CRCT REVIEW

ELA 6th GRADE-2010-2011

GRAMMAR/SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION
Weighted 60%ON CRCT

Analyzing Sentences
Okay let’s start at the beginning with sentences. All sentences are made from using the eight parts of speech (nouns,
pronouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, prepositions, interjections) To make a sentence you must have a
minimum of a subject (noun or pronoun) and a predicate (verb).

The boy slept. This is a sentence-not a very meaningful one, but nevertheless a sentence by definition. No matter
how complicated the sentence gets, you can always find the subject by asking what or whom the sentence is about.
By the way this is a simple sentence-one subject and verb. The way I remember a simple sentence is that it has no
conjunctions (and, but, because or + another phrase/clause after it) Mary and her mom slept through the night.
This is still a simple sentence even though there is a compound subject. You can also have a simple sentence with
a compound predicate (verb): Mom ironed and hung up the clothes.

Even though it was raining last night, I slept well. Who is the sentence about? I. What did I do? Slept. If you ask
these two questions you can always figure out the subject and verb/predicate of a sentence. Notice that the complete
subject has been underlined once and the complete predicate has not been underlined. It’s easy to remember how
to do this, because every word before the subject is considered the complete subject and the verb and everything
after it is the complete predicate. This, by the way, is an example of a complex sentence. One part of it can stand
alone, if it is separated from the main part and the other cannot. I slept well is the part that would still be a sentence.
Even though it was raining last night would be a sentence fragment or an incomplete thought.

I slept well last night and I enjoyed going to work the next day. Now I have made this into a compound
sentence, because if I remove the conjunction and, both the phrases can stand alone as sentences.

Hey, what kind of sentence is this? I saw Rick last night and he said that you said that I was a fat slob I don’t
appreciate you saying that about me so just stop it. It is a run on, because it just keeps running on and on without
any punctuation. Remember punctuation tells the reader when one thought ends and another one begins. Could you
fix it? Sure you could. I saw Rick last night and he said that you said that I was a fat slob! I don’t appreciate you
saying this about me. So just stop it.

Sometimes those old tricky CRCT people will ask you to locate a subject of a sentence. Then they give you a stupid
sentence where they have inverted the subject and place it after the verb or they will put so many modifiers in front
of the subject, that you mess up. For instance what is the subject of this sentence? Here is the car of my
grandparents. (S=car) Do these clothes interest you? (S=clothes). Down the road, the fat, old woman traveled.
(S=woman) Watch out for their tricks!

Parts of Speech

Think of the parts of speech like parts of your body. Different parts of your body have different functions right?
Well the eight parts of speech operate much the same way. Your head always functions like a head. I mean your arm
could never be a head right? Well unfortunately parts of speech can function as other parts of speech depending
on how they are used in a sentence. Are you ready to scream yet?

Nouns are words that name people (mom), places (forest), things (desk) or ideas (liberty, freedom, happiness).
• Common nouns (nouns that name general things-school, canyon, city).
• Proper nouns (nouns that name specific things-Kennedy Road Middle School, Grand Canyon, Griffin) Did
you notice that all proper nouns begin with capital letters? * This is particularly important that you remember
this on the test because capitalization is one of the areas of emphasis!
• A collective noun names a group of people, animals or things (team, band, crowd, and congregation).
Collective nouns are a little bit tricky because they can be followed by a singular or a plural verb depending on
the meaning. You use the singular form of the verb if the members in the group act as a single unit. The team
shares the field with its opponent.
You use the plural form of the verb if the members of the collective noun act separately. The team share their
jokes with one another. (Yeah, I know, it still doesn’t sound correct.)*The only reason I mention this is because
of that subject-verb agreement stuff that will be on the CRCT.

