Page 47 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade7_Flipbook

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CTIvITy .5
analyzing Language
LearNING sTraTeGIes:
Shared Reading, Marking the Text, Graphic Organizer, Summarizing, Brainstorming, Drafting
Literary Terms
Sensory details are language that appeals to one or more of the five senses—sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.
Characterization is the
methods a writer uses to develop characters, for example through description, actions, and dialogue.
AbouT The AuThor
Walter Dean Myers began writing when he was a child. He published his first book, Where Does the Day Go?, in 1969. Over the next four decades, he wrote many books for children and young adults, two of which — Scorpions and Somewhere in the Darkness — received Newbery Honors. His stories focus on the challenges and triumphs of growing up in a difficult environment. His memoir, Bad Boy, reveals how he overcame racial challenges and his own shortcomings to become a very successful author.
Memoir
Bad Boy
Learning Targets
• Analyze a personal narrative for multiple incidents and responses.
• Analyze how the language of a personal narrative shapes the development of characters and events.
• Write a personal narrative that includes an incident, response, and reflection.
Preview
In this activity, you will read an excerpt from a memoir and examine how the author uses sensory details and figurative language for characterization.
Setting a Purpose for Reading
• In this text, you will find multiple incidents and responses. Mark the text with a number 1 for an incident and a number 2 for the narrator’s response to that incident.
• Circle unknown words and phrases. Try to determine the meaning of the words by using context clues, word parts, or a dictionary.
Word CoNNeCTIoNs
Etymology
Etymology is the study of
the origin of words. Many English words come from other languages, including Latin, German, and Greek. Knowing
a word’s etymology can help you determine the meanings
of unfamiliar words. The word fanatic comes from the Latin word for “temple.” A fanatic was someone “in the temple” or “inspired by divinity.”
From
by Walter Dean Myers
1 By September and the opening of school I was deep into sports and became
a baseball fanatic. Along with the pleasure of playing baseball there was the joy of identifying with the ballplayers. I loved the Dodgers. Maybe it was because Mama loved the Dodgers and especially Jackie Robinson. All summer long, kids playing punchball—hitting a pink “Spaldeen” ball with your fist and then running bases drawn in chalk on the streets—had tried to steal home to copy Robinson. We even changed the rules of stoop ball, of which I was the absolute King of the World, to include bases when more than one kid played. You played stoop ball by throwing the ball against the steps of a brownstone. The ball coming off the steps had to
clear the sidewalk and land in the street. If it landed before being caught, you could run the bases. My speed and ability to judge distances made me an excellent fielder. We did occasionally play actual baseball, but not enough kids had gloves to make a good game.
20 SpringBoard® English Language Arts Grade 7
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