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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

A Moment in Time - Mentor Text

This was written by Molly Brice last year. Notice how all the actions takes place over a few seconds. Notice how her  emotions are felt through her words, especially  at the end of the piece. Notice the variety of advanced subjects she integrated  into her work.  Notice how her title closes her piece at the end...

Life by the Sea

By: Molly

The old wooden boats laid across the Neuse River as if to say, “I’m ready, please sail me.” I felt alone staring at these wonderful treasures. Walking across Seafarer’s wooden paved dock, I pushed off the ground and landed in the white benches of the sunfish. My eyes looked up at the crowded boat with all my friends in it, and I absorbed the dazzling clear water that lay all around the white sailboat. The sun beat down on my face as we began to prepare the timeless sail for our journey. A vivid orange life protector hugged my chest as I gazed out of the worn down face of the boat. I looked up and before my eyes was the never endless, stunning river that felt almost too exquisite to be real. I was awakened by the sound of roaring engines as the motorboats took off; the relaxed, calm feeling I had once felt was being vanished by the thunderous noises.


Our sailboat began to move slowly past the wondrous waters as I felt anxious about the journey ahead. Moving in the old white sunfish, I was mesmerized. Each time the boat took another step forward, I felt like I was drifting away to the heavens on a white and fluffy cloud. As the boat pushed past all of the waves and the wind in my face, I began to feel more at home. The things I missed about my parents faded away with the calmness of the Lake Neuse. The missing piece of the puzzle at Camp Seafarer was closed and now the adventure had truly started. I soon retrieved the soothing vibe I had before I had climbed on the sunfish. My fellow campers and I touched the beauteous waters as we glided past the camp and into the breathtaking river.


The staggering waters were contagious, and I was a girl caught with the disease. Gliding back to the camp site, I began to think more about the Neuse river. To some it was no more fascinating then a math lesson, but to me it was one of the Earth’s true beauties. Drifting away in the sunfish, fascination over came me. The beautiful river made me realize life is not what is coming next, but to enjoy the present timing’s little treasures. Why doesn’t everyone live in the soothing and adventurous way I do? When I think back to that long sail ride, a smile spreads across my face and know that I know how to live. I flow with the tide and enjoy life by the sea!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

TEST PRACTICE Thursday 15th Oct

Review of PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES. Enjoy the video link on the American Revolution


These are the ‘types of question’ that you will have in the test.

The sentences below all contain prepositional phrases. A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends (usually) with a noun or a pronoun.

The noun or pronoun that ends the phrase is called the object of the preposition; the object of the preposition answers the question what? (or whom?) after the preposition and shows the end of the phrase.

A) Find the prep. phrases in these sentences

1. During hot summer weather, I like swimming at the beach near my house.

2. The beach is surrounded by many trees with leafy branches giving plenty of shade.

3. The lake is very deep in the centre, but it is quite shallow near shore.

4. In the middle of the lake, there are several small islands; some people swim out to them, but going by boat is safer.

5. On the bushes along the shore, I can hang my wet towel.

B) CAN YOU FIND ALL THE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES IN THIS TEXT?

Although my room in residence is small, it is very cozy. On the single bed under the window is a spread quilted by my grandmother in winter. It is my most treasured possession. Beside the bed is a small bookcase filled with my books and papers. The bookcase is painted white, and the top and sides have a pattern of vines running over them, stencilled in green. Next to the bookcase is a small antique armchair from my grandmother's house. The chair is upholstered in a rich cream brocade material, sprinkled with tiny pink roses.
C) Writing Component

YOU WILL ALSO BE EXPECTED TO DESCRIBE ‘A BUILDING YOU KNOW WELL’ USING PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES

(hint hint! nudge nudge! Bob’s your uncle!)

D) Make sure you tackled the multiple choice questions on prep. phrases posted on the blog last week.

e.g.http://www.eduplace.com/cgi-bin/hme-quiz-start.cgi?Grade=6&Unit=7&Topic=Prepositional+Phrases&x=25&y=9

E)_Divide the words in this box into the three categories
Prepositions       Not Prepositions      Prepositional Phrases

below
or
under
above the flower pot
a green animal
will she come?
in Madrid
in
around the house
with Mary
back
making a mistake



Friday, October 9, 2009

Descriptive Sentences - Brag Sheet

Feel free to 'brag' by copy/paste  into a comment window a small selection from your  descritpive writing piece. If people like what they read, feel free to comment on other people's  writing.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Tyes of Subjects - Review

Can you manipulate the different openings to your sentences. Remember, a strong piece of writing uses a variety of these techniques combined with prepositional phrases, proper noun and emotion sttements

Simple Subject
The garden/

Complete Subjects
A long colorful carpet/

Compound Subjects
Parcels and packages/

Complete Compound Subjects
A mountain of dirty clothes or a pile of  spent books/

Integrating a prepositional phrase
In my mind, this disheveled cornor of  our family house/...


JUST WRITE FIRST...THEN GO BACK AND ADAPT THE GRAMMAR

THEN READ IT TO SOMEBODY. Can they see the place?  Can they tell how  YOU feel about the place from you writing?

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Prepositional Phrase Story - Axle the Freeway Cat


Look at theway prepositional phrases were used in this story. Click the link above to finish the story we started reading in class.


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