Page 53 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade7_Flipbook

aCTIvITy 1.5
continued
analyzing Language
INdepeNdeNT
readING LINk
Read and Connect
In your Reader/Writer Notebook, note the incidents, responses, and reflections you’ve noticed in your independent reading text. Also, look for examples of sensory details and figurative language. Make connections between your independent reading and Bad Boy. Compare
and contrast the texts’
use of sensory details
and figurative language. Write a paragraph in your Independent Reading Log about how the authors’ use of language helps develop the plots, characters, and themes.
My Notes
Language and Writer’s Craft: Sentence Variety
One way to vary sentence types is to add transitions. In narrating a story, the transitions usually help the reader understand a change in time or place.
1. Examples of transitions to signal change in time are used in the second column of the graphic organizer on the previous page. What do you notice about the transitions and how they are punctuated?
2. Brainstorm transitions you could use in a narrative, and write them here or in your Reader/Writer Notebook.
In addition to using transitions to create sentence variety, consider using parallel sentence structure. Parallel sentence structure uses the same pattern of words to show that two or more ideas have equal importance.
3. Look for the parallelism, or patterns of words, in these sentences:
• I walked back to the corner, searched for the owner, and considered what to do.
• I threw my backpack, coat, and hat down on the chair.
• Sam enjoys walking, jogging, and running.
• Then she went to her closet, snatched out a book, and put it in front of me.
• At the beginning of the story, Walter is impulsive, isolated, and inattentive.
4. Finish the sentence using parallel structure: By the end of the story, Walter . . .
Narrative Writing Prompt: Think about all of the choices you can make in a school day. Brainstorm some of the choices you make at school and the consequences you face as a result.
Using your brainstorm, think of a specific time you had to make a choice at school. Write a short personal narrative with an incident, response, and reflection. Be sure to:
• Use transitions to organize the incident, response, and reflection.
• Use sensory details and/or figurative language.
• Incorporate parallel sentence structure.
26 SpringBoard® English Language Arts Grade 7
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