Page 309 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade6_Flipbook

AcTIvITy 4.8
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play ball: Analyzing a Game of Life
GrAMMAr USAGe
Adjectives and Predicate Adjectives
An adjective describes a noun or a pronoun and answers the questions what kind, which one, how many, or how much. Predicate adjectives are adjectives that follow the verb to be or linking verbs, as in the sentences below:
The bear is furry.
The girl seems lonely. The water looks calm.
GrAMMAr USAGe
Adverbs
An adverb answers the question how or in what way. The suffix -ly may be added to adjectives to form adverbs. Note how the following adjectives become adverbs: proud + ly = proudly
angry + ly = angrily
regretful + ly = regretfully
My Notes
Working from the Text Literacy Center Reading
For this activity, you will analyze the story and participate in collaborative work and discussion.
First Base: Use precise adjectives to describe tone.
You might say that the two characters in “The Southpaw” express a mad or
angry tone in the first half of the story, but these words are not precise. Reread your assigned letters (see below) and discuss each letter’s tone with your group members. Using classroom resources such as a thesaurus, tone list, and Word Wall, brainstorm a list of synonyms for the identified tone and order them from least intense to most intense. Then, agree upon and record a precise adjective in the My Notes section next to each assigned letter. Leave your brainstorming notes for other groups to use as a resource.
Group 1: Letters 1–4 Group 2: Letters 13–18 Group 3: Letters 9–12 Group 4: Letters 5–8
Note: Groups 1, 3, and 4 should first review the previous responses and revise to identify a more accurate or precise tone.
Second Base: Use adverbs to communicate tone.
Adverbs can also describe a character’s tone. Next to each character’s name in your assigned letters, record a verb and precise adverb that capture the writer’s emotions. For example, a character could state proudly, demand angrily, or explain regretfully. Use classroom resources such as a dictionary, adverb list, or Word Wall to expand your options.
Group 1: Letters 5–8 Group 2: Letters 1–4 Group 3: Letters 13–18 Group 4: Letters 9–12
Third Base: Summarize the point of view.
Reread your assigned letters (see below). In the My Notes section, concisely summarize each set of notes by explaining each character’s point of view and how it is created.
Group 1: Letters 9–12 Group 2: Letters 5–8 Group 3: Letters 1–4 Group 4: Letters 13–18
Note: Groups 2, 3, and 4 should first review the previous responses and revise if they can write a more accurate or concise summary.
Home Base: Make a connection between conflict and plot.
Think of the exhange of letters in the story as a baseball scoreboard. The first two
letters between Janet and Richard are Inning 1, letters 3 and 4 are Inning 2, and so on.
For each pair of assigned letters, decide who “wins” the argument. Write a “1” in his or her box and a “0” in the other character’s box. Explain your thinking in the My Notes section, and discuss the connection between conflict and plot.
282 SpringBoard® English Language Arts Grade 6
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