Build Language Skills
Answers
1
1
Vocabulary Lesson
Word Analysis
Paragraphs should present a coherent narrative and use the four words
correctly.
Spelling Strategy
1. indirect
Vocabulary Lesson
Word Analysis: Latin Root -mort-
Vocabulary Builder: Context
The word mortality includes the Latin root
-mort-, meaning “death.” With a small group,
develop a paragraph about a modern-day space
explorer who dies during the landing of a dangerous mission. Use the following words in your
description.
Choose the word from the vocabulary list on
page 41 that best completes each sentence.
2. improper
mortally
mortuary
3. independent
mortician
immortalized
4. dishonest
Spelling Strategy
Vocabulary Builder
Prefixes do not change spellings. When you
add a prefix to a word, keep all the letters of the
original word: im- + mortality = immortality.
Add a prefix such as in-, im-, or dis- to each of
the words listed below to create a new word.
1. dispatched
2. entreated
3. feigned
4. traversed
5. subsisted
1. ___ direct
3. ___ dependent
6. mortality
2. ___ proper
4. ___ honest
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Grammar and
Style Lesson
1. past; past perfect
2. past
3. past
4. past perfect
5. past perfect
Writing Application
Students’ descriptions should make
proper use of both past and past perfect tenses in order to show time
relationships among the various steps
or processes involved in the activity.
Writing and Grammar,
Ruby Level
2
1. The soldiers were ? by the expedition
leader to find the river.
2. The Spaniards ?
leading the way.
their guides to continue
3. When pleading didn’t work, they ?
anger in order to intimidate their guides.
4. In the course of their seventeen-day march,
they ? a barren stretch of land.
5. The starving travelers
deer tallow.
?
on mouthfuls of
6. The conquistadors were alarmed by the
? that befell the natives.
Grammar and Style Lesson
Past and Perfect Verb Tenses
The past tense of a verb shows an action that
began and ended at a given time in the past. The
past perfect tense indicates an action that ended
before another past action began. Verbs in the
past perfect consist of had, followed by the past
participle. In this example, the past tense verbs are
in italicized text and the past perfect verbs are
underlined.
After five days they had not returned and the
Indians explained that it might be because they
had not found anybody.
(The explorers had not returned and had not
found before the Indians explained.)
Students will find further instruction
and practice on past and perfect verb
tenses in Chapter 21, Section 2.
Practice Identify the tense of the italicized verb
where appropriate, and then indicate the sequence
of the action.
1. We followed the woman to a place where it
had been agreed we should wait for them.
2. Many fell sick.
3. On the next day, eight of them died!
4. They had gone down one third of the
distance.
5. Until then, they had gone one or two leagues
inland in search of water.
Writing Application Write a description of an
activity that you had worked on for some time.
Use both the past and past perfect tenses.
Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar Connection: Chapter 21, Section 2
50 ■ Beginnings–1750
Grammar and
Language
(For more practice, see Standardized Test Preparation
Workbook, p. 2.)
Some tests ask students to make revision sugThe chart listed those who were still lost and
gestions to fix erroneous sentences. A working
those that have been found.
knowledge of the sequence of verb tenses will
A NO CHANGE
help students spot verb tense errors, as in this
B those who had been found
example:
C those who are found
D the saved
A correct answer must use the past perfect
tense. The correct answer is Choice B.
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Writing Lesson
Explorer’s Journal
Imagine that like Cabeza de Vaca and López de Cárdenas, you have begun
to explore a territory where no one has gone before. Write a journal entry that
provides precise details about your discoveries.
Prewriting
• Students’ journal entries should
contain a wealth of details that
make the descriptions of places,
things, and people as vivid and
specific as possible.
Choose a location to explore. Gather specific details, through
research if necessary, so that your description will help others
follow in your footsteps.
Drafting
Use precise details, identifying items as clearly and exactly as you
can. Remember, your audience may be unfamiliar with these objects.
Revising
Ask a friend to read your draft. If your reader cannot “see” your
description, highlight vague words and replace them with more
precise details.
Model: Revising to Add Precise Details
Evergreen
stretched out
The narrow valley was nearly a mile from end to end. Trees
laurel
dotted the upper mountain slopes, giving way first to bushes
Words like evergreen,
laurel, and granite
identify with more
precision.
granite
and then to grassy areas pierced by outcroppings.
Extend Your Learning
Listening and Speaking As a member of the
party that explored the Grand Canyon with
López de Cárdenas, give a speech to convince
Coronado that the entire expedition should
travel to view the canyon. Use these tips:
• Incorporate your personal experiences.
• Blend vivid description with wellsupported persuasion.
Research and Technology In a group, create an
exploration booklet covering either the Grand
Canyon or the area between Austin and El Paso,
Texas. Gather information from the selections and
Internet sources. Use a desktop publishing program
to blend these with your text. [Group Activity]
Present your speech to the class.
For: An additional
research activity
Visit: www.PHSchool.com
Web Code: erd-7102
A Journey Through Texas / Boulders Taller Than the Great Tower of Seville ■ 51
The following resources can be used to
assess students’ knowledge and skills.
Unit 1 Resources
• Remind students to consider their
audience as they gather details and
then begin to draft their journal
entries. Urge them to ask themselves the question, “How will I
make this clear and interesting to
my readers?”
• Use the Narration: Short Story
rubrics in General Resources,
pp. 57–58, to evaluate students’
journal entries.
4
Listening and
Speaking
• Ask students to recall López de
Cárdenas’s goal: to explore the
river we know now as the
Colorado. Then have students
reread the entire narrative to
sharpen their understanding of
what the expedition did and did
not accomplish.
Prentice Hall Writing and Grammar Connection: Chapter 6, Section 4
4
Writing Lesson
• To guide students in writing an
autobiographical narrative, give
them the Support for Writing
Lesson page (Unit 1 Resources,
p. 34).
Students may use the Self-test
to prepare for Selection Test A
or Selection Test B.
• Encourage students to plan their
speeches by brainstorming a list of
items and ideas to include. Remind
them that their audience is their
superior officer, Coronado. Their
speeches should contain concise
and vivid descriptions and explanations of student explorers’ ideas.
• Urge students to deliver their
speeches to the class from
outlines rather than from completely composed scripts.
• The Support for Extend Your
Learning page (Unit 1 Resources,
p. 35) provides guided note-taking
opportunities to help students
complete the Extend Your Learning
activities.
• Use the rubric for Peer Assessment:
Speech, p. 129 in General
Resources, to evaluate student
speeches.
Selection Test A, pp. 37–39
Selection Test B, pp. 40–42
General Resources
Rubrics for Narration: Short Story
p. 57–58
Rubric for Peer Assessment: Speech
p. 129
Have students type in
the Web Code for
another research activity.
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