Vocabulary Comprehension

Choose the word from the following list that best completes each sentence below. Do not use the same word more than once.

1. A(n) _________________________ is a strange part of the body because you have it only when you are sitting down.
2. To get juice from a lemon, you have to _________________the lemon.
3. Children often get __________________when they hear stories about ghosts and monsters.
4. The red sweater wasn't comfortable because it felt ____________________.
5. The red sweater looked old and _____________________ .
6. People who don't eat much are often __________________.
7. With a microscope we can see many tiny things that to our eye seem _______________ .
8. Rachel wanted to ______________________ the sweater over the fence.
9. In cities, some buildings have a (n) _________________________ between them.
10. The water we have in our mouths is called ___________________ .
11. One way to stop ____________________ is to drink water and hold your breath.
12. Rachel couldn’t ________________________ that she felt OK.

Word Forms

Complete the chart by filling in the various forms of the following words taken from “Eleven." An X indicates that no form is possible. Use your dictionary if you need help. Note:There may be more than one possible word for the same part of speech.

Fill in the blanks in the story below with the appropriate words from your completed chart. Change the form of the word if necessary.

Tina says, "I want to be a famous singer someday." Tina ___________________ she could be famous right away, and she works very hard. Tina is a good singer, and her friends hope her __________________will come true.

4. Grammar: Contractions

Contractions are shortened forms of one or more words, made by leaving out letters. An apostrophe replaces the letters left out. Here are some common kinds of contractions with examples from the story:

Noun or pronoun plus a simple present form of the verbbe

Example:

You open your eyes and everything'sjust like yesterday.

A form of be, do, have, or a modal (such as can, should) plus not

Application

Complete the following sentences from the story with the contraction for the words in parentheses. Then reread the story to find nine other sentences with contractions. List the sentences on a separate piece of paper, providing the full words in parentheses, as in the sentences here.

1. That's (That is) what I tell Mama when she's (she is) sad and needs to cry.

2. I ______________(would have) known how to tell her it __________________(was not) mine.

3. ________________________(It is) maybe a thousand years old and even if it belonged to me I___________ (would not) say so.

4. Maybe because ___________________ (I am) skinny, maybe because she __________________(does not) like me, that stupid Sylvia Saldivar says, "I think it belongs to Rachel."

5. "________________ (That is) not, I_________________ (do not), ______________(you are) not. . . Not mine," I finally say.

6. The red________________ (sweater is) still sitting there like a big red mountain.

7. This is when I wish I________________ (was not) eleven.

8.________________ (There is) a cake________________ . (Mama is) making for tonight.

9.________________ (There will) be candles and presents and everybody will sing Happy birthday, happy birthday to you, Rachel, only ___________________(it is) too late.

D. Thinking About the Story

Sharing Ideas

Discuss the following questions with a partner or in a group:

1. Do you agree with Rachel's idea that, no matter how old we are, we always have all the ages we have been inside of us? Why or why not?

2. If you were Mrs. Price, how would you have handled the situation with Rachel?

3. Why do you think Phyllis Lopez at first didn't say the sweater was hers?

4. How does Cisneros make us understand how Rachel feels? Give examples from the story of descriptions and language that helped you understand Rachel's feelings. Is the story believable – that is, do Rachel and her situation feel real to you?

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 615