Studies in Meaning home

Language Arts Studies

(Grades 3 - 4)

Level 2

The following sample is one unit of level 2 (approximate grades:3rd - 4th) of the five Studies in Meaning orientation and core studybooks.

Each of these studybook levels has ten units for the orientation studies, and five units for the core studies. The orientation studies prepares the student for the core studies.

Each orientation study consists of one-sentence exercises in (1) grammar-usage, (2) vocabulary in context, (3) reading topics, (4) writing, and (5) art.

Each core studybook level consists of the same type of exercises, except usage. The reading topics, however, are longer, and exemplify the study-as-you-read learning process, more specifically.

NOTE: Please keep in mind that these orientation and core exercises are aimed exclusively at developing critical-creative thinking ability; whatever grammar or usage, or vocabulary, or any other knowledge, students learn in

this process is secondary to this aim.

STUDIES IN MEANING

LEVEL 2

Joseph Sguigna Sharon Sguigna

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

PART ONE (UNITS 1-5)

Reinforcement Exercises (UNITS 6-10)

Reinforcement Exercises

PART TWO

Core Studies

Grammar Reference Sheets

PART ONE

Orientation Studies

UNIT ONE

GRAMMAR-USAGE

Critical Thinking

INSTRUCTIONS

[A ] For each numbered pair of sentences:

(1) Read both sentences carefully.

(2) Decide which sentence is correct English usage by reading the correct rule

in the column at the right; then write the number of the rule in the blank before the correct sentence.

(3) Read the grammar information below the pair of sentences then underline the designated information for the correct sentence.

[B] At the bottom of the page, read the definition and instructions, then answer the exercise.

Sentences

__ Andrew smiles a lot.

__ Andrew smiles alot.

the word that is the name of a person

__ Alaska is the largest of all the states.

__ Alaska is the larger of all the states.

the word that tell what the sentence is about

Definitions

1. The word "where" means

"in the direction of."

2. Use the two words "a lot"

when you mean "many."

3. Use the word "largest"

when you mean more than

two of anything.

....

A word that is used to name a person is called a NOUN.

On the line below, write three or more nouns that are the names of a person.

____________________________________________________________________________

GRAMMAR-USAGE

Creative Thinking

INSTRUCTIONS:

For each question or statement, answer it according to the same grammar-usage critical-thinking exercise.

1. Write down three or more reasons why people smile.

2. Write down at least three ideas that come to you when you think of the UNITED STATES.

VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT

Critical Thinking

INSTRUCTIONS: For each vocabulary word:

(1) pronounce it (use the pronunciation key to help you), (2) read the sentence, and from the meaning of the vocabulary word as it is used in the sentence, choose the correct definition at the right-hand column, and (3) write the number of the definition in the blank before the vocabulary word.

NOTE: ONE OF THE DEFINITIONS DOES NOT FIT IN ANY OF THE SENTENCES.

SET 1

___ ability (uh-BIL-i-tee)

A clown has the ability to make us

laugh.

___ act (AKT)

Don't act like a baby.

Definitions

1. to do; to behave

2. something that

happens that is not

planned or expected

3. a skill; talent; know-

how

....

VOCABULARY IN CONTEXT

Creative Thinking

INSTRUCTIONS:

(#1): For each of the 3 vocabulary words taken from the critical thinking exercises, answer the question or statement with an interesting and creative explanation.

For #2 of the odd-numbered units:

Choose any three vocabulary words from the critical thinking exercises; write each word in the blank, and write an original sentence for it with the meaning of the word in your sentence.

For #2 of the even-number units:

Choose any word from the critical thinking exercises and use it as a theme (or topic idea) for a composition. You can use any other word(s) from the vocabulary exercises to help develop your theme, Write a title for your composition.

ability

Name three or more ways how a clown makes us laugh.

accident

Describe an accident that you, or someone else, has had.

word: ________________________ sentence____________________________________

READING TOPICS

Critical Thinking

SECTION 1

INSTRUCTIONS:

Read each of the three topics, and for each sentence below it, if it agrees with - or has the same meaning as-what is being said in the passage, write A in the blank; and if it disagrees with what is being said in the passage, write D in the blank.

SCIENCE

Our bones are covered with muscles. The muscles move them in many directions. That is the job of muscles - to move things.

1. __ Bones move muscles.

2. __ Muscles move things.

3. __ The word "them" in the second sentence takes the place of the word "muscles."

ART

The love of beauty seems to be something that man is born with. More than fifteen thousand years ago, primitive (simple) and ignorant (not knowing very much) cavemen drew pictures on the walls of their caves.

