68 Beginning Writing 1 • Saddleback Publishing, Inc. © 2001 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4010 • www.sdlback.com NAME DATE   CREATIVE WRITING: H AIKU The ancient Japanese invented a short form of poetry called haiku (hi KOO). These poems describe life’s brief but meaningful moments. The following haiku was written more than 300 years ago. Read the haiku aloud. Notice that the syllables have been marked off to help you recognize the simple verse pattern. A / fal / ling flow / er, / thought / I, Flut / ter / ing / back / to / the / branch— Was / a / but / ter / fly. Moritake A. Read aloud the following haiku by the Japanese poet Issa. Then mark off the syllables with slashes as in the poem above. The dew drops falling By ones and twos, rapidly,— It is a good world. B. The following statements describe the haiku by Issa. Circle the word that best completes each sentence. 1. The subject of haiku is often ( love / nature ). 2. The haiku has ( two / three ) lines. 3. The first line has ( five / ten ) syllables. 4. The second line has ( ten / seven ) syllables. 5. The third line has the same number of syllables as the ( first / second ) line. 6. The poem ( does / does not ) rhyme. C. One line is missing from each haiku below. Circle a letter to identify the missing line. (You will have to count syllables to recognize it.) 1. Ducks beside the pond Heads tucked under feathered wings a. Settled in for a winter’s nap. b. Quacking beaks silenced. c. I wish I were a duck. 2. Summer night fireflies a. Flitter like gold strands of straw b. Dance like miniature globes of white light c. Remind me that I was once a child And bring back old dreams. CHALLENGE: On the back of this sheet, list five images in nature that would make good subjects for haiku. Then write a haiku about one of the subjects. Saddleback Publishing, Inc. © 2001 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4010 • www.sdlback.com • Beginning Writing 1 69 NAME DATE   CREATIVE WRITING: W RITING A BOUT P ICTURES A photograph freezes a moment in time. It captures details of a scene in the present and saves it for the viewer. A writer’s words can also freeze a moment to share with the reader. A. Study the picture below. Then write two or three detail sentences to make the experience clearer. Ask yourself who, what, when, where, and why as you try to put a story to the picture. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ B. Study the pair of pictures. 1. 2. Look for ways they are similar. Look for ways they are different. 1. Write a sentence or two describing picture #1. ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ 2. Find words in your description of picture #1 that could also apply to picture #2. Write those words on the lines below. ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ 3. Find words in your description of picture #1 that do not apply to picture #2. Write those words on the lines below. ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ CHALLENGE: Find two pictures in a magazine or newspaper that have something in common. Tape the pictures to the back of this sheet. Below the pictures, list words that apply to both scenes. 70 Beginning Writing 1 • Saddleback Publishing, Inc. © 2001 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4010 • www.sdlback.com NAME DATE   CREATIVE WRITING: W RITING A BOUT P EOPLE Use specific details and vivid words to “bring characters to life” for your readers. A. Read each sentence. Circle the word that creates a mental picture of a self-confident, carefree, handsome young man. 1. Ruben ( swaggered / stumbled ) into the party room. 2. He ( folded / tossed ) his leather jacket on the nearest chair. 3. Ruben stared at me with his ( piercing / watery ) blue eyes. 4. His ( smile / smirk ) made me shiver. 5. Ruben moved like a ( cat / dog ) across the dance floor. 6. “My name is Ruben,” he ( whimpered / whispered ). B. Think of an interesting or unusual person you know. 1. Write the person’s name on the line. Then circle the adjectives that best describe him or her. ___________________________________ stylish clever serious energetic lazy wild lighthearted mellow intense cautious attractive shy funny sensitive serious lonely artistic cheerful plain bold outgoing 2. Write five adjectives of your own that describe the person. _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ 3. Write five verbs that describe the way the person does things. For example, if you were describing a talkative person, you might write the verb chattered. _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ 