Table of Contents
Assessment
Objectives
Letter to the Student . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Letter to the Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Correlations Chart(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Roots and Affixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Pretest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chapter 1
Vocabulary
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Lesson 1
Context Clues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
1.8.03
Lesson 2
Roots and Affixes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
1.8.01
Lesson 3
Denotation and Connotation . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
1.8.04
Lesson 4
Homonyms and Multiple-Meaning Words . . 58
1.8.05
Lesson 5
Etymology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
1.8.02
Chapter 1 ISAT Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Chapter 2
Reading Strategies and Comprehension . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Lesson 6
Prediction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
1.8.06, 1.8.21,
2.8.04
Lesson 7
Inference, Generalization, and Conclusion. . 78
1.8.14, 1.8.17,
1.8.19
Lesson 8
Using Graphic Organizers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
1.8.07, 1.8.23
Lesson 9
Text Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
1.8.08, 1.8.25
Lesson 10
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
1.8.15, 1.8.16
Chapter 2 ISAT Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
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Illinois ISAT Coach, Gold Edition, Reading, Grade 8
Chapter 3
Literary Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Lesson 11
Author’s Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
1.8.24
Lesson 12
Fact and Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
1.8.20, 1.8.21
Lesson 13
Text Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
1.8.09, 1.8.10,
1.8.11, 1.8.12,
1.8.18, 1.8.21,
1.8.23, 2.8.04
Lesson 14
Lesson 15
Proposition and Support and
Problem and Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
1.8.13, 1.8.22
Genre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
1.8.06, 1.8.21,
2.8.13
Chapter 3 ISAT Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Chapter 4
Literary Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Lesson 16
Plot. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
2.8.01, 2.8.02
Lesson 17
Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
2.8.06, 2.8.07,
2.8.08, 2.8.09
Lesson 18
Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
2.8.01
Lesson 19
Theme and Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
2.8.03, 2.8.10
Lesson 20
Point of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
2.8.01, 2.8.02,
2.8.05
Lesson 21
Literary Devices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
1.8.24, 2.8.10,
2.8.11, 2.8.12
Chapter 4 ISAT Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Posttest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
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Denotation and Connotation
1.8.04
Getting the Idea
The denotation of a word is its straightforward dictionary definition. The word thrifty, for
example, means “managing money so that there is no waste.”
The connotation of a word includes the feelings and associations that a word brings
to mind. The word thrifty has a positive connotation. A thrifty person spends money
wisely. Stingy, on the other hand, has a negative connotation. A stingy person is selfish
about money. The denotations of thrifty and stingy both relate to someone who does not
spend much money. But their connotations are very different.
Connotations
Positive
youthful
curious
fragrant
Negative
childish
nosey
smelly
Words that writers use can create different feelings and reactions in the reader. Read
the passage below. Which words have a positive connotation? Which words have a
negative connotation?
Josh strolled up Mr. Garcia’s driveway to deliver the morning
newspaper. Mr. Garcia watched in annoyance as Josh dawdled.
Mr. Garcia reminded the paperboy not to throw the paper into the
bushes each morning. “I am so tired of the way he nags me,” grumbled
Josh to himself.
Positive:
strolled
Negative:
dawdled
walked
slowly
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Positive:
remind
Negative:
nag
to make
someone
remember or
to think of
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Coached Example
DIRECTIONS
Read the passage. Then use the “Hints” to answer the questions.
Most so-called new car models today are the “same old same old.” You can’t tell one
from the other. But not the new Extrema! It’s in a class by itself. One look at its sleek
lines, its bold chrome, and the season’s hottest colors, and you know the Extrema is for
you! It’s a ride for adventure-seekers, a car for trail blazers!
Crank it up, and hear the muscular roar of the turbo-charged engine! Then settle
back in the luxurious custom leather seats—and imagine where you could go next!
The Extrema—it’s not just a car. It’s an experience!
Thinking It Through
1.
What is the connotation of hottest in
the article?
2.
The car is named Extrema because
extreme connotes a sense of
A. Brightest
A. High cost
B. Most wanted
B. Uncertainty
C. Most eager to act
C. Peace
D. Warmest to the touch
D. Excitement
HINT
Look at the word hottest, and review the
context around it. The word is used to
describe the car’s colors and to make
people want the car.
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HINT
Decide which of these connotations might
help sell the car. One answer choice is the
most likely to entice people to buy the car.
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Lesson Practice
Coached Reading
DIRECTIONS
As you read the poem, look to the Reading Guide for tips.
Afterwards
5
School doors closed behind him,
He slings the schoolbag over one shoulder
And trudges across moist fields.
A certain tree—a cottonwood—is in the woods
Somewhere.
He finds it, standing straight where it has stood
For nearly two hundred years.
He abandons his schoolbag, sinks down against the trunk.
Exposed roots embrace him, bear him up solidly.
10
15
It’s the season for the cottony seeds,
They drift down, caressing wherever they touch him.
It’s the season for kindly sunlight,
Dappling the ground around him,
Speckling his face with light, shadow, light.
This certain tree—from its branches, if he chose to clamber,
He could see the closed school doors.
Nestled among the roots, he sees only green.
When thinking about
connotations of words,
pay attention to carefully
chosen verbs and
modifiers. Why did the
author choose just these
words?
What milder words—
words with weaker
connotations—might
replace caressed in this
line? What would be
the effect of replacing
caressed with these
words?
What does green connote?
What associations do
people have with that
color?
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Lesson 3: Denotation and Connotation
Independent Practice
DIRECTIONS
Use the poem to answer the questions.
1.
Which word carries the strongest
connotation of the boy’s tiredness
after school?
4.
The words clamber and climb have
the same denotation but different
connotations. What are the connotations
of clamber in line 15?
5.
Which word has a connotation that
conveys a sense of rest and comfort?
A. Abandons
B. Closed
C. Slings
D. Trudges
2.
Read these lines from the poem.
“Exposed roots embrace him,
bear him up solidly.”
A. Slings
B. Trudges
The poet chose the word embrace
because —
C. Abandons
D. Nestled
A. it enhances the sense of comfort.
B. the word hold would not fit the
rhythm of the line.
C. it makes the reader think of a
real tree.
D. it is the first word that occurred to
the poet.
6.
Read this line from the poem.
“He abandons his schoolbag,
sinks down against the trunk.”
The phrase sinks down conveys a
meaning of —
A. going down slowly.
3.
Why does the poet choose the word
abandon when the speaker sets down his
schoolbag?
A. To suggest that the speaker is leaving
his day-to-day world behind
B. going below the surface.
C. falling down.
D. going into mud.
B. To show that the speaker does not
like school
C. To suggest that the speaker is
careless
D. To illustrate the speaker’s anger
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