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Earthquake Terror
Eye of the Storm
Volcanoes
Go to Vocabulary Page
Earthquake Terror
Vocabulary
debris - the remains of something broken or destroyed
devastation - destruction or ruin
fault - a break in a rock mass caused by a shifting of the earth's crust
impact - the striking of one body against another
jolt - a sudden jerk or bump
shuddered - shook, vibrated, or quivered
susceptible - easily affected
undulating - moving in waves or with a smooth wavy motion
upheaval - a lifting or upward movement of the earth's crust
Vocabulary Skill
Using a Thesaurus
Go to Thesaurus.com
A thesaurus lists synonyms (words with similar meanings) and antonyms (words with opposite meanings). You can use a thesaurus to when you want to use a different word than the one you know. The thesaurus can also help you with words you have trouble with. Sometimes longer words such as susceptible have synonyms which you may know. If you look up susceptible you will find the synonym easy. So, susceptible and easy have similar meanings, but remember, they don’t have exactly the same meanings and can’t always be used in the same way.
Here is some knowledge to help you use a thesaurus:
• Main entry words are in alphabetical order.
• Each main entry word is followed by the part of speech, a definition, and a sample sentence.
• Several subentry words that could be sued in place of the main entry words are given, with a definition and a sample sentence for each one.
• Online Thesauri may not give a sample sentence.
Example from Thesaurus.com
Main Entry: susceptible
Part of Speech: adjective
Synonyms: affected, allergic, easy, exposed, gullible, impressible, impressionable, inclined, influenced, liable, naive, open, pliable, prone, receptive, responsive, sensible, sensitive, subject, tendentious, tender, vulnerable, weak
Eye of the Storm
Vocabulary
collide – to bump into another object with force
funnel cloud – a tornado cloud that is wide at the top, and narrow where it touches the ground.
jagged – having a sharp, pointed edge or outline
lightning – the flash of light in the sky when electricity passes between clouds or between a cloud and the ground
prairies – flat, open grasslands
rotate – to swirl in a circular motion
severe – serious or extreme
sizzling – crackling with intense heat
tornadoes – rotating columns of air accompanied by whirling funnel-shaped downspouts that can cause great destruction.
Vocabulary Skill
Dictionary: Alphabetical Order and Guide Words
Words that are defined in a dictionary are called entry words. They are arranged in alphabetical order.
Words at the top of each page are called guide words. They tell you the range of words that can be found on the page.
To find the entry word you want, use the guide words to make sure you are on the right page. Guide words will also be entry words on that page.
Here are the guide words: Antiquity/Anywhere
This means that you will find the entry word Antiquity on this page and all the words that follow it alphabetically until you get to the last word on the page, Anywhere.
Special Note:
Encyclopedias are organized like dictionaries. Since encyclopedias have much more information than dictionaries, there are many books, or volumes in an encyclopedia set. Look for guide words on the outside of the volumes as well as inside.
Volcanoes
Vocabulary
cinders – charred bits of rock, ashes
crater – a bowl shaped depression
crust – the solid outer layer of the Earth
eruption –a volcanic explosion or large flow of lava
lava – hot melted rock that flows from a volcano
magma – hot melted rock underneath the Earth’s surface
molten – made liquid by heat
summit – the top of a mountain
Vocabulary Skill
Dictionary Definitions
Dictionaries don’t just tell you definitions, or what words mean. Dictionaries also give sample sentences. The sample sentences help you to figure out what the word means if the definition is hard to understand.
Here are some examples:
Destructive (di struk tiv) adj. Causing destruction; ruinous. The destructive storm knocked down several homes.
Eruption (i rup sh n) n. The act of forcing out or releasing violently. With the erutption of the geyser, steam shot out of the ground.
Look up four words from your list above and write the sample sentences below. Then write what you think the word means in your own words.
1.
What it means:
2.
What it means:
3.
What it means:
4.
What it means:
Go to Spelling Page
Earthquake Terror
Spelling
Short Vowels
Rules
Short vowel sounds are usually spelled with a vowel followed by a consonant.
When a syllable ends with a vowel followed by a consonant, the syllable usually has a short vowel sound.
Pattern: VC spelling = short vowel sound
| Basic Words | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| bunk | staff | dock | slept | mist |
| bunch | swift | stuck | breath | tough |
| fond | crush | grasp | dwell | fund |
| ditch | split | swept | deaf | rough |
| Review Words | Challenge Words |
|---|---|
| trunk | trek |
| skill | frantic |
| track | summit |
| fresh | rustic |
| odd | mascot |
Structural Analysis
Base Words
A base word is a word in English to which we can add an affix.
