Literacy Skills Builder: Year 8., Lecture notes of English Literature

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KS3:

Literacy

Booklet

Literacy Skills Builder: Year 8.

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CAPITAL LETTERS AND FULL STOPS Every sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, except when a question mark or exclamation mark is needed. Proper nouns- the names of important people, places or objects- also need a capital letter. A) Punctuate the following sentences, using capital letters and full stops where necessary.

1. mandy threw the apple sauce out of the window, right onto matt’s head
2. belgium and france fought over who would host the olympic games
3. noah landed his ark on mount sinai when the flood waters receded
4. mr jones visited doctor barnsley on wednesday
5. coronation street and eastenders are shown on tv every day B) Link each person with their address and punctuate both using capital letters george bush hogwarts school tony blair buckingham palace paddington bear darkest peru sherlock holmes stratford upon avon queen elizabeth ten downing street harry potter bag end, hobbiton vera duckworth 221b baker street william shakespeare the white house bilbo baggins starship enterprise captain jean-luc picard the rovers return Punctuate the following sentences, using full stops and capital letters where appropriate.
6. the man bought the newspaper he was an avid reader of the sun
7. jill ran up the hill with jack they needed to fetch a pail of water
8. the must-see film of the year is the new spiderman movie it stars tobey mcguire
9. on wednesday and thursday I am travelling to russia on the orient express

4. In deep water.

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5. Surprise party.

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6. A mouse under your chair.

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7. Seeing a beautiful sight.

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8. Going into battle.

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9. The Olympics.

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10. Seeing a ghost.

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B) Study the pictures below and then think up interesting, original exclamations for the speech bubbles. Remember to use an exclamation mark!

Direct questions end in a question mark. E.g. Are you going to the store?

1. Indirect questions DO NOT end in a question mark. E.g. I asked if you were going to the store**.

2. In direct speech, sometimes an apparent statement may be a question, depending on the speaker’s tone.** E.g. “You will be happy here?” Mum asked**.
3. The question mark is used after a statement followed by a short question. Notice the use of the comma before the question.** E.g. You are the shortest person here, aren’t you? A) Write answers to the following questions. Use full sentences.
4. What are you most afraid of in the world?

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2. What is your earliest memory?

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It was really dark and misty so visibility was poor. They arrived in a red Mercedes convertible. The driver was large and bald and had a tattoo of a skull on his arm. The two other men ran into the jewellery store, pulling ski masks over their faces as they did so. About three minutes later I heard a gunshot and the two men ran out, carrying several small black sacks. The car sped off in the direction of the freeway.

COLONS A colon is used to:

1. Introduce a list. E.g. He bought the groceries: eggs, butter, jam, sugar and pot noodles. 2. Introduce a title or quotation. E.g. His words echoed in my head: “Do unto others only good!” 3. Separate contrasting parts of a sentence. E.g. The good are saved: the bad are damned A) Punctuate the following sentences, inserting colons where necessary.

1. We shall fight on the beaches we shall never surrender.
2. The good die young the wicked live forever.

3. Peace to those I love strife to my enemies.
4. Bright is the day dark is the night.
5. Behind me lay despair in front, only hope. B) Punctuate the following sentences, inserting colons and commas where necessary.
6. I took five items my jacket a fishing rod a peanut butter sandwich a tooth pick and a pen knife.
7. The guest list read a s follows Rev. Bill Hinter Lady Smythe-Bottom Gordon James and Dizzy the Clown.
8. These were the reasons for his odd behaviour fear of the dark fear of confined spaces fear of spiders and way too much caffeine that morning.
9. Certain people are legends Marilyn Monroe James Dean Houdini and Charlie Chaplin.
10. He shook with fear when he saw what lay before him a rocky path a steep slippery slope a cliff edge and a fifty foot drop into the unknown. c) Punctuate the following sentences, inserting colons, commas and capital letters.
11. charles dickens wrote ‘a tale of two cities’ ‘little dorrit’ ‘a Christmas carol’ and ‘bleak house’ amongst others.
12. exams will take place this week monday tuesday before break thursday afternoon and friday in place of assembly.
13. the guests arrived early lady ponsonby in diamonds and a white fur coat lord picklenoze with a glamourous girl on each arm mr carruthers with half the contents of a bottle of whisky already under his belt and the luscious honourable miss hilly flower in a very short very shiny dress.

