Marvin the Dog by Me

marvin was a dog whose owners decided to take him on a trip to europe. he left in july and returned in august, right before his dog training classes at good doggie school started. on monday, his family flew from san francisco to paris, france, stopping in new york city to change planes. When they arrived in france, marvin wanted to see the eiffel tower, but he got distracted by all of the dogs in the park nearby. One small puppy from italy, named vinnie, told him that he should visit rome for the best dog biscuits in the world. Instead, his owners took him to a caf next to the seine river where he ate foie gras and sardines all night. after his trip was over, marvin decided that next summer he would visit his new friend in rome.

Apostrophes
An apostrophe looks like this:

Ways to use an apostrophe: 1. Shortening words (contraction) I do not = I dont can not = cant I will = Ill Notice that the apostrophe replaces letters. Can you think of some? 2. To show possession of one person (goes in front of the s) Joeys bike Sallys pencil Bobbys house 3. To show possession of many people (goes after the s) the boys bathroom the girl scouts buses the trees leaves Ways NOT to use an apostrophe: 1. To make plural I have one car, you have two cars. (no apostrophe) Simon gave George a toy, and now George had all of the toys. 2. With a pronoun (my, your, his, hers, its, ours, theirs, whose) My cat likes yours. (no apostrophe)

Practice: 1. Adam said that hed go to the store to buy nuts. 2. Call Johns doctor to make an appointment. 3. It was Toms idea to give her flowers. 4. All of the marine animals food comes from the ocean, doesnt it? 5. I havent hear from Daniel in a week. 6. Lindas best friend is named Grace. 7. One of her backpacks zippers is broken. 8. The pizza delivery mans package made me smile.

Writing Numbers

9 nine ?
or
Numbers are easy to write when you are doing math, but when you are writing a story, there are different rules. 1. Spell out single-digit numbers. That means 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are written as one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine. When you get to 10, write it as 10. Big numbers take too much space to spell out. 2. Dont start a sentence with a number. If it has to be that way, you must spell it out. 7 years ago would be written as Seven years ago. Circle the right answers below: Sally bought ____ popsicles with her allowance. (6 or six) She gave ____ to me. (1 or one) _____ she kept for herself. (1 or one) After her purchase, Sally still had ______ dollars left. (16 or sixteen)

Sentence Fragments
An incomplete sentence is called a sentence fragment. It is either missing a subject or a verb, or it does not have a complete thought. Here are some examples:
Saw that it was time to leave. (Missing a subject - who saw it was time to leave?) The king and all his men. (Missing a verb what did they do?) Before we went to soccer practice. (Is not a complete thought what happened before soccer practice?)

Which of these are sentences (S) and which are fragments (F)? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Daniel can come. Went to the store. Singing loudly all day. What time will they be here? A very fast car. The thunder scared us all. Annie and her best friend Julia. Five slices of pizza. Once they get here.

10. They finished their homework.

Commas
Rule 1: Use commas in a sentence when you have a list of items.
For example: Marvin the dog loves bacon, bagels, and burritos.

Rule 2: When your sentence speaks to someone directly, separate their name with a comma.
For example: Come here, Marvin!

Put a check mark next to the sentence that is correct below.

1. The panda eats shoots and leaves. The panda eats, shoots, and leaves. 2. Lets eat, Grandma! Lets eat Grandma! 3. What is this thing called honey? What is this thing called, honey? 4. For Marvins special recipe, he needs lettuce, goat, cheese, and tomatoes. For Marvins special recipe, he needs lettuce, goat cheese, and tomatoes. 5. The robot, knight, and I went to the movies. The robot knight and I went to the movies.


Quotation Marks
Quotation marks are used at the beginning and end of a quotation. They surround what someone says: I love beef jerky, said Marvin the dog. Notice, quotation marks going around what someone says, not around the whole sentence. At the end of a quote, there will either be a period, a comma, a question mark, or an exclamation point. The quotation marks go after this punctuation mark, trapping it inside.

Practice:

After returning from his European adventure, Marvin the dog said , Will you come over to play ? Sally the cat said , I dont think so . Ive got to finish a project . Marvin said , When you finish, come over and well play chase ! Sally said , Its a deal! I should be done in one hour .

