Teaching a Unit of Great Writing

UNIT OPENER TIPS

Each unit begins with a thought-provoking PHOTO to WORDS TO KNOW
capture students’ attention and arouse curiosity. It is • Teach the vocabulary words before reading the paragraph
accompanied by a FREEWRITE activity that gives them an they accompany. Ask questions to elicit what words
opportunity to write freely about a topic pertinent to the unit students already know. Use synonyms, examples, sentence
and photo. The unit opener also presents the measurable stems, anecdotes, etc. in your questions. For example, to
OBJECTIVES of the unit. elicit the word attend, ask students, “What is another way to
say go to class?” or say, “I … classes at a community college.
TIPS What’s the word I’m missing?” After eliciting or saying the
word, go over the definition in the box. Teach the words in
Read, or have a student read, the OBJECTIVES. Ask students the box out of order so that students cannot simply read
to rate themselves on these objectives before they start the ahead to guess the next word. After going over all of the
unit. Use the following scale: words, ask comprehension check questions to review. For
1 = Not at all example, ask, “What types of things do people attend?”
2 = Somewhat (meetings, classes, etc.)
• Have students keep a vocabulary notebook in which they
3 = Well record the WORDS TO KNOW, including definitions, sample
4 = Very well sentences (possibly taken from the model paragraph
Have students rate themselves again at the end of the unit or essay it accompanies), and any other important
to evaluate their own learning. information (i.e., first-language translation, synonyms,
antonyms, and collocations). Here is an example of an entry
Ask questions about the photo and caption. in a Spanish speaker’s vocabulary notebook.
• What is this a photo of?
• How does it make you feel? WORDS DEFINITION SAMPLE OTHER INFO
• What interests you? Why? TO KNOW SENTENCE
• What do you think the photographer was trying to Attend (v) To go to a Caroline Translation:
capture in the photo? meeting, class, attends asistir
• Do you like the photo? Why or why not? and so on classes at
• What does the caption say? Jefferson
• How does it help you understand the photo? Community
Read, or have a student read, the FREEWRITE prompt. College.
Have students discuss their answers with a partner before • Have students make flashcards. On one side, they should
writing. write the word. On the other side, they should draw a four-
square grid and distribute the following information into
Each unit features four parts: Elements of Great Writing, the squares: definition, first-language translation, sample
Building Better Vocabulary, Building Better Sentences, and sentence, synonyms. Here is an example of a Spanish
Writing. The unit concludes with a Test Taking Tip and prompt. speaker’s flashcards. (Ready-made flash cards with the words
and their definitions are available on the Online Workbook.)
ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING (front) (back)
This part provides instruction on the fundamentals of writing, To go to a Asistir
including GRAMMAR and MECHANICS, and is the longest meeting, class,
part of the unit. The unit-by-unit teacher’s notes have specific and so on
information on how to present the information, as well as
expansion ideas.
WORDS TO KNOW boxes accompany the model paragraphs Attend Caroline Synonym:
where the vocabulary words appear. These boxes include attends go to
parts of speech and definitions. WORDS TO KNOW have classes at
been carefully selected based on the Common European Jefferson
Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) levels and Community
appearance on the Academic Word List (Coxhead, 2000) College.
and the New Academic Word List (Browne, C., Culligan, B. &
Encourage students to study the connotations, word forms,
Phillips, J., 2013).
and spelling of the WORDS TO KNOW, too.
ACTIVITIES range from controlled practice to independent
writing.
Following are some tips for how to teach the WORDS TO
KNOW and do the ACTIVITIES in class.

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teaching a Unit  i

ACTIVITIES
• Read, or have a student read, the directions and go over
any examples.
• If necessary, do one item together as a class.
• Have students do the activity individually, unless
otherwise noted.
• Have students share their answers in pairs or small
groups before going over them as a class.
• See the unit-by-unit teacher’s notes for any specific
teaching information.
BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY
In this part, students use WORD ASSOCIATIONS,
COLLOCATIONS, WORD FORMS, and VOCABULARY IN
WRITING activities to practice the WORDS TO KNOW from
the unit. Following are some tips for how to review the
vocabulary and do each of these activities in class.
TIPS
WORDS TO KNOW
The final WORDS TO KNOW box in the unit compiles the
vocabulary from the unit and tags academic words. Explain
to the class that in order to really learn new vocabulary
words, they need repeated exposure to and practice
with them. Here are some ways to get students using the
WORDS TO KNOW.
• Give students one minute to review the complete list of
vocabulary words from the unit. Then have them close
their books and give them three minutes to write as
many of the words as they can remember.
• Have students work with a partner and assign each one half
of the words. They must tell their partner what each word
means, and their partner will check the definitions provided
in the book to say whether they are correct or not.
• Alternatively, have students work with a partner and
assign the individual WORDS TO KNOW boxes to each
student. One student goes first and reads the definitions
of the words in his or her boxes while the other partner
guesses the words.
• Match and Write: Give half of the class vocabulary
words and the other half of the class the definitions to
those words on small pieces of paper (one per student).
Students mingle to find the correct pairing. After they
check in with the teacher, they write a sentence using
their vocabulary word. For an added challenge, set a rule
such as compound sentences only. Then go over all of
the sentences together as a class.
• Write three or four scrambled vocabulary words on
the board (with the first and last letter in their proper
positions for added support). Students unscramble
the letters with their books closed and then write a
sentence for each word. Have students share their work
with a partner before asking for volunteers to read their
sentences aloud to the class.
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teaching a Unit 
• BINGO: Have students draw a three-by-three table
in their notebooks. While they do this, write nine
vocabulary words on the board. Direct students to
write one word in each box of their table in any order
they want. Then call out the definitions of the words in
random order. The first student to get three words in a
row (vertically, horizontally, or diagonally) calls BINGO!
For an extra challenge, ask the students to use the three
words accurately in sentences.
• Spin a Story: Have students work individually, or in pairs/
small groups, to write about an image in the unit using as
many WORDS TO KNOW as they can. For this activity, the
students should pay particular attention to meaning and
use. Set a time limit. The winning student or pair/small
group is the one that used the most words correctly.
• Tic-Tac-Toe: Draw a three-by-three grid on the board and
number each square 1–9. The numbers correspond to nine
WORDS TO KNOW that you have chosen to review and
numbered. Divide the students into two teams, Team X and
Team O, and pick one team to go first. The first team picks
a number, and you tell them the word it corresponds to.
As a group, they must come up with a sentence in which
the word is used correctly. If their use is correct, they get to
mark the box with their letter (X or O), and then the other
team gets a turn. If their use is incorrect, they do not get to
mark the box, and the turn moves to the other team. The
first group to get three Xs or three Os in a row (vertically,
horizontally, or diagonally) wins the game. You may choose
to have the students spell the words in this game, too.
WORD ASSOCIATIONS
Explain to the class that when people make word associations,
they connect the meaning of different words. An association
is often a synonym or antonym, but it can also be a person,
place, or thing that a word makes people think of. For example,
when we hear the word summer, we might think of beach or
hot or vacation. These are word associations. Associating the
unit vocabulary with other words is one way to help students
remember the meaning of the unit vocabulary.
• Read, or have a student read, the directions and do the
first item together if necessary.
• Go over any potentially difficult vocabulary.
• Have students complete the activity individually.
• Have students compare their answers with a partner or
small group before going over them as a class.
• After, have students discuss what other associations they
can make with the words. Do they have an association
they think is stronger or more helpful for remembering
the meaning of a vocabulary word?
• For variation, have students cover the answer choices
and come up with an association of their own for each
vocabulary word first. They should write their associations to
the left of the words. Then have them complete the activity
and see how their own associations compare.
• For extra practice, have students make word associations
with the unit vocabulary not covered in the activity. Give
them 30 seconds to make as many associations they can
for each word. Then compare associations in pairs, small
groups, or as a class.
ii
COLLOCATIONS
Explain to the class that collocations are words that are
generally used together. For example, blonde collocates
with hair whereas tan does not. Impact collocates with
make or have but not do. When learning to use new
vocabulary, it is helpful to also learn what other words they
are generally used with.
• Read, or have a student read, the directions and do the
first item together if necessary.
• Go over any potentially difficult vocabulary.
• Have students complete the activity individually.
• Have students compare their answers with a partner or
small group before going over them as a class. Discuss in
what situations they might use the collocations.
• For extra practice with collocations, have students work
in pairs or small groups to use a concordancer, such as
lextutor (https://www.lextutor.ca/conc/) or the Corpus
of Contemporary American English (https://corpus.byu.
edu/coca/), to discover other collocations for the unit
vocabulary. You may need to show them how these
concordancers work first. Students can be tasked to find
at least one other collocation for the words targeted in
the activity, or to find at least one collocation for each
word not covered in the activity. These tasks could also
be assigned as homework.
WORD FORMS
Explain to the class that they can expand their vocabulary
by learning the various word forms of the unit vocabulary,
including the noun, verb, adjective, and adverb forms.
While the meanings of the various word forms differ
slightly, they are all usually related. Point out that knowing
the different forms of a word is essential for writing
correctly.
• Read, or have a student read, the directions and do the
first item together if necessary.
• Go over any potentially difficult vocabulary.
• Have students complete the activity individually.
• Have students compare their answers with a partner or
small group before going over them as a class.
• For extra practice, have students write sentences with the
word forms that were left over in the chart.
• For more extensive extra practice, have students work
in pairs to create a chart like the one in the activity for
five other preselected vocabulary words. (To avoid issues
with students using obscure forms of the vocabulary
words, choose adjectives and adverbs from the Words to
Know box first.) For each word, they write the word form
used in the unit plus any other word forms (i.e., noun,
verb, adjective, adverb) and two sentences with blanks
where the missing word forms should go. Then they
can switch papers with another pair and complete the
sentences.
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teaching a Unit 
VOCABULARY IN WRITING
Explain to the class that using the unit vocabulary words
in original sentences deepens their understanding of the
meaning and use of these words. Original writing can
confirm when they are using the unit vocabulary correctly,
and also indicate errors in usage that can then be pointed
out and corrected.
• Read, or have a student read, the directions and do the
first item together if necessary.
• Have students complete the activity individually.
• For an added challenge, have students use grammar and/
or collocations from the unit in their sentences.
• Have students compare their answers with a partner or
small group before going over them as a class. As you go
over the students’ sentences, check for correct meaning
and use of the WORDS TO KNOW first, followed by correct
grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
• For variation, choose, or have students choose, which
words to write sentences with.
• For extra practice, have students write a complete
sentence for each of the remaining words in the WORDS
TO KNOW box. This task could also be assigned as
homework.
BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES
This part consists of activities that provide sentence-level
practice for students. It may include an EDITING and/or
COMBINING SENTENCES activity, or unscrambling words to
make sentences, or writing sentences.
EDITING
• Read, or have a student read, the directions and go over
any examples.
• If the errors are not indicated, remind students that they
should look for errors in word order, word form, missing/
extra words, subject-noun agreement, spelling, and
punctuation.
• If necessary, do one item together as a class.
• Have students do the activity individually, unless
otherwise noted.
• Have students share their answers in pairs or small
groups before going over them as a class.
• See the unit-by-unit teacher’s notes for any specific
teaching information or expansion ideas.
SCRAMBLED SENTENCES
• Read, or have a student read, the directions and go over
any examples.
• Encourage students to think about what the very basic
sentence would be first (subject + verb + object) before
adding other information to it in the correct places.
• If necessary, do one item together as a class.
• Have students do the activity individually, unless
otherwise noted.
• Have students share their answers in pairs or small
groups before going over as a class.
• See the unit-by-unit teacher’s notes for any specific
teaching information or expansion ideas.
iii
 WRITING SENTENCES
• Read, or have a student read, the directions and go over
any examples.
• Encourage students to use the grammar and mechanics
they learned in the unit if it is relevant. Or encourage
them to use a grammar or mechanics point they learned
in a previous unit.
• If necessary, do one item together as a class.
• Have students do the activity individually, unless
otherwise noted.
• Have students share their answers in pairs or small
groups before going over as a class.
• See the unit-by-unit teacher’s notes for any specific
teaching information or expansion ideas.
COMBINING SENTENCES
See Unit 1 of the student book for a detailed explanation of
this activity.
• Read, or have a student read, the directions and go over
any examples.
• If necessary, have students circle the information they
think is important in the sentences before they try
combining them.
• If necessary, do one item together as a class.
• Have students do the activity individually.
• Have students share their answers in pairs or small
groups before going over them as a class.
• Before or as you review answers for each item, ask
students which words they think are the most important.
• As you go over the answers, show students a version of
the final combination (such as from the answer key) and
ask if anyone had a different answer. Highlight that this
is the creative part of writing, and that there can be more
than one correct answer. (See the unit-by-unit teaching
notes for specific teaching information.)

WRITING
In this part, students have a chance to apply the
fundamentals of writing, including grammar and mechanics,
that they learned earlier in the unit and from previous units
to an original piece of writing. They work through a series of
scaffolded activities, including PEER EDITING.
PEER EDITING FORMS provide both a structured way for
students to review and comment on their classmates’ writing,
as well as a checklist against which they can review their own
work.
Five ADDITIONAL TOPICS FOR WRITING are available for
students who want or need extra writing practice in each
unit. The topics were selected based on their pertinence to
the unit and level of interest.
A TEST PREP section rounds out this part. It provides
students with a writing prompt that is similar in format to
an IELTS© or TOEFL© prompt, as well as with a tip for doing
timed writing.
For the ACTIVITIES in this part, follow the tips given in the
ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING section of this overview.
See the unit-by-unit teacher’s notes for specific teaching
information, as well as expansion ideas.

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teaching a Unit  iv

UNIT 1 | Sentence Basics
UNIT OVERVIEW
This unit introduces students to the basic structure of a
simple sentence including use of subjects, verbs, objects,
capitalization, and end punctuation. A closer look at
sentences patterns with the verb be introduces students to
the concepts of adjectives and prepositional phrases.
OBJECTIVES
• Use common sentence patterns with the verb be
• Write sentences with there is/there are
• Use prepositional phrases of place and time
• Use time words and phrases
• Use correct capitalization and punctuation
ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING
What Is a Sentence? (page 4)
Direct students’ attention to the chart. Ask volunteers
to read the sentences aloud. Ask: What is in all of these
sentences? (a subject and a verb) Read the information
about the subject and the verb. Ask about the chart: What
is not in every sentence? (an object and other information)
Read the information about the object. Then ask about
the chart: What type of information can be “Other
Information”? (time words)
EXPANSION Check for understanding of correct and
incorrect sentences by writing the following on the board:
a. Maria plays. (correct)
b. Plays the piano. (incorrect; missing a subject)
c. Maria the piano. (incorrect; missing a verb)
d. Maria plays the piano. (correct)
Activity 1 | Identifying subjects, verbs, and objects
(pages 4-5)
Activity 2 | Using subjects, verbs, and objects (page 5)
Before students do the activity, direct their attention to the
photo and caption. Ask them what people do at an Amazon
Go store. (pay for their groceries with an app) Ask them
what part-time jobs people might have there if there are
no cashiers because people pay with an app. (stocking the
shelves; helping customers; cleaning the store)
Avoiding Fragments (page 6)
Ask students what every sentence must have in English.
(a subject and a verb) Read what a fragment is. Then ask
students to identify what is missing from each of the wrong
examples. (The first is missing the subject; the second is
missing a verb.)
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 1 
Writer’s Note Using It as a Subject (page 6)
Before you review the information in the box, write the
following on the board:
Maria has a piano. It is black.
Ask students what “It” refers to. (piano) Explain that we
often use It as the subject of a sentence when we refer to a
noun in an earlier sentence. Then go over the information
in the box.
EXPANSION To check comprehension, write the following
fragments on the board and ask students to correct each
by adding one word.
a. Snows on the mountain. (It snows on the mountain.)
b. Live in the ocean. (Whales live in the ocean.)
c. People at the library. (People study at the library.)
Activity 3 | Identifying fragments (page 6)
Sentences with the Verb Be (page 7)
Go over the information with the students. Explain that a
noun phrase is a group of words that together work as a
noun and can include an adjective + noun combination.
A prepositional phrase always starts with a preposition
and includes a noun/noun phrase as the object of the
preposition.
EXPANSION To check comprehension, write sentences on
pieces of paper that students have to sort by pattern. Here
are some examples.
We are students. (Subject + Be + Noun(s)/Noun Phrase)
The children are excited. (Subject + Be + Adjective(s))
The new books are at the bookstore. (Subject + Be +
Prepositional Phrase)
The teacher is in the classroom. (Subject + Be +
Prepositional Phrase)
My family is big. (Subject + Be + Adjective(s))
Our house is in the city. (Subject + Be + Prepositional
Phrase)
The flower is a type of rose. (Subject + Be + Noun(s)/Noun
Phrase)
Kimchi is a spicy dish. (Subject + Be + Noun(s)/Noun Phrase)
The Atlantic Ocean is salty. (Subject + Be + Adjective(s))
The new apartments are small and expensive. (Subject +
Be + Adjective(s))
A smartphone is a computer. (Subject + Be + Noun(s)/Noun
Phrase)
Their books are on their desks. (Subject + Be +
Prepositional Phrase)
1
Activity 4 | Identifying sentence patterns of be (page 8)
Before doing the activity, have students read the paragraph.
Ask comprehension questions: What does Sandhya
Narayanan do? (studies the Quechua and Aymara languages)
Where does she do her research? (in the Andes Mountains on
the border of Peru and Bolivia)
Activity 5 | Scrambled sentences (page 9)
Point out that the first letter of the first word in the example
in item 1 is capitalized.
Activity 6 | Writing sentences (pages 9-10)
Help students create sentence stems from the answers
to Activity 5 that they can use to write sentences about
themselves. (1. My name is …; 2. I am from …; 3. (name of
town) is in (name of country); 4. My mother is a/an (profession);
5. My father is a/an (profession); 6. I am the … child in my family;
7. I am (adjective); 8. … is my hobby; 7. I am a/an (profession); 8.
(Profession + -ing) is (adjective))
Grammar: Expressing Place and Time (pages 11-12)
Direct students’ attention to the chart on page 11. Ask
students what similarities they see among the columns.
(The first and second have phrases that begin with
prepositions; the second and third column tell about time.)
Explain that the first two columns have prepositional
phrases. Read the definition of a prepositional phrase and
then go over the difference between a prepositional phrase
of place and a prepositional phrase of time. Direct students
to the Writer’s Handbook if they need more information
about the prepositions at, in, and on. Then explain that the
last column also has words and phrases that express time
and read the information about these.
EXPANSION For more practice using at, on, and in, have
students categorize places and times by the correct
preposition. (At: 10 p.m., lunchtime, the post office, the store;
On: 42nd Street, May 19th, Monday, the corner; In: 2050, India,
the ’90s, the river)
Activity 7 | Scrambled sentences (page 11)
Tell students to refer to the sentences patterns with be on
page 7 and to the chart on page 4 for help with word order in
sentences.
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 1 
Grammar: There Is/There Are + Prepositional Phrase
(page 12)
Have a volunteer read the sentences in the chart. Ask
students what they notice about the subject in these
sentences. (It comes after the verb be.) Read the information
about using there is/there are + prepositional phrase. Ask
students if they can think of prepositional phrases for the
first and third sentences. (in the universe; in the world)
EXPANSION For comprehension, have students categorize
these subjects under There is or There are: books, bulletin
board, computer, desks, English class, new chairs. Then
have them work individually for two minutes to categorize
as many classroom objects as they can under each
category. Go over together as a class.
Activity 8 | Analyzing a paragraph (page 12)
Activity 9 | Editing a paragraph (page 13)
As follow up, ask students which combinations of letters are
the hardest for them to spell in English.
Activity 10 | Using there is/there are + prepositional phrase
(page 14)
Activity 11 | Analyzing a paragraph (pages 14–15)
Before students do the activity, have a volunteer read the
caption to the photo. Ask students about back-to-school or
end-of-the-year traditions they have.
Activity 12 | Writing sentences (page 16)
EXPANSION To make this activity more of a game, choose
one sentence type (there is, there are, be + adjective, or be +
prepositional phrase of place) and ask students to work in
pairs to write as many sentences of that type as they can. Set
a time limit. The pair with the most correct sentences wins.
Mechanics: Beginning and Ending a Sentence
(page 17)
Write the following sentences on the board:
a. The boxes on the table are heavy.
b. Brazil is a large country
Ask the students if each sentence has a subject and a verb.
(yes) Then tell them that the sentences are missing two
other elements that are essential to a complete sentence—
one each. Ask them if they can identify what these
elements are. (a capital letter on the first word; a period at
the end of the sentence) Direct their attention to the correct
examples in the book.
2
Activity 13 | Scrambled sentences (page 17)
Before the students start the activity, explain that the
sentences are connected in meaning. After they finish, ask
them to explain what the sentences were about. (how some
children create their own soccer balls out of old bags, paper, and
string)
Mechanics: Using Capital Letters with Proper Nouns
(page 18)
Have students cover the left side of the table so that just
the examples are showing. Ask them if they can explain
why the words in the examples have capital letters. Then
read the reasons given. Direct students to the Writer’s
Handbook for more capitalization rules.
Activity 14 | Editing a paragraph (page 18)
As you go over the mistakes with the class, ask the students
to categorize each error. For example, My is the first word;
Albert is the name of a person; He is the first word; Chicago is
the name of a place; etc.
BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY
Words to Know (page 19)
EXPANSION Give students one minute to review the
complete list of vocabulary words from the unit. Then have
them close their books and give them three minutes to write
as many of the words as they can remember.
Activity 15 | Word Associations (page 19)
Activity 16 | Collocations (pages 19-20)
Activity 17 | Word forms (page 20)
Activity 18 | Vocabulary in writing (page 21)
BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES
Activity 19 | Editing sentences (page 21)
Activity 20 | Editing sentences (page 22)
As you go over the answers as a class, have students stand
up if they think a sentence is incorrect. Choose a volunteer
among those standing to correct the sentence.
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 1 
Combining Sentences (pages 22-23)
Read the information. Then discuss these strategies for
combining multiple short sentences about the same idea
into one longer sentence using the second example for
reference.
• Find important nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs,
prepositional phrases, and time words.
• Create noun phrases with an adjective and a noun.
(strong storm)
• Create verb phrases with an adverb and a verb. (moved
quickly)
• Decide which important noun/noun phrase should be
the subject of the longer sentence and which should be
the object (if appropriate).
• Decide where to include any information about time,
place, or direction. (toward the city)
• Include commas where necessary to indicate the
relationship between ideas. (Yesterday,)
Activity 21 | Combining sentences (page 23)
Before you review answers for each item, ask students which
words they think are the most important. (1. Andrew, teacher,
reliable, teaches, at my high school; 2. answers, correct, on the
website; 3. Rachel, Tai Chi classes, at a park, popular)
WRITING
Activity 22 | Writing sentences (page 24)
Before students start writing on their own, brainstorm some
famous locations that are popular tourist destinations. Ask
students what each sentence needs in order to be complete.
(at least a subject, a verb, a capital letter on the first word, and a
period at the end of the sentence)
Editing (page 25)
Read the information and checklist. Ask students the
following questions to check comprehension of the
concepts in the checklist:
What is the subject? (the person or thing that does the
action)
What is the verb? (the word that shows the action or state of
the subject)
What are the forms of be in the simple present? (am, is,
are)
What is an example of a plural subject?
What is an example of a singular subject?
What is an example of a prepositional phrase of place?
What is an example of a proper noun?
3
 Peer Editing (page 25) 6. works
7. takes
Read the information. Give students some tips for giving
8. her job
and receiving feedback.
9. enjoys
Giving Feedback
• Use I instead of you when possible to emphasize that 10. Amazon Go
they are expressing their opinions. For example, say “I Activity 3, page 6
think you forgot to put the word at here.”
• Use the sandwich method. Provide a positive comment 1. S
first. Then explain a mistake or area for improvement. 2. F; My mother makes breakfast every morning.
Finally, provide another positive comment.
3. F; It is sunny today.
• Always provide examples or reasons for comments.
• Support your comments with specific information, 4. S
especially from the checklist and information from the 5. F; They are my cousins from Miami.
unit(s) in the book. 6. F; It is twelve o'clock.
Receiving Feedback 7. S
• You should listen to feedback, ask clarifying questions, 8. F; Nicole and Jean are best friends.
and thank your classmates for their feedback, but you
do not need to act on all the feedback. The final decision 9. S
about what to change in your work is yours. 10. F; Possible answer: A sentence has a subject and a verb.