7. I shall take some of the library books back now but the others will have to wait.

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8. She had worked very hard for the exam and she hoped it would be enough.

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9. It was a warm, sunny day so they decided to go to the seaside.

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10. The parcel had been badly wrapped and some of the contents were showing.

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DIRECT SPEECH Direct speech is the exact words spoken. Inverted commas are used to mark the beginning and the end of the speech. Whenever a new person speaks, a new line must be started. E.g. “Hello, Tom!” John called. “Tom, my friend!” John exclaimed. “It is great to see you!” Direct speech that contains the word ‘SAID’ too often can appear flat and boring. Instead, use interesting words to describe the way the person is speaking. Maybe they are whispering or shouting or mumbling? A) Fill in the table below with as many words as possible that you can think of to replace the word ‘SAID’. A few examples have been done for you. LOUD SOFT POSITIVE NEGATIVE yelled murmured exclaimed moaned

B) In each of the following sentences, replace the word ‘SAID’ with a better word.

1. “Ouch! You’re standing on my foot!” Jim said.
2. “Mmm, I’ve been looking forward to this chocolate all day!” Lizzie said.
3. “Hurry! The bus is about to leave!” Percy said.
4. “Go, Rangers, go!” Tim said.
5. “I wonder if this will work,” the scientist said. C) Write a descriptive, direct speech sentence for each of the following situations. E.g. Building a fence- “Whew! This is really hot work!” I panted, wiping my brow.
6. Flagging down a taxi.
7. Breaking up for half term. Re-write your sentences here:

APOSTROPHES Apostrophes are used to show where letters have been left out of words. E.g. They’re = They are Can’t = Cannot I’ve= I have A) Firstly, identify the words that could be contracted (shortened) and then rewrite the passage so that it does not sound so formal. If you have nothing better to do with your free time, you are welcome to come and stay with us. You cannot imagine what fun we have here! I am not exaggerating when I say that it will be the best experience of your life! You will make new friends and they will remain your friends for life. Mr Toob, who is camp coordinator, is great! He has had many years experience and he will ensure that you have the time of your life! I have been to camp every summer for five years now and I am still finding something new to do every day. If you have not been to camp before, you should not worry as it is not a frightening experience and, if you feel afraid of any task, you do not have to try it. You need not buy expensive equipment either as we will provide everything you will need. It will be great to see you! B) Contract the following words. Write them in the space below: He is We will We are I am Does not You will Were not They have I will Have not It will Could not We would Let us When is You are Who is She would Will not cannot Shall not Are not Would not Do not They will Example: He is: He’s

C) Carefully study the differences between the words below and then use these words to fill in the spaces in the passage below. There’s (there is) They’re (they are) Their (belonging to them) There’s their kayak which they’re taking with them to the river Who’s (who is) Whose (possession) Who’s dating the girl whose sister is Miss New Zealand. You’re (you are) Your (possession) You’re going to lose your slice of cake if you do not eat it quickly. It’s (it is) its (possession) It’s time the cat ate its dinner. Now complete the passage below using the correct contractions: ________ the most popular actress of this decade? ________ about to find out! ________ pretty obvious that she is a person _________ acting skills equal her beauty. ________ guess might include people like Kiera Knightley or Julia Roberts, and, of course, ____________ very glamorous actresses. However, _________ one woman _________ head and shoulders above the rest. Film fans would all agree that ___________ favourite actress is Cameron Diaz, __________ comedy acting is all that ____________ talking about! There’s They’re Their Who’s Whose You’re Your It’s Its

B) Add apostrophes to these sentences where needed.