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Verbs tell what the subject of a sentence is doing. .
• Action verbs-verbs that express a physical action: lift, hit, swallow
• Linking verbs- verbs that do not express an action. They tell about a state of being: is, be, are, seems, was,
looked, tasted, felt, appeared, became. Here are some examples. She became a fine lady. He is cute. The food
tasted funny. But if I say: I tasted the food-guess what-tasted is now an action verb. (Boy do I hate all these
rules and exceptions to the rules!)
• Helping verbs-are just that-they help out the main verb. (has, have, will) We have eaten here before. By the
way have eaten is called a verb phrase (any time you have more than one verb, it’s called a phrase.

Often you will be asked to read a passage and locate the sentence with the error. What is wrong in this sentence?
The boys is going to the park. (The subject is plural and needs the plural form of the verb is, which is are) Neither of
the athletes (practices, practice) after dinner. The correct choice is practice. It seems like it would be just the
opposite. The plural form of a word ends with an “s”, so why isn’t the correct verb choice the one that ends with an
“s”? That’s our English language-maddening. Try a few more. (Has, Have) you seen that new movie with Denzel?
(Have) The instructors (teaches, teach) the importance of friendship.

Verbs can have forms: present, past and past participle. Regular verbs are easy: Help (present), helped (past-
just added –ed), have helped (past participle) Irregular verbs are tricky: begin (present), began (past), have begun
(past participle) hit (present), hit (past-stayed the same), have hit (past participle) or swim (present) swam (past),
have swum (past participle). I (play, played) on the field yesterday. Why is played the correct form? (Because you
did the action in the past.) I (cut, cutted, have cutted) my finger yesterday. Cut is always the correct form, because it
is one of those irregular fellows.

Verbs also have tenses. This shows the time of an action or the time of the state of being: present tense (play), past
tense (played), future tense (shall play, will play).

Pronouns are words that take the place of nouns.

• *Personal-I, she, it, you, we, they, me, us, him, her, them-- Could you use them correctly in a sentence?
(He, Him) and I went to the movies. “He” is the correct choice because it is the nominative form of this
personal pronoun. What about this sentence? He went with (I, me) to the store. “Me” is the right choice
because it is the objective form of this personal pronoun.
• Possessive-his, her, our, their, your, its, whose, mine (notice that “its” has no apostrophe)
• Demonstrative-these, those, this, that
• Indefinite-anybody, some, everybody, each, all, somebody

Some of us are going to the pep rally. (indefinite) BUT I want some candy (some now becomes an adjective,
because it tells how much). You see how tricky the parts of speech can be. It just depends on how they are being
used in the sentence.

• Interrogative-who, what, whose, whom, which

Did you notice that whose can also a possessive pronoun? Again, the word’s function in the sentence determines its
part of speech.
Whose is this? (interrogative pronoun)
Whose car is this? (possessive pronoun)

Adjectives are words that describe or modify NOUNS or PRONOUNS.

• Can tell what kind-blue, silly, stupid, crazy
• Can tell how many-one, ten, some, each
Each piece of candy was delicious. (adjective describing the noun, piece). Each of us went. (indefinite
pronoun, which is the subject for this sentence)
• Can tell which one-this, that that, these, those-Wait a minute these can also be pronouns. You’re not crazy; it
just depends on how they are being used. This book is mine. (adjective, because it describes which book) This is
mine. (pronoun-functions as subject of sentence)
• Articles-the, a, an

A Conjunction is a word that connects words or groups of words.

• Coordinating conjunctions- (just think about how you coordinate your clothing) connect things that are
related. The most common ones are and, but, or
• *Correlative conjunctions-are conjunctions used in pairs. The most common ones are
Either…or not only…but also both…and
Neither…norwhether….or
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 Both men and women can vote. (Oops both can also be an indefinite pronoun or an adjective. Take both pieces
of candy-adjective because it tells how much candy. Both of us went. (pronoun because it functions like the
subject.)
Neither rain nor snow will stop the mailman.
• *Subordinating Conjunctions-conjunctions that join two sentences that express relationships of time or cause.
The most common ones: because, after, before, unless, until, if
The Civil War began because the North and South had many differences in lifestyles. You can go to lunch, if
you are finished with your work.

