Language Arts Warm Ups: August 24-28
Fourth Period
Monday (Correct errors. Label personal & relative pronouns, prepositions, articles, and verbs.)
since six pairs of eyeballs rolled at this comment.
tiffany fey
threatened to zap marcus but that didn’t deter him. she than
furrowed her brow stuck out her tongue at him and good naturedly
muttered something rude under her breath as the rest of the girls
tittered.
Tuesday
for the benefit of youre friends marcus cant you and your freind
jesse write nothing except those insipid limericks and cinquains
tiffany teased. hey how about giving us a break and trying another
form of poetry this year
Wednesday
allie ingenuous of course smiled at marcus poem and tiffanys
friendly jibe but her smile immediately turned t o a frown at the sign
of a recognizable hulking figure that loped towards them with a
malevolent grin on its face. it was orson odious followed by his 2
pals lennard dapper and sharalyn pulchritudinous
Thursday
well if it isnt the super strange cast of we irdo incorporated and their
famous witch derided orson odious the nemesis of the group. seen
dean dread today orson asked cyril sagacious wrinkling his nose
against the reek of stale cigarette smoke that wafted from orsons
clothes and breath
Portions taken from Draze, Dianne. Red Hot Root Words and Dean, Nancy. Discovering Voice and Bell Kiester, Jane. Giggles
in the Middle.
Root Words
hyperbole
Monday
1.
2.
3.
4.
hypercritical
superlative
supernatural
hypertension
supervise
hyperthermia
surcharge
superimpose
surplus
Find the word that is a synonym
surplus
supervise
superlative
hyperbole
direct
materials
inadequate
abundance
submit
children
increase
ultimate
least
de-emphasize overstatement discussion
Tuesday
5.
6.
hypercritical
surcharge
praiseworthy
tariff
flattery
taxable
fault-finding
money
Wednesday Find the word that means the opposite
7.
8.
9.
10.
_____ hypertension
_____ supernatural
_____ superimpose
_____ hyperbole
Prefixes
hyper
super, supr, sur
a.
b.
c.
d.
Meaning
understatement
separate
calm
natural
Words You Already Know
hyperactive
superior, supreme, surface
Thursday and Friday
There was a scurrying around and then eight of them snatched up their guns, formed up into
twos, and marched out behind the office. He wheeled his horse about and trotted toward me. I
jumped back and plunged for the tavern doorway.
James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier, My Brother Elijah is Dead
1. Look at the boldfaced word (snatched) in the first sentence. Notice how clearly you can
“see” the action because of the strong verb. How would it change the meaning if the
sentence read ...eight of them picked up their guns?
2. What does the use of the word plunged in the third sentence tell you about the narrator’s
attitude toward the other characters in this passage?
Portions taken from Draze, Dianne. Red Hot Root Words and Dean, Nancy. Discovering Voice and Bell Kiester, Jane. Giggles
in the Middle.
3. Use the word plunged in a sentence, but instead of having the word express fear and
desperation, have it express excitement and happiness. Remember, in many cases the
context of the word determines its deeper meaning.
Portions taken from Draze, Dianne. Red Hot Root Words and Dean, Nancy. Discovering Voice and Bell Kiester, Jane. Giggles
in the Middle.