1. Language Arts Elective Agenda April 12, 2012
->Chapter 5: Adjectives and Adverbs
-Lesson 1: What is an Adjective?
-Lesson 2: Predicate Adjectives
Homework:
Lessons 1-2 Worksheet
1
2. Lesson 1: What is an Adjective?
->An adjective is a word that modifies, or describes, a noun or pronoun.
A heavy rainstorm soaked the campsite.
Adjectives help you see, feel, taste, hear, and smell all the experiences you
read about. Notice how adjectives make the second sentence in this pair
more descriptive.
Coyotes startled the campers.
Noisy coyotes started the sleepy campers.
Adjectives answer the questions: what kind, which one, how many, and how much.
What kind? green backpack sturdy tent spicy stew
Which one(s)? last hamburger third hike every lantern
How many/much? two flashlights many insects little moonlight
2
3. Articles
The most commonly used adjectives are the articles a, an, and the. A and
an are used with singular nouns.
Use a before a word beginning with a consonant sound:
a tent a candle a lamp
Use an before a word beginning with a vowel sound:
an elephant an axe an unusual sound
The is the article that points to a particular person, place, thing or idea.
You can use the with singular and plural nouns.
The hiker stopped on the trail and dropped the camera.
Use the when you want to refer to a specific person, place, thing, or idea.
Use a and an when you want to be less specific.
Did the team leader being a first-aid kit?
3
4. Many adjectives are formed from common and proper nouns.
rain China
scene Ireland
beauty Portugal
4
5. Underline each adjective once and the noun it modifies twice. Circle all
articles.
1. Central Park is now an American landmark.
2. It was once a dirty swamp that was filled with ugly shacks and much
garbage.
3. In 1858 there was a national competition for a plan to turn the spot
into an attractive park.
4. People tried to imagine a place where New Yorkers could enjoy the
great outdoors.
5. The park took the builders sixteen years to complete.
6. The landscape includes green meadows, lakes, ponds, woods, and
beautiful gardens.
5
6. Lesson 2: Predicate Adjectives
->A predicate adjective is an adjective that follows a linking verb
and describes the verb's subject. (The linking verb connects the
predicate adjective with the subject.
A volcanic eruption is violent.
It is explosive.
Predicate adjectives can follow linking verbs other than forms of be.
Forms of taste, smell, feel, look, become, and seem are often used as
linking verbs.
The lava looks thick.
Lava becomes hard when it cools.
6
7. Underline each predicate adjective once and the noun it modifies twice.
1. For more than 120 years, Mount St. Helens, a volcano in the Washington
area, was inactive.
2. Then the volcano became dangerous.
3. In 1980 eruptions were responsible for widespread damage.
4. The blasts were thunderous.
5. After hot ask started fires, the air smelled smoky.
6. The sky became very dark as ash fell like snow.
7. Long after the eruption, pumice, a kind of volcanic rock, still felt hot.
8. Following the blast, tall forests looked very flat.
7
