Our 8th grade smart goal is Determine the meaning of multiple meaning words in a given context.

We have to know the smart goal by heart.  We have to be able to state the smart goal in our own words.  We have a test on the smart goal some time in December.  We already took the test but we have to take it again to be better at it.

​We go over the smart goal everyday in class and we study it a lot too.  

A prefix is a letter or letters that come before a word.  A suffix is a letter or letter that comes after a word.  

Some examples of a prefix are: ​dis in under over non pre bi tri quad semi.  These are the 10 that Mr. Bruce wants us to know by heart.

Some examples of a suffix are: ful less Y ly ness ment able ship ist ism.  These are the 10 that Mr. Bruce wants us to know by heart.

Some examples of words with the prefix are: disengage, undercover, overbearing, preheat, and semicircle.

Some examples of words with the suffix are: useless, helpful, softly, capable, and professionalism

Directions:Using text boxes,write these questions in your blog. Then, explain why the answer you choose is correct and explain why the other answers are incorrect. 

Context Clues:
 1.Read the passage then answer the question.
 
Construction on Florence's grand cathedral began in 1296. Over a hundred years later, however, the structure remained unfinished, with an enormous hole in the roof. The designers had intended to top the cathedral with the world's largest dome , but this plan was stymied by architectural limitations. The main factors stalling progress was the fact that no one knew how to create such a massive cupola without large, cumbersome support systems.


​What is the meaning of cupola as used in the passage?
1.dome
2.roof
3.decoration
4.cathedral 

2.Read the passage then answer the question.
while the political feats of her husband, president Chiang Kai-shek, may be more widely recognized soong mei-ling's accomplishments are just as notable. As First Lady, Soong Mei-ling introduced her husband to western culture and ideas. Like wise, she served as her husband's emissary, or spokesperson, to the West. During a visit to the United States in 1943, Soong Mei-ling became the second woman to address a joint session of the U.S congress. The trip earned her the esteem of the American public, who praised her passion and determination, and she raised billions of dollars in aid for her country.


What is the meaning of emissary, as used in the passage ?

1. A person sent to a foreign country to do religious work 
2. A person sent on a mission to represent another person or country
3.A secret
​4. A soldier paid by a foreign country 

I just wanted to put down a few of my thoughts today and Mr. Bruce said that would be fine.  I want people to know that I think Read 180 is helping me in all my other classes.  I am learning lots of things like having better study habits and not ever giving up.  Mr. Bruce always tells me to keep doing my best even when things don't go my way.  He always says perseverance, I don't know what that means really and he wont tell me.  He always just uses it in a sentence and tells me to use what he has taught us about context clues and inference to figure it out.  That's all I wanted to say today.

Inference means using the clues in the text to discover what is NOT directly stated.

For example, read the short passage below and I will tell you how to make an inference.

Ana collected shells.  Then she went for a swim in the cool, salty water.

Explicitly, which means things are stated clearly and in detail, I know that Ana collected shells, she went for a swim, and that the water was cool and salty.  Implicitly, which means things are not clearly expressed and that I have to read between the lines as Mr. Bruce always tells us and he tells us we have to dig deeper to find the meaning.  I know that Ana is probably at the ocean.

I know this because in the passage it says that the water is salty.  That is how you make an inference.

Context Clues are hints that an author gives to help define difficult or unusual words.  
We have been going over 4 look fors and they are
     1. Words that mean the same or opposite of the word
     2. Things or ideas related to the word
     3. Is the word a noun, verb, adjective, or adverb
     4. Predict the meaning of the word

Basically using context clues means that I can use clues around a word to figure out what it is.

Homophones are sound alike words.  They have different spellings.  They have different meanings.  We are supposed to learn at least 10 homophone pairs by heart and be able to tell the difference between them.  Here is my list of 10 homophone pairs.
1. Son-----Sun
2. Be-------Bee
3. Or--------Oar
4. Won-----One
5. Pair-----Pear
6. Bear----Bare
7. Break-----Brake
8. Cell-----Sell
9. Dear---Deer
10. Flour----Flower