Activity 23 | Writing peer editing comments (page 26)
After reading the directions, explain to students that this
paragraph is a response to Activity 22. It should follow the
assignment and answer all the questions.
Activity 24 | Peer editing (page 27)
Additional Topics for Writing (page 27)
TEST PREP TIP (page 27)
Read the tip. Tell students that taking time to think of ideas
before writing is called brainstorming. Ask them to share
ways that they brainstorm ideas. (freewrite, make a list or
outline, use a graphic organizer like a mind map or T-chart)
UNIT 1 ANSWER KEY
ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING
Activity 1, pages 4-5
1. My friend and I play tennis.
2. Eun and Hae-Won skate.
3. The university has business and education classes.
4. Abdullah and Salem take and share pictures.
5. The science class studies climate change.
6. The history professors give long lectures.
7. Eva reads newspapers, magazines, and books.
8. The performer sings, acts, and dances.
Activity 2, page 5
1. Caroline
2. She
3. classes
4. wakes up
5. arrives
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 1 
Activity 4, page 8
PARAGRAPH 1.2
A Language Scientist
Sandhya Narayanan is a National Geographic Explorer.
She is from Boston, USA, and Toronto, Canada. She speaks
many languages. She is a language scientist. Sandhya works
in the Andes Mountains on the border of Peru and Bolivia. She
studies two languages there. These languages are old. They
are Quechua and Aymara. She studies the change of these
languages over time. Her research teaches us about languages
in the world.
Activity 5, page 9
1. My name is Angela.
2. I am from Kearney, Nebraska.
3. Kearney is a small city in the middle of the United States.
4. My mother is a professor.
5. My father is a small business owner.
6. I am the oldest child in my family.
7. I am tall.
8. Hiking is my hobby.
9. I am an English teacher.
10. Teaching is exciting and fun.
Activity 6, pages 9-10
Answers will vary.
Activity 7, page 11
1. Amal works at the hospital five days a week. / Five days a
week, Amal works at the hospital.
2. Silvia and Ana study grammar at City College twice a
week. / Twice a week, Silvia and Ana study grammar at
City College.
3. Janie exercises at the gym every day. / Every day, Janie
exercises at the gym.
4. We take an important quiz in Mrs. Wang’s class every
week. / Every week, we take an important quiz in Mrs.
Wang's class.
4
 5. Eric puts his books in his car in the afternoon. / In the
afternoon, Eric puts his books in his car.
6. Sulaiman eats dinner at a restaurant once a week. / Once
a week, Sulaiman eats dinner at a restaurant.
7. Sara bakes a pie in the oven once a month. / Once a
month, Sara bakes a pie in the oven.
8. I am busy at work right now. / Right now, I am busy at
work.
9. Paul and Carrie visit their grandmother in Miami
every month. / Every month, Paul and Carrie visit their
grandmother in Miami.
10. We have coffee at the café every morning. / Every
morning, we have coffee at the café.
Activity 8, pages 12-13
PARAGRAPH 1.3
My Colorful Classroom
My classroom is very colorful. 1There are twenty desks in
the room. Each desk has a dark brown seat and a shiny white
top. 2There is a world map on the left side of the room. This
map shows the locations of all the countries in the world,
and each continent is a different color. 3There are two posters
on the right side of the room. 4There is a list of fifty common
verbs on the first poster. The second poster has some simple
pictures of fruits and vegetables. 5On the bulletin board, there
are some pictures of famous leaders. These objects make my
classroom colorful.
Post-reading questions:
1. 1, 3, 5
2. twenty desks, two posters, some pictures of famous
leaders
3. 2, 4
4. a world map, a list of fifty common verbs
5. on the left side of the room
6. on the right side of the room
7. on the bulletin board
Activity 9, page 13
PARAGRAPH 1.4
The English Alphabet
There are 26 letters in the English alphabet. There are five
vowel letters and 21 consonant letters. The five vowels are
a, e, i, o, and u. The letters w and y can be vowels when they
follow other vowels. There are three letters with the a sound
in their names. These letters are a, j, and k. There are nine
letters with the e sound in their names. These are b, c, d, e, g, p,
t, v, and z. If you want to write well in English, you must learn
the 26 letters of the English alphabet.
Activity 10, page 14
1. There are seven colors in a rainbow.
2. There are many types of art at the museum.
3. There are students from different countries in the class.
4. There is a beautiful garden in the park.
5. There are many different animals at the zoo.
6. There is a dirty plate on the table.
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 1 
7. There are so many cars in the parking lot.
8. There is a new reading room at the library.
9. There are difficult questions on the test.
10. There is a funny show on TV.
11. There is a passenger on the bus.
12. There are people swimming at the beach.
Activity 11, pages 14-15
PARAGRAPH 1.5
A Student’s Desk
1
There are four school books in the middle of my desk.
2
The two large books cover the desk. 3They are textbooks.
4
One is a grammar book. 5It is green. 6There is a writing book
next to the grammar book. 7It is blue. 8The other books
are smaller. 9They are on top of the textbooks. 10They are
workbooks. 11The textbooks have the main information. 12The
workbooks have more practice. 13These four books are always
on my desk.
Post-reading questions:
1. a grammar book
2. on top of the textbooks
3. sentences 2, 11, 12
4. sentences 5, 7, 8
Activity 12, page 16
Answers will vary.
Activity 13, page 17
1. Children around the world love to play soccer.
2. Children in some countries do not have money for a ball.
3. These children are very clever.
4. They make their own soccer balls.
5. They start with old shopping bags and paper.
6. They wrap string around the materials.
7. This makes a strong ball to play with.
8. The children are happy to play with these hand-made
soccer balls.
Activity 14, page 18
PARAGRAPH 1.6
An Interesting Job
My cousin Albert has an interesting job. 2He is a taxi
1
driver in Chicago. 3Albert owns his own taxi company. 4It
is called Reliable Taxi Service. 5Albert drives a taxi every
day except Sunday. 6May and June are busy months for
him. 7 Tourists from Canada and Europe often use Albert’s
company. 8He drives his passengers to a variety of locations.
9
Popular places are the John Hancock Observatory,
Millennium Park, and Wrigley Field. 10My cousin practices
English with his customers. 11Albert loves his job.
BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY
Activity 15, page 19
1. go to something
2. brief stop
5
 3. usual Activity 20, page 22
4. go after
1. Incorrect; Mexico is not near Great Britain.
5. important
2. Incorrect; The Bahla Fort is in Oman.
6. center
3. Incorrect; Sudan is in Africa.
7. have
4. Correct
8. liked
5. Correct
9. easy
6. Incorrect; Russia and Canada are bigger than the United
10. several States.
Activity 16, pages 19-20 7. Incorrect; It rains a lot in Southeast Asia during the rainy
season.
1. communicate clearly 8. Correct
2. a group leader 9. Correct
3. take a break 10. Incorrect; Bolivia is not part of Europe.
4. attend an English class
5. make a common mistake Activity 21, page 23
6. a tourist attraction Possible answers:
7. a reliable source of information 1. Andrew is a reliable teacher at my high school.
8. more research is necessary 2. There are correct answers on the website.
9. in the middle of a project 3. Rachel takes Tai Chi classes at a popular park.
10. a central location WRITING
Activity 17, page 20 Activity 22, page 24
1. Mr. Cox checks the students’ attendance every day. Answers will vary.
2. Do you attend any classes in the evenings?
Activity 23, page 26
3. I have a cover on my smart phone.
4. Amal covers her head with a scarf every day. PARAGRAPH 1.7
5. Do you have soccer practice today? The Beauty of Tuscany
6. Eva practices her English at the language club. I want to visit Tuscany. Tuscany is a beautiful location
7. The scientific magazine publishes all the latest research. in Italy. The Apennine Mountains are in Tuscany. They have
8. Neil deGrasse Tyson is a scientist and a TV host. great places to ski and hike. Tuscany is also famous for its
beautiful ceramics. For example, bowls, vases, and oil jars are
9. There are various ways to study vocabulary.
very popular with tourists. Tuscany has so many interesting
10. This menu has a variety of vegetarian foods. places to see. Pisa and Siena are two beautiful cities there. It is
a wonderful place to visit.
Activity 18, page 21
Possible answers:
Answers will vary.
1. It answers all of the questions; it has good examples.
2. Using the verb be; capitalizing proper nouns.
BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES
Activity 24, page 27
Activity 19, page 21
Answers will vary.
1. Gyeongju National Park is in South Korea.
2. Most schools finish classes in May. (Answers may vary for
the missing verb.)
3. My family swims at the pool.
4. In the winter, it snows a lot in the mountains.
5. Jane attends classes at Houston Community College.
(Answers may vary for the missing verb.)
6. There is a big dinner on the table.
7. Mr. Smith is the most popular teacher in our school this
semester.
8. The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean in the world.
9. The official language of China is Mandarin.
10. You can find many beautiful types of art in a museum.