An Interjection is a single word or short group of words that is used to express a feeling or an emotion. It is usually
followed by an exclamation point “!”, but not always.
Let’s go! We can’t rest until we get there.
Whew! I am so tired.
Oh, look at that beautiful sky.

Adverbs can describe or modify a verb, adjective, or another adverb.

• Can tell how-carefully, quickly, sadly, stupidly
• Can tell when-sometimes, once, now, finally
• Can tell where-inside, underground, above, here, there
• Can tell to what extent-fully, very, quite, extremely
Finally, the door opened slowly.
Both these adverbs (finally and slowly) make the meaning of the verb opened clearer.
Big, big, big hint-adverbs usually (but not always) end in –ly.

A Preposition is a word that links another word or word group to the rest of the sentence. Most common: to, on, in,
of, by, at, out, across between. There are tons of them. I went to the store across town. Prepositions usually have
nouns or pronouns as objects.

OBJECTS-Are always nouns or pronouns

• Objects of verbs are words that complete the meaning of a sentence. Justin saw Keith (direct object).
♦ Direct Objects-The word that receives the action of a verb is called the direct object of a verb. In
the sentence above, Keith receives the action of saw; therefore it is the direct object. Did you know that
direct objects are always nouns or pronouns?
♦ Indirect Objects-Some words tell to whom or for whom something is done. These words are
indirect objects of the verb. Mrs. Sorensen gave me a good grade. Gave is the verb. What did I give?
grade (direct object). To whom did I give it? me (indirect object). Watch out for tricks like this: Mrs.
Sorensen gave a good grade to me. Gave is still the verb and grade is still the direct object; however,
there is no longer an indirect object. There is now an object of the preposition to. Somebody help me!
• Object of the preposition-the noun or pronoun after the preposition is called the object of the preposition. One
of the children got lost on the trip. The word children –is the object of the preposition of; trip is the object of
the preposition on.
• Predicate Words-don’t get fooled by linking verbs! If you have a sentence like. Mike is nice. Nice is not a
direct object, or an indirect object or an object of the preposition. It is simply described as a predicate word
because it is in the predicate part of the sentence and links back to the subject. (It happens to be a predicate
adjective! You can also have a predicate noun/nominative: Mike is the president of the class. President is
another noun linking back to Mike.)

ADEQUATE SENTENCE COMBINATION AND REVISION

A paper containing sentences of one short pattern bores both the writer and the reader for two reasons:

1. Repetition of a single, simple sentence pattern draws attention to itself, not to the ideas in the paper.

2. Simple, short sentences cannot show the reader the many relationships that exist among ideas of different
importance.
If you read through a paper you've written and notice that you've written sentences in a single, short pattern, ask
yourself the following questions. Your answers can help you revise the sentences to express your ideas more clearly
and to add variety to your paper.
• Do adjacent sentences contain the same subject and/or the same verb?

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 If so, you can combine two or more short, simple sentences in a single, concise sentence.

o Join the sentences by omitting a repeated subject.

Radio advertisements are broadcast daily or weekly. Radio

Original
advertisements reach a wide audience.
Radio advertisements are broadcast daily or weekly and
Revision
reach a wide audience.

o Join the sentences by omitting repeated subjects and verbs and by using adjectives.

The city council conducted a study of public transportation.

Original
The study was lengthy. The study was detailed.
The city council conducted a lengthy, detailed study of
Revision
public transportation.

o Join the sentences by omitting repeated subjects and verbs and by using adverbs.

The negotiators worked to gain approval for the contract.

Original The negotiators worked at a steady pace. However, they
worked slowly.
The negotiators worked steadily but slowly to gain approval
Revision
for the contract.

