Homeschool Secondary English

 Objective/Learning Target:

I can:

● Explain the main idea of a text and

● Explain the relationship between the main idea and

supporting evidence

● write responses using complete sentences with

standard spelling, punctuation, and grammar

A main idea is the most important idea or claim that a text communicates. The details in a text support, prove or illustrate the main idea.

 ● The main idea does not include specific details.

 ● The main idea includes the who, what, when, and where with the most important point. 

How do you determine the main idea when reading

Nonfiction?

-ideas that are repeated

-details from the article all connect back

to the main idea

-what do the details all have in common?

-mentioned in the title

Activity: 

Watch this news video that gives a quick overview of what started happening to the Brazilian rainforest a couple of months ago: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeMkfTr2_FM 

Complete a quick write that addresses the following questions:

 1) What do you know about the term “deforestation?”

 2) What is happening to the rainforest in Brazil? Why is it happening?

 3) What is your opinion about what is happening? Write for 2-3 Minutes!

Activity 2: (If time allows)

https://www.liveworksheets.com/worksheets/en/Reading/Main_idea/Reading_hx1495568uj 

Makeda - Summary Writing

Summary Writing Tips

• Writing a good summary is not as easy as it may appear. 
  
  
•  First, read and comprehend the text. 
  
  
•  Then identify the main ideas and key points (distinguish between essential and nonessential information)
  
  
•  Finally, express this information in your own words. 
  
  
• This means that summarizing a text requires both comprehension and expression skills
  
  
• When writing summaries for the exam, you must show 5 points that you plan to write about

Summaries should not contain opinions, background knowledge, or personal information; rather, a summary should be entirely text-based.

Paraphrasing 

 Finish these paraphrased sentences by changing the word/word type and grammar.

e.g. We studied the statistics then applied for funding.

- After _________ the statistics, we made an _________ for funding.

- After studying the statistics, we made an application for funding.

1. We were concerned about her health.

We had some _________ about her health.

2. The council cut funding so we could not provide free parking.

As a result of council funding _________, there was no_________ for free parking.

3. His proposal was a failure as it was too theoretical.

His proposal_________ because it relied too much on _________ .

4. As the emphasis was only on the UK, there were weaknesses in the evidence.

By _________ the UK only, the evidence was _________ .

5. As the emphasis was only on the UK, there were weaknesses in the evidence.

As the emphasis was only on the UK, the evidence was not_________

Summarize the passage below in 40 words

Tropical rainforests are thought to contain around 50% of all the Earth’s species of plants and animals, though they cover only about 6% of the land surface. (8,000 years ago, they covered about double the current area.) Rainforests are a priceless and economically vital source of food and medicine, wood and water, building and craft materials and much, much more.

Summarize the passage below in 60 words

Paragraph 2: Cultural diversity

In rainforests, biological and cultural diversity often mirror one another.

 For example, hundreds of different languages are spoken in

 ‘biological hotspots’ like New Guinea and the Amazon Basin.

 It should not be surprising that the people who understand rainforests

 best are those whose cultures were shaped by them, the indigenous

 peoples of the tropical rainforests. Rainforest destruction is being driven 

by an economic world view which originated externally in Western 

capitalist cultures. Unfortunately, ecosystem destruction has 

gathered pace over the last 200 years, with the advent of

 ‘consumer culture’ and breath-taking population growth. 

Summarize the passage below in 60 words

Paragraph 3: Climate stability

Rainforests also play a vital role in the planet’s water and

 carbon cycles and in regulating climate. Yet today, 

rainforest destruction releases more CO2 than all the world’s 

cars, planes and ships put together. Earth systems scientists

 like James Lovelock believe that rainforest conservation 

is vital to stabilising CO2 emissions and combating dangerous 

climate change.

The role that Rainforests play in the regulation of earth’s

 climate is quite major. The destruction of rainforests today

 releases more CO2 into the atmosphere than every vehicle 

combined.

Write a summary of the text in English, including the most important points, using your own words whenever possible (maximum 80 words). 

As today's bride and groom celebrate their wedding, they have every excuse for being nervous. They exchange promises of lifelong fidelity and mutual support. However, all around them, they can see that many people do not and cannot keep these promises. Their own marriage has a one in three chance of divorce, if present tendencies continue. Traditional marriage is facing a crisis, at least in Britain. Not only are there more and more divorces, but the number of marriages is falling.