Capitalization
Knowing when to capitalize words can be confusing, but not when you know some general rules: Days of the week are capitalized: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Tuesday
Months of the year are capitalized: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December.

November
Seasons are not capitalized: spring, summer, fall, and winter. (The only exception is if the season is part of the name of something and becomes a proper noun: Spring Dance, Summer Olympics, or Fall Semester.)

fall
Practice: On monday, Mayor Victoria Johnson ordered all public servants in her town to conserve sticky tape. Herman harris, who is in charge of the fall festival, has promised to hold the line on tape spending. However, the municipal dogcatcher, agnes e. bark, insisted on taping Lost Dog Reward! signs to every tree. The recent champion of the town dog show, marvin, was caught on thursday, the last day of october. His owner was excited to find him quickly, and was glad he didnt have to wait until spring. Now marvin can prepare for the summer olympics, where he is competing in a dog paddling event.

Using a Dictionary Activity

Help students learn how to navigate a dictionary entry with ease with this FREE brief review activity! Grades 5-8

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Using a Dictionary Activity from the

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Name

Per.

Using a Dictionary
A dictionary is a reference book containing words. In addition to the spelling and meaning of words, dictionaries can tell you how to pronounce a word, what part of speech the word is, as well as synonyms or antonyms for it. Lets take a look at an entry from a dictionary, so that we can get an idea of the parts. Once you have read about each part, answer the questions that follow using the dictionary entry below. relent \ri-lent\ vb [ME relenten] (1526) 1 : to become less severe, harsh, or strict usu. from reasons of humanity 2 : LET UP, SLACKEN ~ vt, obs: SOFTEN, MOLLIFY syn see yieldrelented, relenting, relents

Entry word: Each word that is defined in the dictionary is called an entry word. In some dictionaries it will appear in bold type. 1. What is the entry word for the entry in the box above? Syllabication: Notice that there is a dot in the middle of the word. (relent) This is its syllable division. 2. How many syllables does the word have? Pronunciation: A dictionary also tells you how to pronounce each word. A pronunciation key is located at the beginning of the dictionary. 3. Give a word that rhymes with the last syllable of the word, according to the pronunciation given. Part of Speech: You will also find the part of speech in a dictionary entry. The abbreviations for parts of speech are below.
n. pron. prep. adj. noun pronoun preposition adjective inter. interjection conj. conjunction adv. adverb v.t. or tr.v. transitive verb v.i. or v.intr. intransitive verb v. or vb. verb

4. What part of speech is the dictionary entry?

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Name

Per.

Etymology: Many dictionaries give the origin of the word. This is either given at the beginning or the very end of the entry. The information in the brackets [ ] is the etymology of the word. Relenten is the way the word was first used. The entry (1526) tells you that the word has been in existence since 1526. Some examples of common word origins include: ME = Middle English OE = Old English L = Latin Gk = Greek

5. What is the origin of the word relenten? Definitions: Some large dictionaries will have many, many definitions listed for each entry word. Smaller dictionaries may pick one or two of the most common. It is important that you read all definitions and parts of speech to ensure you are using the word correctly. 6. How many definitions are given for this entry? Synonyms: Some dictionaries will even include synonyms (words that mean the same thing) as the entry. Synonyms can appear in italics, bold, ALL CAPS, or by the abbreviation syn. 7. What is one synonym given for the word relent? Directives: Sometimes, the dictionary helps you out by providing information about where to look for further help. The entry will include see or refer to or see also followed by a word or words to help you understand the entry word better. In other words, the dictionary is giving you a clue about where to look next if you still need help with a word. 8. What word should you look up for more help with the word relent? Related word forms: You may also find related words at the end of a dictionary entry. These are words that use the entry word as a base word, with affixes attached. Often, the word will become a different part of speech with the suffix or prefix added. 9. What related words are listed at the end of this entry?

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Answer Key
Using a Dictionary 1. relent 2. two 3. answers will vary; prevent 4. verb 5. Middle English 6. two 7. slacken 8. yield 9. relented, relenting, relents

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