DETERMINING THE APPROPRIATE USE OF PUNCTUATION:

• Colon (:). A colon is a punctuation mark. It is used to introduce a list and to separate the hour and
minutes when you write the time of day. It is also used after the salutation in a business letter. Examples:
3:10/ Dear Sir: / You need to take: slippers, a change of clothes, toothbrush, and tooth paste.
• Quotation marks (“”) are punctuation marks used to enclose the exact words of a speaker. They can also
be used for certain titles (short stories, poems, songs, articles, single TV shows). “A spider,” said John
“has eight legs.” (Notice that the quote was split up and that when I continued with what John said, I
didn’t capitalize has. Have you read the story, “To Build a Fire”? (This makes me crazy-Place a question
mark outside the closing quotation mark if it’s just part of the sentence, but not part of the quotation.)
• Apostrophe (‘) is a punctuation mark used in possessive nouns, possessive indefinite pronouns, and
contractions. In contractions an apostrophe shows that one or more letters have been left out. Examples:
Melanie’s friends don’t always understand her. Mickey is asking for everyone’s help.
• Comma (,) is a punctuation mark that’s used to set separate items or to set them off from the rest of a
sentence. Examples: Shoes, socks, hats, and gloves lay in the bottom of the closet. Tessa’s great-
grandmother, who is ninety, loves to travel. (Did you remember that “who is ninety” is an appositive that is
not necessary and that is why it is set off?
 Commas can also be used to set off an introductory word like: Yes, I will eat with you this
evening.
 Commas can also be used before a coordinating conjunction. Jemarcus opened the door,
and the dog ran out.
 They can also be used to set off an adverb clause at the beginning of a sentence.
Whenever I feel afraid, I sing a happy song.
 In a date, set off the year when it is used with both the month and the day. Don’t use a
comma if only the month and the year are given. Example: The ship struck an iceberg on April 14,
1912, and sank early the next morning. The ship sank in April 1912 on its first voyage.
 Use a comma to set off the name of a state or a country when it’s used after the name of
a city. I live in Griffin, Georgia.
 Use a comma after salutation of a friendly letter and at the closing of a friendly or
business letter. Dear Jack, or Yours truly,
• Semi-colon (;) Use a semicolon to join the main clause of a compound sentence if they are not joined by
a conjunction such as and, but, or, nor, or for. Aja went to town; she bought some new tennis shoes. Use a
semicolon to separate main clauses joined by a conjunctive adverb such as consequently, furthermore,
however, moreover, nevertheless, or therefore. I started my homework immediately after school;
consequently, my mother let me stay up late.
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CAPITALIZATION
No wonder they say the English language is the hardest to learn. Look at all these rules!
• Capitalize the first word of every sentence. You sure look fine today.
• Capitalize the first word of a direct quotation. (Remember when it’s split up, you do not capitalize the
second part.) “Sit down and be quiet,” said Mrs. Kellogg but if it is written this way: “Sit down,” said Mrs.
Kellogg, “and be quiet!”
• Capitalize the first word in the salutation and the closing of a letter. Dear Dr. Ford,
• Sincerely, Maggie Thatcher
• Capitalize the names of people and the initials that stand for their names: Susan B. Anthony, A.J. Spikes
• Capitalize a title or an abbreviation of a title when it comes before the person’s name: Dr. Martin Luther
King; President Bush
• Capitalize the names and abbreviations of academic degrees that follow a name. Capitalize Jr. and Sr.:
Otis Ames, M.D. or Esheka Matthews, Ph.D., Johnny James Sr.
• Capitalize words that show family relationships when they are used as titles or as substitutes for names:
Last year Father and Aunt Beth traveled to several western states. BUT don’t capitalize words that show
family relationships when they follow possessive nouns or pronouns: Joe’s uncle took pictures. My aunt
Mary framed them. (This is making me nutty!)
• Capitalize the names of specific places and proper nouns: Atlanta, Georgia; Mexico; Europe;
• Capitalize bodies of water and other geographical features: Rocky Mountains, Lake Michigan, Lake
Altoona
• Capitalize the names of sections of a country: the South; the West Coast, the Northeast, but don’t
capitalize directional words used in other ways: southern California, northerly winds, Kansas is in west
Missouri.
• Capitalize the names of streets and highways: U.S. 41, Taylor Street, Route 66
• Capitalize the names of particular buildings, bridges, monuments, and structures: the White House; the
Rose Bowl; Golden Gate Bridge
• Capitalize names of languages, nationalities and ethnic groups: English, Japanese, Native Americans
• Capitalize proper adjectives: African American voters; a Broadway musical; Mexican art