The most common affixes are prefixes and suffixes. Prefixes come before the base word, suffixes after the base word.
Example: the word unhappy has the base word “happy” with the prefix “un” in front of the base word.
Knowledge of base words is important because they are often the forms of words that we would find in a dictionary. For example, you might not find running in the dictionary, but you will find its base word, run.
Find the base words in these words:
Strategy: take off all the affixes you know to find the base word.
Remember: many words change their spelling when an affix is added.
| Word | Base Word |
|---|---|
| cataloging | catalog |
| worried | worry |
| shaking | shake |
| dropped | drop |
| branches | branch |
| antiwar | war |
| imperfect | perfect |
| react | act |
Rules for Adding Affixes
We can alter nouns by making them plural, adding the suffix -s or -es, as appropriate. Remember, to most nouns, you just add -s to make them plural. But other nouns, those ending in s, ss, x, ch, or sh, you add -es to make them plural. For example, chair becomes chairs, but bench becomes benches.
We can also alter nouns, turning them into adjectives, by adding a suffix like -ous. Sometimes, we just add the suffix to the end of the base word, but other times the base word does go through a spelling change. For example, marvel becomes marvelous, while wonder becomes wondrous.
We can alter verbs by adding suffixes like -ed and -ing. Remember, if the verb ends in a silent e, then you remove the final e before adding the suffix. For example, name becomes named and naming, not nameed or nameing. Verbs that end in y after a consonant follow the y changing to i rule when adding the -ed suffix, so that cry becomes cried. Notice that there is no change when adding -ing, so that cry becomes crying. And there is no change if the verb ends in y after a vowel, so that play becomes played and playing.
We can alter adjectives by adding suffixes like -er and -est. If the adjective ends in a consonant, then you just add the suffix to the end, but if it ends in a silent e, then you remove the final e, then add the suffix. For example, old becomes older and oldest while little becomes littler and littlest.
Eye of the Storm
Spelling
Long Vowels
The /a/ /e/ and /i/ sounds
There are many ways to spell these long vowel sounds! How many patterns do you see?
| Base Words | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| speech | claim | strike | stray | fade |
| sign | leaf | thigh | thief | height |
| mild | waist | sway | beast | stain |
| fleet | stride | praise | slight | niece |
| Review Words | Challenge Words |
|---|---|
| free | campaign |
| twice | describe |
| gray | cease |
| least | sacrifice |
| safe | plight |
The /o/ /oo/ and /yoo/ sounds
There are many ways to spell these long vowel sounds! How many patterns do you see?
| Base Words | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| thrown | stole | clue | dew | choose |
| rule | boast | cruise | stroll | route |
| mood | loaf | growth | youth | slope |
| bruise | loose | rude | flow | flute |
| Review Words | Challenge Words |
|---|---|
| group | subdue |
| goal | pursuit |
| fruit | molten |
| blew | reproach |
| broke | presume |
Structural Analysis
Syllabication
Every word is made up of one or more syllables. Knowing about syllables can be helpful in many different ways: for the spelling of a word, for its meaning, particularly as we begin studying prefixes and suffixes, and for its pronunciation.
• All syllables have at least a vowel sound: a/ware. (A few words have syllables where you don't use a letter to represent the vowel sound, but they are rare: chasm and rhythm come to mind.)
• Many syllables have a vowel sound and a consonant sound together: be/ware.
If you get confused about syllabication, a dictionary will show you how a word is broken into syllables. Here are some general rules for dividing words with particular spelling patterns.
• Suffixes For hiking, you'd look up the base word hike in the dictionary, where you'd find hik/ing. Under safe, you'd find saf/er and saf/est.
• VC/CV There are words that have two consonants together with a vowel on either side of them. We call this the VCCV pattern. Divide the word between the two consonants unless they are a blend or a digraph. For example: pic/ture and dis/tance but wash/er not was/her. The sh in washer is a consonant digraph, two consonants that make one sound, so the syllable division is not made between them.
• V/CV Long Vowel When you see a VCV pattern, and the first vowel is long, split the word before the consonant.
• VC/V Short Vowel When you see the VCV pattern, but that first vowel is short, then split the word after the consonant. In the word camera, the first vowel is short, so it is split cam/er/a.