     Living together is more popular than before. The family is now no longer one man, one woman and their children. Instead, there are more and more families which include parents, half sisters and brothers, or even only one parent on her / his own. Although Britain is still conservative in its attitudes to marriage compared with other countries such as the USA, Sweden and Denmark, the future will probably see many more people living together before marriage - and more divorce.             Interestingly, it is women rather than men who apply for divorce. Seven out of ten divorces are given to the wife. Also, one of the main reasons for divorce, chosen by ten times more women than men, is unreasonable or cruel behaviour. Perhaps this means that women will tolerate less than they used to. 

Summary Writing

Summarize the passage below in no more than 100 words. Before beginning your summary, make 3 points which give a general idea of what the passage is about. 

1. People who...

2. The cause is...

3. The effect is...

Being glued to your smartphone could be causing you to make impulsive decisions and crave immediate gratification. In fact, people who spend more time on their phones are more likely to reject large, delayed rewards in favor of smaller, immediate rewards. 

Research has long shown that a preference for smaller, immediate rewards -- what researchers call delay discounting -- is an indicator for negative behaviors, such as drug addiction, excessive gambling, and alcohol abuse. People with low self-control tended to use their smartphone more.

The study also found that a preference for immediate rewards was linked to heavier use of two types of apps: social media and gaming.

"Both types of apps offer quick gratification in the form of likes or entertaining content.

It is surprising just how much time some people spent on social media and gaming apps -- more than 10 hours a day in some cases.

The new study seems to support existing research that indicates excessive screen time has negative impacts. Previous studies have shown that smartphone use can make headaches worse, can disrupt sleep patterns and can negatively impact mental health.

Meanwhile, American teens spent an average of seven hours and 22 minutes on screens each day last year — not including screens used for school work. And that was before the coronavirus pandemic pushed people's social lives onto screens.

Tuesday, October 4, 2022

Main Ideas are the most ESSENTIAL ideas to help you understand an informative text. An informative passage may have more than one central idea (just like a short story may have more than one theme).

Find the Thesis Statement: Introduction and conclusion paragraph paragraphs often have a THESIS STATEMENT, which is the main idea sentence that shows what the entire passage is about.

However, some articles do not contain specific thesis statements because the central idea is something you should INFER.

A Main  idea is developed by supporting details (specific statements that explain and “prove” the central idea).

• Supporting Details are found in strategies such as examples, statistics, descriptions, causes & effects, quotes, analogies, stories.

• There are multiple supporting details for one central idea.

ACTIVITY 1: Summarize the main idea in one or two lines. 

Do you wear glasses? Make sure your glasses fit well. The earpieces should be at eye level. Don’t try to adjust the earpieces yourself. Take your glasses for adjustments to the place you bought them. Keep your glasses in a case when you’re not wearing them. This will prevent scratches. Keep the lenses clean. A soft cloth is best for cleaning. 

ACTIVITY 2:

Advertising affects our lives every day. Brand names are common household words. We start each day using toothpaste, soap, and breakfast foods promoted by advertisers. Ads have made the cars we drive signs of our success. Our choices of food, dress, and entertainment are swayed by ads. Not one aspect of American life is untouched by advertising.

ACTIVITY 3:

The world’s most followed TikToker gets paid as much as $750K per post, but to reach his greatest business goal Khaby Lame is binge-watching American cartoons.

It’s 8:30 p.m. on a Friday night and the world’s most followed TikToker Khabane “Khaby” Lame lies on the couch watching cartoons. The 22-year-old with 149.5 million TikTok followers spends three hours a day learning English from a Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood–inspired animated series Daniel Tiger. His goal: master English to score roles in major Hollywood films. And so, old-school headphones in place, the 6-foot-1 star lounges on multicolor velvety cushions in the Milan flat he shares with his manager, Alessandro Riggio, to kick off the weekend. 

Wednesday, October 26, 2022

USING SYNONYMS TO IMPROVE WRITTEN EXPRESSION AND VOCABULARY 

GO GET YOUR DICTIONARY OR THESAURUS!!!! AND LET’S GO!!!!! 

Write a word that is a synonym for the underlined word in each sentence. 

If you do not know a synonym, consult a reference source, such as a thesaurus or dictionary.

1. I really do detest okras. ___________________ 

2. The water on the lake was so placid that it looked like a mirror. ___________________ 

3. Elizabeth tried to appear graceful, but the high-heeled shoes hampered her efforts. ___________________ 

4. I think that adding curtains to the windows will really enhance our classroom. ___________________ 

5. I explained to Mr. Harris about my missing homework, but he said my story wasn’t credible.