WORDS THAT ARE CONFUSED THE MOST OFTEN BY STUDENTS AT KRMS

• To, too, two
• Their, there, they’re
• Were, where, we’re, wear
• It’s, its
• Whose, who’s
• Your, you’re
• No, know
• Want, won’t
• Principal, principle
• a lot is two words not one word

PLURALS, POSSESSIVES, CONTRACTIONS

• Plurals for Nouns
1. For most nouns just add-s (sticks, snacks)
2. If ending in s, ch, sh, x, or z-add-es (boxes, lunches)
3. If ending in o, add-s (radios, stereos) Exceptions: potatoes; tomatoes (added –es)
4. If ending in y, change y to i and add –es (flies, candies)
5. If ending in f or fe, add –s (beliefs, chiefs, dwarfs); sometimes you have to change f to v and add-es (wives,
halves, lives)
6. Some nouns are the same for singular and plural (deer, fish, sheep, moose, salmon)
7. Some nouns form their plurals in special ways
(mouse-mice; man-men; tooth-teeth; child-children; goose-geese)
• Making Singular Nouns Show Possession (ownership)
To make a singular noun show possession, add an apostrophe and s. (What if a singular name ends in an s? Dr.
James would be Dr. James’s; however I just saw in a new book that it would also be acceptable as Dr. James’-I
hate all these rules, don’t you?)

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 • Making Plural Nouns Show possession (ownership)
1. If the plural noun ends in s simply add an apostrophe after the s. (workers-workers’)
2. If the plural noun does not end in s add an apostrophe and a s after the apostrophe (men-men’s)
• Contractions-Sometimes a verb is combined with another word to make one word. These shortened forms
are called contractions. (is not-isn’t; will not-won’t; I have-I’ve) This often tricks students on the CRCT.

RESEARCH/WRITING PROCESS
Weighted 40% on CRCT

PARAGRAPHS, ORGANIZATION AND THE AUTHOR’S PURPOSE

Why do we write? There is always one of the following purposes behind an author’s pen for the audience who is
reading:
• Writing that gives information, directions, describes-expository genre
• Writing that tells a story-narrative genre
• Writing that persuades, argues, debates or tries to convince-persuasive genre

How does an author organize his/her writing? Well that depends on the main idea and the intent or purpose of the
writing. Organizing your writing just means how you arrange it on the paper, but the way you arrange it needs to
match the purpose. There are several ways to do this:
• Chronological order (by time)
The rodeo has developed in three major stages. Rodeos began in the Old West as contests of skill
among cowboys during cattle roundups. By 1920 rodeos had become a popular spectator sport for the
general public. Today rodeos combine traditional western events with a circus like atmosphere and the
marketing techniques of big business.

• Cause and effect (events described as a reason and a result, motive and reaction, stimulus and response)
My brother is a natural student; I am a natural non-student. Women have a long way to go before they have
genuinely equal opportunity and recognition, but they have gone some of the distance since my mother finished
high school. Foreign small cars may have virtues, but if we compare them carefully to their American
counterparts, we'll choose the American.
• Comparison and contrast (measuring things against one another to show similarities and differences)
My father is a public high-school teacher. He and the other teachers face a growing number of problems
that seem to have no solutions. Having observed my father's behavior for several years, I have concluded that
high-school teachers are suffering from a disorder formerly associated with war veterans-shell shock. Besides
teaching five or six classes a day, teachers are also expected to sponsor clubs, coach athletic teams, raise money,
head committees, chaperone dances, arrange parades, light bonfires, publish newspapers, and sell pictures. In
my father's work, paper work means more than just grading papers. It also means filling out a never-ending
stream of forms that insure racial equality in the classroom, that provide free lunches to the needy, that reassure
administrators that everything is in its place, and that even request more forms to be filled out. Discipline has
also taken on a new meaning in public schools. Today, discipline means searching for drugs, putting out fires,
disarming students, and breaking up gang fights. Faced with these daily problems and demands, it is no wonder
that teachers like my father are becoming less like educators and more like soldiers suffering from combat
fatigue.
• Posing and answering a question (question and answer)
Why is there a higher rate of cancer among financially disadvantaged people? One possible
explanation for these statistics on cancer can be found in the high levels of stress associated with poverty.
Studies have found that stress can dampen the immune system, the body's first line of defense against
cancer, and experiments with animals have shown that a stressful environment can enhance the growth of a
variety of tumors. The link between poverty, stress, and cancer mortality in humans has not been proven,
but studies have shown a link between stress and other illnesses.