1. __ Man is born with the love of beauty.

2. __ About fifteen thousand years ago, cavemen drew pictures on the

walls of their caves.

3. __ This passage seems to say that because earliest man (cavemen)

drew pictures on their caves, the love of beauty is born in man.

ANSWER KEY for The Two Reading Topics

NOTE: I include the answer key for the reading topics to indicate the careful reading (fine distinctions, etc.) that the student engages in order to understand the reading material.

SCIENCE

1. D

EXPLANATION: Muscles move bones.

2. A

EXPLANATION: Even though #2 agrees with what is being said in the passage still, the sentence "Muscles move things," by itself could mean that muscles move everything.

3. D

EXPLANATION: The pronoun "them" in the second sentence takes the place of the word "bones."

ART

1. D

EXPLANATION: Man seems to be -- not is -- born with the love of beauty.

2. D

EXPLANATION: Not "about," but more than, fifteen thousand years ago.

3. D

EXPLANATION: It is the other way around: - It is because the love of beauty is born in man, that he drew pictures on his cave walls. Here is a simple example: James is in bed because he is sick; not John is sick because he is in bed.

READING TOPICS

Creative Thinking

INSTRUCTIONS:

From the three reading topics under critical thinking, one of them is titled for your creative thinking exercises. For each creative thinking exercise - other than "ART" - (DESCRIPTION, ASSOCIATION, etc.), write all the thoughts (or ideas) that come to you. Take time to reflect on these exercises so that your answers are interesting and as complete as you can make them.

Science

DESCRIPTION

Think of the inside of your BODY and write down as many parts of it as you can.

ASSOCIATION

Write down some ideas (not things) that go with the BODY.

READING TOPICS

Critical Thinking

SECTION 2

Study 8

Reading Topic: LITERATURE

INSTRUCTIONS: Read the topic below, and for each sentence below it, if it agrees with - or has the same meaning as - what is being said in the passage, write A in the blank; and if it disagrees with what is being said in the passage, write D in the blank--(one of the exercises requires you to explain in writing why you chose your answer.) The next-to-last exercise gives one main word or phrase that give part of the MAIN IDEA of the reading topic. Fill in the blank with the word or phrase that completes the MAIN IDEA.

One day a huge storm came up. The storm drove the ship unto a rock. The ship split apart and sank beneath the waves.

Vocabulary

1) __ The word "huge" in this passage means "very big."

__ The word "huge" in this passage means "big."

Grammar

2) __ The word "huge" is an ADJECTIVE that describes (or tells something

about) the noun "day."

__ The word "huge" is an ADJECTIVE that describes (or tells something

about) the noun "storm."

Analysis

3) __ The storm caused the ship to sink.

4) Explain why you chose your answer for exercise "3."

5) __The ship split apart because it hit a rock.

6) __ It is clear from the passage that the ship sank near a shore.

Synthesis

7) Two main ideas in this reading passage are: STORM and SHIP. The other main idea is: ________________________________

8)__ A good title for this passage is "A Huge Storm."

ANSWER KEY for Reading Topic:

LITERATURE

1. A

2. D

3. D

EXPLANATION: It was the rock that caused the ship to sink. The storm drove the ship onto the rock; it didn't cause the ship to sink.

4. A

EXPLANATION: See # 3

5. A

EXPLANATION: Rocks are found near the shores of oceans.

6. SPLIT APART

7. D

EXPLANATION: The passage is not about "huge storms," but about sinking of a ship during a huge storm.

8. SUGGESTED TITLE: "The Sinking of a Ship"

Creative Thinking

Study 8

WRITING:

Write the word "huge" in an original sentence.

DESCRIPTION:

Write down as many parts of a SAILING SHIP as you can, or of any SHIP that you can think of.

ASSOCIATION:

Write down three or four ideas (not "things") that come to you about a STORM.

INTERPRETATION:

Why do you think so many people like sailing or boating?

IMAGINATION:

Imagine your ship sunk in a storm, and you are the only survivor. You see an island in the distance, and are able to swim to it. There is no one living on the island, and you must survive until you are rescued one day - or year. Explain how you would survive.

ART:

Draw one picture of a ship in a storm at sea running into a huge rock; then another picture of the same ship sinking.

PART TWO

Core Studies

Critical-Creative Thinking

Grammar / Vocabulary / Reading Topics / Writing

SOCIAL STUDIES: Study One

One of the animals that helps people most is the dog. In some countries

dogs pull wagons the way our horses do. In the cold lands of the North, dogs

pull sleds.

There are other ways that dogs help us too. Policemen use them to look for

missing people. Soldiers use them to carry letters and medicines.

