Buckle Down Tennessee
TCAP 8 Reading & Language Arts
Lesson 1: Vocabulary
Lesson 2: Main Idea and Details
Lesson 3: Making Connections
Unit 2
Literary Text
Lesson 4: Story Elements
Lesson 5: Literary Elements
Lesson 6: Poetry Elements
Unit 3
Going Beyond the Text
Lesson 7: Text Structures
Lesson 8: Author’s Purpose
Lesson 9: Following Instructions
Lesson 10: Research
Lesson 11: Text Features
Unit 4
The Writing Process
Lesson 12: Planning
Lesson 13: Drafting
Lesson 14: Revising
Unit 5
Writing Conventions
Lesson 15: Punctuation
Lesson 16: Spelling
Lesson 17: Parts of Speech
Lesson 18: Usage and Sentences
Tennessee
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READING & LANGUAGE ARTS • WRITING • MATHEMATICS • SCIENCE
Student Set TN02052S1
P.O. Box 2180
Iowa City, Iowa 52244-2180
Includes: Student Workbook, Form A
Practice Test, Form B Practice Test
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Student Workbook TN02052W1
Form A Practice Test TN02052A1
Form B Practice Test TN02052B1
ISBN 0-7836-5920-2
51599
9 780783 659206
8 READING & LANGUAGE ARTS
The Reading Process
Tennessee TCAP
The violin is a four-stringed
instrument and the smallest and
highest-pitched member of the violin
family. The strings were originally
made from sheep gut that was
stretched, dried, and twisted.
Modern strings are made from
various
materials, such as steel.
Unit 1
8
Reading &
Language
Arts
TCAP
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction............................................................................................................... 1
Test-Taking Tips.......................................................................................... 2
Part One—Reading
Unit 1 – The Reading Process................................................................................. 5
Lesson 1: Vocabulary.................................................................................. 6
SPIs: 0801.1.16, 0801.1.17, 0801.1.18, 0801.1.19, 0801.1.20, 0801.5.5
Lesson 2: Main Idea and Details.............................................................. 22
SPIs: 0801.6.1, 0801.6.2, 0801.8.5
Lesson 3: Making Connections............................................................... 33
SPIs: 0801.5.1, 0801.5.3, 0801.5.9, 0801.6.3
Unit 2 – Literary Text.............................................................................................. 43
Lesson 4: Story Elements.......................................................................... 44
SPIs: 0801.8.1, 0801.8.2, 0801.8.3, 0801.8.4, 0801.8.6, 0801.8.10
Lesson 5: Literary Elements..................................................................... 58
SPIs: 0801.8.7, 0801.8.11, 0801.8.12, 0801.8.13
Lesson 6: Poetry Elements........................................................................ 70
SPIs: 0801.6.2, 0801.8.8, 0801.8.9
Unit 3 – Going Beyond the Text............................................................................ 85
Lesson 7: Text Structures.......................................................................... 86
SPIs: 0801.3.12, 0801.5.6, 0801.6.6, 0801.3.2, 0801.3.11
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Lesson 8: Author’s Purpose...................................................................... 98
SPIs: 0801.5.2, 0801.5.4, 0801.5.7, 0801.5.8, 0801.8.14
Lesson 9: Following Instructions........................................................... 110
SPI: 0801.6.5
Lesson 10: Research................................................................................ 116
SPIs: 0801.4.1, 0801.4.2, 0801.4.3, 0801.4.4, 0801.4.5
Lesson 11: Text Features......................................................................... 124
SPIs: 0801.6.3, 0801.6.4
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Table of Contents
Part Two—Writing
Unit 4 – The Writing Process.............................................................................. 139
Lesson 12: Planning................................................................................ 140
SPIs: 0801.3.1, 0801.3.2, 0801.3.11, 0801.3.12
Lesson 13: Drafting................................................................................. 147
SPIs: 0801.3.2, 0801.3.3, 0801.3.6, 0801.3.9, 0801.3.10, 0801.6.2
Lesson 14: Revising................................................................................. 157
SPIs: 0801.3.4, 0801.3.5, 0801.3.7, 0801.3.8, 0801.3.13
Unit 5 – Writing Conventions............................................................................. 169
Lesson 15: Punctuation........................................................................... 170
SPIs: 0801.1.6, 0801.1.7, 0801.1.13
Lesson 16: Spelling.................................................................................. 178
SPI: 0801.1.12
Lesson 17: Parts of Speech...................................................................... 185
SPIs: 0801.1.1, 0801.1.2, 0801.1.3 0801.1.5, 0801.1.9
Lesson 18: Usage and Sentences............................................................ 203
To the Teacher:
Tennessee English Language Arts State
Performance Indicator (SPI) codes are listed for
each lesson in the table of contents and for each
page in the shaded gray bars that run across the
tops of the pages in the workbook (see the
example at right). These codes identify the SPIs
covered on a given page.
