Weekly Spelling Words - February 4

Here are the Spelling Words for this Week:

YAWN

TAUGHT

SALT

LAWN

HALLS

HAULS

HAWKS

SQUAWK

BOUGHT

BAWLS

DRAWING

CAUSED

PAUSED

CRAWLED

COUGHING

JOYFUL

COINS

SPOILED

WALRUS

AUTUMN

Verbs Be, Do, and Have

Verbs are action words.  They tell what is happening in a sentence.  The verbs "be", "do", and "have" are three examples of action verbs.

"Be" is an action verb.  It tells us that the subject is being described.  "Am", "is", and "are" are present-tense forms of the verb "be".

"Do" is another action verb.  It tells about the actions of a subject.  "Does" is another present-tense form of the verb "do".

"Have" is another action verb.  It tells us what belongs to the subject.  "Has" is another present-tense form of the verb "have".

The verbs "be", "do", and "have" can also be written in the past tense.

The past tense forms of the word "be" are "was" and "were".

The past tense form of the word "do" is "did".

The past tense form of the verb "have" is "has".

Verb                           Present Tense Forms                     Past Tense Forms

Be                               am, is, are                                      was, were

Do                              does                                                did

Have                           has                                                 had

Comparing and Contrasting

Comparing and contrasting are important strategies in reading.  Comparing is when you tell how two characters, settings, or events are alike.  Contrasting is when you tell how two characters, settings, or events are different.  It is important to think about how characters, settings, or events are alike and different as you read.  This will help you make connections to the story and understand the characters, settings, and events better.

Today, in class, we practiced an example of comparing and contrasting.  We read the story The Memory String by Eve Bunting.  The story is about a girl, named Laura, who has a memory string.  The string is full of buttons that remind her of important people in her family.  One day, the string breaks and the buttons are scattered through the yard.  Her dad and her stepmother, Jane, help her search for the buttons.  But, after their searching, one button is still missing.  Jane keeps looking until she finds the button, and this helps her connect with Laura.

We compared and contrasted Laura's father, and her stepmother Jane:

We found that Laura's father and Jane are alike because they both care about Laura very much and they both enjoy being with each other.

We found that they are different because Laura's father is her birthparent and Jane is a stepparent.  They are also different because Laura's father does not understand how important the buttons on the memory string are to Laura, but Jane does understand and keeps searching for the button until she finds it.

We were able to make two comparisons and two contrasts for Laura's father and Jane in the story.

You should do this also when you are reading.  Look for ways that the characters, settings, or events in your story are the same.  Then, look for ways they are different.  This strategy will help you understand the story better and make better connections to it.

Combining Sentences With Verbs

You can combine sentences that are about the same subject.  This makes your writing flow and sound better.

If two sentences are about the same subject, like these two sentences:

John played football.  John scored a touchdown.


Then, we can combine those two sentences into one sentence.  Like this:

John played football and scored a touchdown.


In our combined sentence, we used the subject John, and we combined the two actions into one sentence by connecting them with the word "and".


Let's try another example:

Sarah ran in the race.  Sarah finished in first place.


We can combine those sentences to make one sentence.

Sarah ran in the race and finished in first place.

Again, we combined the two sentences by keeping the subject Sarah and combining the two actions by connecting them with the word "and".

Now, you try.  Leave a comment below to show how to combine these two sentences:

I read this page.  I learned how to combine sentences.