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 1  6
UNIT 2 | Paragraph Basics
UNIT OVERVIEW
This unit introduces students to the basic structure of
paragraphs, including titles of paragraphs, topic sentences,
supporting sentences, sequence words and phrases, and
concluding sentences. Practice with Adjective + Noun and
Linking Verb + Adjective structures strengthens students’
ability to add descriptive language to their paragraph.
Students also learn to distinguish between subject and
object pronouns and use possessive adjectives.
OBJECTIVES
• Identify topic, supporting, and concluding sentences
• Use adjectives
• Use subject and object pronouns
• Write an original paragraph
ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING
What Is a Paragraph? (page 30)
Direct students’ attention to the definition of a paragraph.
Ask volunteers to read the four main parts aloud. Ask: What
is special about the first line in a paragraph? (it is indented—
moved in) Where does the main idea go? (in the topic
sentence) Can the sentences in the body talk about lots of
different ideas? (no—they are all about the main idea) How
do you end a paragraph? (with a concluding sentence)
Activity 1 | Analyzing paragraphs (pages 30–32)
Mechanics: The Title of a Paragraph (page 32)
Before looking at the explanation, ask: Why does a paragraph
sometimes have a title? Elicit student ideas, and compare
with the explanation. (to give the reader information
about what is in the paragraph) Instruct students to read
the information about a good paragraph title and the
capitalization rules.
EXPANSION To check comprehension, write the following
titles on the board. Ask students to identify which titles are
correct, and which are incorrect.
a. Things I Learned On Vacation In Italy (incorrect—do not
capitalize on or in, as they are not important words)
b. February (correct—a title can be one word)
c. Things in my Closet. (incorrect—no period)
d. A Special Birthday (incorrect—capitalize a because it is
the first word)
e. Dogs Are Better Pets Than Cats Because They Are
Friendly and Loyal (incorrect—gives too much
information)
Activity 2 | Editing titles (page 33)
Activity 3 | Writing a paragraph (page 33)
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 2 
Parts of a Paragraph: The Topic Sentence (page 34)
Direct students’ attention to the explanation of a topic
sentence. Explain that in English writing, it is important for
ideas to be clear and organized. The reader shouldn’t have
to guess the main idea.
EXPANSION To check comprehension, write the following
statements on the board, or say them out loud. Ask
students to decide if they are true or false.
a. A topic sentence is always the first sentence (false—it is
often the first sentence, but not always)
b. A topic sentence can give very specific details. (false—it
should not be too specific or too general)
c. A topic sentence is not always necessary. (false—it is
necessary to make the organization of ideas clear to the
reader)
Activity 4 | Identifying topic sentences (pages 34–35)
Give students time to read Paragraph 2.3 on their own and to
decide on the topic sentence. Check this one as a class, asking
students to identify information from the text that points to the
correct topic sentence. (Snow is beautiful…not beautiful for very
long…wet and difficult to walk on…sidewalks are slippery…traffic
problems…roads are closed…roads are difficult to drive on…
more accidents) Have students continue with Paragraphs 2.4 and
2.5, this time, discussing how they reached their conclusions in
pairs before checking as a class. (Paragraph 2.4: I love to see…it
is also fun to explore…full of energy…never feel bored or alone…I
truly love… Paragraph 2.5:…slippery [roads]…serious accidents…
damage bikes and hurt the riders…in danger from their fans…
terrible problems…it can be extremely dangerous)
Activity 5 | Writing topic sentences (pages 36–37)
Give students time to read Paragraph 2.6, and then identify
key words and ideas as a class. (pasta tastes great…I like [the]
variety…pasta is very easy to prepare…healthy food…I love
to eat pasta every day.) Use these to elicit a possible topic
sentence before having students do Paragraphs 2.7 and 2.8
on their own.
Parts of a Paragraph: Supporting Sentences (page 37)
Direct students’ attention to the explanation of supporting
sentences. Give them time to read the paragraph Making
Chili. Ask them to identify the topic sentence. (Chili is
an easy dish to prepare.) Ask them why the underlined
sentences are not related to this topic. (they don’t discuss
making chili) Ask: Should these sentences be included in
the paragraph? (no)
7
Activity 6 | Identifying unrelated sentences (page 38)
Give students time to read Paragraph 2.9. Identify the topic
sentence as a class. Ask: What should all sentences in this
paragraph discuss? (why my office has everything I need to work)
Tell students to find and cross out two sentences that do not
support this idea. Continue with Paragraphs 2.10 and 2.11.
Grammar: Adjective + Noun (page 39)
Direct students’ attention to the explanation. Ask: What
does an adjective describe? (a noun—a person, place, thing,
or idea) Have student volunteers read the sentences in the
chart. After the first one, pause and ask students which
word describes the bag. (heavy) Ask students to think of
other adjectives that could describe the bag. (big, blue,
old, etc.) Pause after each sentence and have students
brainstorm a few alternative adjectives that could describe
that noun.
Before looking at the second chart, write these sentences
on the board.
a. I saw a movie. It was interesting.
b. I saw an interesting movie.
Ask students which one is better in academic writing.
(The second one is better because it is more concise.) Have
students read the second chart.
Writer’s Note Adjective Form (page 40)
Before directing students’ attention to the note, write the
following sentences on the board, and ask which one is
incorrect.
a. I am taking some difficult classes. (correct)
b. I am taking some difficults classes (incorrect)
Ask students why b is incorrect, and have them read
the Writer’s Note to confirm their ideas. Make sure they
understand that adjectives are never plural in English.
Activity 7 | Describing nouns with adjectives (page 40)
Look at the example together with the class. Ask: What
words are not used in the final sentence? (the, is) Do number
two together, and help students notice that the word “is”
is not used here either. Ask: Which verb should we use
when combining sentences—the verb in the first or second
(or third) sentence? (the first) Have students continue the
exercise, using the verb in the first sentence and removing
any necessary words.
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 2 
Grammar: Linking Verb + Adjective (page 41)
Have student volunteers read the explanation and the
chart.
EXPANSION Write the following on the board:
a. I = happy.
b. The children = tired.
c. The book = new.
d. The cake = delicious.
e. The song = amazing.
f. My shoes = great.
Ask: What does a linking verb connect? (it connects the
subject to the words after the verb) Ask: Is be a linking verb?
(yes) Elicit the verb be in the correct form for sentences a-c,
and replace the = sign with it.
a. I am happy.
b. The children are tired.
c. The book is new.
Ask: What are other linking verbs related to? (the five senses)
Pointing to your eyes, nose, then mouth, elicit the verbs
for the sense of sight, smell, and taste, and write them in
example d, replacing the = sign.
d. The cake looks / smells / tastes delicious.
Elicit and write the verbs for hearing and touch for the
other examples.
e. The song sounds amazing.
f. My shoes feel great.
Going back to sentence b, add the verb seem.
b. The children seem tired.
Explain that seem means appear and is also a linking verb.
Ask: When the main verb is a linking verb, where does the
adjective go? (after the verb)
Activity 8 | Identifying adjectives (page 41)
Activity 9 | Writing sentences (page 42)
Before students do the activity, direct their attention to the
photo and the caption. Ask: What is different about this
market? (it’s on the water, in boats) Ask students to name
things they see in the photo. (women, boats, fruit, vegetables,
baskets). Elicit a few adjectives. (beautiful, colorful, fresh,
delicious)
Sequence Words and Phrases (page 43)
Direct students’ attention to the explanation. Ask: Which
sequence words and phrases go near the beginning of
a paragraph? (first) Is first used in the topic sentence?
(probably not—only in the supporting sentences) Which
sequence words and phrases go toward the end of a
paragraph? (last, finally) Point out that the others will go in
the middle, connecting one idea to the next.
8
Activity 10 | Ordering sentences (page 43)
Grammar: Subject and Object Pronouns (page 44)
Have students look at the explanation. You may wish
to read the sentences aloud, or have a student do this,
stressing the words that are repeated, almost for comic
effect. Help students understand that pronouns take the
place of these words. Have students look at the charts
explaining subject and object pronouns.
Write the following on the board, and have students
replace the nouns with pronouns in the second sentence.
a. Jessica has a nice car. _____ drives _____ on the
weekends (she, it)
b. The children are playing with the toys. _____ have to
put _____ away soon. (they, them)
c. Douglas and I invited Keisha to the party. _____ like to
spend time with _____. (we, her)
d. Daisuke brought a cake for the class. _____ will eat
_____ with _____. (he, it, us)
Circle the word with in the last two sentences and elicit that
it is a preposition.
Direct students’ attention to the next chart, and help them
understand that sometimes an object pronoun comes after
a preposition.
Write the following on the board, and ask students what
they refers to.
I love playing games with my friends. They are fun.
(In this case, it could mean my friends or the games—it’s
unclear) Have students read the note and the examples.
Elicit a better solution to the pronoun in the second
sentence. (These games are fun.)
Activity 11 | Using subject pronouns (page 45)
Activity 12 | Using object pronouns (page 46)
Activity 13 | Using pronouns (page 46)
Read the instructions with the students and look at the
example together. Ask why it’s better to replace the second
Andy and I with We. (to avoid repetition, to make the writing
more interesting) Ask: Can we replace the first appearance
of Andy and I with We? (no—it’s necessary to know who “we”
refers to)
Grammar: Possessive Adjectives (page 47)
Get students’ attention by borrowing someone’s book. Ask:
Whose book is this? Elicit the person’s name, and say: It’s
her book. It’s his book. Do this a few times, demonstrating
different pronouns: These are their books. This is our
classroom. This is your pencil. This is my bag. Have students
look at the explanation and the chart.
Activity 14 | Using possessive adjectives (page 47)
Do number one as a class. Highlight the word names and ask:
Whose names? (Kate’s sisters and brother) Elicit the correct
possessive adjective. Encourage students to look at the noun
after each blank and ask themselves, “Whose…?”
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 2 
Activity 15 | Using subject pronouns and possessive
adjectives (page 48)
EXPANSION Write the following on the board.
Yasmeen works as a fragrance chemist for a perfume
company. She needed a Master’s degree to get her job.
Ask: What words come after the pronoun and possessive
adjective? Circle needed and job. Ask students to identify
which is a noun (job) and which is a verb (needed). Ask:
Which comes before a verb—a subject pronoun like I, you,
he, we, or a possessive adjective like my, your, his, our? Which
comes before a noun? (subject pronouns come before a verb,
possessive adjectives come before a noun)
Parts of a Paragraph: The Concluding Sentence
(page 48)
Direct student’s attention to the explanation and chart.
Check comprehension by asking: Can a concluding
sentence be similar to the topic sentence? (yes, but in
different words) Can a concluding sentence introduce a
new idea about the topic? (no) Does a concluding sentence
leave the reader with something to think about? (yes)
Activity 16 | Analyzing concluding sentences (page 49)
Activity 17 | Identifying concluding sentences (pages
49–50)
Have students explain why the incorrect answers are not
appropriate concluding sentences. (they introduce new
information, they are not the same idea as the topic sentence)
Activity 18 | Writing a paragraph (page 51)
BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY
Words to Know (page 52)
EXPANSION Give students a chance to study the vocabulary
words from the unit. Have them choose five words to act
out and/or draw for their partner to guess. Have partners
alternate, giving clues for, and guessing, one word at a time.
Activity 19 | Word associations (page 52)
Activity 20 | Collocations (pages 52–53)
Activity 21 | Word forms (page 53)
Activity 22 | Vocabulary in writing (page 54)
BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES
Activity 23 | Editing from teacher comments (page 54)
Discuss the first two or three teacher comments in the
exercise and elicit how to make the corrections. Have
students continue the exercise on their own.
9
Activity 24 | Editing sentences (page 55) Unit 2  ANSWER KEY
EXPANSION To make this activity more of a game, have
students work in pairs, and tell them they have a total of 100 ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING
points to “bet” with. They can decide which edits they are
most sure of, which they are less sure of, and write a number Activity 1
next to that sentence of how many points to bet. If they Paragraph 2.1, pages 30–31
are equally sure of all sentences, they can bet 10 points per
sentence. Let them decide in pairs, with the total adding up 1. My back porch is my favorite place to relax.
to 100. While checking, if their edits for a sentence are correct, 2. c.
they earn the number of points they chose for that sentence. 3. a. She sits in comfortable chairs.
If not, they lose that number of points.
b. She sits and thinks.
Activity 25 | Combining sentences (page 55) c. She reads a great book.
Before you review answers for each item, ask students d. She watches the sunset.
which words they think are the most important. (1. meeting, 4. 9
important, calendar, Linh’s; 2. Carlos, rides, bike, to work, every 5. I can relax in many places, but my back porch is the best.
day; 3. friends, new, in my English class)
Paragraph 2.2, pages 31–32
WRITING 1. The Shanghai Tower in China is an amazing building.
Activity 26 | Writing a paragraph (page 56) 2. c.
Before students start writing on their own, brainstorm some 3. Possible answers:
reasons people are interesting (they have an exciting job, they It is the tallest building in Shanghai’s business district.
are talented, they travel a lot, they make good conversation, It is the second-tallest building in the world.
etc.) Remind students to think of a specific example for It has 128 floors, and there are more levels below the
each reason. Brainstorm some adjectives that are similar in building.
meaning, but different from interesting that can be used in
the concluding sentence. (exciting, not boring, fun, unusual) It has 107 fast elevators.
There are gardens on many floors.
Editing (page 25) It has one of the world’s highest observation decks.
Read the checklist. Ask students the following questions to It is good for the environment.
check comprehension of the concepts in the checklist: Special machines use the wind to make electricity for the
What words are capitalized in the title? (important words building.
and the first word) It uses rainwater to keep it cool inside.
How are the topic sentence and concluding sentence 4. 8
similar in meaning? (the topic sentence gives the main
5. The Shanghai Tower is amazing inside and out.
idea; the concluding sentence gives a final thought about
that main idea) Activity 2, page 33
What does it mean to indent? (to move the first line in) 1. It capitalizes all the letters in every word; An Influential
Can supporting sentences introduce new ideas? (no) Inventor
What is an example of an adjective? 2. It capitalizes prepositions; A Handbook for International
What is an example of a subject pronoun? Students in Canada
What is an example of an object pronoun? 3. It uses a period; Three Types of Transportation
What is an example of a possessive adjective? 4. It begins with My Paragraph; A New Technology
5. It is too long; How to Become an Engineer at NASA
Activity 27 | Peer editing (page 57) 6. It does not capitalize all the important words; The Ten
Best Movies of All Time
Additional Topics for Writing (page 57) 7. It is a complete sentence; The Best Day of My Life
8. It does not capitalize the all the important words; My First
TEST PREP TIP (page 57) Car
9. It does not capitalize the first word; An Unusual Animal
Read the tip. Have students look at the question and circle
words that might be included in a topic sentence. (success, 10. It does not capitalize the first word or the important
life, comes from, taking risks, chances, results from, careful words; The First Female Astronaut
planning, opinion) Activity 3, page 33
Answers will vary.

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 2  10
Activity 4, pages 34–35 have the correct Fahrenheit temperature, 68. Now you can
easily change a temperature from Celsius to Fahrenheit.
Paragraph 2.3, page 34
c. Activity 7, page 40
1. Rob owns a red car.
Paragraph 2.4, page 35
2. I do not like this cold weather.
a. 3. Paris is a beautiful city in France.
Paragraph 2.5, page 35 4. Ali has a new job.
a. 5. They like to drink very hot coffee.
6. Nina reads funny stories.
Activity 5, pages 36–37 7. My mother grows big beautiful roses.
Paragraph 2.6, page 36 8. Juan works for a large international company.
Possible answer: Pasta is my favorite food. 9. My grandparents live in a small farming town.
10. Sharon rents a tiny white house on Smith Street.
Paragraph 2.7, page 36
Activity 8, page 41
Possible answer: I cannot live without my tablet.
PARAGRAPH 2.12
Paragraph 2.8, page 37
My Dream Vacation
Possible answer: Good teachers have four characteristics.
I have a dream to visit Alaska. The weather is beautiful
Activity 6, pages 38–39 there. I love cold weather. When the temperature is low, I
have energy! I also want to visit Alaska because I love nature.
PARAGRAPH 2.9 Alaska looks so pure. I dream about its amazing snowy
My Office mountains. In addition, there are unique animals to see.
Finally, I want to learn about the native people of Alaska.
My office has everything I need to do my work. On the
Their culture sounds very interesting to me. I really want to
left side of the room, there is a large desk. My computer
visit this wonderful state soon.
sits on top of the desk, and the printer sits under it. I keep
important documents in its drawers. On the right side of Activity 9, page 42
the room, there are two beautiful bookcases. They are full of
books, magazines, and computer software. My father makes Answers will vary.
bookcases and other wood furniture. A telephone and a fax
Activity 10, page 43
machine are on a small table next to my closet. I have trouble
remembering my fax number. All my office supplies are in the c, b, e, h, i, a, f, g, d
closet. I enjoy my office very much.
Activity 11, page 45
PARAGRAPH 2.10
1. He
An Energetic Neighbor 2. She
My 96-year-old neighbor, Mrs. Wills, lives alone and takes 3. They
care of herself. My grandmother lived to be 87. Mrs. Wills 4. They
goes to the grocery store by herself, and she does all her own
5. They
cooking. She does not like to eat white rice. Mrs. Wills also
cleans her own house. She puts her heavy garbage can by 6. It
the street for trash collection every week. She exercises by 7. It
walking on the beach. I hope to have that much energy when 8. They
I am 96 years old.
9. They
PARAGRAPH 2.11 10. They
Changing Celsius to Fahrenheit Activity 12, page 46
Changing temperatures from Celsius to Fahrenheit is 1. her
not difficult. First, multiply the Celsius temperature by 9.
2. them
Then divide this answer by 5. When you finish, add 32 to your
answer. The result is the temperature in Fahrenheit. Most 3. it
countries report temperatures in Celsius, but the United 4. them
States reports them in Fahrenheit. For example, if the Celsius 5. her
temperature is 20, you multiply 20 by 9. Then you divide 6. us
the answer, 180, by 5. The result is 36. If you get a different
number, check your math mistake. Next, add 32, and you

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 2  11
Activity 13, page 46 2. Paragraph 2.4
PARAGRAPH 2.15 Topic sentence: My favorite city is New York City.
Our Big Move Concluding sentence: I truly love New York City.
Andy and I have a busy day today. Andy and I We are 3. Paragraph 2.5
very excited because we are moving into a new apartment.
Andy and I We have many big things to move. I have a large Topic sentence: Road cycling can be a dangerous sport.
flat screen television. Andy and I We plan to put the television Concluding sentence: Road cycling may look like a safe sport,
it next to the window. Andy’s sister and her friends will help but it can be extremely dangerous.
Andy and me us move today, too. Andy’s sister and her friends
They will move our large couch and chairs and put the couch Activity 17, pages 49–50
and chairs them in front of the television. Finally, Andy’s sister
and her friends they will move our beds. Our beds may take a Paragraph 2.18, page 49
long time to move because our beds they are so big. However, a.
Andy and I we are not worried because Andy's sister and her
friends will help Andy and me us quickly finish everything on Paragraph 2.19, page 50
our long moving list.
c.
Activity 14, page 47
Paragraph 2.20, page 50
1. Their
c.
2. their
3. Her Activity 18, page 51
4. her Staying Healthy
5. Their It is easy to stay healthy if you follow some simple steps.
6. Their First, you need to eat healthy food. The best types of food
7. His to eat are fruits and vegetables. You should eat a lot of them
8. her every day. Next, you need to do some exercise. Doctors say
that one hour of exercise each day can keep you in good
Activity 15, page 48 shape. Exercise is also good for your mind. Finally, you
need to find time to relax. This allows your body to rest and
1. my become stronger.
2. my
Possible answers for the concluding sentence: Following
3. Her these steps will help your health; These simple suggestions
4. Her will help you stay healthy.
5. She
6. She BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY
7. She Activity 19, page 52
8. her
1. very interesting
9. She
2. annoy
10. Their
3. cautious
11. My
4. do something special
12. His
5. try to win
13. they
6. something unsafe
14. their
7. at the time
15. I
8. really
16. my
9. love
Activity 16, page 49 10. prepare
1. Paragraph 2.3
Activity 20, pages 52–53
Topic sentence: Snow is beautiful, but it causes many
problems. 1. be patient while waiting
2. clearly explain the directions
Concluding sentence: There are more problems with snow
than reasons to like it. 3. relax after a long day
4. my biggest dream
5. ancient Chinese culture
6. taste delicious

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 2  12
 7. check the dictionary WRITING
8. explore new places
Activity 26, page 56
9. a serious car accident
10. heavy traffic Answers will vary.

Activity 21, page 53 Activity 27, page 57

1. My new dress is extremely comfortable. Answers will vary.
2. Parents often comfort crying children.
3. People can connect with each other easily through the
Internet.
4. I study at this library all the time because the WiFi
connection here is very good.
5. High-heeled shoes damage wooden floors.
6. The damaged car does not work.
7. Young children can be very energetic.
8. Riders need a lot of energy to complete a race.
9. There are many ways to organize a closet.
10. My boss is a very organized woman.

Activity 22, page 54

Answers will vary.

BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES

Activity 23, page 54
PARAGRAPH 2.22
Aspirin
Aspirin is an incredible type of medicine. This small white
pill is not a new drug. We do not know exactly why or how
it works. However, millions of people use aspirin every day.
They take it for many reasons. Aspirin is good for headaches,
colds, and pain. It can help with so many different health
problems. Aspirin is a simple medicine, but it is so important.
Activity 24, page 55
1. Amal is a student at Seattle Community College.
2. There are 15 floors in this building.
3. Jim’s backpack is difficult to carry.
4. My favorite shirt is not clean.
5. Mysteries are a popular type of book.
6. The sun damages unprotected skin.
7. The Shanghai Tower is a tall building.
8. It is not raining today.
9. There is a lot of information about the project.
10. Everyone loves his beautiful smile.

Activity 25, page 55

Possible answers:
1. There is an important meeting on Linh's calendar.
2. Carlos rides his bike to work every day.
3. I have new friends in my English class.

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 2  13
UNIT 3 | Writing about the Present

UNIT OVERVIEW Activity 1 | Analyzing sentences (page 60)

This unit gives students a closer look at the simple present
in affirmative and negative statements. It introduces simple Grammar: The Simple Present Affirmative (page 61)
and compound sentences, including the use of commas and Direct students’ explanation to the chart and the spelling
connecting words. It introduces students to the concepts of rules.
definite and indefinite articles, and the use of a, an, the, and Ø
Write the following on the board and invite students to
article with nouns.
change the verb to the –s form.
OBJECTIVES a. watch (watches)
• Write sentences in the simple present b. say (says)
• Write simple and compound sentences c. wish (wishes)
• Use and, but, and so in compound sentences
d. buzz (buzzes)
• Use a, an, the, and Ø article
• Write an original paragraph e. try (tries)
Ask: What is the –s form for have? (has) Explain that this
ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING verb is irregular, and have students look at the chart for
have, do, and go.
Using the Simple Present (page 60) Elicit the forms of the verb be in the simple present. Say
the subject and have students say the form of be that
Direct students’ attention to the explanation. Ask: What corresponds. (I am, you are, he is, she is, it is, we are, they are)
time does the simple present discuss? (the present) Is it Ask: How many forms of be are there in the simple present?
used in academic writing? (yes—it is very common) Ask (three—am, is, are). Have students look at the chart and the
volunteers to read the sentences under each category. note on contractions.
EXPANSION Check comprehension by writing the Write on the board:
following on the board. a. she’s
a. It rains a lot in São Paulo during the summer. b. she is
b. First, the baker turns on the oven. Ask: Which is appropriate for academic writing? (b. she is)
c. I usually ride my bike to work. Write on the board:
Ask students to identify which is a regular activity or habit a. Justin have a lot of friends.
(c), which is a fact or something generally true (a), and b. Justin has a lot of friends.
which is a process (b).
Ask: Which is incorrect? (a) Read the note reminding
students to use the –s form with third-person singular
subjects.