................................................................................
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SPIs: 0801.1.2, 0801.1.5, 0801.1.8, 0801.1.10, 0801.1.11, 0801.1.14,
0801.1.15
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Unit 1 – The Reading Process
SPIs: 0801.1.16, 0801.1.19
Lesson 1: Vocabulary
Numismatist? Indefatigable? Quisling? Traduce? Zyzzyva? How are you supposed to know
the meaning of every word that might show up on a test?
Actually, you’re not. While you might encounter a difficult word from time to time, you’ll
typically have plenty of help in dealing with it. Where will this help come from? From
other words.
To see how this works, read the following sentence, and then answer Number 1.
Jacob, usually a quiet guy, became positively garrulous whenever anyone mentioned
his all-time favorite TV show, The Brady Bunch.
1. What is the meaning of the word garrulous as it is used in the sentence?
A.
B.
C.
D.
fearful
friendly
talkative
disturbed
The word garrulous is probably as difficult as most words you’re likely to see on the TCAP
test. But even if you’ve never seen the word before, you can figure out what it means. The
other words in the sentence give away its meaning.
What does this mean to you? It means that you don’t have to know the meaning of every
word in the dictionary to answer a vocabulary question. However, you do have to be able
to use context to help you figure out the meanings of unknown words. Context is what
the words around an unknown word say that usually help determine its meaning.
Most people’s vocabularies include words they know well and words they sort of know.
Then there are all the rest of the words they have no idea about. Words that you sort of
know or that you don’t know at all are often the ones that show up on a reading test. If you
don’t know the meaning of a word, you have to figure it out from the context in which it is
used, like you did for Number 1. Even if you can’t figure it out, you usually can come up
with a good guess about what the word might mean.
Here are some tips to help you figure out the meanings of unknown words in a
reading passage.
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“Positively” and “all-time favorite” tell you that Jacob has nothing but good feelings about
The Brady Bunch. That rules out fearful (A) and disturbed (D), which are negative words.
Friendly (B) would make sense in the situation described. However, since we’re told that
Jacob is usually quiet, garrulous must mean the opposite. Talkative (C) is the best choice.
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Lesson 1: Vocabulary
SPIs: 0801.1.16, 0801.1.17
TIP 1: Look for words that have a similar meaning to the
unknown word.
Reading passages will often include plenty of clues about the meaning of an unknown
word, including synonyms. Synonyms are words that mean roughly the same thing.
For example, read the following sentence, and then answer Number 2.
Moe was obviously vexed; Larry never had seen him looking so annoyed with Curly.
2. Circle any words in the sentence that have a meaning similar to vexed.
Now, answer the following question by selecting the choice that is closest in meaning to
the word you circled for Number 2.
3. In the sentence about Moe, what is the meaning of the word vexed?
A.
B.
C.
D.
bored
irritated
idiotic
entertained
TIP 2: Look for causes and effects connected to the
unknown word.
Cause-and-effect relationships describe how one event leads to another. These
relationships can sometimes give clues about the meaning of an unknown word. To see
how this works, use the following sentence to answer Numbers 4 and 5.
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The new magician grew more and more chagrined as members of her audience yelled
out the secret to every trick.
4. How do you think the audience’s behavior caused the magician to feel?
5. What is the meaning of the word chagrined as it is used in this sentence?
A.