If you read a paragraph on the CRCT, would you be able to determine how it is organized? You need to be able to
do this. Could you name the parts of a paragraph (introduction, body, closing)? Could you pick out the topic
sentence (main idea) or find the clincher sentence (closing idea)? Could you evaluate and determine relevant details
or arguments? Could you determine and evaluate whether details were extraneous? Could you match an outline (a
very organized pre-write) to a paragraph? If they gave you a paragraph to read could you choose a topic sentence for
it? Could you pick the best supporting detail to add? Could you pick a clincher sentence? Could you identify point-
of-view (that’s means whose perspective)? Could you demonstrate your knowledge of research by analyzing
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primary and secondary sources used to support writing? Could you tell if it was written in first person or third
person?

Remember the writing process: Pre-write, rough draft, revision and edit, final draft, proof-read? An outline is a
type of pre-write you might encounter on the CRCT.

Sample Outline I
I. An outline helps you organize writing.
II. This is a main idea
A. This is a supporting detail
B. This is another supporting detail
C. And yet another supporting detail
III. This is a second main idea
A. Are you getting the idea yet?
B. What if you have a minor detail?
1. Put it here!
2. Like this
IV. Outlines can provide focus.
A. Help keep details appropriate
B. Help the writer focus on ideas
V. So you see, outlines help!

Real Example
Competitive Swimming, an Ideal Sport for Kids
I. Introduction

II. Competitive swimming provides same benefits as other sports

A. It is good exercise and builds muscular strength

B. It promotes cooperation among team members, especially in relays

III. Competitive swimming provides some additional benefits

A. Swimming is an important skill that can be used forever

B. There is a reduced risk of injury

C. Each swimmer can easily chart his or her own progress

IV. My personal experience as a competitive swimmer

A. I enjoy working with my coach

B. I've made a lot of friends on the swim team

V. Conclusion

You might be asked to figure out where an idea would be placed or what would go next as you develop a topic. Just
another way they try and trick you! For instance where would you place this detail: Swimming has made me a more
well- rounded person. ( under IV. Because this deals with personal experience.)

Paragraphs and Transitional Words and Expressions—Fact Sheet

Using transitional words and phrases helps papers read more smoothly. They provide logical organization and
understandability and improve the connections and transitions between thoughts. A coherent paper allows the
reader to flow from the first supporting point to the last. Transitions indicate relations, whether within a sentence,
paragraph, or paper.
This list illustrates "relationships" between ideas, followed by words and phrases that can connect them.

Transitional words that signal Addition:

also, again, as well as, besides, coupled with, furthermore, in addition, likewise, moreover, similarly I have a
degree in Early Childhood Education; furthermore, I have six years' experience working with young children.
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Transitional words that signal Cause and Effect:
accordingly, as a result, consequently, for this reason, for this purpose,
hence, otherwise, so then, subsequently, therefore, thus, thereupon, wherefore The captain ignored his own good
judgment, and consequently, the ship was lost at sea. Or Because the captain ignored his own good judgment, the
ship was lost at sea.