On farms, dogs care for the sheep. They keep them together in the fields. At

night, they take the sheep home. Dogs help blind people, too.

Different dogs do different kinds of work. Some are good at one kind. Some

are good at another.

Do you know what kind of dog takes care of sheep?

SECTION ONE:

Skim Reading

STUDENT INSTRUCTIONS: Skim (read quickly) the reading passage above in a relaxed way to get a beginning, or general, idea of what is being written about. Do not try to fully understand it - what you do understand is fine; what you do not understand is fine also. After you have read it in this surface way, write down in a few words what you think the passage is GENERALLY about.

General Idea

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

SECTION TWO:

Analytical Reading

STUDENT & TEACHER INTRODUCTION:

In the second reading of this story, you will be exercised in analytical reading - at the same time as you read, sentence by sentence. This thinking process will train you how to understand what you read by analyzing (1) important words (vocabulary) and their grammar (parts of speech: nouns, etc.); (2) important sentences and their grammar (parts of the sentence: subject and predicate); and (3) important ideas that develop the meaning of the reading passage.

STUDENT INSTRUCTIONS:

1. As you read the passage, you will come to words in bold letters. For each of these words, finish reading the sentence in which it is, then turn to its exercise below the passage or on the opposite page, and (1) write its part of speech ( "n" for NOUN; "v" for VERB, etc.) in the blank - lf you do not know, or are not sure of, the part of speech, turn to the REFERENCE SHEET at the front of this textbook; (2) write a check next to its correct meaning ("a" or "b") as it is used in the reading passage.

2. As you read the passage, you will come to numbered sentences inside of brackets ( [1... ] ). For each of these sentences, read it carefully, then turn to its numbered analytical reading exercises in the box on you worksheet, or on the opposite page. Write an "A" in the blank if the statement AGREES with-or has the same meaning as-the same numbered sentence in the reading passage; or write a "D" if the statement DISAGREES with the numbered sentence in the reading passage. There is one analytical reading exercise (a) and one analytical grammar exercise (b).

_____________________________________________

TEACHING INSTRUCTIONS:

1. When students finish one or two pages, they will correct their own work from the answer key by circling only their errors. Have them write the number of errors for each page of exercises on the top of the page, and circle it (for example, -2 , or -0).

2. If students have made any errors, first see if they themselves can understand them; if not, then you explain the correct answer. If they understand the correction, write "Und" (understands) next to the error; if they do not understand the correction, write "D-Und" (does not understand) next to the error.

3. Choose certain correct answers and have your students orally explain them to you to test their understanding--which will help eliminate guessing or marginal understanding. If they do not understand a given exercise fully enough, write "N/S" (not sure).

4. If students cannot get the answer to any given exercise, but do come to understand it through your teaching, then write "W/H" (with help) next to the exercise. The purpose of this is to let the parents know that their children didn't get the answer on their own.

5. By using a RED PEN for all markings, all comment are emphasized and easier to see and explain to parents.

[1 One of the animals that helps people most is the dog.] In some countries dogs pull wagons the way our horses do. [2 In the cold lands of the North, dogs pull sleds.]

helps

part of speech

________

__a) do something to make work enjoyable

__b) do something to make work easier

most

part of speech

________

__a) more than all the others

__b) more than some others

agrees = A / disagrees = D

1. __ a) The dog is the animal that helps people the most.

__ b) The words "one of the animals that help people

the most" tells who, or what, the sentence is about.

[COMPLETE SUBJECT]

countries

part of speech

__________

__ a) large areas of land like Korea or the United

States

__b) a place where people live and work together

lands

part of speech

________

__ a) parts of the world that are near the water

__ b) parts of the world that are not water

sleds

part of speech

________

__ a) a low, flat piece of wood on metal runners

__ b) something that people use in the snow

agrees = A / disagrees = D

2. __ a) In the North, dogs are used to pull wagons.

__ b) The word "cold" describes the word "lands" because it

what kind of lands.

SECTION THREE:

Synthetical Reading / Writing

STUDENT INSTRUCTIONS: Read the original passage again - and, if necessary

again and again -this time for the purpose of understanding the few most important ideas that develop the main topic. Using those ideas as your guideline, summarize the passage in a few sentences Next, write a summary for the passage, again by using those few most important ideas.

SUGGESTION FOR HOW TO WRITE YOUR SUMMARY: As you read the passage, (1) find the MAIN idea-the most important idea that the passage is about; then (2) look for and underline only the central ideas that support, or help build on, that MAIN idea. This is called OUTLINING.