• CVVC a word with this pattern needs careful attention. Many times two vowels together make one sound (a vowel digraph) so you do not split between the vowels. Example: peo/ple. However, if they each vowel makes its own sound, then split between the vowels. Example: di/ar/y
Word Roots -struct- and -rupt-
Word roots are not words in English on their own. They need to be combined with a prefix and/or a suffix to make a word. However, they do have meaning. The root -struct- means "build" as in structure, construct, instruct, and destruction, and the root -rupt- means "break" as in erupt, interrupt, abrupt, rupture, and bankrupt.
Some common prefixes include: con-, de-, dis-, e-, in-, and inter-. As with word roots, prefixes are not words on their own. They need to be combined with a base word or a word root. Like word roots, they do have meaning. The prefix con- means with as in concert and connect; de- means from or down, as in decay and deceive or opposite as in deactivate and descend; dis- also means opposite as in disagree and dishonest; e- means out or away as in effort and eject; in- can mean into as in include and inhale or not as in inaccurate and inactive; and inter- means among or between as in intermission and international.
Some common suffixes include: -ion, -ive, -or, and -ure. The suffix -ion means state or quality of as in ambition and suspicion; -ive means inclined to as in active and negative; -or means one who as in actor and donor or state or quality of as in error and fervor; -ure means action or process as in failure and exposure. Words ending in -ion, -or, and -ure are nouns, while words ending in -ive are adjectives.
Earthquake Terror
Kinds of Sentences
There are four kinds of sentences: declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory.
1. A declarative sentence makes a statement. It tells something, states a fact or opinion, or gives information. It ends with a period.
- Jeremy plays the violin. In my opinion, he plays it beautifully.
2. An interrogative sentence asks a question and ends with a question mark. Interrogative sentences often start with words like: who, what, when, where, why, how, and which. Interrogative sentences often have the verb before the subject, or the subject comes between the helping verb and the main verb.
- How on earth did you get up there?
3. An imperative sentence gives a request or an order and usually ends with a period. It could also end with an exclamation mark. The subject you is often implied, which means it is not actually used in the sentence but understood to be there. These sentences can be one word long.
- Run! Go now! Do you homework.
4. An exclamatory sentence expresses strong feeling and ends with an exclamation mark.
- This is too hard! I give up!
Subjects and Predicates
Every sentence has a subject and a predicate. Every word in a sentence is either part of the subject or part of the predicate.
The subject of a sentence tells whom or what the sentence is about. The simple subject is the main word or phrase that the sentence is about, usually a noun or pronoun. Most simple subjects are just one word, but if the simple subject is a proper noun, then it may be two or more words. The complete subject includes the simple subject and all the words that describe it, usually adjectives and prepositional phrases.
In the examples below the simple subject is in bold type and the complete subject is underlined.
- The desk in the back of the classroom is quite large.
- That tall boy is really good at basketball. He must practice a lot.
- Mrs. Brown, our principal, has worked here for over a dozen years.
- The students quietly stood in the hallway while their teacher locked the door.
- (You) Toss me that towel, please.
The predicate tells what the subject is or does. The simple predicate is the verb or verb phrase that tells about the subject. The complete predicate includes the simple predicate and all the words related to the verb, usually beginning with the verb or verb phrase and everything that comes after it, including adverbs and objects. Note that adverbs can come before the verb or verb phrase.
In the examples below the simple predicate is in bold type and the complete predicate is underlined.
- The desk in the back of the classroom is quite large.
- That tall boy is really good at basketball. He must practice a lot.
- Mrs. Brown, our principal, has worked here for over a dozen years.
- The students quietly stood in the hallway while their teacher locked the door.
- (You) Toss me that towel, please.
Compound Subjects and Compound Predicates
A simple sentence is made up of one complete subject and one complete predicate. Even if the subject is compound or the predicate is compound, it is still a simple sentence. Writing sentences with compound subjects and compound predicates can make your writing smoother to read and clearer for a reader to understand.
A compound subject is made up of two or more simple subjects that have the same predicate. You can combine sentences that have the same predicate into one sentence with a compound subject. Use a conjunction such as and or or to join the simple subjects.
- Jonathan yelled. Abby yelled.
These two simple sentences can be combined into a new simple sentence with a compound subject using the conjunction and.
- Jonathan and Abby yelled.
A compound predicate is made up of two or more simple predicates that have the same subject. You can combine sentences that have the same subject into one sentence with a compound predicate. Use a conjunction like and or or to join the simple predicates.
- Moose barked. Moose howled.
These two simple sentences can be combined into a new simple sentence with a compound predicate using the conjunction and.
- Moose barked and howled.
