WRITING
REVISION
&VOCABULARY
WRITING
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WRITING
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Organizing your writing
involves structuring your
thoughts and ideas in a
logical, coherent way that
is easy for your audience
to follow. Effective
organization can be
broken down into pre-
writing and in-draft
strategies
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Put the sentences in order from beginning to end.
a) He taught for the rest of his life and worked hard
to help farmers. 5
b) When he grew up, Carver went to college to
study plants.
3
c) As a young boy, Carver had to travel to a school
that was ten miles away.
2
d) After he went to college, he became a teacher.
4
1
e) George Washington Carver was born in Missouri
sometime around 1860.
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Put the sentences in order from beginning to end.
a) My dad ran in the Chicago Marathon this year. 1
b) At the end of the race, we greeted our
exhausted but joyful father in Grant Park. 4
c) After that, we waited for him at an official
cheering area near the finish line. 3
d) We dropped him off near the starting line, and
then went to Mile 1 to watch him run by. 2
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Put the sentences in order from beginning to end.
a) The tollbooth then transports him to a magical
land. 2
b) At the end of the book, though, Milo finds
himself back in his room. 3
c) The book The Phantom Tollbooth starts with a
boy named Milo going through a special 1
tollbooth.
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A good introduction
should identify your
topic, provide essential
context, and indicate your
INTODUCTION
particular focus in the
essay. It also needs to
engage your readers’
CONCLUSION interest. A strong
conclusion will provide a
sense of closure to the
essay while again placing
your concepts in a
somewhat wider context.
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Read the paragraph. Then, add the best topic sentence.
_____________________________For example, glaciers can wear
away the sides of mountains by scraping against them as they
float past, creating valleys. They can also form small lakes when a
piece of glacier breaks off and then melts. Some glaciers even
transport huge boulders from one place to another.
Glaciers can change the shape of the land they move through.
Some valleys, like Yosemite Valley, were carved by glaciers.
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Read the paragraph. Then, add the best topic sentence.
____________________Each spring, new wild ponies are born on the island of Assateague.
After the ponies are born, there are too many horses for this small Island to handle. So,
each July the ponies are guided into the water to swim to nearby Chincoteague Island
during the Chincoteague Pony Swim. There, some of the ponies are sold at a carnival. The
remaining ponies swim back to the less-crowded Assateague Island a few days later.
The Chincoteague Pony Swim helps keep Assateague Island from
getting too crowded.
Chincoteague Island has many things for visitors to do.
The Chincoteague Pony Swim includes a carnival.
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Read the paragraph. Then, add the best topic sentence.
_________________________New roads sometimes block the natural paths that animals
use to migrate and can make migration more dangerous. To help these animals avoid
busy road crossings, humans sometimes build tunnels or bridges for them. Animals of all
sizes use these wildlife crossings-even animals as small as crabs! These crossings can also
help prevent car accidents, since they keep larger animals, like deer, off roads.
Some people call crosswalks with stripes zebra crossings.
Crosswalks, tunnels, and stoplights all make roads safer.
Wildlife crossings help keep deer off busy roads.
Wildlife crossings help animals and people travel more easily and
safely.
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Read the paragraph. Then, add the best topic sentence.
_________________________Originally the kilt was a long, thick piece of cloth. It was
wrapped around the waist to make a skirt, and the extra cloth could cover the upper body
as well. It was often worn by Scottish soldiers and provided good protection from rain,
wind, and cold. Today's kilts are shorter, with only enough material for a skirt. People today
wear kilts at weddings and other special events in Scotland.
The patterned cloth used to make Scottish kilts is known as tartan.
The traditional Scottish kilt has changed over the years.
Traditional Scottish clothing and food have changed over time.
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Read the paragraph. Then, add the best concluding sentence.
Some things sound more terrifying than they actually may be. One example is the
megamouth shark. This shark was not discovered until 1976. This is probably because it is
found in areas where there isn't much scientific exploration. Also, not many of these
sharks seem to exist. In fact, there have only been about fifty sightings of the megamouth
shark ever recorded. The shark's large, wide mouth and jaw make it look scary, but its
teeth are quite small. It appears that this shark eats by opening its large mouth and
inhaling tiny sea organisms. In addition, because the shark's mouth and jaw are larger
than its stomach, some scientists think that this shark is not a strong swimmer. ___________
Also, this shark has a soft skeleton, so it probably can't swim fast.