Transitional words that signal Time:

after, as long as, in the past, first, second, third, afterward, now, then, as soon as, then finally, while They will write
their exams from 4-6:00 p.m., and immediately afterward, they will proceed to the banquet.

Transitional words that signal Contrast and Comparison:

contrast, by the same token, conversely, instead, likewise, on one hand, on the other hand, on the contrary, rather,
similarly, yet, but, however, still, nevertheless, in contrast The settlers worked very hard; however, they did not
manage to harvest sufficient food to ensure their survival. Or Though the settlers worked very hard, they did not
manage to harvest sufficient food to ensure their survival.

The patriarch in House of Hate creates within his household an atmosphere of fear; similarly, in The Time of Their
Lives, the grandfather instills a perpetual fear in the lives of his children and his wife. Or In the same way that the
patriarch in House Of Hate creates an atmosphere of fear in his household, the grandfather in The Time of Their
Lives instills a perpetual fear in the lives of his children and his wife.

Transitional words that signal Sequence:

at first, first of all, to begin with, in the first place, at the same time, for now, for the time being, the next step, in
time, in turn, later on, meanwhile, next, then, soon, the meantime, later, while, earlier, simultaneously, afterward, in
conclusion, with this in mind,

Transitional words that signal Summarizing:

after all, all in all, all things considered, briefly, by and large, in any case, in any event,
in brief, in conclusion, on the whole, in short, in summary, in the final analysis, in the long run, on balance, to sum
up, to summarize, finally Janice had rewritten all her lecture notes, participated in three group reviews, and reread
all assigned readings; in short, she was prepared to write the exam

ELECTRONIC MEDIA
When we do reports or research we can use many forms of technology as a resource. Here are some of the most
commonly used.
• Internet-computer based resource
• Electronic bulletin board- Electronic bulletin boards are a specific type of pre-produced programming,
often referred to as a magazine. The board acts like a magazine on screen. "Pages" provide pieces of
information, and each is followed by another page, and so on. Like a magazine, the viewer can get
information on anything from starting a small business to employment opportunities to emergency
information to upcoming community events. There are tens of thousands of virtual bulletin boards, also
known as newsgroups, on almost every subject you can imagine -- and then there are many more on
subjects that will probably boggle the imagination. It's Saturday afternoon in Sweden and Kent is stuck
with an Excel related problem. He checks the help in Excel but doesn't find an answer. It's the weekend
and he is at home so he can't ask one of his work colleagues. He could check with the local help line. But
that could cost money and, in any case, it doesn't operate on weekends. Where does he find the answer?
With a quick post on one of the bulletin boards (also known as newsgroups in the language of the Internet)
in cyberspace.
• Databases
A collection of data arranged for ease and speed of search and retrieval.
Types of Databases
Text, graphics and audio information grouped by what they have in common
Databases provide various formats of information. Different databases provide different kinds of information.
In this unit we are focusing on the kinds of databases you use for doing research.

 Bibliographic databases provide a descriptive record of an item, but the item itself is not provided in
the database. Information about the item is provided, including such things as author, title, subject,
publisher, etc. The information provided is called a citation. Sometimes a short summary or abstract

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 of the item is provided as well. Examples of bibliographic databases include the GALILEO database
Social Sciences Abstracts, or the Internet Movie Database on the World Wide Web.

 A full-text database provides the full-text of a publication. For instance, Research Library in
GALILEO provides not only the citation to a journal article, but often the entire text of the article as
well. "CollegeSource Online" offers full-text of 20,000 college catalogs, so rather than having to
request a catalog from several colleges to make comparisons, you can gather information from all
colleges you're interested in at one time.

 Some databases provide numeric information, such as statistics or demographic information.

Examples of these are (link will open in a pop-up window) Census Bureau databases and databases
containing stock market information.

 You can also find databases that collect only image information (EBSCOhost image collection),
audio information (MP3 or wav files), or a combination of any of the above types (CNN).

 CNN's site has a search option that provides access to news articles and the original video and audio
files that accompanied them. Try the link below for a look at the combination of information types in
CNN's database.