Eye of the Storm
Conjunctions
The words and, or, and but are conjunctions. A conjunction is a word that joins other words or parts of sentences together.
- Use and to add information.
- Use or to give a choice.
- Use but to show contrast.
Here are examples of conjunctions joining words together:
- Clouds and wind signal a coming storm.
- The meteorologist predicted snow or sleet today.
- Fog but not rain will make the air moist today.
Here are examples of conjunctions joining parts of sentences together:
- I saw lightning, and I heard thunder.
- The fog might last all morning, or it could burn off by noon.
- It will rain, but it won't snow in San Francisco today.
These three conjunctions are what we call coordinating conjunctions. They join words, phrases, and sentences (independent clauses) together. Notice that when we join sentences together, we use a comma at the end of the first independent clause and before the conjunction. Other coordinating conjunctions are nor, for, yet, and so.
Compound Sentences
A compound sentence is made by joining two closely related simple sentences with a comma and a coordinating conjunction.
The sentence I like to read. and the sentence You like to write. can be made into a compound sentence using a comma and a conjunction: I like to read, but you like to write.
Again, notice that when we join sentences together, we use a comma at the end of the first independent clause (the first sentence) and before the conjunction.
You may want to review Compound Subjects and Compound Predicates and note how they are different than compound sentences.
Correcting Run-on Sentences
A run-on sentence is really two or more sentences that run together without the proper punctuation to join or separate them. A run-on sentence occurs when a writer runs one simple sentence into another without using a comma and a conjunction between them, or when the writer should have separated them into two separate simple sentences. The sentence below is a run-on sentence.
- Marco lives on a farm his cousin likes to visit him there.
Correct run-on sentences in your writing (1) by inserting a comma and a conjunction to make a compound sentence, or (2) by separating the two simple sentences.
- Marco lives on a farm, and his cousin likes to visit him there.
- Marco lives on a farm. His cousin likes to visit him there.
If the two sentences are closely related to each other, you could also separate them with a semi-colon:
- Marco lives on a farm; his cousin likes to visit him there.
Volcanoes
Singular and Plural Nouns
A singular noun names one person, one place, one thing, or one idea. A plural noun names more than one person, place, thing or idea.
To decide how to form a plural noun, look at the end of the singular noun. Here are four rules to study:
1. To most singular nouns, add -s to form the plural. Examples: apples, cars, chairs, pencils, and sonatas.
2. If a singular noun ends in s, ss, x, ch, or sh, add -es to form the plural. Examples: gases, dresses, boxes, churches, and wishes.
3. For singular nouns ending with a vowel plus y, add -s to form the plural. Examples: boys, keys, monkeys, and toys.
4. If a singular noun ends in a consonant plus y, change the y to i and add -es. Examples: dictionary becomes dictionaries, penny becomes pennies, and story becomes stories.
More Plural Nouns
To decide how to form a plural noun, we usually look at the end of the singular noun, but not always as we'll see with irregular plurals. Here are five more rules to study:
1. To form the plural of some nouns ending in f or fe, change the f to v and add -es or change the fe to ve and add -s. Examples: knife becomes knives, half becomes halves, shelf becomes shelves, and leaf becomes leaves. For others ending in f or fe, simply add -s, for example: safe becomes safes and bluff becomes bluffs.
2. To form the plural of nouns ending with a vowel plus o, add -s. Examples: one zoo but two zoos, and one radio but two radios. This rule is also true of musical terms ending in o, like altos, cellos, pianos, and sopranos.
3. To form the plural of nouns ending with a consonant plus o, add -s or -es. Examples: hero could be heros or heroes, tomato could be tomatos or tomatoes, and potato could be potatos or potatoes. It is becoming more common to use -es for these words.
4. Some nouns have special plural forms. Examples: one foot but two feet, one die but two dice, one mouse but two mice, one goose but two geese, one tooth but two teeth, and one ox but two oxen.
5. Some nouns are the same in the singular and the plural. Examples: one bison, two bison, one moose, two moose, and one sheep, two sheep.
Some rules have a number of exceptions, like rule number one above. The plural of dwarf could be dwarfs or dwarves, scarf could be scarfs or scarves, and wharf could be wharfs or wharves.
Some words have more than one plural form, like cactus could be cactuses or cacti, octopus could be octopuses or octopi, and appendix could be appendixes or appendices.
The word fish also has two different plurals, but for different uses. If you have two of the same kind of fish, then you have two fish, but if you have two different kinds of fish, then you have two fishes.