Activity 2 | Using the simple present affirmative (page 62)

Remind students to choose the correct form of the verb
according to the subject.
Activity 3 | Using the simple present affirmative (page 63)

Activity 4 | Changing from singular to plural (page 63)

Write on the board:
Gabi takes her dog for a walk every morning.
Now change Gabi to Gabi and Kelly. Elicit the correct changes.
(Gabi and Kelly take their dog for a walk every morning.)
Activity 5 | Editing a paragraph (page 64)

Activity 6 | Writing about pictures (page 65)

Look at the pictures as a class and have students name the
actions they see. (cook/make breakfast, eat/have breakfast, sit
at the table, read the news, leave the house, say goodbye, wash
the dishes, go to work)

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 3  14
 Writer’s Note There are vs. They are (page 66)
Before you review the information in the box, write the
following on the board:
a. There are interesting people in this class.
b. They are my classmates.
Ask: Which sentence shows that something exists? (a)
Which uses the plural subject they with a form of be? (b) Go
over the information in the box.
EXPANSION To check comprehension, write the following
on the board, and have students complete the sentences
with there are or they are.
a. _______ 14 people in this room. (there are)
b. _______ from Turkey. (they are)
c. _______ my cousins. (they are)
d. _______ some beautiful beaches to the north. (there are)
e. _______ some nice shops near here, but _______
expensive. (there are, they are)
Activity 7 | Choosing they are or there are (page 66)
Activity 8 | Using they are or there are (page 67)
Grammar: The Simple Present Negative (page 67)
Have student volunteers read the explanation and charts.
Write on the board:
a. The job is not easy.
b. The job isn’t easy.
Ask: Which sentence is more informal? (b) Remind students
that in more formal academic writing, they should avoid
contractions.
EXPANSION Write the following affirmative sentences on
small slips of paper, and put them in a cup. Pass the cup
around the room. Each time, have a student take a paper and
read the affirmative statement. The class will respond with the
negative statement. Request that students use the full form.
I study. (I do not study.)
I am late. (I am not late.)
Sarah leaves early. (Sarah does not leave early.)
You are a student. (You are not a student.)
Gizem and Seo Yeon are students. (Gizem and Seo Yeon
are not students.)
Jason has a test on Friday. (Jason does not have a test on
Friday.)
It is difficult. (It is not difficult.)
The children are tired. (The children are not tired.)
Juan and I are from Mexico. (Juan and I are not from
Mexico.)
The students want to go. (The students do not want to go.)
She is the director. (She is not the director.)
It rains a lot. (It does not rain a lot.)
We live in the city. (We do not live in the city.)
You see me. (You do not see me.)
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 3 
Activity 9 | Using the simple present negative and
affirmative (page 68)
Encourage students to work together to make a correct
affirmative statement. They may wish to do a quick online
search to confirm their ideas.
Grammar: Simple and Compound Sentences (page 69)
Direct students’ attention to the explanation about simple
sentences and have a volunteer read sentences in the chart.
Ask: What two things are in every sentence? (a subject and
a verb) Can you have more than one subject? (yes) Can you
have more than one verb? (yes)
Elicit a few more simple sentences about students in the
room, with different subject-verb combinations. (Vitor
studies here. Vitor and Ibrahim study here. Ibrahim lives and
studies in the city. Vitor and Ibrahim live and study in the city.)
Provide the following sentences on strips of paper, cut
into two parts. Tell students to find two that logically go
together to form a bigger sentence.
Polar bears live north of the equator, | and penguins live
south of the equator.
Sylvia loves cats, | but she doesn’t have one.
Greg doesn’t have a car, | so he takes the bus to work.
On the weekends, we cook a big meal at home, | or we go
out to a restaurant.
After students match the sentence halves, ask: What words
connect the two parts? (and, but, so, or) What comes before
the connector? (a comma) Go over the information about
compound sentences, and have students compare their
sentences with those in the chart.
Have students look at the sentence halves they matched.
Highlight the connectors in each. Ask: Which connector
adds information? (and) Which shows a result? (so) Which
adds different, contrasting information? (but) You may also
point out that or gives two options.
Activity 10 | Identifying sentence types (page 70)
Look at the first two examples together. Ask: What comes
between the two parts of a compound sentence? (a comma
and a connector) Can a simple sentence have more than one
subject, or more than one verb? (yes) Does a simple sentence
have a comma and a connector? (no)
Writer’s Note Writing lists of words (page 70)
Before going over the information in the box, write the
following on the board:
Casey studies economics, sociology, and history.
Ask: How many subjects does Casey study? (three) In a list
of three things, how many commas do you see? (two) Now
look at the information in the box.
15

EXPANSION To check comprehension, write the following
on the board, and ask students to identify the error in each
list.
a. In the fall, you can see brown, yellow, orange, and red,
leaves falling. (no comma after red)
b. I think cats, dogs, birds, hamsters, rabbits, turtles, fish,
and snakes make good pets. (the list is too long)
c. Camila speaks Spanish, English, Chinese and German.
(need a comma after Chinese)
d. Family, rest, and happy are important things in life.
(happy is an adjective—the others are nouns)
Activity 11 | Identifying commas in a list (page 71)
Activity 12 | Writing compound sentences (page 71)
Do number one together. Discuss the difference in emphasis
between and and but as connectors, and explain that both
are correct in this case.
Activity 13 | Editing a paragraph (page 72)
Remind students to check the agreement of subjects and
verbs, and to check the meaning of connecting words.
Review the use of commas in lists and before connecting
words in compound sentences.
Grammar: Using A and An, or Ø (page 73)
Before going over the information, write these two nouns
on the board:
money
dollars
Ask: Which one can we write with a number, such as one or
two? (dollars) Write:
one dollar
two dollars
Say: We can’t count the word money, but we can count
dollars. The word money has one form. The word dollars
has a singular and plural form. Have students read the
explanation.
EXPANSION Write the following on the board and elicit a,
an, or Ø to fill in the blanks.
a. ___ money (Ø)
b. ___ dollars (Ø)
c. ___ dollar (a)
d. ___ Australian dollar (an—remind students to us the
beginning sound of the adjective)
e. ___ Euro (a—remind students that while the letter is a
vowel, the sound is a consonant)
Invite students to look around the room and add nouns
with a, an, or Ø to the list. (students, desks, a board, a pencil,
an umbrella, an interesting book, etc.)
Activity 14 | Choosing a, an, or Ø (page 73)
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 3 
Activity 15 | Editing sentences (page 74)
Remind students to notice the sounds of any adjectives that
come before a singular count noun before they add a or an.
Grammar: Using The (page 74)
Have a student volunteer read the explanation and
examples.
EXPANSION Write the following on the board, and ask
students to identify if the case is specific, the second (or
third or fourth) time you talk about something, or if it’s
unique.
I saw a cat today. The cat followed me home. (second time)
The Statue of Liberty is a famous landmark. (unique)
Stan takes the kids to school on Thursdays. (specific)
Activity 16 | Using a, an, the, and Ø (pages 74–75)
EXPANSION Look at the picture as a class and invite a
student volunteer to read the caption. Help students
understand that shipping containers are large boxes that
carry things in transport from one place to another.
Activity 17 | Using the simple present and articles
(pages 75–76)
Remind students that singular count nouns with a possessive
adjective or other word like this or that in front of them do
not need an article.
BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY
Words to Know (page 76)
EXPANSION Have students choose seven words from the
list and write them in one long line with no capital letters
and no spaces. They can add other letters between words to
make it extra difficult to identify the words. After completing
their “word snake,” they will exchange it with a partner, who
has to find and circle all seven words. Have pairs review the
definitions together.
Activity 18 | Word associations (page 76)
Activity 19 | Collocations (pages 76–77)
Activity 20 | Word forms (page 77)
Activity 21 | Vocabulary in writing (page 78)
BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES
Activity 22 | Editing sentences (page 78)
EXPANSION Have students check their answers by walking
around the room and comparing with other students. The
goal is for everyone in the room to agree on the corrections.
If students have a different answer, they should discuss how
they reached it.
16
Activity 23 | Writing sentences (pages 78–79) Unit 3  ANSWER KEY
Encourage students to use different subjects to begin their
sentences. Tell them the verbs can be affirmative or negative, ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING
and remind them to choose the correct article before singular
count nouns. Activity 1, page 60
Activity 24 | Combining sentences (page 79) 1. F
2. P
Before you review answers for each item, ask students which
words they think are the most important. (1. Cheetahs, have, 3. F
spots, leopards, the spots, create, patterns, different; 2. You, can 4. P
see, polar bears, in Alaska, USA, grizzly bears, panda bears, in 5. H
south central China; 3. Miguel, wants, to be, professional soccer
6. F
player, practices, soccer, every day)
7. H
8. P
WRITING
9. H
Activity 25 | Writing a paragraph (page 80) 10. F
Have students discuss a favorite activity in pairs, naming
three reasons why they like it, before working through the Activity 2, page 62
checklist. 1. has
2. is
Editing (page 80)
3. makes
Read the checklist. Ask students the following questions to 4. travel
check comprehension of the concepts in the checklist:
5. give
What two things does each sentence need? (a subject and
6. see
a verb)
7. are
Can there be more than one subject, or more than one
verb? (yes) 8. makes
Which subjects take the –s form of a simple present verb? Activity 3, page 63
(he, she, it, and singular nouns)
1. is/comes
What words connect the two parts of a compound
sentence? (and, but, so, or) 2. speaks
3. are
What comes before these words? (a comma)
4. are/come
In a list of three things, how many commas are there?
(two) 5. is/comes
What are the four main parts of a paragraph? (an indented 6. practices/speaks
first line, a topic sentence with the main idea, a body of 7. has
supporting sentences about the main idea, a concluding 8. are/come
sentence) 9. play
10. am/come
Activity 26 | Peer editing (page 80) 11. love
Additional Topics for Writing (page 81) 12. are

TEST PREP TIP (page 81)
Read the tip. Ask students if paragraph formats are similar
or different in their countries. Ask them which of these they
think they are not in the habit of doing. Tell them to focus on
improving these habits in this exercise.
Activity 4, page 63
PARAGRAPH 3.3
Jim and Matt’s Daily Routine
Jim and Matt are very busy students. Every morning,
they wake up at 7:00, get ready, and then hurry off to school.
They study engineering at City College. They attend school
for six hours every day. After school, they go to their job(s) at
a clothes store. After their job(s), they go home, eat a quick
dinner, study, and do their homework. Jim and Matt know
that their routine is stressful. They also know that the routine
is temporary because they will graduate soon.

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 3  17
Activity 5, page 64 6. Seattle and Dallas are not cities in France. They are cities
in the United States.
PARAGRAPH 3.4
7. Thailand is not a European country. It is an Asian country.
The City of Budapest
8. Coffee plants do not grow naturally in Norway. They
Budapest, Hungary, is one of the most interesting cities grow naturally in Ethiopia (and other countries).
in Europe. First, it has many interesting tourist destinations. 9. The Great Pyramids are not in Spain. They are in Egypt.
One example is the Danube River. It flows through the middle 10. Global warming does not mean the Earth's temperature is
of the city, and it has a long connection with human history. going down. It means the Earth's temperature is going up.
Budapest also has beautiful architecture. Buda Castle is a
11. Canada is not near the equator. It is near the North Pole.
World Heritage Site. In addition, there is a long history of
traditional food in Hungary. There are many national dishes. 12. There are not four Latin languages. There are five.
One of the most popular is goulash soup. When you travel to
Activity 10, page 70
Europe, do not miss a visit to Budapest.
1. CD;  Japan’s flag  is red and white, and Canada’s flag is
Activity 6, page 65 also red and white.
Possible answers: 2. S; Japan and Canada have the same two colors in their
1. cooks (breakfast) flags.
2. eats (the food; it); sits at the table (and eats; to eat) 3. CD;  The weather is bad, but the pilot plans to leave on
time.
3. read the news online; check their email
4. S; It is extremely hot in Abu Dhabi during the summer.
4. Mr. Lee and the kids leave (the house); say good-bye to
Mrs. Lee 5. S; The Martellus Map of Europe, Africa, and Asia is over
five hundred years old.
5. Mrs. Lee washes the dishes
6. CD; The Atacama Desert receives almost no rain, so it is
6. Mrs. Lee/she gets in her car (to go to work); Mrs. Lee/she the driest desert in the world.
drives to work
7. CD; Students in many countries take college entrance
Activity 7, page 66 exams, but  they  do not like it.
1. There are 8. S; January, March, May, July, August, October, and
2. They are December have 31 days.
3. There are 9. CD; The Olympic rings represent the flags of every
country, so they are blue, yellow, red, black, and green.
4. There are
10. S; Baseball and golf are popular sports to watch and play.
5. there are
11. CD; Some people prefer gold jewelry, but others prefer
6. They are silver jewelry.
Activity 8, page 67 12. S; Research  requires time, patience, and determination.

1. There are Activity 11, page 71

2. They are 5. The Martellus Map of Europe, Africa, and Asia is over five
3. They are hundred years old.
4. There are 8. January, March, May, July, August, October, and
5. There are December have 31 days.
6. They are 9. The Olympic rings represent the flags of every country,
so they are blue, yellow, red, black, and green.
7. They are
12. Research requires time, patience, and determination.
8. There are
9. There are Activity 12, page 71
10. They are 1. Seher lives in Turkey, but/and her sister lives in Canada.
Activity 9, page 68 2. Carlos works on Saturday, so he cannot come to the
movies with us.
1. Borscht is not a food from England. It is the national dish 3. We go to school every day, and/but/so we play tennis on
of Ukraine. weekends.
2. The capital of Japan is not Osaka. Tokyo is the capital of 4. Luis and Kathy are related, but they are not brother and
Japan. sister.
3. Soccer is not the most popular sport in the United States. 5. Hurricanes begin in the Atlantic Ocean, and/but
It is the most popular sport in the world. / American typhoons begin in the Pacific.
football is the most popular sport in the United States.
6. Some people think tomatoes are fruit, but other people
4. Water does not freeze at 50 degrees Fahrenheit. It think they are vegetables.
freezes at 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
7. Ali is a medical student, so he takes a lot of science
5. Angel Falls is not in Brazil. Angel Falls is in Venezuela. classes.

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 3  18
 8. Maja usually goes to bed early, but she is up late tonight. Activity 17, pages 75-76
9. Jiang does not like coffee, but/so he drinks tea. 1. Robert always goes to the beach near his house.
10. It is quiet at the library, so students like to study there. 2. Laura’s parents visit their friends in India once a year. (no
11. My parents have a telephone in their home, but I only article needed)
have a cell phone. 3. We have a grammar test now.
12. Some fish live in fresh water, but/and some fish live in 4. The weather is very nice for a picnic today.
salt water.
5. Brad often eats apples for a snack.
Activity 13, page 72 6. I lend you a pencil all the time.
PARAGRAPH 3.7 7. This computer does not work anymore. (no article
Not an Average Teenager needed)
8. Ian buys a cup of coffee during his afternoon break.
Steven Mills is not your typical teenager. Steven is
9. Nicholas and Karla take classes at Seattle Community
a competitive gymnast, and he wants to compete in the
College. (no article needed)
Olympics. He wakes up at 5:00 in the morning every day,
and he practices before school. He jogs to the gym, and he 10. My dad drives me to the airport when I travel.
practices gymnastics for two hours. Then he eats a healthy
breakfast, and he gets ready for school. Steven goes to school BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY
from 8:30 in the morning until 2:00 in the afternoon. After
school, he returns to the gym for individual practice with his Activity 18, page 76
coach. When practice finishes at 6:00 in the evening, Steven 1. like
returns home. He eats dinner, does his homework, and talks
2. surely
with his family. Steven is in bed early to be ready to work hard
again the next day. 3. exercise
4. now
Activity 14, page 73 5. separate
A: solution, happy memory, daily activity, university 6. country
An: umbrella, object, extra pencil, hour 7. hospital
Ø: computers, information, accidents, money 8. normal
9. famous
Activity 15, page 74
10. all of
1. My father has a stressful job.
2. You have an exam today. Activity 19, pages 76-77
3. Our teacher gives us a project every week. 1. be in outer space
4. There is a large cake for my son’s birthday. 2. a well-known author
5. His mother is an amazing woman. 3. a boring routine
6. We have a test in this class every week. 4. rivers flow
7. Their sister is an excellent cook. 5. a temporary solution
8. You can buy an e-book on that website. 6. a stressful job
7. miss a meeting
Activity 16, pages 74-75
8. a popular destination
1. A
9. admire someone
2. a
10. can afford to buy something
3. The
4. the Activity 20, page 77
5. Ø 1. Many people admire the view from the top of Jebel
6. Ø Hafeet when they are in the United Arab Emirates.
7. the 2. I have a lot of admiration for Olympic athletes.
8. a 3. Artists are creative people.
9. the 4. The creation of a new app requires a lot of work.
10. an 5. Water flows down my street after it rains heavily.
11. a 6. It is relaxing to listen to the gentle flow of the river.
12. an 7. After work, people are always in a big hurry to get home.
13. an 8. I need to hurry to catch the bus.
9. Don’t stress about the homework assignment. It’s easy.
10. Yuka has a lot of stress at her job.

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 3  19
Activity 21, page 78
Answers will vary.

BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES

Activity 22, page 78
1. Elephants are native to Africa and Asia.
2. The coffee is hot, so you must be careful.
3. The scientists do not have an assistant. / The scientist
does not have an assistant.
4. Tourists must take a/the boat to visit the Statue of
Liberty.
5. My aunt drinks a cup of coffee every morning.
6. Many birds fly thousands of miles in the spring.
7. You do not want to be late for the test, so you must
hurry to class.
8. A/The patient needs to exercise and eat well every day.
9. There are a lot of people leaving the stadium, and they
are happy about the final score.
10. Please give your test to the teacher.

Activity 23, pages 78-79

Answers will vary.

Activity 24, page 79

Possible answers:
1. Cheetahs and leopards have spots, but the spots create
different patterns.
2. You can see a polar bear and a grizzly bear in Alaska,
USA, and you can see a panda bear in south central
China. / You can see a polar bear and a grizzly bear in
Alaska, USA, but you cannot see a panda bear.
3. Miguel wants to be a professional soccer player, so he
practices soccer every day.

WRITING
Activity 25, page 80
Answers will vary.

Activity 26, page 80

Answers will vary.