B.
C.
D.
enthusiastic
frightened
confident
embarrassed
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Unit 1 – The Reading Process
SPIs: 0801.1.16, 0801.1.17
TIP 3: Look for clues about how the unknown word fits into
a category.
If a word appears in a list of things or in a description of a scene, you should be able to
guess its meaning by the way it fits in with the other things. Suppose, for example, that
you find this sentence in a passage:
Some sculptors work with stone, like marble. Other sculptors prefer to work with
pliable materials, such as clay, wire, and soft metals.
6. What characteristic do the materials listed (clay, wire, soft metals) have in common?
7. What is the meaning of the word pliable as it is used in this sentence?
A.
B.
C.
D.
lightweight
sturdy
flexible
colorful
TIP 4: Look for clues that point to the opposite meaning of the
unknown word.
What a shock! We had expected Ashley to be morose, but she showed up at the party
and danced all night, wearing a constant smile on her untroubled face.
8. Circle the words or phrases that have an opposite meaning of morose.
9. What is the meaning of the word morose as it is used in this sentence?
A.
B.
C.
D.
sad
late
odd
pleasant
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Words such as but, despite, although, surprisingly, and not can tell you a lot about what a
word doesn’t mean. Often these words come just before a word’s antonym. Antonyms
are words that have opposite meanings. You can actually use an antonym of an unknown
word to make a good guess about the word’s meaning. Try it, by reading the following
sentences and then answering Numbers 8 and 9.
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Lesson 1: Vocabulary
SPIs: 0801.1.17
TIP 5: Watch out for multiple-meaning words.
Some vocabulary questions might test you on multiple-meaning words. Multiplemeaning words are words that mean more than one thing. Multiple-meaning words are
also called homonyms. Homonyms are words that are spelled and pronounced the same
way, but have different meanings. One example of a multiple-meaning word or homonym
is the word craft, which can mean “a skill requiring use of the hands,” “a small boat,” or
“clever trickiness.”
A multiple-choice question may contain more than one of the word’s real meanings. Your
job is to identify the meaning of the word as it is used in the passage. It is very tempting to
answer questions like this without going back to the passage to see how well the answer
choice works in the context. Remember, though, that context is often the key to answering
vocabulary questions on the TCAP tests. This is especially true for questions about
multiple-meaning words.
Directions: Read the following sentence, and then answer Number 10 based on
the context.
Emily knew that Matt meant to court her the moment he offered her the first swig
from his diet root beer.
10. What is the meaning of the word court as it is used in this sentence?
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A.
B.
C.
D.
place where trials are held
surface for playing tennis
to anger, irritate, or annoy
to seek the affections of
Many multiple-meaning words have denotative and connotative meanings. A denotative
meaning is the word’s basic, agreed-upon definition. For example, the denotative meaning
of the word hot is “having a high temperature.” A connotative meaning is an extra
meaning or what a word means when used in certain ways. For example, connotative
meanings of the word hot include: impressive (hot property), emotional (a hot temper),
excited (hot under the collar), fresh (hot off the press), stolen (hot diamonds), or absurd
(hot air). If your brother says, “That’s a hot car,” does he mean the car is impressive or
stolen? You would have to use the context to figure out what he meant.
TIP 6: Learn to distinguish between homophones to
determine meaning.
A homophone is a word that sounds like another word but has a different spelling and
meaning. For example, the word cite means “to jot down or note.” The word site, which
sounds the same, means “location.” And another sound-alike word, sight, means “the
ability to see.” Some vocabulary questions might test you on homophones to make sure
you are reading carefully.
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Unit 1 – The Reading Process
SPIs: 0801.1.16
TIP 7: Learn common roots, prefixes, and suffixes.
If you want to know more about someone, one thing you can do is learn about his or her
family. The same is true for words. Words have families, based on their parts. If you learn
what some common word parts mean, then you can figure out the meaning of unknown
words that share those common word parts. The parts of a word are roots, prefixes, and
suffixes.
A root is the main part of a word. Here is a list of some common roots and their
meanings. Can you think of other words with these roots?