1. It’s the boys turn to go first because the girls went first last time.
2. He was never allowed to forget the time he went into the ladies changing room by mistake.
3. Put all the babies pictures together so we can pick out a winner.
4. People always seem to find footballers haircuts very interesting.
5. The nurses meeting went on for three hours. C) Match the word to the sentence, using apostrophes to show ownership. Children Men Sheep lice Aircraft
6. I don’t know why _____toilets are always smellier than women’s.
7. Our house is right under a flight path so we can hear the ______ engines all night.
8. The sponsored walk raised £300 for the ________ playground.
9. In my story, a boy had to eat seven ______ eyes.
10. Head ______ size and colour make them difficult to see in anyone’s hair.

SENTENCES

A sentence is a group of words that makes complete sense by itself. A sentence may be: A statement - ‘Today’s winner is Saul’ A question - ‘Who chose this tie?’ A command- ‘Give me all your money!’ An exclamation - ‘I don’t believe it!’ Sentences usually have a subject - who or what the rest of the sentence is about. Sentences also have an object - who or what has been affected by the action of the verb. A verb is a doing word. It forms the heart of every sentence. A) Circle the verbs in each sentence. Example: The teacher shouted at the naughty pupil.

1. I read my book from cover to cover.
2. The girls chased the dog across the field.
3. I wrote neatly in my new book.
4. I coughed and sneezed because I had a cold.
5. The robbers smashed the window and entered the warehouse.
6. The man stopped and turned when he heard me shout his name.
7. I gave my friend some of my sweets. I thought she would be pleased.
8. I wished that I could come top in the test.
9. I knew that I would not win the race.
10. The dog plodded along beside his owner.

COMMAS

The comma is a punctuation mark used: ∙ to indicate a slight pause between the different part of a sentence ∙ to mark off additional information about the subject of a sentence ∙ to separate the names of people spoken to ∙ to separate items in a list ∙ to separate two or more adjectives which define the same noun ∙ to separate the verb of saying from the words spoken in direct speech A) Add the necessary commas to the sentences

1. Being first to arrive he sat down in the front row.
2. Having washed her face she brushed her hair.
3. Frightened by the tremendous explosion the soldiers bolted to their dug-out.
4. Exhausted after the cross-country competition they lay down to rest.
5. Leaping the fence she raced across the fields to her home.
6. Dr Brookes and Mrs Johnson the receptionist are doing a sponsored run.
7. Served with milk and sugar cornflakes are a great breakfast. Bruce told her to be quiet but she started to growl.
8. Tom began to sing and I decided to study on my own.
9. I like bacon eggs sausage fried toast and orange juice for my breakfast. B) The following sentences all contain additional information about the subject of each sentence. Add the necessary commas.
10. Roald Dahl who died a few years ago wrote many books for children.
11. History one of my favourite subjects it is about how people used to live.
12. Mr Joyce our headteacher came to our school in September 1997.
13. Mount Everest the highest mountain in the world is in Nepal. C) Write five sentences of your own in which you provide some additional information about the subject of each sentence.

PARAGRAPHS

A paragraph is a group of sentences. These sentences talk about the same thing, or follow on from each other. Every time you start a new paragraph, you’re showing something new has happened: When you talk about a new person Each time a person speaks When you start writing about a new place When your answer moves to a different time. A) Write the letters of the paragraphs in the order in which they happened. A- He took us to the hall for an assembly where the Head welcomed us and made some jokes no one understood, and then we went to our form room. Our teacher really confused us with timetables and school rules. B- When the bell rang for the start of school we all had to line up in rows. Our form teacher came to collect us and showed us around the place. It didn’t look too bad and a gorgeous smell drifted out of the dinner hall. C- Before we knew it, it was break time. We ran into the playground and stuck together for safety. The rest of the day was a blur and when I got home I fell asleep in front of the television.