Language and Grammar: Use Appropriate Language

Act It Out With a partner, role-play Little Listener talking with another young girl in the tribe. Then role-play Little Listener talking to the Chenoo. Use appropriate language in each situation. Use past tense and past perfect tense verbs to show the order of past actions. Trade roles.

Before I started dinner, I had collected berries.

Grandfather, I was happy that you had come to our camp.

Writing and Grammar: Write about a Memory

Study the Models When you write, you want to make sure your readers can understand the order in which actions happen. Use words correctly to show how actions are related in time.

Not Ok

Since Little Listener was young, she performed the task of collecting firewood. Just this morning, she has gathered dry wood for the fire before she picked berries. As she worked, she thought of her three brothers. After she has returned to camp, she looked at the dinner pot. It sat empty on the ground. She hoped that her brothers had caught something for her to cook.

This writer confuses the reader by shifting back and forth in time.

Ok

Since Little Listener was young, she has performed the task of collecting firewood. Just this morning, she had gathered dry wood for the fire before she picked berries. As she worked, she thought of her three brothers. After she had returned to camp, she looked at the big dinner pot. It sat empty on the ground. She hoped that her brothers had caught something for her to cook.

This writer correctly uses words that make it clear when the actions happen.

Add Sentences Think of two sentences to add to the OK model above. Be sure to use words that make it clear when actions happened.

Illustration of the pen icon WRITE ON YOUR OWN Write a paragraph about a memory you have of your family working together. Use correct verbs to show when actions happened.