Meaning
Examples
act, ag
do, act
activity, agent
cap, cept
take, seize
capture, intercept
ceed, cess
go, give in
proceed, access
cred
believe
credible, incredulous
dic, dict
speak
dictionary, predict
fac, fact
make, do
artifact, factory
fer
bear, carry
offer, transfer
graph
write
autograph, graphite
log
word, study of
dialogue, biology
miss, mit
send
missive, transmit
pan
all
panacea, panorama
press
press
impress, pressure
rupt
break
rupture, interrupt
scrib, script
write
transcribe, manuscript
spec, spect
see
inspect, spectator
tact
touch
contact, tactile
ten
hold
retention, tenacious
tend, tens
stretch
extend, tension
un, uni
one
unanimous, uniform
ven, vent
come
convenient, invent
ver, vir
true
verify, virtue
voc
voice, speech
vocal, advocate
A prefix is a word part that is added to the beginning of the root to form a new word. The
table on the following page shows some common prefixes and their meanings.
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Root
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Lesson 1: Vocabulary
SPIs: 0801.1.16
Prefix
Meaning
anti-
against, preventing,
the opposite of, false
antifreeze
antiglare
anticlimax
dis-
the opposite of, not
disabled
disadvantage
il-
against, not
illiterate
illogical
into
immerse
impact
not
immature
immaterial
the opposite of, not
incapable
indecent
into, within, toward
indent
inside
mis-
badly, wrong
miscount
misconduct
misread
over-
beyond, to an excessive
degree
overeat
overrun
pre-
in front of, prior to (before)
premature
preschool
un-
the opposite of, not
unwise
unheard
under-
less than, not enough,
beneath
underfed
underground
im-
in-
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Examples
Practice Activity 1
Directions: Fill in the following table to see how prefixes can affect the meanings
of words.
Prefix
Base Word
Affixed Word
1.
mis-
misconduct
2.
pre-
preview
3.
un-
uncertain
4.
over-
overspent
New Meaning
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Unit 1 – The Reading Process
SPIs: 0801.1.16
Suffix
Meaning
Examples
-able
able to be or become something,
worthy of being or becoming something
perishable
admirable
-al
of, like, or relating to
criminal
autumnal
-en
to make more so,
made of
weaken
wooden
-eur
the quality of,
one who
grandeur
chauffeur
-ion
-sion
-tion
act of, state of, result of
invention
action
-ity
having the character of,
being a certain way or thing
possibility
ability
-ive
performs or tends toward an action
creative
expressive
-ize
make, become, cause to be
traumatize
dramatize
-less
unable or not apt to do something,
without or lacking something
fearless
careless
-ly
in such a manner,
like or suited to,
occurring every so often
swiftly
earthly
yearly
-ness
the state of being something
kindness
sweetness
-ous
full of, having something
perilous
anxious
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A suffix is added to the end of a root word in order to change its meaning. Sometimes the
spelling of the root word will change when a suffix is added. The table below shows some
common suffixes and their meanings.
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Lesson 1: Vocabulary
SPIs: 0801.1.16
Practice Activity 2
Directions: Fill in the following table to see how suffixes can affect the meanings
(and spellings) of words.
Base Word
Suffix
Affixed Word
1.
territory
territorial
2.
sudden
suddenly
3.
terror
terrorize
4.
glamour
glamourous
New Meaning
Of course, roots aren’t limited to a single prefix or suffix. You can tack on one of each or
even more.
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Amaze Your Friends
If you want to show off your vocabulary knowledge, here are the definitions of the words
mentioned at the beginning of this lesson:
• numismatist – a person who studies and collects coins
My aunt, the numismatist, has a 1903 penny.
• indefatigable – incapable of getting tired
He never stops studying. He’s indefatigable!
• quisling – traitor
Don’t wear that South High sweatshirt here at North High. What are you, some kind of
quisling?
• traduce – to speak falsely about
You have traduced cafeteria food. It’s actually very good.
• zyzzyva – the last word in many dictionaries; a type of plant-eating insect found in tropical regions of North and South America
Hand me the newspaper so I can swat that zyzzyva, will you?
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