream. 6. *Since* there are 85 billion different possibilities for the first four moves of a chess game. 7. *If* you add kiwi fruit to gelatin. 8. *When* he began using his phone book to call random numbers.
Impromptu Speech (public speaking; peer assessment)
Writing Leads (descriptive writing)
Using Imagery (using language; word choice)
Editorial Cartoons (point of view)
Writing Emergency Reports (writing detail)
Resumes (summarizing; main idea)
Suggestion: Use worksheet as a chart or reference page.
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