Page 138 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade6_Flipbook

aCTIvITy 2.8
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3. The words and sentences around a word are called its context. You may find clues in the context to help you determine the meaning of unfamiliar words. When Phoebe asks her father about the word malinger, he has her look it up in the dictionary. Read the passage below, and underline context clues that could have helped Phoebe.
Her father placed his hand on her forehead, looked deep into her eyes and said, “I’m afraid you have to go to school.”
“I’m sick. Honest,” she said. “It might be cancer.”
“Phoebe, I know you’re worried, but there’s nothing we can do but wait. We have to go on with things. We can’t malinger.”
4. Skim/scan the paragraphs following this passage, and try to find context clues that you can use to define frenzy, cardigan, skittish, and sullen. Use a dictionary to check your definitions.
5. In Unit 1, you learned about how figurative language can enhance your own writing by forming an image in your reader’s mind that will create a specific emotion or emphasize an important idea.
Look closely at the diction in Sharon Creech’s figurative language. Try to walk around in her shoes (metaphorically) and deduce the reasoning behind her choices. Record examples below.
my Notes
Page #
Figurative Language
Why did you choose this word, phrase, or passage to examine?
Why do you think the author used this word, phrase, or passage?
Unit 2 • The Power to Change 111
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