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 3  20
UNIT 4 | Writing about the Past
UNIT OVERVIEW
This unit gives students a closer look at the simple past in
affirmative and negative statements, including irregular
verbs and the verb be, as well as the use of past time words
and phrases and adverbs of manner. It introduces complex
sentences with time clauses, including the use of subordinate
conjunctions and commas. The ability to distinguish between
dependent and independent clauses, as well as simple,
compound, and complex sentences allows students to begin
to add variety to their writing.
OBJECTIVES
• Write sentences in the simple past
• Use past time words and phrases
• Use adverbs of manner
• Write complex sentences with time clauses
• Write an original paragraph
ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING
Using the Simple Past (page 84)
Direct students’ attention to the explanation. Ask for
different volunteers to read the four uses of the simple past.
EXPANSION To check comprehension, write the following
on the board and ask students to identify how the simple
past is used.
a. My grandfather joined the Navy when he turned 18. (to
describe events in a person’s life)
b. Ingrid met some interesting people on her trip, and
learned a lot. (to tell a story)
c. The plants grew two centimeters in the first week. (to
report on the result of an experiment)
d. Tim Berners-Lee invented the internet in 1989. (to write
about a historical event)
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 4 
Activity 1 | Analyzing a paragraph (pages 84-85)
Grammar: The Simple Past Affirmative (page 85)
Have student volunteers read the explanation through the
first two bullet points and the chart. Then go over the chart
of common irregular verbs, making sure students know the
correct pronunciation. Have students look at the chart of be
in the simple past. Ask: How many forms of be are there in
the simple past? (two)
EXPANSION Write the following verbs on the board, and
invite students to change them to the simple past.
a. talk (talked)
b. play (played)
c. cry (cried)
d. decide (decided)
Have students quiz their partner, saying an irregular base
form and their partner responding with the irregular past
form. They should quiz seven to ten verbs and then switch
roles.
Say the following subjects and have students say the form
of be that corresponds to them in the simple past.
I (was)
you (were)
Sylvia (was)
my friends (were)
London (was)
we (were)
Activity 2 | Identifying simple past verbs (page 86)
Activity 3 | Using regular simple past verbs (page 87)
Remind students to check the spelling of verbs that end in e
or a consonant + y.
Activity 4 | Using irregular simple past verbs (page 88)
Tell students to refer to the chart on page 85 if they don’t
remember the irregular form.
Grammar: Past Time Words and Phrases (page 88)
Direct students’ attention to the information. Elicit
different time expressions with last. (last night, last week,
last month, last year). Do the same with ago. (two minutes
ago, two hours ago, two days ago, two weeks ago, two
months ago, two years ago).
EXPANSION Write the following on the board, and ask
students to identify two different ways to write a sentence.
I / meet / some interesting people / the other day
(I met some interesting people the other day. The other day, I
met some interesting people.)
21
Activity 5 | Writing sentences with irregular simple past
verbs (page 89)
Model the first one by asking the question to a student
and writing their answer in a complete sentence. Remind
students that, although it is natural to give short answers in
conversation, they should write the answers in a complete
sentence.
Grammar: The Simple Past Negative (page 89)
Activity 10 | Writing a paragraph (page 93)
Have students talk about their ideas in pairs before writing.
EXPANSION Write the following on the board and elicit a
compound sentence:
I (not wake up) on time. I (miss) the bus. (I did not wake up on
time, so I missed the bus.)
Remind students to use and, but, and so to make compound
sentences.

Direct students’ attention to the charts. Ask: For all verbs
except be, how do we form the negative? (did not + base
form)
Ask: How many negative forms of be are there in the past?
(two—was not and were not) Do we use did with be? (no)
Elicit the contracted forms of the verbs in the sentences
on the board. Ask: Can we use the contractions in informal
writing? (yes)
EXPANSION Write the following on the board and elicit the
negative form:
a. I went to the store yesterday. (I did not go to the store
yesterday.)
Ask: Why don’t we use went after did not? (it’s not the base
form)
Write the following on the board and elicit the negative
form:
b. I was in Toronto last weekend. (I was not in Toronto last
weekend.)
c. You were absent yesterday. (You were not absent
yesterday.)
Have students practice in groups of three. One student says
a verb. The next student uses that verb in an affirmative
simple past statement. The next student says the negative
version of that statement. Example: student one—have;
student two—I had a test yesterday; student three—I did
not have a test yesterday. After three rounds like this, have
students switch roles, and play three more rounds before
switching again, doing 12 rounds total.
Grammar: Adverbs of Manner (page 93)
Direct students’ attention to the explanation. Ask: What
question do adverbs of manner answer? (How?) Write or
scribble on the board fast, or in a messy way, and ask: How
did I write? (badly, quickly, fast) Now do the opposite—write
something very neat, perhaps in cursive, and ask the same
question, eliciting adverbs. (slowly, well, carefully) Ask: What
letters do most adverbs end in? (-ly) Which do not end in
-ly? (fast, hard, well)
Writer’s Note: –ly Adjectives (page 93)
Before you review the information in the box, write the
following on the board:
He’s a friendly person.
It’s a deadly disease.
Ask: Do friendly and deadly answer the question How?
(no) Are they adverbs, describing an action, or adjectives,
describing a noun? (adjectives) Go over the information in
the box. Remind students that adjectives come before a
noun, and are used with the verb be or a linking verb. Elicit
sentences with the other two adjectives. (I feel lonely. It’s a
lovely day.)
Activity 11 | Using adverbs (page 94)
Look at the first sentence as a class. Ask: How did Julia study?
Elicit possible answers. Remind students to ask the question
How?

Activity 6 | Scrambled sentences (page 90)

Have students look at the example, and identify the parts
of the sentence in order: subject, did + not + base form,
prepositional phrase of place, prepositional phrase of time.
Activity 7 | Using be in the simple past (page 91)
Have students say the past forms of be, affirmative and
negative. Remind them not to use did not with be.
Activity 8 | Using the simple past (page 92)
Remind students to distinguish between affirmative and
negative, be, and other verbs.
Activity 9 | Writing sentences (pages 92–93)

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 4  22
 Grammar: Complex Sentences with Time Clauses
(pages 95–96)
Go over the information with the students. Write the
following on the board, and ask students to identify the
two clauses:
The cat ran outside when I opened the door. (The cat ran
outside / when I opened the door.)
Ask: Which clause can stand alone as a sentence, and which
would be a fragment on its own? (the first can stand alone,
the second would be a fragment on its own)
Label the first clause, “independent clause,” and the
second, “dependent clause.” Ask: What word connects the
dependent clause to the independent clause? (when) Can
we change the order of the clauses? Write the sentence the
other way:
When I opened the door, the cat ran outside.
Help students understand that the clause with when is still
the dependent clause. Ask: When the dependent clause
comes first, what punctuation do we use between the
two clauses? (a comma) Do we use a comma when the
dependent clause comes second? (no)
Replace the word when with as soon as. Ask: Which time
expression suggests that the cat ran outside immediately?
(as soon as)
Have students look at the example time clauses in the chart
and the note on commas in complex sentences.
EXPANSION Provide some complex sentences, cut into
halves. Have students match the halves and determine if
the sentence needs a comma or not. Remind them that the
capital letter shows which clause comes first. Here are some
possible sentence halves:
Before I finished high school (,)
I sent applications to different colleges.
We had a big celebration
after we won the game.
As soon as I arrived home from my long trip (,)
I took a shower and went to bed.
Joel met many new friends
when he traveled abroad.
Activity 13 | Identifying sentence types (page 96)
Ask: What do all sentences have? (a subject and a verb) Can a
simple sentence have more than one subject or verb? (yes)
Can there be more than one clause in a simple sentence? (no)
What separates parts of a compound sentence? (a comma
and a conjunction—and, but, so) What are the subordinating
conjunctions used in a time clause in a complex sentence?
(when, as soon as, before, after) Do all complex sentences have
a comma in the middle? (no—only when the dependent clause
comes first)
Activity 14 | Writing complex sentences (page 97)
Have students refer to the chart on page 95 to recall which
time expressions are used with which event. Remind them
that there are two possible ways to write each sentence.
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 4 
BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY
Words to Know (page 98)
EXPANSION Give students a five-minute time limit to
write as many words from the list as they can, connected in
crossword form. Demonstrate this by writing achievement
horizontally on the board, and design vertically, with the e
intersecting with the first letter e in achievement. Ask students
where improve can be connected. (with the i in design) Have
students connect as many words as possible within the time
limit, then exchange with a partner to review definitions.
Activity 15 | Word associations (page 98)
Activity 16 | Collocations (pages 98–99)
Activity 17 | Word forms (page 99)
Activity 18 | Vocabulary in writing (page 100)
BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES
Activity 19 | Editing from teacher comments (page 100)
Activity 20 | Error correction (page 101)
Remind students that errors can involve punctuation, as well
as grammar.
EXPANSION Make this activity more of a game by having
two teams race to correct the errors on the board. Have one
team start correcting at number 10 upward, and the other
from number one downward, perhaps using different color
markers. After each correction, the student passes the marker
to a different student on the same team. Only two students—
one from each team—are allowed at the board at the same
time. The team that successfully corrects the most individual
errors wins.
Activity 21 | Combining sentences (pages 101–102)
Before you review answers for each item, ask students which
words they think are the most important. (1. Cassius Clay,
22 years old, changed his name, to Mohammed Ali; 2. Valentina
Tereshkova, traveled to space, before, any other female
astronaut, on June 16, 1963; 3. Serena Williams, young woman,
became famous, for her tennis skills, incredible)
WRITING
Activity 22 | Original writing practice (page 102)
Have students take a few minutes to think about the event
they want to write about, writing down notes. Have them
share with a partner what happened, where, and why the
event was important, without saying the name of the event.
See if the partner can guess the historical event.
23
 Editing (page 102) invention even if they do not know who he was.

Read the checklist. Ask students the following questions to Activity 3, page 87
check comprehension of the concepts in the checklist: 1. helped
Do all verbs end in –ed in the simple past? (no—some 2. asked
verbs are irregular)
3. studied
Do we use the past form or the base form after did not? 4. noticed
(the base form)
5. played
What are the past forms of be, affirmative and negative?
(was, was not, were, were not) 6. decided
7. worked
Which subordinating conjunction goes together with the
second event in a time clause? (before—all the others go 8. named
with the first event) 9. showed
When do we use commas in a complex sentence? (when 10. kicked
the dependent clause comes first) 11. used
What two things does each clause have? (a subject and a 12. loved
verb)
What are the four main parts of a paragraph? (an indented Activity 4, page 88
first line, a topic sentence with the main idea, a body of 1. was
supporting sentences about the main idea, a concluding 2. had
sentence)
3. made
Activity 23 | Peer editing (page 102) 4. was
5. taught
Additional Topics for Writing (page 103)
6. began
TEST PREP TIP (page 103) 7. wrote
Read the tip. Ask students where they expect to use the 8. was
simple present and simple past in their response to the Activity 5, page 89
question above. (simple present: in the topic and concluding
sentences, where they state their opinion and give reasons; Answers will vary.
simple past: in specific examples in the body of the paragraph)
Activity 6, page 90
1. Carmen did not live in Singapore three years ago.
Unit 4  ANSWER KEY 2. Ling did not study engineering last semester.
3. Humberto’s parents did not visit him last weekend.
ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING 4. Jack did not help me with my presentation yesterday.
5. Emma did not send an email to her parents this morning.
Activity 1, pages 84-85 6. Khaled did not speak with his academic advisor the
1. b. other day.
2. b. 7. I did not do my homework yesterday.
8. Lan and Mei did not leave the celebration early last
Activity 2, page 86 night.
PARAGRAPH 4.2 9. My brother did not go to the grocery store last Saturday.
An Important Invention 10. Karla did not go on vacation two days ago.
Willis Carrier is not very well known, but he designed 11. The salesman did not call his customers the other day.
one of the most important inventions of the 20th century— 12. My friends and I did not have lunch in the cafeteria
the air conditioner. In 1902, Carrier worked as an engineer yesterday.
in a factory. A company in New York had problems with the 13. My drive to work did not take a long time this morning.
air quality in its buildings, and Carrier wanted to help. He 14. Scientists did not discover a new lake on Saturn a few
researched ideas to try to solve the problem. Not all his ideas days ago.
worked, so he did more research. He improved his ideas and
designed a machine as a solution to the problem. Finally, Activity 7, page 91
he wrote down all his notes and drawings and gave them
1. was
to the company. The company built the machine and put it
in its buildings, and the air problems disappeared. It took 2. was not
a long time for the air conditioner to become popular in 3. was
family homes. However, now the whole world uses Carrier’s 4. was

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 4  24
 5. were not Activity 12, page 94
6. were Answers will vary.
7. were
8. was Activity 13, page 96
9. were 1. S
10. was not 2. CD; Karl saw a movie this weekend, but he thought it
11. were not was really boring.
3. CX; Before Mahmood left class, he spoke to the teacher
Activity 8, page 92 about his homework.
1. had 4. CD; Amy expected to take a test today, but she was
2. was wrong.
3. did not work 5. CX; The students did not have any questions after the
teacher gave the assignment.
4. got up
6. S
5. was not
7. CX; We had enough time to get a coffee before class
6. did not start started.
7. got 8. CD; We can study here, or we can go to the library.
8. yelled 9. CD; My brother flew to Amsterdam, and he met our
9. crashed cousins there.
10. lost 10. CX; When Karen wanted information for her report, she
11. did not get went to the library.
12. was 11. CX; We cannot take a break before noon.
12. S
Activity 9, pages 92-93 13. CX; Sam began to study as soon as he got to the library.
1. John F. Kennedy was not a leader in Mexico. He was a 14. CD; Ying decided to ask a friend to edit her paper, and
leader in the United States. she liked her friend’s comments.
2. Confucius did not live in Colombia. He lived in China.
Activity 14, page 97
3. Ronaldinho did not play professional basketball. He
played professional soccer. 1. As soon as I graduated from high school, I got a summer
4. Marie and Pierre Curie did not discover penicillin. They job. / I got a summer job as soon as I graduated from
discovered radium. high school.
5. The Titanic did not sink in the Pacific Ocean. It sank in the 2. Before Juan traveled around the world, he took some
Atlantic Ocean. English classes. / Juan took some English classes before
he traveled around the world.
6. Leonardo da Vinci did not come from Germany. He came
from Italy. 3. When my sister and I finished our homework, we went
to a movie. / My sister and I went to a movie when we
7. Barack Obama was not the president of Canada. He was finished our homework.
the president of the United States.
4. After the house caught on fire, the fire department
8. J.K. Rowling did not write Romeo and Juliet. She wrote arrived very quickly. / The fire department arrived very
the Harry Potter books. quickly after the house caught on fire.
9. Steve Jobs did not create Microsoft. He created Apple. 5. Before the young woman crossed the street, she looked
10. The 2018 FIFA World Cup did not take place in South left and right. / The young woman looked left and right
Africa. It took place in Russia. before she crossed the street.
Activity 10, page 93 6. When the lights in the classroom went out, the teacher
told the students not to worry. / The teacher told the
Answers will vary. students not to worry when the lights in the classroom
went out.
Activity 11, page 94 7. As soon as Jacob had the freedom to study abroad, he
Possible answers: moved to California to study English. / Jacob moved
1. hard to California to study English as soon as he had the
freedom to study abroad.
2. quickly/fast
3. nervously
BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY
4. badly
5. quietly Activity 15, page 98
6. slowly 1. work hard
7. carefully 2. difficult
8. well
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 4  25
 3. fail BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES
4. go away
Activity 19, page 100
5. unusual
6. give a job PARAGRAPH 4.7
7. extremely bad Ibn Battuta
8. your grades Muhammad Ibn Battuta was a famous Moroccan traveler.
9. see He lived in Morocco in the 14th century. When he was a
10. pain young man, he made a trip to Mecca. Ibn Battuta loved to
see new places so much that he continued to travel. This was
Activity 16, pages 98-99 not his original plan, but he continued on his journey. He
had many adventures during his travels, and he met many
1. complete a project on time
interesting people. After he returned home, he did not forget
2. join an organization about his journey. He wrote a book about his travels, and this
3. win a prize book now gives us a lot of important information about life in
4. solve the mystery the 14th century. Also, it gives us more information about this
interesting and important man.
5. recharge the battery
6. design a new building Activity 20, page 101
7. yell at someone 1. We went to the park yesterday.
8. hire a new employee 2. The company president did not write the letter.
9. a powerful machine 3. Before he went home, he finished his homework.
10. my greatest achievement in life 4. The ice cream was delicious, but the chocolate cake was
better.
Activity 17, page 99
5. We watched some of the movie, but we left early.
1. Her cancer research was her greatest professional
6. Gary did not graduate from college, but his sister
achievement.
finished in three years.
2. I achieved a lot today.
7. Lauren wore her new dress, but she didn’t like it.
3. Damon quickly improved in his swimming classes when
8. After he was in the same job for five years, his salary
he was younger.
went up 25 percent.
4. This new computer software has many improvements.
9. After the child ate his vegetables, he asked for dessert.
5. The telephone was an important invention.
10. The baseball player caught the ball, but he dropped it.
6. Some believe that Marconi invented the radio, but
others believe that Tesla created it. Activity 21, page 101
7. The patient suffered/suffers from a rare disease. Possible answers:
8. The medication greatly reduced the patient’s suffering. 1. Cassius Clay was 22 years old when he changed his
9. The student noticed the mistake and corrected it. name to Muhammad Ali.
10. There are noticeable differences among the cultures of 2. Valentina Tereshkova traveled to space before any other
the world. female astronaut on June 16, 1963.
3. Serena Williams was a young woman when she became
Activity 18, page 100 famous for her incredible tennis skills.
Answers will vary.
WRITING
Activity 22, page 102
Answers will vary.

Activity 23, page 102

Answers will vary.

