English/Language Arts Workshop for 6th-8th Grades

By: Shirleen Schofield (ELA Title Intervention Teacher)

Tips For Retaining Information Read Summary of Informational Text before reading the

section Read the Bold Print and Titles before reading the section Read the section after reading summary, bold print and

titles

Tips for Reading Comprehension Have your child read at least 20 minutes a day Choose books that interest your child Have your child use sticky notes to write down

questions they have Use sticky notes or write down words that your child

does not understand Have your child use sticky notes when they make

connections to what they are reading (text to text, text to movies, text to real life situations/experiences)

Help your child with the pronunciations of words (Use a dictionary to help with those pronunciations)

Have your child write or tell you a summary about what they are reading

Tips for Reading Comprehension Continued Ask your child to make predictions of what the book is going

to be about from the title and pictures from the book Encourage your child to ask questions through out the book

that they are reading Have your child to make inferences through out the book

(An inference is using your background knowledge and the book’s text to come up with conclusions/reasons for better understanding of what is going on in the book)

Tips to Increase Fluency in Writing Have your child write an authority list (a list of topics that

they are experts in-Example: How to play certain sports? How to play an instrument? Etc.)

Have your child showing versus telling in their writing (Example: He smiled and jumped for joy, instead of he was happy)

Read their writing and edit for your child (If you are unable to do this, have them wait 20 minutes to 30 minutes or longer to reread their work and edit it themselves)

Have your child use their 5 senses (touch, hear, sight, taste, and smell)

Tips to Increase Fluency in WritingContinued Have your child use a dictionary for the correct

spelling Make sure your child uses the correct form of a word

(Example: their-possessive, there-where/place, they’re-contraction for they are)

Have your child read their sentences 2 or 3 times out loud to you to see if the sentence makes sense

Have your child use strong words in their writing (Example: instead of bad use horrible, instead of said use yelling, scream, whispered)

Have your child use the same tense in their writing (Example: past tense, present tense, or future tense)

Have your child avoid using “you” when explaining how to do something or when writing a story

Tips to Increase Fluency in WritingContinued Have your child make sure that their paragraphs

connect/flow with each other (Example: That the last sentence of their paragraph leads into their next paragraph)

Make sure your child has introduction/beginning, body/supporting paragraphs, and conclusion/ending

Make sure your child uses the 5 senses when describing the setting of the story (Setting- where and when a story takes place)

When writing a research paper, make sure your child is citing/documenting where they got their information

Tips for Grammar Verb- an action word (jump, ran, etc,)

Linking verb- state of being (be, are, were, is, was, and am)

Helping verbs- help the main verb tell what someone or something does (have, has, had)

Predicate- tells what the subject is doing (running, being, etc.)

Adverbs- describes the verb & normally ends in “ly” (softly, quickly, slowly, etc)

Noun- person, place, thing, or idea (dog, Tom, Detroit, etc.) Proper Noun- special names of persons, places, things and

they are always capitalized (Mary, Mount Rushmore, German Shepherd, etc)

Tips for GrammarContinued

Common Noun – general name (dog, table, etc.) Subject – tells who or what the sentence is about Pronouns – words that take the place of nouns (he, she,

they, etc.) Adjectives – describes a noun (three, blue, birthday, etc.) Comparative endings – comparing 2 things using “er” or

“more” (deeper, more softly, etc.) Superlative endings – comparing more than 2 things

(super/big amount) using “est” or “most” Gerunds – a verb form that ends in “ing” and is used as a

noun (cooking, working, etc.) Gerund phrase – is a group of words that includes a gerund and

the other words that complete its meaning

Figures of Speech Simile- a comparison of 2 unlike things using the

words like or as (The row of trees stood along the driveway, like soldiers at attention.

Metaphor – a comparison of 2 unlike things without using like or as. (The buttercups were a colorful blanket spread across the yard.

Personification- means to give human characteristics to animals or objects (The sun winked slyly at the moon just before it sank below the horizon)

Idioms – a group of words that mean something other than what they appear to mean

Analogies – shows a relationship between 2 pairs of words (Bored is to excited as wide is to narrow)

The Following Website Provides the Core Curriculum Standards for English/Language Arts:

- http://www.michigan.gov/documents/mde/6-8_ELA_357703_7.pdf Resources/Games for Parents & Students http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/grammar/verbs.htm http://www.funbrain.com/cgi-bin/getskill_s.cgi?A1=selects&A2=la&A4=0&A7=0 http://www.softschools.com/language_arts/ http://www.teachervision.fen.com/reading-and-language-arts/games/5831.html http://www.internet4classrooms.com/lang_mid.htm http://classroom.jc-schools.net/basic/la-grammar.html http://www.time4learning.com/homepage2012.html http://www.studyisland.com

Parent and Teachers Working as a Team The following website is a tool for parents to utilize on how to communicate

effectively with your child’s school and teacher http://powerparentinguonline.com/parent/