4. Describe the person in a sentence that appeals to a sense other than sight. For example, you might write: I had to lean close to hear Clara’s soft whisper. or Pedro’s wool coat smelled like a wet dog. ____________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________ CHALLENGE: On the back of this sheet, write a paragraph describing the person you named in Part B. Saddleback Publishing, Inc. © 2001 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4010 • www.sdlback.com • Beginning Writing 1 71 NAME DATE   LAUGH OUT LOUD! W HAT ’ S IN A N AME ? What’s in a name? Sometimes a name can say a lot about a character. It can also make a reader chuckle! A. Write a letter to match each name with an appropriate occupation. 1. _____ Hersinkis D. Ripping 2. _____ Minnie Stroney 3. _____ Matt M. Matix 4. _____ B. S. Ting 5. _____ Erin D. Runner 6. _____ Moe Larpane 7. _____ Mei Siu Hiu 8. _____ Xavier Cash 9. _____ Justin Case 10. _____ Harry Cutter 11. _____ Hans R. Dirty 12. _____ C. U. Sunday a. barber b. dentist c. savings bank teller d. plumber e. Italian chef f. insurance agent g. preacher h. math teacher i. attorney j. garbage collector k. bee keeper l. delivery truck driver B. Make up a first and last name for a person who does each kind of work. Try to think of a name that in some way suggests the occupation. 1. basketball player ________________________________ 2. rock star ________________________________ 3. politician ________________________________ 4. race car driver ________________________________ 5. weather forecaster ________________________________ CHALLENGE: Different names suggest different images. What do the people with the following names look like? On the back of this sheet, write sentences describing three of them. Ray Exclamato Egbert Mumford Brad Washington Sidney Clodfelter 72 Beginning Writing 1 • Saddleback Publishing, Inc. © 2001 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4010 • www.sdlback.com NAME DATE   CREATIVE WRITING: R EVIEW A. To complete the puzzle, match the clues with the answer words in the box. character haiku senses smell taste hearing sight touch image vivid ACROSS 1. an imaginary person an author writes about 4. word meaning clear or distinct 5. the sense you use when describing something as soft 7. with five of these, we experience the world around us 9. a mental picture DOWN 2. a three-line poem developed in Japan 3. the sense you use when describing something as sweet 6. the sense you use when describing something as loud 7. the sense you use when describing something as fragrant 8. the sense you use when describing something as yellow B. Practice your poetry by completing each haiku. 1. The full yellow moon 3. Twilight, quiet hour _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ 2. Spider spins his web 4. Summer sun rises _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ C. On the back of this sheet, draw a picture illustrating one haiku from Part B. Then use your creative writing skills to write another descriptive piece about the picture. It might be a few sentences, a whole paragraph, or another poem. CH T V THSS I 1 65 4 3 2 9 8 7 Saddleback Publishing, Inc. © 2001 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4010 • www.sdlback.com • Beginning Writing 1 73 NAME DATE   CHECKING YOUR WRITING: S PELLING D EMONS Writers call certain words “demons” because they can be so troublesome to spell. Sometimes, a word’s pronunciation makes its spelling unclear. For example, the word medicine sounds as if it could be spelled meda-, medi-, or mede- . Try this trick: Think of another word that has the same word part—such as medic. In medic, the i is more clearly pronounced. A. Say each word in the first column aloud. Notice that the vowel in italics is unclear. Write a letter to match each spelling demon in the first column with a related word in the second column. Notice how much clearer the vowel is when you pronounce the second word. 1. _____ invitation 2. _____ combination 3. _____ competition 4. _____ declaration 5. _____ relative 6. _____ perspiration 7. _____ author 8. _____ burglar a. compete b. declare c. relate d. combine e. invite f. perspire g. burglary h. authority B. Use the correct vowel to complete the words in the selection below. Practice was in 15 minutes, but Jesse had a problem. His basketball shoes were in his locker—and he’d forgotten the comb__nation! “Jessie, if you’re late to one more practice,” Coach Morgan had warned, “you’re off the team. I don’t care if the principal is your rel__tive! I