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 4  26
UNIT 5 | Writing about the Future
UNIT OVERVIEW
This unit introduces students to the future with will and be
going to in affirmative and negative statements with future
time expressions. A further look at complex sentences
includes future time clauses, if clauses, and reason clauses.
Further practice distinguishing between simple, compound,
and complex sentences and the use of commas allows
students to add more variety to their paragraphs.
OBJECTIVES
• Write about the future with be going to and will
• Use time clauses
• Use if clauses
• Use reason clauses
• Write an original paragraph
ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING
Using Be Going to and Will (page 106)
Ask for student volunteers to read the information aloud.
Ask: What are two ways to talk about the future? (be going
to, will). Is there a big difference between them in meaning?
(no) Is it common to talk about the future in academic
writing? (not very common) When do we use the future in
academic writing? (to talk about predictions and plans)
EXPANSION Write the following on the board, and elicit
which are predictions, and which are plans.
a. We will see high temperatures this season. (prediction)
b. The city is going to start construction on a new sports
center next year. (plan)
c. At the end, everyone will compare their results. (plan)
d. New kinds of businesses are going to appear in the
next few years. (prediction)
Activity 1 | Analyzing sentences (page 106)
Grammar: Be Going to (pages 106–107)
Ask for a student volunteer to read the information. Write
on the board:
We are going to have a test.
I am going to study overseas.
Ask: Are these plans or predictions? (plans) Did the person
make these plans before this moment? (yes)
Write on the board:
It is going to rain.
Ask: Is this a plan or prediction? (prediction) Do you think
it is going to rain today? Students may look to the window
before giving their answer. Ask: Is there something in the
present moment that helped you make your prediction?
(yes—the clouds or sun, or the weather forecast)
Direct students’ attention to the charts and have them
study the affirmative and negative forms.
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 5 
EXPANSION Provide small groups of students with a six-
sided die or have them write the numbers one through six
on small scraps of paper. Provide them with a coin to flip,
or have them use their own. Help them identify the sides of
the coin, and write on the board:
heads = affirmative
tails = negative
Write the following:
1. I
2. You
3. He / She
4. It
5. We / You
6. They
Students will flip the coin to determine affirmative or
negative, and then roll the die for a subject, and say the
appropriate sentence, with a verb of their choice. For
example, a flip resulting in “tails,” and a roll of four could
result in the sentence, “It is not going to rain.” The other
members of the group, looking at the chart, will verify if
all the parts are used: subject + be + (not) going to + verb.
Provide students with a group of verbs and phrases on the
board to choose from, for example, study, travel, be tired,
rain, be difficult, work late, go to the lecture, finish on time,
look for a new job.
This can be a quick speaking drill in small groups or a game
where groups see how many correct simple sentences they
can write in two minutes.
Writer’s Note Going to vs. Gonna (page 107)
Before students read the note, write on the board:
a. I’m gonna travel.
b. I am going to travel.
Ask: Which one is common in speaking? (a) Which one is
not appropriate in academic writing? (a) Have students
read the note to confirm their ideas.
Activity 2 | Editing a paragraph (page 107)
Before doing the exercise, have students recall the parts of a
sentence with going to. (subject + be + (not) + going to + base
form)
Activity 3 | Writing about the future with be going to
(page 108)
Have students read the instructions and look at the schedule.
Do the first example together, and remind students to write
complete sentences.
Activity 4 | Making predictions (page 109)
Look at the picture as a class. Ask students what they see
(giraffe, window, table, fruit, juice, flowers, etc.) Elicit some
27
verbs and phrases related to the picture, pointing to different
parts if students are slow to form ideas. If necessary, while
pointing to different parts, ask: What is going to happen?
What is this person going to do? (possible ideas: eat, take food,
serve food, reach the table, feed the giraffe, close the window,
break something, finish breakfast)
Grammar: Will (page 110)
Before going over the information, write the following on
the board:
a. I will get the door for you.
b. We will buy these three.
Ask: Did the person make the decision in the moment or
before this moment? (in the moment) Write:
c. This will be a problem.
Have students read the uses of will and decide which
example on the board corresponds to which use. (future
plans/decisions made in the moment – b; strong predictions –
c; promises and offers for help – a.)
Ask: What form of the verb goes after will? (the base form)
Is it the same for all subjects? (yes) Is it OK to write the
contraction? (only in informal writing)
Practice pronunciation of the different contractions.
EXPANSION Play the same game with the die as above,
rolling the die for a subject and flipping the coin for
affirmative/negative.
Provide students with a group of verbs and phrases on
the board to choose from, for example, be on time, help, be
there, get the phone, be OK, find an answer, finish soon, go by
car, bring the books.
Activity 5 | Using will (pages 110–111)
Activity 6 | Writing about the future with will (page 111)
Help students think of areas of their life to write about, for
example, studies, work, relationships, travel. Encourage
them to draw a timeline and note some of these ideas with
one word or phrase. Remind them to use not, perhaps for an
event they think will not happen before a certain year.
Grammar: Future Time Expressions (page 112)
Direct students’ attention to the explanation and the
chart. Go around the room and assign a time expression
from the chart to each student, and invite them to use
it to say something they think will or won’t happen. (For
example, Teacher: next Saturday. Student 1: It will rain next
Saturday. Teacher: next year. Student 2: My team will win
the championship next year; etc.) After going around the
circle and getting an example from each student, take one
of the examples and write it on the board with the time
expression first. Ask students where the comma should go,
before writing the comma after the time expression.
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 5 
Activity 7 | Identifying time expressions (pages 112–113)
Review the prepositions in, on, and at for time. Ask: Which
is used for a specific time? (at) Which is used for a day or a
weekend (on) Which is used for a larger amount of time or a
period in a day? (in).
Grammar: Complex Sentences about the Future (page
113)
Before going over the information, write on the board:
Kioni met her friends after she finished her test.
Ask: Is this a simple sentence, a compound sentence, or
a complex sentence? (a complex sentence) Have students
identify the dependent clause (after she finished her test)
and the independent clause (Kioni met her friends).
Go over the explanation of time clauses, and have students
identify the time clause on the board. Then, change only the
past verbs to give the sentence on the board a future meaning.
Kioni will meet her friends after she finishes her test.
Ask students to identify the verb form in the independent
clause (future) and in the time clause (simple present). Ask: Is
it OK to use be going to in this sentence? Elicit the change.
Kioni is going to meet her friends after she finishes her
test.
Have students look at the chart. Ask: What other time
words could be used in this sentence, with little change
in meaning? (as soon as) Elicit a sentence with the same
meaning using before, and write it on the board.
Kioni will take her test before she meets her friends.
Can we reverse the clauses? (yes) What kind of punctuation
do we have to add? (a comma) Show this on the board, and
have students read the note.
Before she meets her friends, Kioni will take her test.
Ask: can we use will or be going to in the time clause? (no)
Have students read the reminder.
Activity 8 | Choosing verbs for complex sentences in the
future (page 114)
Ask: Which words identify the time clause? (before, after,
when, as soon as) What verb tense do we use in the time
clause? (simple present) Remind students to identify the
time clause and the independent clause as they choose the
correct verb.
Activity 9 | Writing complex sentences about the future
(page 115)
28
 Grammar: If Clauses (page 116)
Before going over the information, write the following on
the board:
We will go to the beach if it does not rain.
Ask: Will we definitely go to the beach? (no) What’s
the condition? (if it does not rain) What verb form is in
the if clause? (simple present) What verb form is in the
independent clause? (future) Have students look at the
information. Elicit a similar idea as the first sentence, but
with an affirmative condition:
We will not go to the beach if it rains.
Next, elicit the same sentence, but with be going to:
We are not going to go to the beach if it rains.
Finally, elicit the same sentence, but with the clauses
reversed, with proper punctuation:
If it rains, we are not going to go to the beach.
Ask students to identify the time expressions that go with the
first event (when, as soon as, after), and with the second event
(before).
Activity 10 | Using if clauses (page 116)
Remind students to identify whether the if clause comes first
or second, and to use the correct verb form in each clause.
Activity 11 | Writing about the future with if (page 117)
EXPANSION Before doing the exercise, make a chain of
events together with the class. Start with: “If the weather is
cold and rainy all week,” and have students suggest a possible
result. Help them make each result another condition, and
continue the chain. (If the weather is cold and rainy all week,
I will be sad. If I am sad, I will not come to class. If I do not come
to class, I will fail my exam. If I fail my exam…) Tell students
they can use a similar chain in their sentences for this activity.
Grammar: Reason Clauses (page 117)
Before going over the information, ask students: Why are
you in this class? Take their ideas and write a reason clause
on the board:
We are in this class because we want to improve our
writing.
Ask: What part of the sentence answers the question Why?
Underline the clause starting with because. Have students
look at the information. Elicit and write a similar sentence
with future meaning by asking: What will you do in this
class because you want to improve your writing?
We will study and practice because we want to improve
our writing.
Ask students to identify the verb forms in each clause.
(future in the independent clause, simple present in the reason
clause) Can a sentence with because stand alone with
only one clause? (no, it’s a fragment) Can the clauses be
reversed? (yes, with a comma after the reason clause)
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 5 
Activity 12 | Identifying sentences and fragments
(pages 117–118)
Go over the examples in numbers one and two as a class.
Have students explain why sentence two is a fragment. (there
is only a reason clause)
Activity 13 | Writing complex sentences about the future
(page 118)
Writer’s Note Because vs. So (page 119)
Before going over the note, write the following on the
board:
Sami is going to study tonight because he has a test
tomorrow.
Sami has a test tomorrow, so he is going to study tonight.
Ask: Which word points to a reason or cause, and which
points to a result? Label the end of the first sentence as
“reason” and the end of the second sentence as “result.” Ask:
Which is a compound sentence, and which is a complex
sentence? Have students check their ideas by reading
the note. Remind students that a compound sentence
connects two simple sentences with a comma and the
coordinating conjunctions and, but, so, and or.
Ask: What will the first word be in each reason clause?
(because) Encourage students to work in pairs and discuss the
question Why…? for each sentence before writing their ideas.
Activity 14 | Combining sentences with so and because
(pages 119–120)
Look at the example as a class. Ask: Which sentence
answers the question Why? That’s the cause. Help students
understand that the cause goes before so and after because.
Remind them to put a comma before so, and only after the
reason clause if it comes first.
Activity 15 | Review: Identifying sentence types (page 120)
Writer’s Note Paying Attention to Commas (page 121)
Before going over the note, write the following on the
board:
a. We are going to visit Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
b. By 2050, the world will be very different.
c. I love Boston, but I don’t like the cold weather.
d. As soon as I get to the airport, I will call you.
Ask students to explain why commas are used in each
sentence. (a—there is a list of three items; b—the time
expression is first; c—this is a compound sentence; d—this is
a complex sentence and the dependent clause is first) Ask a
student volunteer to read the note aloud.
Activity 16 | Review: Using commas (page 121)
29
BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY
Words to Know (page 122)
EXPANSION Put students in pairs, Student A and Student
B. Assign the first two columns of the vocabulary to Student
A, and the second two columns to Student B. Each student
will choose seven words and write them without the vowels,
leaving a space where the vowels should be. They will then
exchange papers, and, without looking at the book, try to fill
in the missing vowels. (For example: _dv_nt_g_ = advantage.)
Activity 17 | Word associations (page 122)
Activity 18 | Collocations (pages 122–123)
Activity 19 | Word forms (page 123)
Activity 20 | Vocabulary in writing (page 124)
BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES
Activity 21 | Editing sentences (page 124)
EXPANSION Have students compare their edits in small
groups. Make each group a team and give them a small piece
of paper to raise as a flag, or put a bell or something to hit in
the middle of the classroom. As you go over the sentences,
one at a time, the first group to raise their flag or hit the bell
or signal earns the opportunity to correct the sentence first.
If they are right in all the edits in that sentence, they earn a
point. If not, they lose a point. If the team that signaled first
loses the point, correct the sentence together as a class,
no points for a second or third team. Teams can only signal
after you call the number of the sentence. To make it more
exciting, call out the numbers of the sentences at random,
rather than going in order.
Activity 22 | Writing about a photo (page 125)
As a class, look at the photo, and brainstorm some possible
verbs and phrases. (bite, eat, take a picture, swim away, touch,
be scared)
Activity 23 | Combining sentences (pages 125–126)
Before you review answers for each item, ask students which
words they think are the most important. (1. We, go, whale
watch, next weekend, good weather; 2. The runners, wear shirts,
the same, a team; 3. Kevin, collect, a lot of plastic bottles, recycle)
WRITING
Activity 24 | Writing a paragraph (page 126)
Suggest that students draw a timeline as they answer the
questions, showing the goal and the three steps with an
estimation of when each will happen.
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 5 
Editing (page 127)
Read the checklist. Ask students the following questions to
check comprehension of the concepts in the checklist:
What was the topic of each question? (the goal, when you
will achieve it, the steps you will take)
Can we use both will and be going to interchangeably in
time clauses and predictions? (yes)
Which do we use when the person already made the
plan? (be going to)
Which do we use when a decision is made in the
moment? (will)
Which words start a time clause? (before, after, when, as
soon as)
Which word starts a reason clause? (because)
What are some reasons to use commas? (lists of more than
three, a time expression that appears at the beginning
of the sentence, before a coordinating conjunction in a
compound sentence, when the dependent clause appears
first)
What are the four main parts of a paragraph? (an indented
first line, a topic sentence with the main idea, a body of
supporting sentences about the main idea, a concluding
sentence)
Activity 25 | Peer editing (page 127)
Additional Topics for Writing (page 127)
TEST PREP TIP (page 127)
Read the tip. Draw a vertical continuum on the board,
labeling the top with 100% and the bottom with 0%. Ask
students where the suggested alternatives for always, never,
all, and none would go on the continuum. Write probably
closer to the top, often and most just below it, many higher
than the halfway point, and almost never and almost none
near the bottom.
30
 Unit 5  ANSWER KEY 8. will need
Activity 6, page 111
ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING Answers will vary.
Activity 1, page 106 Activity 7, page 112
1. Prediction 1. Next
2. Plan 2. On
3. Prediction 3. In
4. Plan 4. At
5. Prediction 5. Later
6. Prediction
7. Prediction Activity 8, page 114
8. Plan 1. are
2. will put
Activity 2, page 107
3. are
PARAGRAPH 5.1 4. will flow
My Winter Vacation 5. fill up
My winter vacation is going to be wonderful because 6. will collect
I am going to go to Quebec. I am going to go there with my 7. are
best friend. We are going to spend one week in the city, and 8. will go
then we are going to explore the countryside for a week.
I have an aunt who lives there, and she is going to show us 9. uses
all the beautiful sights. While I am there, I am going to buy a 10. will be
lot of souvenirs for my parents, brother, and friends. I cannot 11. cleans
wait for my vacation to begin. 12. will start
Activity 3, page 108 Activity 9, page 115
1. He is going to eat lunch with his mom and dad. 1. When a gardener adds fertilizer to a plant, it will begin to
2. He is going to interview Andrew Pinter. grow.
3. They are going to have dinner on Friday. 2. As soon as the winter ice melts in the North Sea, ships
4. He is going to meet with Mr. Anderson on Monday. will sail from port to port.
5. They are going to play soccer. 3. Before I lend you my car, I will see how you drive.
6. He is going to finish a business report for her. 4. After the liquid heats up, the chemical reaction will
begin.
7. He is going to go to the doctor on Thursday.
5. As soon as the air inside the balloon heats up, it will
8. He is not going to go to work. expand.
9. He is going to go running on Monday and Friday. 6. Before the scientists begin the work, they will discuss the
10. He is not going to exercise on Sunday, Tuesday, and project requirements.
Thursday. 7. When I leave work, I will call you.
Activity 4, page 109 8. After you choose your classes, you will need to buy your
books.
Possible answers: The giraffe is going to come into the dining
room. The giraffe is going to eat the food on the plates. The Activity 10, page 116
giraffe is going to drink the juice from the glasses. The giraffe
1. buy
is going to break the plates and glasses. The giraffe is going
to make a mess in the dining room. The people are going to 2. will not make
feed the giraffe. The people are going to pet the giraffe. 3. have
Activity 5, pages 110–111 4. will buy
5. want
1. will have
6. will not change
2. will not make
3. will not get/be Activity 11, page 117
4. will be Answers will vary.
5. will buy/have/get
6. will not be
7. will have

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 5  31
Activity 12, pages 117–118 5. a) C
1. S; Because he studies hard, Dante will do well in this b) R
class. Jonathan does not feel well, so he is not going to go to
2. F the party.
3. S; Because it will be cold, we are going to pack our heavy Jonathan is not going to go to the party because he does
jackets. not feel well. / Because Jonathan does not feel well, he is
not going to go to the party.
4. F
6. a) R
5. F
b) C
6. S; Because she is stuck in traffic, she is going to arrive
late. The new smartphone is very expensive, so I am not
going to buy it.
7. S; Because I live in New York City now, I will go to the
theater often. I am not going to buy the new smartphone because it is
very expensive. / Because the new smartphone is very
8. F expensive, I am not going to buy it.
9. S; Because the storm is really strong, a lot of people will 7. a) R
lose power.
b) C
10. S; Because the managers are out of the office, we are not
going to have the meeting. Brian is extremely tired, so he will go to bed early.
Brian will go to bed early because he is extremely tired. /
Activity 13, page 118 Because Brian is extremely tired, he will go to bed early.
Possible answers: 8. a) C
1. Printed newspapers will not exist because people read b) R
the news online. Angela needs to buy some fruits and vegetables, so she
2. No one is going to use voicemail because people prefer is going to go shopping at the farmers' market.
to text or email. Angela is going to go shopping at the farmers' market
3. DVD players will disappear because people stream TV because she needs to buy some fruits and vegetables. /
shows and movies/watch TV shows and movies online. Because Angela needs to buy some fruits and
vegetables, she is going to go shopping at the farmers'
4. Classrooms are going to change because students use a
market.
lot of technology now.
5. Insects are going to be an important food source Activity 15, page 120
because they take up less land than animals.
1. S
Activity 14, pages 119–120 2. CD
1. a) C 3. CX
b) R 4. CX
I am thirsty, so I am going to drink a huge glass of water. 5. S
I am going to drink a huge glass of water because I am 6. CD
thirsty. / Because I am thirsty, I am going to drink a huge 7. CD
glass of water. 8. S
2. a) R 9. CD
b) C 10. CX
It is raining really hard, so we are not going to play 11. S
tennis.
12. CX
We are not going to play tennis because it is raining
really hard. / Because it is raining really hard, we are not Activity 16, page 121
going to play tennis.
1. At the party, we ate food, talked with our friends, and
3. a) R
played games.
b) C
2. After we go to the store, we are going to make dinner. /
Ana is very sick, so Mr. Lopez will take her to the doctor. Before we make dinner, we are going to go to the store.
Mr. Lopez will take Ana to the doctor because she is very 3. John wants to go to the movies, but Rob and Theo want
sick. / Because Ana is very sick, Mr. Lopez will take her to to go home.
the doctor.
4. We will go to the Caribbean for our vacation, and we
4. a) C will go to the beach every day. / When we go to the
b) R Caribbean for our vacation, we will go to the beach every
I love the movie, so I will recommend it to others. day.
I will recommend the movie to others because I love it. /
Because I love the movie, I will recommend it to others.

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 5  32
 5. Elizabeth will not ride roller coasters because they are 4. The students are going to go to the museum later.
too scary. Because roller coasters are too scary, Elizabeth 5. I am very hungry, so I will eat a big dinner tonight.
will not ride them. / Roller coasters are too scary, so
Elizabeth will not ride them. 6. They will type their ideas before they finish the project.
7. When you spend time with my family, you will_love
them. / When you spend time with my family, you are
BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY going to love them.
Activity 17, page 122 8. The lights will turn on_as soon as you push this button.
1. benefit 9. The car is going to get very hot if it is in the sun all day.
2. bring together 10. After she makes the food, she is going to take it to the
table.
3. village
11. Alison will go to the bookstore because she needs books
4. on top of water for her class.
5. dirty 12. We will go shopping on Saturday because we need
6. error clothes for our vacation.
7. reuse
Activity 22, page 125
8. same
9. use Possible answers:
10. completely 1. The person will be scared after she sees the crocodile.
2. When the person sees the crocodile, she will be very
Activity 18, pages 122–123 scared.
1. special circumstances 3. If the person tries to swim away, the crocodile will bite
her.
2. perform a song
4. The person is in danger because she cannot swim faster
3. a major disadvantage
than a crocodile.
4. the amount you need to pay
5. get rid of whatever you do not want Activity 23, pages 125–126
6. spend a few minutes on Possible answers:
7. do hardly any work 1. We will go on a whale watch next weekend if the
8. make a mistake weather is good.
9. recycle paper and plastic 2. The runners will wear the same shirts because they are a
team.
10. see the sights
3. After Kevin collects a lot of plastic bottles, he will recycle
Activity 19, page 123 them.
1. benefits
2. beneficial
WRITING
3. collect Activity 24, page 126
4. collection Answers will vary.
5. mistaken
6. mistakes
Activity 25, page 127
7. performance Answers will vary.
8. perform
9. tax
10. taxable

Activity 20, page 124

Answers will vary.

BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES

Activity 21, page 124
1. If you are going to be at the beach, you need to wear
sunscreen.
2. Everyone will bring their umbrellas because it is going to
rain.
3. We are going to meet them in the afternoon.