From the following list, write a check in the blank next to the kind of supporting ideas that build on the MAIN idea-there might be more than one kind of supporting idea.

Use the most important of these supporting ideas for your summary.

__ examples __ reasons / causes __ description __ explanations

EXAMPLES: one or more things that is similar to the main word or idea - apples, oranges, bananas are examples of the main word FRUIT; father, mother, sister, brother, uncle, are examples of the main word FAMILY MEMBERS; kissing, hugging, caring, holding hands, are examples of the idea: LOVE

REASONS: One or more statements that helps prove or show that an IDEA or ACTION is true -"slept in" is a reason for being late; "He loves her" and "She loves him" are two reasons why John and Mary will probably get married.

CAUSES: One or more statements that helps prove or show that a PHYSICAL ACTION or THING is true - An electrical spark caused the fire. Poison caused his death. Worrying too much can cause a headache.

DESCRIPTIONS: One,or more statements that give a picture of something in words - The statement "Macy is tall; has black hair; is pretty, and very intelligent." give descriptions of Macy.

EXPLANATIONS: One or more statements that helps make something plain or clear, that tells the meaning of, or how to do, something. The statement "The way you do this problem is add 5 and 6, then subtract 5." explains how to do a particular math problem.

For the Teacher: Writing summaries is perhaps the most difficult part of this study for most students. That they have to reread the passage again is enough of a consternation for them let alone having to capsulate it in a few sentences. Your firmness in getting across the importance of "getting the meaning" of a reading passage is of the utmost importance. Accordingly, students might have to rewrite their summary until its right. One way to help students get underway in their summary is to have them ORALLY summarize it for you; and if they are "getting it" orally, have them immediately write down what they said. In this way, they will find that summaries are not so forbidding.

With both a good analytical and synthetic understanding of a reading passage, students will then be in the right frame of mind to critically read it on their own for its truth value, and effectiveness of assertion.

One of the animals that helps people most is the dog.

In some countries dogs pull wagons the way our horses do. In the cold lands of the North, dogs pull sleds.

There are other ways that dogs help us too. Policemen use them to look for missing people. Soldiers use them to carry letters and medicines. On farms, dogs care for the sheep. They keep them together in the fields. At night, they take the sheep home. Dogs help blind people, too.

Different dogs do different kinds of work. Some are good at one kind. Some are good at another.

Do you know what kind of dog takes care of sheep?

OUTLINE NOTES FOR SUMMARY

Diagramming

SUMMARY 1

TITLE 1

SUMMARY 2

TITLE 2

SECTION THREE

Creative Thinking

1. INTERPRETATION

In your opinion (or in your own thoughts) why are dogs such good helpers?

2. ASSOCIATION

Name two other ways, than is mentioned in the passage in which dogs help people.

3. DESCRIPTION

Describe the features of a dog that make it a dog and no other animal.

4. WRITING

Choose an idea from the reading passage, and write either a story, an article (as for a newspaper or magazine), a letter, a dialogue, or a poem related to the reading passage.

[NOTE: if you write a story in one study, then you are to write one of the other types of writing in the next study - article, letter, etc. - and so on, rotationally.] In your writing, be sure to express not only what you think about the topic, but what you feel as well.]

With your teacher's help, study the following instructions:

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Before writing on your topic, list all the ideas that you can think of that you want to use in your composition. WRITE THESE IDEAS IN WORDS OR PHRASES IN ANY ORDER ON YOUR OUTLINE SHEET.

2. Number these ideas (1,2,3, etc.) in the order that you want to write them in your composition. 3. Write on your topic, keeping in mind the following: a) Write your most important idea in the first sentence of your composition. b) Be sure that every sentence is connected (or related) to the sentence before it, and to the title of your topic. c) Develop your topic by using reasons, and/or examples, and/or explanations. d) Use words that mean (express) exactly what you want to say. e) Be sure to use correct spelling, punctuation, and capitalization. f) Write a concluding sentence that ends your composition smoothly. g) Make your writing clear and interesting. h) After you have finished your composition, read it over carefully, and correct all possible mistakes or ideas that are not clear to you.

__________________________________________

FOR TEACHERS: Have students (1) WRITE AN OUTLINE, (2) WRITE A FIRST DRAFT, THEN (3) WRITE THEIR FINAL DRAFT.

COMPOSITION: First Draft

COMPOSITION: Second Draft

See BOOK CATALOG for ordering information.

The following link leads to the academic evaluation (or assessment) for pupils to take at this level 2.

Evaluation: Level 2 (grades 2,3,4)

See BOOK CATALOG for ordering information.

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