Common Assessment #1 Review-Answer Sheet

1. Edit the following sentence (How should it be changed?):

Me and my sister went to see a movie.

My sister and I went to see a movie. (**hint—be sure to always capitalize I)

2. What is the controlling idea in a piece of writing? How can we maintain the controlling idea in our writing?

The controlling idea (thesis) of an essay or paragraph is the one main idea which the writer wishes the reader to remember. Be sure to remember to stay on topic in order to “maintain your controlling idea!”

3. What is the correct way to write dialogue? Write a sentence using dialogue with correct punctuation.

Use quotation marks to show the words that somebody is actually speaking.

Bob said, “Wait for me.”

“Wait for me,” said Bob.

“Should I wait for you?” asked Joe.

“Look out!” shouted Sally.

4. Discuss with your partner the difference in the meanings of the following words and use them in a sentence:

their/there/they’re

Your/you’re

The book was over there. There was a circus coming to town. We are going to their house for dinner. They’re studying hard for the test. Eat your vegetables. You’re a great student!

5. How can we combine the following sentences to make a compound sentence?

We wanted to go to the game. It was sold out. We wanted to go to the game, but it was sold out.

6. The following are “irregular verbs”. Use each verb below correctly in a sentence in the past tense and future tense.

Present Tense: see/sees (saw, will see) Take/takes (took, will take) think/thinks (thought, will think)

7. Edit the following sentence: (punctuation, capitalization, etc.): (this is a run-on sentence! Add punctuation! ALWAYS capitalize I)

the doctor’s office was so busy i was feeling very sick The doctor’s office was so busy. I was feeling very sick.

The doctor’s office was so busy; I was feeling very sick.

The doctor’s office was so busy, and I was feeling very sick.

8. To write an effective paragraph making connections with text, we use the claim-evidence-commentary strategy. Explain this strategy.

The claim is your statement or topic sentence (answer to a prompt/question). The evidence supports your claim with specific examples from the text. The commentary is what makes it interesting! Add how it makes you feel, what it makes you think, why it is important, etc. (think sports commentator!)