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aCTiviTy 1.6
Plan
Materials: Word Choice Analyzer Graphic Organizer, note cards, Roots and Affixes Graphic Organizer, sticky notes, Key Ideas and Details Graphic Organizer
Suggested Pacing: 2 50-minute class periods
California English Language Development Standards
ELD.P1.8.1 Exchanging Information and Ideas
ELD.PI.8.5 Listening Actively ELD.PI.8.4 Adapting language choices
ELD.PI.8.6c Using Knowledge of Morphology
ELD.PI.8.8 Analyzing Language Choices ELD.PI.8.10b Writing
ELD.PI.8.12 Selecting Language Resources
ELD.PII.8.5 Modifying to Add Details
DaY OnE
Teach
1 Ask volunteers to read the Learning Targets aloud. When finished, explain to students that in this lesson they will learn about precise diction.
2 Give each student a note card. Ask each student to write an informal sentence a person might use to describe today’s weather to a close friend or family member. Tell them to imagine exactly who they are speaking to and whether they are speaking in person, over the phone, via text message, or through social media. Ask volunteers
to share their sentences. Then have students work in pairs. Tell them to exchange their sentence that describes the weather. Then have each student think about how a reporter or a scientist might give the same information. Ask: How might the language be different? Encourage answers such as: It would be more formal. / It would include
more precise words. / It wouldn’t be so personal. Have students write a new sentence giving the same information the way a reporter or scientist might give it. Give students a minute to
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compose a response. Then go around the room asking each student to share the second sentence they wrote. Do not confirm or correct student responses at this time, but write keywords or phrases on the board as students give their responses. When everyone has had the opportunity to respond, explain: Precise diction is language that is used for a certain purpose and with a certain audience. Say: To a friend, a person might say, “The weather was really bad.” A reporter or scientist might say: The extreme heat caused major problems in our area, such as water shortages and loss of power.
3 Ask a volunteer to read the Language Resources box aloud. Ensure student understanding of the difference between diction and tone. Explain to students that they are going to play
a game. Segment the classroom into two heterogeneous groups. Designate one group as “informal” and the other as “formal.” Tell students that you are going to read words and expressions. If the example is informal language, then all the members of the informal group
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Interact in meaningful Ways: analyze Precise diction
Learning Targets
• Adjust language choices according to social setting and audience. PI.8.4
• Evaluate and explain in conversation and writing how effectively the author uses
precise diction. PI.8.7 Precise Diction
Mark Tyler Nobleman, the author of “Made You Laugh,” has written an expository essay about humor. Although he includes a number of jokes as examples, his main purpose is to inform readers about the scientific study of humor. To do this, he uses a thoughtful tone. One way he achieves this tone is by using precise diction— verbs, adjectives, and nouns. In the following paragraph, for example, notice how precise nouns, such as function, rhythm, syllables, and sequence, help create the serious tone. Similarly, the adjectives biological, repetitive, and random are what we’d expect in a piece about a scientific study.
You may be saying to yourself, “Studying jokes? Is that science?” But plenty of smart people say yes. Laughter is a biological function. It has a certain rhythm; laughter syllables build, then trail off, and they come out in a repetitive, not random, sequence. For example, “ha-ha-ho-ho-he” is typical, but “ha-ho-ha- ho-ha” or “he-ho-he” just doesn’t happen.
Read these sentences from “Made You Laugh.” Underline one precise word in each sentence that shows the tone the author uses to write about a scientific study. Then write an original sentence using the underlined word.
aCTIVITy 1.6
language
Resources
Literary Terms
Diction: word choice; the way something is put into words Tone: an author’s attitude toward his or her subject Precise: exact; specific
Sentence from “Made You Laugh”
Original Sentence
Babies begin to laugh instinctively when they’re about four months old.
Even rats, when tickled, make squeals that can be interpreted as laughter.
Those born blind and deaf also laugh, so laughter is not dependent on sight and hearing.
Authors and film actors do not often get immediate public feedback. But comics do.
Yet laughter is not always a planned response to a joke.
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aCademIC VoCabUlaRy
Precise diction is the choice of clear and exact words that suit the style and tone of a piece of writing. The opposite of precise diction is vague and confusing word choice.
234 SpringBoard® English Language Development Grade 8
© 2017 College Board. All rights reserved.
© 2017 College Board. All rights reserved.