don’t care if you have an inv__tation to meet the president! We are in comp__tition for the state championship. We need plenty of prep__ration for the next game.” Jesse remembered Coach Morgan’s decl__ration: “Be on time, or you’re out!” Beads of persp__ration formed on his forehead as he twisted the lock. Click! The locker door opening was the most beautiful sound Jesse had ever heard. If he were an auth__r, he’d have written a poem about that beautiful sound! For now. . . Jesse was off to practice. CHALLENGE: On the back of this sheet, write five original sentences. In each sentence, use a spelling demon from the first column of Part A. 74 Beginning Writing 1 • Saddleback Publishing, Inc. © 2001 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4010 • www.sdlback.com NAME DATE   CHECKING YOUR WRITING: D OUBLE T ROUBLE You’ll make a beter impression on your readers if you spell all words correctly! WAIT A MINUTE! Did you notice anything wrong in that last sentence? The word in italics is misspelled! This writer has forgotten to double the final consonant before adding the word ending. The word is correctly spelled better. A spelling rule to remember: When a short vowel comes before the final consonant, double the consonant before adding the ending. (bet + er = better) A. Circle the correctly spelled word in each pair. 1. The Warthogs were ( hoping / hopping ) to win their first game. 2. Lefty McGee slid into home, ( scraping / scrapping ) his knee. 3. In spite of his injury, Lefty ( hoped / hopped ) up and waved to the fans. 4. As the Warthogs cheered their win, their opponents ( moped / mopped ) over their loss. 5. “We were ( robed / robbed )!” cried one player. “Lefty should have been out!” B. Rewrite each word, adding the ending indicated. Add - est Add - ed Add - er Add - ing 1. big __________ 3. beg __________ 5. big __________ 7. bet ___________ 2. thin _________ 4. tag __________ 6. mad _________ 8. hit ___________ C. Read the definitions. To play this word game, double one of the letters in the first word to make the second word. The first one has been done for you. 1. wager = _______________________ a vegetable = ___________________ 2. sacred = _______________________ a prickly tree = _________________ 3. dry, sandy region = ______________ pie, cake, ice cream = ___________ 4. having great heat = _____________ owl sound = ____________________ 5. spoke with anger = ____________________ dressed in tattered clothes = ____________ 6. abbreviation for advertisement = _____________ put together = _______________ 7. wishing = ___________________ jumping on one foot = ___________________ bet beet Saddleback Publishing, Inc. © 2001 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4010 • www.sdlback.com • Beginning Writing 1 75 NAME DATE   CHECKING YOUR WRITING: L ETTERS O FTEN L EFT O UT A word’s pronunciation does not always match its spelling. •When a word has a quiet letter that is hard to hear, the letter may be left out. EXAMPLES: can d idate, Feb r uary, gover n ment •Other words are often pronounced with slurred sounds. When speakers turn a three-syllable word into a two-syllable word, spelling can get confusing. EXAMPLES: Boun / da / ry can be incorrectly pronounced boun / dry. His / to / ry can be incorrectly pronounced his / try. A. Circle the correctly spelled word. 1. The ( bakry / bakery ) case was filled with ( chocolate / choclate ) delights. 2. A ( fedral / federal ) holiday honors war ( veterans / vetrans ). 3. All ( sophmores / sophomores ) study U.S. ( histry / history ). 4. The ( avrage / average ) ( salary / salry ) of a ( government / goverment ) employee has been climbing each year. 5. Automobile exhaust is one of ( several / sevral ) things that pollute the ( eviroment / environment ). B. Circle the misspelled word in each sentence of the paragraph. You should find 6 misspelled words in all. A leap year has 366 days, one day more than an ordnary year. The extra day is added to Febuary. The month has a 29th day only once evry four years. People born on that extra day have an intresting problem. Do they only celbrate their birthday every fourth year? Do they substatute March 1 as their birthday? CHALLENGE: Write the correct spellings of the words you circled in Part B. Then find and circle each word in the puzzle. Words may go up, down, across, or diagonally. ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ TINTERESTING CRM I BEAUCHOD OEVTRFOBOL I S REL I FUHS I LEP DRNEERNTAAR J ISTOBTDIMESU NNCTRRKTRQU I AUMEUTAUD I NH RRGBAH I TEOR I YYE I RNAEETGC EVERYTZTXGEH 76 Beginning Writing 1 • Saddleback Publishing, Inc. © 2001 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4010 • www.sdlback.com NAME DATE   CHECKING YOUR WRITING: C APITALIZATION I Remember that a proper noun names a specific person, place, or thing. Begin all proper nouns with a capital letter. PROPER NOUNS: Mike Mahoney, Chestnut Valley High School, New York City Days of the week, months of the year, and holidays are proper nouns and are capitalized. Seasons of the year are not proper nouns and are not capitalized. The proper nouns in the following sentences need to be capitalized. Rewrite each proper noun on the lines following each sentence. Be sure to capitalize the first letter of each word you write. (The figure in parentheses is the number of words to capitalize.) 1. We usually buy a pumpkin on september 21, the first day of autumn. (1) _________________________________________________________________ 2. My sister angela and I start planning our halloween costumes. (2) _________________________________________________________________ 3. Last year I dressed up as captain hook and angela dressed as peter pan. (5) _________________________________________________________________ 4. I like it when holidays fall on a monday because it means a long weekend. (1) _________________________________________________________________ 5. We bought chocolates from julio’s sweets shoppe on beach boulevard. (5) _________________________________________________________________ 6. I ate so much candy that I felt sick and ended up at dr. richard’s office. (2) _________________________________________________________________ 7. I’ll eat lots again on thursday, november 24, because that’s thanksgiving! (3) _________________________________________________________________ CHALLENGE: On the back of this sheet, write a paragraph describing a holiday celebration. Be sure to capitalize the first word in each sentence and all proper nouns. Saddleback Publishing, Inc. © 2001 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4010 • www.sdlback.com • Beginning Writing 1 77 NAME DATE   CHECKING YOUR WRITING: C APITALIZATION II Certain types of proper nouns can be capitalization demons! Writers may have trouble deciding when they should begin with a capital letter and when they should not. The following chart can help you with these capitalization demons. A. Circle the noun that is written correctly. 1. A well-known ( scientist / Scientist ), ( professor / Professor ) V. Ermin, has spent his life studying tree crickets. 2. He set up a (laboratory / Laboratory) in ( mount / Mount ) Baldy State ( park / Park ) where he forecasted weather by counting cricket chirps. 3. “The ( park / Park ) crickets are much livelier when the weather is warm,” explained ( doctor / Doctor ) Ermin. B. Look for proper nouns in the following sentences. Rewrite each proper noun on the lines. Be sure to capitalize the first letter of each word you write. (You should find no proper nouns in two of the sentences!) 1. A new york city man was arrested for squeezing bread in the city’s supermarkets. ___________________________ 2. The suspect, a dentist, was captured near the hudson river. ______________________________________ 3. The judge let the criminal go with only a warning. ____________________________________________ 4. My uncle ted, a police sergeant in kansas city, has heard other amazing tales. ___________________________ 5. My uncle heard about a convict who escaped on the day he was scheduled to be released. ___________________________ CHALLENGE: On the back of this sheet, write two sentences for each of the following words: beach, aunt, library, doctor, senator. In the first sentence, use the word as a common noun. In the second sentence, use the word as a proper noun. COMMON NOUN NOT PART OF THE NAME : the neighborhood park PRECEDED BY WORDS SUCH AS THE , MY , THEIR : my mother, their dentist, the governor PROPER NOUN PART OF THE NAME OF A SPECIFIC PLACE : Atlantic Ocean PART OF THE NAME OR USED IN PLACE OF THE NAME : Aunt Sue, General Collins, Hey, Dad! CAPITALIZATION DEMONS PLACE NAMES : street, hospital, school, ocean FAMILY RELATIONS : aunt, dad, mother; AND NOUNS SHOWING RANK OR WORK : doctor, mayor . 20 01 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92 618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4 010 • www.sdlback.com • Beginning Writing 1 69 NAME DATE   CREATIVE WRITING: . of Part A. 74 Beginning Writing 1 • Saddleback Publishing, Inc. © 20 01 • Three Watson, Irvine, CA 92 618 • Phone: (888) 735-2225 • Fax: (888) 734-4 010