 Meta-databases are databases that allow one to search for content that is indexed by other databases.
jake and GOLD are examples of this kind of database. If you find a citation for an article in one of
the bibliographic databases and want to determine if the article is available in full-text in another
database, you could do a search for the journal in jake to get a list of all the databases that index that
specific publication and whether those databases include it in full-text.

Keyword searches -What is a keyword search?

A keyword search allows one to search for keywords and phrases across the major fields of the catalog: authors,
titles, series, subjects, notes, contents notes, and publishers.

Unlike the other search options, the Keyword Search can find words and phrases within a title, series, author, or
subject.

!!! Keyword searches cannot be used to find items by call number, International Standard Book Number (ISBN)
or International Standard Serial Number (ISSN). Keyword searches are not able to take advantage of cross-
references that are available in author, title, and subject searches.
Searching
The Keyword search finds all items in the Catalog that include all of your search terms.
cold ... finds all items with both words appearing anywhere in the record - the words need not appear
war next to each other to be retrieved. The search is interpreted as the boolean search: cold AND war.

• E-mail addresses

Every day, the citizens of the Internet send each other billions of e-mail messages. If you're online a lot, you
yourself may send a dozen or more e-mails each day without even thinking about it. Obviously, e-mail has
become an extremely popular communication tool.

Have you ever wondered how e-mail gets from your computer to a friend halfway around the world? What is a
POP3 server, and how does it hold your mail? The answers may surprise you, because it turns out that e-mail is
an incredibly simple system at its core. In this article, we'll take an in-depth look at e-mail and how it works.

An E-mail Message
According to Darwin Magazine: Prime Movers, the first e-mail message was sent in 1971 by an engineer named
Ray Tomlinson. Prior to this, you could only send messages to users on a single machine. Tomlinson's
breakthrough was the ability to send messages to other machines on the Internet, using the @ sign to designate
the receiving machine.

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EVALUATING SOURCES
When you write a report or a research paper you have to consider several things.
1. Is it a primary source (firsthand account-diaries, journals, letters, interviews, museums, and surveys-
person reporting actually there) or a secondary source (visiting a web site, TV documentary, biography)?
2. Is it fact or opinion?
3. When you use resources you must realize that everyone has an opinion. Some opinions are objective and
some are not. Therefore, you have to determine if there is bias. Bias means a person can only think one
way and does not see both sides of the argument. Like you might say a teacher took sides for a particular
student because she was biased. Stereotyping is another thing to look for in sources. Stereotyping is a
generalization that is usually negative. “All Jewish people are wealthy and have large noses,” is an example
of a stereotype.)
4. Often writers (this could be TV as well) try to persuade their readers or viewers. They often use a technique
known as “jump on the bandwagon.” (“You’re not cool if you don’t wear FUBU” or “Everyone drinks
Coke.”)
5. Commercials are notorious for using big athletes or famous people to promote or endorse their products.
This is a technique known as testimonial. (Michael Jordon, Shack O’Neil to name a couple.) Be a smart
consumer and reader-watch out for propaganda!

RESEARCH STEPS
1. Choose a topic
2. Think of some questions to answer about your topic
3. Choose resource books or sources
4. Skim resources to make sure they are what you need to write an effective paper
5. Take notes (make sure to paraphrase as much as possible; you must give credit (cite) if you quote someone
directly or use their idea so you will not be guilty of plagiarizing. You give people credit for borrowing their
words in the bibliography of your research paper.)
6. Organize notes
7. Write paper (involves pre-write or outline, rough draft; feedback and edits, final draft, proof-read)

TEST TAKING STRATEGIES

1. Relax-easy for me to say, right?
2. You will not know nor should you know everything-so calm down!
3. Read every answer carefully, before you make your decision.
4.
If you don’t know something, skip it and come back.
5.
You should get a good night’s sleep the day before
6. You should eat breakfast
7. You are bright, smart students-let it show-let’s blow them away-KRMS!!
Don’t stress!
Do your best,
On the CRCT test! 

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