In short, this shark with a scary-sounding name is probably a
harmless animal.
The megamouth shark has rarely been spotted by people.
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Read the paragraph. Then, add the best concluding sentence.
Some parts of your body perform tasks you can't see and help you in ways that may be
surprising. The ear, in fact, has an important job besides allowing you to hear. It assists you
with your balance. The inner ear is home to three tiny canals that have fluid and small hairs
inside of them. The fluid and hairs perform the key duty of sensing the movement of your
head. When you move your head, the fluid and small hairs also move. Then, the small
hairs relay a message to your brain that your head is moving. ________________________
After that, the brain sends a message to your muscles to help you
stay balanced.
After all, there are three canals in your ear that have hairs and fluid.
So, the next time you catch your balance, remember to thank your
ears.
In short, your ears are only responsible for hearing, and your brain is
responsible for balance.
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Read the paragraph. Then, add the best concluding sentence.
The small town of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, has a population of roughly twelve
people. It seems unlikely that a town this small would carry much weight in a U.S. election.
However, Dixville Notch is home to a long-standing voting tradition in the United States. It
is one of three tiny towns in New Hampshire that are first to vote for the next president.
This is because Dixville Notch allows voting just after midnight on Election Day. So, the
people of Dixville Notch usually stay up late to be the first voters in the nation. Of course,
the outcome of the votes in this small town may not correctly predict the election winners.
But these voters enjoy being among the first citizens to have their say.
Dixville Notch is located in northern New Hampshire, near Canada.
It's worth being tired the next day to continue this important
tradition.
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A story usually shows
what its characters are
DESCRIPTIVE
like and how they feel.
When you write, try to DETAILS
use actions and
dialogue to show
these things about
your characters.
Doing so helps bring
your characters to life
for the reader.
You are writing a story about Debbie, who is trying to
find her necklace. Choose the best description to
show that Debbie is careless.
• Debbie stormed into her sister's room. "You took
my necklace!" she screamed.
• Debbie dug through the desk drawer and found
her old sunglasses. "So that's where those went,"
she said.
You are writing a story about Clare, who is trying to
study. Choose the best description to show that
Clare is on edge.
• Try as she might, Clare could not block out the
chatter. She slapped her desk and said, "Shh!“
• Clare buried her face in her hands and sighed.
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PREFIXES
SUFFIXES
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Prefixes Suffixes
What they are: Word parts What they are: Word parts
attached to the beginning of a attached to the end of a root
PREFIXES
root word. word.
What they do: They change What they do: They change
the meaning of the word. the word's meaning or its
SUFFIXES
Examples: grammatical function
un-: "not" or "the opposite of" Examples:
(e.g., unfamiliar). -ful: "full of" or "characterized
re-: "again" or "back" (e.g., by" (e.g., wonderful).
replay). -ing: indicates a continuous
pre-: "before" (e.g., preview). action (e.g., playing)
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1. If a star can only be seen during the predawn 1. Which item is more affordable?
hours, when might you be able to see it?
a. an expensive luxury yacht
a. 6:00 P.M.
b. an inexpensive used car
b. 4:00 A.M.
2. Which is more arguable?
2. Which of these is part of the prewriting
process?
a. whether Antarctica is warmer than the
Amazon rainforest
a. Editing
b. whether it's more fun to go to the beach or
b. research
the mountains
3. What does it mean if an outcome is
preordained? 3. When would you want a submersible watch?
a. it has already been determined a. when you're going swimming
b. it is still being determined b. when you're going horseback riding
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4. Which object is collapsible?
4. When are you likely to have a disagreement
with someone?
a. a microwave
a. when you share the same opinion
b. an umbrella
b. when you have different opinions
5. Which of these is painless?
5. Which would be an impractical way to get
from the United States to England? a. Breaking an eggshell
a. taking an airplane b. Breaking your arm
b. rowing a boat
6. Why might you make a careless mistake in
6. What does a nonviolent protest lack? your work?
a. physical force a. Because you aren’t paying attention
b. signs and banners b. Because you don’t understand something