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 5  33
UNIT 6 | Sentence Variety

UNIT OVERVIEW Grammar: Adjective Clauses (page 131)

This unit gives students further practice with simple,
compound, and complex sentences, enabling them to add
more variety to their paragraphs. Students are introduced to
adjective clauses to describe nouns and give opinions, and
also modal verbs to add meaning.
OBJECTIVES
• Recognize sentence variety
• Write sentences with adjective clauses
• Use the modals should, must, might, and can
• Write an original paragraph
ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING
The Importance of Sentence Variety (page 130)
Direct students’ attention to the explanation. Ask: What
are three kinds of sentences we can use for variety?
(compound, complex, and simple sentences) Have students
read the example paragraphs and say which one they liked
better. Explain that using a variety of sentences is like using
a variety of spices in cooking—they add flavor and make
things more interesting.
Activity 1 | Identifying sentence types (page 130)
Review the sentence types as a class before doing the
exercise. What connects the two parts of a compound
sentence? (a conjunction, such as and, but, or so) What are
the two clauses in a complex sentence? (an independent
clause, which can stand alone, and a dependent clause, which is
sometimes a time clause, an if clause, or a reason clause)
Before going over the information, write the following on
the board:
I will not forget the teachers who challenged me the
most.
Ask: Is this a simple sentence or a complex sentence?
(complex) What does the underlined clause describe?
(teachers) Circle teachers or underline it in another color. Is
it a noun? (yes) What do we call words that describe nouns?
(adjectives) Tell students that this is called an adjective
clause. Ask students to notice the first word of the adjective
clause and then direct their attention to the explanation
and the chart. After comparing the simple sentences and
the sentences with adjective clauses in the chart, ask
students what words appear in the simple sentences, but
not in the adjective clauses. (they, it, these terms) Explain
that who or that function as pronouns, and so pronouns
that replace the noun being described are not needed.
Who vs. That (page 131)
Add the following sentence on the board:
One class that I remember well is Intro to 3-D Arts.
Have students identify the adjective clause, and underline
it. (that I remember well) Ask: What does this adjective
clause describe? (one class) Underline or circle “one class.”
Remind students that an adjective clause usually begins
with who or that, and tell them that one of these two words
can be used in both sentences on the board. Ask them to
guess which one, and then direct their attention to the
explanation to confirm their ideas. Erase the word who in
the first sentence, and replace it with that. Ask students to
identify the other word that can be used to start the second
adjective clause. (which)

Activity 2 | Identifying adjective clauses (page 132)

Grammar: Subject Adjective Clauses (page 132)

Before going over the information, go back to the first
example sentence on the board. (I will not forget the
teachers who challenged me the most.) Ask students to
identify the verb in the adjective clause. (challenged) Write
a “V” above the verb, and ask: Who challenged me? (the
teachers) Help students notice that who or that, in this
sentence, refers to the subject, which is teachers. Write an
“S” over who/that, and then direct students’ attention to the
chart.

Activity 3 | Using subject adjective clauses (page 133)

Go over the instructions and look at the first example as
a class. Ask: What is a coach? Elicit the adjective clause. (a
person who trains athletes). Ask: What words from the simple
sentence are not used in the sentence with the adjective
clause? (this person) Remind students not to include
pronouns (he, it, they, etc.) that refer to the noun in bold.

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 6  34
 Grammar: Object Adjective Clauses (page 133)
Refer students back to the second example sentence on
the board. (One class that I remember well is Intro to 3-D
Arts.) Ask students to identify the verb in the adjective
clause, and write “V” over the verb remember. Ask: Who
remembers? (I) Write “S” over the subject. What do I
remember? (one class). Does the word that refer to the
subject or the object? (the object) Refer students to the
chart. Ask: Can I use whom in subject adjective clauses?
(no—only object adjective clauses) Can I use whom in the
object adjective clause on the board? (no—only for people)
Activity 4 | Using object adjective clauses (page 134)
Look at the example sentence as a class. Remind students
to put the information in the second sentence after the
noun in bold, and any other information at the end, after
the adjective clause. In this case, is called chilaquiles goes
at the end, after the adjective clause that describes dish.
Remind students that that, who, and whom can all be used for
people—the only difference is that whom is more formal.
Activity 5 | Identifying adjective clauses (pages 134-135)
Activity 6 | Analyzing adjective clauses (page 136)
Remind students they will likely need to use a pronoun, or
repeat the noun in sentence b. If necessary, do the first one
together as a class.
Activity 7 | Combining sentences (pages 136-137)
Activity 8 | Writing sentences with adjective clauses
(page 138)
Look at the example together. Have students identify the
verb in the adjective clause. Is it a subject or object adjective
clause? (subject) Is there a verb in the other clause? (yes)
Remind students to use a verb in both clauses of their
sentences.
Grammar: Using Modals to Add Meaning (page 138)
Direct students’ attention to the chart, but have them cover
the first two columns with their hand, looking only at the
examples. Write the following on the board:
ability
possibility
advice
necessity
Clarify the meaning of any words if necessary, and have
students in pairs choose the one that each verb in bold
in the third column shows, and then have them remove
their hand to check. Elicit the opposite form of the modal
for each example. (You should not take an umbrella; You
must not visit that country without a visa; We might go to the
beach; Roberto cannot speak three languages.)
Ask: Can we use two modal verbs together? Do we use to
or the base form with a modal verb? Have students confirm
their ideas by looking at the reminder.
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 6 
Activity 9 | Choosing modals (page 139)
Encourage students to decide if each idea is a necessity, a
possibility, a good idea, or an ability.
Activity 10 | Using modals (page 139)
Have students discuss the questions in pairs to brainstorm
a bit before doing the exercise. Remind them to write their
answers in a complete sentence.
Activity 11 | Writing a paragraph (page 140)
Students may wish to take notes in a graphic organizer
before they start, writing down a few ideas that can go
with each modal verb. Remind them to support their ideas
with explanations and examples, and to include a topic and
concluding sentence.
Activity 12 | Identifying sentence types (page 140)
Elicit a description of each type of sentence, making sure
students remember that a compound sentence is connected
by a conjunction such as and, but, or so, and that complex
sentences have an independent clause and a dependent
clause.
Activity 13 | Reviewing sequence words (page 141)
Remind students that the paragraph should start with a topic
sentence and end with a concluding sentence. The sequence
words will separate the points that the writer makes to
support the idea.
BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY
Words to Know (page 142)
EXPANSION Give students one minute to study the terms
and remember as many as they can. Have them close their
books and, prompting them with only the first letter of each
word or phrase, elicit the vocabulary from the class. For
example, give the letter a (advice); b (bright); c (complete,
consider); d (daily, definitely, difference), etc. If there are any
that the students can’t remember, skip them, and then go
back and give the last letter, or other letters in between until
they remember.
Activity 14 | Word associations (page 142)
Activity 15 | Collocations (pages 142-143)
Activity 16 | Word forms (page 143)
Activity 17 | Vocabulary in writing (page 144)
BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES
Activity 18 | Editing a paragraph (page 144)
EXPANSION After students have completed the activity,
ask for a volunteer to read the paragraph. When the reader
arrives at a place that needs an edit, students should raise
their hand and offer the correction. To make this more
competitive, the first person to raise their hand and give a
successful correction each time gets a point.
Activity 19 | Scrambled sentences (page 145)
35
Activity 20 | Combining sentences (page 145)
Before you review answers for each item, ask students which
words they think are the most important. (1. Two women,
grandmother, mother, on the porch; 2. Parents, often, give,
advice, want, their children, to take; 3. Archaeologists, must get,
permission, from landowners, want to, explore, private land.)
WRITING
Activity 21 | Writing a paragraph (page 146)
EXPANSION Before students start writing on their own,
brainstorm some benefits to eating in a restaurant and eating
at home. Write some pros and cons based on students’ ideas
on the board.
Editing (page 146)
Read the information and checklist. Ask students the
following questions to check comprehension of the
concepts in the checklist:
Is it possible for someone to disagree with an opinion?
(yes—if it’s not possible for someone to disagree, it’s not
an opinion)
What are some sequence words that can show my main
reasons? (first, next, in addition, then, last)
How many supporting sentences should I have? (4–6: 2–3
reasons with a details sentence for each reason)
Should the last sentence state the same opinion? (yes, but
in different words)
What words do adjective clauses usually begin with?
(who, that; sometimes whom, which)
What words connect the two parts of a compound
sentence? (conjunctions, such as and, but, so)
Where do we put a comma in a compound sentence?
(before the conjunction)
Where do we put a comma in a complex sentence? (at the
end of the dependent clause, only if it comes first)
Name some modal verbs.
Name some vocabulary words or expressions from the
unit.
What are the four main parts of a paragraph? (an indented
first line, a topic sentence with the main idea, a body of
supporting sentences about the main idea, a concluding
sentence)
Activity 22 | Peer editing (page 146)
Additional Topics for Writing (page 147
TEST PREP TIP (page 147)
Read the tip. Ask: Are compound and complex sentences
more academic than simple sentences? (no—variety is
what makes writing more academic, and that includes simple
sentences) Reinforce the idea that a simple sentence can
convey a powerful message when used together with
compound and complex sentences.
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 6 
EXPANSION Ask students to think of their favorite line from
a movie or a song, or something memorable someone said in
a talk. Have students raise their hand if it was a simple phrase
that stood out from the rest.
Unit 6  ANSWER KEY
ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING
Activity 1, page 130
Example 2
Tennis Terms
Tennis has many special terms that are used to discuss the
game. Some people who are not familiar with tennis do not
know the meaning of these special terms. One special word
is love, and it means “nothing” or “zero” in tennis. All tennis
matches begin with a score of love-love. Deuce is a special word
that means the score is even. It means each player scored
three points, so the score is tied at 40. One other special term
is volley. A volley means hitting the ball before it touches the
ground. It comes from the French word volée, and it means
flight. Love, deuce, and volley are special terms that all tennis
player and fans know.
Activity 2, page 132
PARAGRAPH 6.1
A Family Photo
This is a photo that shows the different generations and
cultures in Ali Tecimen’s family. Ali is the man in the blue
jacket. He was born in Berlin, Germany. He grew up there,
but his family is from Turkey. The two people in the front row
are his grandmother and grandfather. They are the ones who
brought the family to Berlin in the 1970s. They went there for
work. Ali’s parents are behind his grandmother. The young
girl who is with them is Ali’s daughter. The other woman in
the photo is Ali’s wife. The boy who is between them is their
son. Even though Ali was born in Berlin and grew up there,
he considers Turkey his home. This is a photo of Ali Tecimen’s
family, but it is also a picture that shows what many modern
families look like.
Activity 3, page 133
1. A coach is a person who/that trains athletes.
2. Elon Musk is a businessman who/that wants to make
space travel easier and more common.
3. Romansch is a language that comes from Latin.
4. Bolivia is a South American country that does not have a
coastline.
5. Nasi lemak is a Malaysian dish that uses white rice and
coconut milk.
6. Dante Alighieri was an important poet who/that wrote
The Divine Comedy.
7. A meerkat is an animal that is a native of Africa.
8. The Titanic was a ship that sank in the North Atlantic
Ocean in 1912.
36
Activity 4, page 134
1. The Guatemalan dish that I like the best is called
chilaquiles.
2. The movie that we saw at the theater last night was Black
Panther.
3. The dream that I had last night was strange.
4. The number that Paul gave me was incorrect.
5. The story that Samir told was extremely interesting.
6. The homework assignment that the grammar teacher
gave us was difficult.
7. The scientist who/whom/that many people admire
works in our lab.
8. The food that we bought for dinner got cold on our way
home.
9. The famous actress who/whom/that I saw at the
restaurant was very friendly.
10. The play that we are going to see tonight is very popular
in London.
Activity 5, pages 134-135
PARAGRAPH 6.2
The National Geographic Photo Ark
There are many animals that are in danger of
disappearing. Joel Sartore hopes to help save these
endangered animals with the National Geographic Photo Ark.
He plans to photograph the approximately 12,000 animal
species that are in human care. These animals are in places
such as zoos. He photographs animals in zoos because some
species no longer exist in the wild. His pictures of these
animals have black or white backgrounds that make people
pay attention to each animal. The small, less popular animals
look as important as the bigger, more well-known ones. It will
take Sartore years to complete the Photo Ark, but he hopes
his work will encourage people to care about the animals on
our planet.
Activity 6, page 136
1. There are many animals that are in danger of
disappearing.
a. There are many animals.
b. These animals are in danger of disappearing.
2. He plans to photograph the approximately 12,000
animal species that are in human care.
a. He plans to photograph the approximately 12,000
animal species.
b. These species are in human care.
3. His pictures of these animals have black or white
backgrounds that make people pay attention to each
animal.
a. His pictures of these animals have black or white
backgrounds.
b The backgrounds make people pay attention to each
animal.
Activity 7, pages 136-137
A. 9. should
1. This is the weather that I like the most.
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 6 
2. People who/that use British English write centre and
theatre.
B.
PARAGRAPH 6.3
How the Weather Affects Me
Some people do not believe the weather can change
their mood, but it can really change mine.    Rainy weather
makes me feel lazy. It makes me want to stay inside and do
nothing. I want to watch a movie or sleep. When the sun is
bright, I feel energetic.    This kind of weather makes me
want to go outside. I want to play tennis or go to the beach.
When the temperature is cool and the sun is shining, I feel
like working. I want to finish my projects. As you can see, my
mood definitely changes with the weather.   
PARAGRAPH 6.4
Spelling Differences
There are a few small but important spelling differences
between British and American English.    First, there is a
difference in the use of -re and -er endings.    However,
these words are written as center and theater in American
English.   Second, British English has an extra letter to some
words. For instance, colour and travelling in British English are
color and traveling in American English. Finally, some words
that end in -ise or -ize in British English can only be spelled
-ize in American English. In British English, you can write
organise or organize, but in American English you can only
write organize. Although they are very similar, British and
American English have some very different spelling rules.
Activity 8, page 138
Possible answers:
1. I am reading a magazine that has many fashion articles.
2. I want a phone that can take good pictures.
3. I have a teacher who gives a lot of homework.
4. A blue whale is an endangered animal.
5. Electricity was an invention that was very important.
6. The Shaghai Tower is a building that is famous.
7. Venice, Italy, is a location that is a popular tourist
attraction.
8. I have a friend who/whom I have known for many years.
9. Harvard is a university that is in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
10. A gift that is good for anyone is a watch.
Activity 9, page 139
1. must
2. can
3. should
4. can
5. can
6. should
7. should
8. can
37
Activity 10, page 139 8. the next generation
Possible answers: 9. there is no difference
1. I should clean the house before my friends arrive. 10. encourage someone to continue
2. I must set the table before dinner. Activity 16, page 143
3. My friends can cut the bread. 1. advice
4. If there are twenty guests, I might cook a big pot of 2. advised
pasta.
3. difference
5. If one of the guests is late, I should wait to serve dinner.
4. differs
Activity 11, page 140 5. encouragement
Answers will vary. 6. encourages/encouraged
7. modernize
Activity 12, page 140
8. Modern
a. S 9. suggest
b. CD 10. suggestion(s)
c. CX
1. c.
Activity 17, page 144
2. b. Answers will vary.
3. a.
BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES
Activity 13, page 141
Activity 18, page 144
a. 1
b. 4
PARAGRAPH 6.7
c. 8 Visiting a New Country
d. 9 There are many reasons to visit a new country. First,
e. 6 you can see beautiful, interesting, and distant places. For
example, you can visit the Kremlin and Red Square in Russia.
f. 7
Another reason to travel is to eat new types of food. If you
g. 5 visit Thailand, you can drink jasmine tea, and you can eat
h. 3 coconut-flavored rice. Finally, you can meet new people
i. 2 who/that live in these different places. You can talk to people
and learn more about their likes and dislikes. As you can
see, traveling to another country is important for different
BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY reasons.
Activity 14, page 142 Activity 19, page 145
1. opinion Answers may vary.
2. sunny 1. We go to our beach house in Hawaii every year.
3. finish 2. Kevin has an appointment at the dentist's office at 4:30
4. think about p.m.
5. always 3. James got a nice gift for his birthday last week.
6. sure 4. Suri eats lunch and talks to her friends in the cafeteria
7. be somewhere every day.
8. become older 5. Mary works hard every day because she wants to buy a
new car.
9. inactive
6. Mount Erebus is a volcano that has a lava lake.
10. new
Activity 20, page 145
Activity 15, pages 142-143
Possible answers:
1. sit in the front row
1. The two women who are on the porch are my
2. make a suggestion grandmother and mother.
3. grow up in a small town 2. Parents often give advice that they want their children to
4. be in a bad mood take.
5. live in the wild 3. Archaeologists who want to explore private land must
6. develop a skill get permission from landowners.
7. pay attention to the directions

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 6  38
WRITING
Activity 21, page 146
Answers will vary.

Activity 22, page 146

Answers will vary.

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 6  39
UNIT 7 | Reader Response
UNIT OVERVIEW
This unit introduces students to the idea of a response
paragraph, and writing their opinion about a topic. Students
learn to state their point of view with an opinion verb + that
clause, and learn to support their opinion by listing reasons
and examples, organizing them with sequence words.
OBJECTIVES
• Use sequence words to organize ideas
• Express an opinion using an opinion verb + that clause
• Write a response paragraph
• Write an original paragraph
ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING
Listing (page 150)
Begin by asking students to name three things that are
important when studying another language, and, as a class,
decide on the order of importance. Tell students that a
paragraph can be organized in list form, as well, and have
them look at the explanation. Ask: What are some different
ways to organize lists? (by number, time, or importance)
How do we signal the order of ideas? (with sequence words
and phrases) Have students close their book and review as
many sequence words and phrases as they can remember
with a partner.
EXPANSION Write the following on the board, and check
comprehension by having students determine which ones
need a comma after the sequence word or phrase. (a, c, h,
i, j)
a. First
b. One reason
c. Next
d. The next example
e. Another example
f. Then
g. The third reason
h. In addition
i. Last
j. Finally
Activity 1 | Identifying topic sentences for listing
paragraphs (page 150)
Ask students to identify information in the topic sentences
that suggest listing order. (1. three major oceans; 2. specific
steps; 4. several reasons; 7. three branches; 8. four cycles)
Activity 2 | Choosing sequence words (page 151)
Have students guess the order of the sequence words in the
box, and then read the paragraph to find out if their ideas
match up.
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 7 
Activity 3 | Organizing a paragraph (page 152)
Responding to Ideas (page 152)
Ask for a student volunteer to read the information. Check
comprehension by asking: Do responses always have to
agree with the idea that is presented? (no—they can agree,
disagree, or be a mixture of both) Where does your opinion
appear in a response paragraph? (in the topic sentence,
again in the concluding sentence) What information goes in
the body? (reason and examples that support your opinion)
Writer’s Note Avoiding Plagiarism (page 153)
Before going over the note, ask students if they think
it is OK to use specific information from other authors
without mentioning the source of that information. Ask
for a student volunteer to read the note. Elicit some
ways that students can cite the author in a paragraph.
(paraphrasing (saying the author’s ideas in your own words,
using expressions such as, “According to [author’s name],”
or “[Author] observed that…”); directly quoting (using the
author’s exact words in quotations with the same expressions
given before))
Activity 4 | Analyzing a response (pages 153-154)
Grammar: Opinion Verbs and That Clauses (page 154)
Before directing students’ attention to the explanation,
write the following on the board:
I believe that children need play time to learn.
Ask: What is the opinion? (that children need play time) What
verb introduces the opinion? (believe) What word comes
after the opinion verb? (that) Underline the that clause. Ask:
Is this a complete sentence? (no) Have students read the
explanation. Ask: what two things does a dependent clause
or a that clause always have? (a subject and a verb) Have
students identify the subject and verb in the that clause on
the board. Point out that there may be other information,
such as an object or a time phrase.
Read the note on should, and elicit a sentence with should
that agrees with the example sentence.
Activity 5 | Analyzing a response paragraph (page 155)
Before students underline, ask: What comes before a that
clause? (an opinion verb) What comes in a that clause? (that +
subject + verb + other information if necessary)
Activity 6 | Using that clauses (page 156)
Activity 7 | Writing sentences (page 157)
Ask students to recall the different opinion verbs. Ask: What
comes after an opinion verb? (that + subject + verb + other
information if necessary) Remind students that they can use
the verb should to make a suggestion.
40
BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY Editing (page 163)
Words to Know (page 158) Read the checklist. Ask students the following questions to
EXPANSION Ask students to choose four nouns, four verbs, check comprehension of the concepts in the checklist:
and one adjective from the list. They should keep parts What are some opinion verbs?
of speech together—separate the nouns, verbs, and the What comes after an opinion verb? (that + subject + verb +
adjective– and write only the first three letters of each word. other information if necessary)
(example: acc, dev, nat). Next, they will exchange papers with
What do supporting sentences do? (give reasons and
their partner, who has to identify each word. Partners should
examples to support your opinion)
then review the meaning of all selected words together.
Name some sequence words.
Activity 8 | Word associations (page 158)
What should the concluding sentence do? (summarize my
Activity 9 | Collocations (pages 158–159) opinion or offer a suggestion)
Can a title be a sentence? (no)
Activity 10 | Word forms (page 159)
Activity 11 | Vocabulary in writing (page 160) Activity 16 | Peer editing (page 163)

BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES Additional Topics for Writing (page 163)

Activity 12 | Identifying errors (page 160) TEST PREP TIP (page 163)
EXPANSION Have students compare their answers in small
Before reading the tip, take a quick class poll. How many
groups and reach an agreement together if there are any
agreed with daylight saving time in the writing assignment?
different edits. If desired, make this more of a competition by
How many disagreed? How many both agreed and
assigning one point per team for each successful edit, with 13
disagreed? Ask students if they think it is easier to write about
points being the maximum score.
only one side, or a mixture of both sides. Read the tip. Help
Activity 13 | Writing sentences (page 161) students understand that it is common to pick a side, even if
Ask: What two things does every sentence have? (a subject you don’t support it 100% personally.
and a verb) Elicit the three kinds of sentences they have
studied. (simple, compound, complex) Remind students to use
a variety of these sentence types. Unit 7  ANSWER KEY
Activity 14 | Combining sentences (pages 161–162)
Before you review answers for each item, ask students which ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING
words they think are the most important. (1. some cars, electric,
better, for the environment, I, believe that; 2. many, beaches, near
Activity 1, page 150
my house, popular, places to go, in the summer; 3. Jenna, likes, 1, 2, 4, 7, 8
travel, alone, meets, people, can do, what she wants)
Activity 2, page 151
WRITING 1. First
Activity 15 | Writing a paragraph (page 162) 2. A second
EXPANSION Before students begin the steps, have them 3. another
read the paragraph and then share whether or not they 4. In addition
practice daylight saving time in their country. Elicit students’ 5. Finally
thoughts about the practice, and help them brainstorm a
list of advantages and disadvantages before they choose Activity 3, page 152
whether they agree or disagree. a. 1
b. 6
c. 3
d. 7
e. 4
f. 8
g. 2
h. 5

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 7  41
Activity 4, pages 153–154 6. required
1. schools should focus on education, not exercise 7. make
2. a. Schools need to give students more opportunities to 8. give
get academic information. 9. smaller
b. Students need more time to prepare for national 10. unequal
tests, such as college entrance exams.
Activity 9, pages 158-159
c. Students need to be able to compete academically in
college. 1. have a bad habit
3. a summary 2. reach a compromise
3. access the building
Activity 5, page 155
4. canceled due to a lack of interest
PARAGRAPH 7.4 5. physical development
Keep Physical Education 6. an excellent career opportunity
There are several reasons why I do not think that schools 7. start a trend
should reduce the time for physical education. First, I think 8. be necessary for growth
that it is unfair to make students sit in class all day. They need
9. focus on your studies
a chance to take a break and move around. Second, exercise
brings oxygen to our brains. This can help students focus 10. made out of natural materials
better on their lessons and learn more. Last, I believe that
Activity 10, page 159
physical education classes teach students healthy habits. This is
important because students will miss fewer classes if they are 1. access
healthy. I truly feel that reducing the time for physical education 2. accessible
in schools is not a good idea. 3. developed
1. schools should not reduce the time for physical 4. development
education
5. productive
2. a. It is unfair to make students sit in class all day.
6. product
b. Exercise brings oxygen to our brains.
7. provides
c. Physical education classes teach students healthy
habits. 8. provision
3. a summary 9. reduction
10. reduce
Activity 6, page 156
Activity 11, page 160
1. that schools should focus on academics
2. that exercise has a place in schools Answers will vary.
3. that schools should find different ways to get students to
exercise BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES
Post-reading questions:
Activity 12, page 160
1. The writer has mixed feelings about the lack of physical
education in schools. 1. I think that children should have more free time.
2. a. If students are more educated, they will be more 2. In addition, they should watch less TV.
competitive in college and at work. 3. And finally, children need to play outside.
b. If students are in poor physical health, it is hard for 4. Better health is another reason to join a gym.
them to learn. 5. An example of a famous painting is the Mona Lisa.
3. a suggestion 6. More people are going to live longer because of their
healthier habits.
Activity 7, page 157
7. He disagrees that parents should_help children with
Answers will vary. homework.
8. They believe that everyone has a talent or can do
BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY something special.
9. The last example of a coffee producer is Brazil.
Activity 8, page 158
10. We feel that planning for the future is important.
1. disagree
2. possibility Activity 13, page 161
3. go Answers will vary.
4. attention
5. topic

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 7  42
Activity 14, pages 161-162
Possible answers:
1. I believe that electric cars are better for the environment.
2. There are many beaches near my house that are popular
places to go in the summer.
3. Jenna likes to travel alone because she meets people
and can do what she wants.

WRITING
Activity 15, page 162
Answers will vary.

Activity 16, page 163

Answers will vary.

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 7  43
UNIT 8 | Putting It Together
UNIT OVERVIEW
This unit reinforces elements of great writing from previous
units, including the four parts of a paragraph, and also
grammar points such as choosing the right verb form and
the use of definite and indefinite articles. Another look at
compound and complex sentences, as well as adjective
clauses, gives students the opportunity to edit a paragraph
for sentence variety.
OBJECTIVES
• Review paragraph basics
• Write an original paragraph
• Edit your paragraph for grammar and sentence variety
ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING
Reviewing Paragraph Basics (page 166)
Before students look at the information, ask them to recall
the four parts of a paragraph, and ask how they can make
their writing more interesting. Have them compare with
a partner, and then confirm their ideas by reading the
information.
Ask: What does the topic sentence do? (it tells the main idea
of the paragraph) Remind students that the topic sentence
should not be too general or too specific. Ask: What do
supporting sentences do? (they make up the body of the
paragraph and give information about the topic, such as
reasons, examples, or details)
Activity 1 | Identifying topic sentences and supporting
sentences (page 166)
Before starting the activity, ask: Which are more detailed—
topic sentences or supporting sentences? (supporting
sentences)
Activity 2 | Writing concluding sentences (page 167)
Ask: What does a concluding sentence do? (it ends the
paragraph and leaves the reader with a final thought) How is it
similar to a topic sentence? (it often expresses the same idea,
but in different words) Can it introduce any new information?
(no) Encourage students to consider the topic sentence as
they write each concluding sentence.
Activity 3 | Organizing sentences (page 167)
Encourage students to identify the topic and concluding
sentences first, before putting the supporting sentences in
logical order, one idea connecting to the next.
Activity 4 | Choosing the correct verb (page 168)
Activity 5 | Writing a paragraph (page 168)
As a class, brainstorm some important inventions and
write them on the board. Examples may include the wheel,
the printing press, the steam engine and locomotive, the
automobile, the computer, the Internet, the smart phone.
Ask students to choose one and name three reasons why it is
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 8 
one of the most important inventions. Ask them to think of
examples of those reasons. Tell students that they will use this
information to build the body of their paragraph, following
the model.
Activity 6 | Using articles (page 169)
EXPANSION Before students do the exercise, write the
following on the board, and have them identify if they should
use a or an:
___ example (an)
___ vacation (a)
___ SUV (an–because the name of the letter S begins with a
vowel sound (es))
___ exciting story (an)
___ brand new car (a)
Remind students that the vowel sound, even in an adjective
before the noun, requires an. Next, write the following, and
have students identify if they should use a, an, the, or Ø:
___ cats are great pets. (Ø)
___ cat that I had as a child was friendly. (the)
My uncle has ___ cat. (a)
Remind students that if a noun is used in a general sense, and
is plural, no article is used. If it is general and singular, use a or
an. If it is specific—in this case, a particular cat, use the.
Activity 7 | Combining sentences (page 170)
Ask: When you combine two simple sentences with a
comma and the connectors and, but, or so (coordinating
conjunctions), what kind of sentence do you make? (a
compound sentence)
Activity 8 | Editing for compound sentences (page 170)
Remind students that a combination of different kinds of
sentences, including compound sentences, adds variety to
make their writing more interesting.
Activity 9 | Identifying complex sentences (page 171)
Ask: What two types of clauses make up a complex sentence?
(independent and dependent) Ask students to name some
connectors (subordinating conjunctions) that can be found
in the dependent clause. (when, as soon as, before, after, if,
because, since)
Activity 10 | Editing for complex sentences (page 172)
Remind students that the use of complex sentences, in
addition to compound and simple sentences, adds variety to
their writing.
Activity 11 | Identifying adjective clauses (page 172)
EXPANSION Before starting the activity, write the following
on the board:
I have a friend who
Pizza is something that
44
As a class, brainstorm how to complete each sentence, and
write students’ ideas on the board. Underline the students’
ideas and the words who and that. Remind students that this
is an adjective clause. It describes the noun that came before
it. Have students identify that noun, and draw an arrow
pointing to it. (a friend, pizza)
Activity 12 | Editing for adjective clauses (page 172)
Remind students that an adjective clause is one more way to
add variety to their writing.
Activity 13 | Writing a final draft (page 172)
Tell students that in their final draft they should try to use a
combination of simple, complex, and compound sentences,
as well as an adjective clause.
BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY
Words to Know (page 173)
EXPANSION Have students take turns describing and
guessing words. Encourage them to use adjective clauses to
describe the nouns. For example: this is someone who rides a
bus, etc. (passenger)
Activity 14 | Word associations (page 173)
Activity 15 | Collocations (pages 173-174)
Activity 16 | Word forms (page 174)
Activity 17 | Vocabulary in writing (pages 174-175)
BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES
Activity 18 | Editing (page 175)
EXPANSION Make this more of a game by putting students
in pairs and giving them a certain amount of imaginary
money. This can be actual play money, or just simple objects
such as paper clips. (Each paper clip can be assigned the
value of $10.) Give each pair about $200 in symbolic money.
Go one sentence at a time and auction off the opportunity
to buy and correct the sentence. Start the bid at $10 and go
as high as students are willing to bid, closing each sale by
saying “going once, going twice, sold!” Take their play money
or paper clips and invite students to correct the sentence.
Student pairs earn one point per each successfully corrected
error in the sentences they bought. If they are not successful,
they only lose the money they spent. Go over the corrections
as a class. The team with the most points wins. If two teams
have an equal number of points, see which one has more
money left over to determine the winner.
Activity 19 | Writing sentences (page 175)
Encourage students to use a variety of simple, compound,
and complex sentences.
Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 8 
Activity 20 | Combining sentences (page 176)
Before you review answers for each item, ask students which
words they think are the most important. (1. China, has,
festival, April, celebrate, building project, changed, flow, Min
River; 2. underground tunnels, parts of Argentina, Brazil, made
by, now-extinct, animals; 3. Tasmania, dangerous, place, surf,
great white sharks, waves up to 20 feet high)
WRITING
Activity 21 | Writing a paragraph (page 176)
EXPANSION Brainstorm as a class reasons that e-books are
good, and reasons that paper books are good. Write students’
ideas on the board. Ask students to name the opinion verbs
(believe, feel, think, agree, disagree), and remind them that
these can be used with a that clause to express an opinion.
Ask students to name some sequence words used to list
reasons (first, next, then, one reason, the next reason, another
example, in addition, last, finally, etc.)
Editing (page 177)
Read the checklist. Ask students the following questions to
check comprehension of the concepts in the checklist:
What are some opinion verbs?
What kind of information should the supporting
sentences have? (reasons and examples supporting your
opinion)
What should the concluding sentence do? (summarize
your opinion or offer a suggestion)
Which sentences are made of two simple sentences
connected by a comma and a conjunction? (compound
sentences)
Which sentences have an independent and a dependent
clause with a subordinating conjunction? (complex
sentences)
Can a title be one word? (yes)
Can a title be a sentence? (no)
Activity 22 | Peer editing (page 177)
Additional Topics for Writing (page 177)
TEST PREP TIP (page 177)
Ask: Do you have the habit of reading your writing as soon
as you finish it? Do you find the editing checklist useful
each time you complete your writing assignment? Do you
find ways to improve your writing when you go through the
checklist? Tell students to keep a mini mental checklist in
mind on a test paragraph. Tell students to ask themselves
if they have included the four main parts of a paragraph.
Remind them to always look back at the question, make sure
it is answered clearly, make sure there are enough supporting
sentences to back it up, and that they are organized clearly.
In addition to the content, remind students to check for
grammar and mechanics. Tell them that it is important to
save time for this.
45
 Unit 8  ANSWER KEY c. People can enjoy live entertainment when it is dark.
3. the light bulb; one of the most important inventions
ELEMENTS OF GREAT WRITING Activity 5, page 168
Activity 1, page 166 Answers will vary.
1. a. S; b. T Activity 6, page 169
2. a. S; b. T
1. the
3. a. T; b. S
2. the
4. a. S; b. T
3. a
5. a. S; b. T
4. the
Activity 2, page 167 5. the
Answers will vary. Possible answers: 6. Ø
1. You should definitely visit the Kennedy Space Center if 7. a
you have the chance. 8. the
2. Remember these examples of patience the next time 9. The
you start to get frustrated. 10. the
3. As soon as you see this bridge, you immediately know it 11. the
is the Golden Gate Bridge.
Activity 7, page 170
Activity 3, page 167
1. They wanted to drive it, but I told them they could not.
a. 6
2. My friends did not want to walk, so they were always
b. 3 passengers.
c. 1 3. Every weekend, I drove to the movie theater, and my
d. 5 friends rode with me.
e. 4
Activity 8, page 170
f. 2
g. 7 Answers will vary.
Possible title: Breakfast Foods Around the World Activity 9, page 171
Activity 4, page 168 PARAGRAPH 8.4
1. used Earthquakes Caused by Humans
2. lets 1
Several types of human activity can set off earthquakes.
3. helps 2
First, mining can cause earthquakes. 3When we remove dirt
4. ended from the ground to build mines, the earth can become weak.
4
If it collapses, an earthquake can happen. 5Next, humans can
5. enjoy cause earthquakes by building dams. 6The weight of so much
6. watch water in one place can set off an earthquake. 7In addition,
7. listen earthquakes can happen because fracking is used to get oil
Post-reading questions or gas from the ground. 8When the water that comes up with
the oil or natural gas is put back into the ground, it can cause
1.
an earthquake. 9If we continue to dig mines, build dams, and
An Important Invention use fracking, we will have more and more earthquakes.
The light bulb is one of the most important inventions 1. 3, 8
of all time. In the past, people used candles to see at night. 2. 4, 9
This light was very weak and difficult to see with. However,
3. 7
now the light bulb lets us see things easily in the dark. This
invention also helps us to do more work in one day. Before Activity 10, page 172
the light bulb, most work ended at sunset. Now people can
continue to work outdoors or in their offices after the sun Answers will vary.
goes down. In addition, people can enjoy live entertainment
when it is dark. For example, sports fans watch games at
Activity 11, page 172
night on lighted fields, and music lovers listen to concerts in PARAGRAPH 8.5
lighted stadiums. Without the invention of the light bulb, our How the Months of the Year Got Their Names
lives would be very different.
2. a. The light bulb lets us see things easily in the dark. The names of all twelve months come from ancient culture
and myths. There are several months that are named after gods
b. It also helps us to do more work in one day. and goddesses. The first month, January, gets its name from the

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 8  46
Roman god who was in charge of doors and beginnings—Janus. 7. Jealousy
The name March comes from the Roman god of war, Mars. Some 8. jealous
people believe that April is named after the Greek goddess
9. powerful
of love, Aphrodite. May is named after Maia, a Greek earth
goddess, and June is named after the Roman goddess who was 10. power
connected to love and marriage—Juno. February gets its name Activity 17, pages 174-175
from an old Roman festival. It is the only month that is named
after a special occasion. Two months get their names from Answers will vary.
Roman emperors. July is named after Julius Caesar, and August
is named for Emperor Augustus. The last four months of the year BUILDING BETTER SENTENCES
are named for where they were in the Roman calendar. Septem,
octo, novem, and decem mean seven, eight, nine, and ten in Activity 18, page 175
Latin. September, October, November, and December were the
PARAGRAPH 8.6
seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth months of the Roman calendar.
The names of the months seem so common, but they actually The Island of the Colorblind
have a very long history. There is something unusual about Pingelap Atoll, a small
Activity 12, page 172 island in the South Pacific. About 10 percent of its population
is colorblind. This means they cannot see most or all colors.
Answers will vary. When a terrible storm hit the island in 1775, it killed most
of the islanders. Because the population was so small, the
Activity 13, page 172 gene for colorblindness passed to a lot of people over the
Answers will vary. next several hundred years. Their condition is known as
achromatopsia. Some of the people on Pingelap who have
achromatopsia are able to see colors like red and blue, but
BUILDING BETTER VOCABULARY others only see black and white. People’s understanding of
Activity 14, page 173 color is certainly different on Pingelap Atoll.
1. really Activity 19, page 175
2. control Answers will vary. Possible answers:
3. want 1. Our trip to the Grand Canyon was an unforgettable
4. allow experience.
5. rider 2. Winning the prize was an extraordinary achievement.
6. walking 3. Subject-verb agreement is a typical mistake that people
7. take away learning English make.
8. start 4. An airplane is a modern machine.
9. down 5. The festival celebrates spring.
10. unable Activity 20, page 176
Activity 15, pages 173–174 Possible answers:
1. a live show 1. China has a festival in April every year to celebrate a
building project that changed the flow of the Min River.
2. passengers on a plane
2. There are underground tunnels in parts of Argentina and
3. stop for pedestrians
Brazil that were made by now-extinct animals.
4. need special equipment
3. Tasmania is a dangerous place to surf because there are
5. an exciting adventure great white sharks and waves up to 20 feet high.
6. lose weight
7. a film festival WRITING
8. an unforgettable experience
Activity 21, page 176
9. from sunrise to sunset
10. a powerful engine Answers will vary.

Activity 16, page 174 Activity 22, page 177

1. adventurous Answers will vary.
2. adventure
3. entertainment
4. entertaining
5. experience
6. experience

Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs  Teacher's Notes, Unit 8  47