Activity pack 2

Subject- verb agreement

SUBJECT that tells us what the sentence is about. It can be either a noun (book,cars,Mary, etc)or a
pronoun(they,she,etc).It can be either singular or plural.
VERB represents the action of a sentence (is, went, will place, have taken, etc)

How to make the subject and verb agree:

1.Identify the subject of the sentence.
2.Decide if the subject is singular or plural.
3.Lastly,decide which verb form will match with the subject.

Example:
The quality of the apples were not good.
In this,subject is the “quality of the apples” and the the verb is ‘were’.
Since the subject “the quality of the apples” is singular, the singular verb ‘was’ should have been used
instead of ‘were’.
So the correct sentence is:
The quality of the apples was not good.

10 rules of Subject Verb Agreement

RULE1: The subject and verb must agree in number: both must be singular, or both must be plural.
Example:The car belongs to my brother.(SINGULAR)
They also play football.(PLURAL)

RULE2: The number of the subject (singular or plural) is not changed by words(or a phrase) that come
in between the subject and the verb.
Example: One of the boxes is open.
Here,the subject “one” and the verb “is” are both singular.

RULE3: Some subjects always take a singular verb even though the meaning may seem plural.
Example: Someone in the game was (not were) hurt.

RULE4: The following words may be singular or plural, depending upon their use in a sentence:
some,any, all, most.
Example: Most of the news is good. (singular)
Most of the flowers were yellow. (plural)

RULE5: Subjects joined by “and” are plural. Subjects joined by “or” or “Nor” take a verb that agrees
with the last subject.
Example: Bob and George are leaving.
Neither Bob nor George is leaving.

RULE6: “There” and “here” are never subjects.In sentences that begin with these words, the subject is
usually found later on in the sentence.
Example: There were five books on the shelf. (were, agrees with the subject “book”)

RULE7: Collective nouns may be singular or plural, depending on their use in the sentence.
Examples: The orchestra is playing a hit song. (Orchestra is considered as one unit—singular)
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The orchestra were asked to give their musical backgrounds. (Orchestra is considered as separate units-
plural)

RULE8: Some nouns, while plural in form, are actually singular in meaning.
Example: Mathematics is (not are) an easy subject for some people.

RULE9: “Doesn’t” is a contraction of “does not” and should be used only with a singular
subject.”Don’t” is a contraction of “do not” and should be used only with a plural subject.
Example: He doesn’t(does not) like it.

RULE10:Nouns such as ‘civics’, ‘mathematics’,‘dollars’, and ‘news’ require singular verbs.

Eg.A million dollars is needed to renovate that building.

Choose the verb that agrees with the subject.

1. Here (is -are) your dog.

2. The man with the roses (look-looks) like your brother.

3. Statistics (show-shows) facts.

4. They (don’t –doesn’t) live here.

5. The football players (run-runs) five miles every day.

6. That red-haired lady in the fur hat (live-lives) across the street.

7. He (cook-cooks) dinner for his family.

8. The boys (walk-walks) to school every day.

9. The weather on the coast (appear-appears) to be good this weekend.

10. The center on the basketball team (bounce-bounces) the ball too high.

Bias vs Prejudice
What is Bias

Bias is an inclination for or against one person or group, especially in a way considered to be unfair. It is
a belief that some ideas, people, etc. are better than others. When one person is biased towards a
certain thing, it is difficult to make a fair judgment. This is why we say that judges should always be
biased. Bias is always linked to unfairness.

If you have a good impression of something, then you are biased towards it. But if you have a bad
impression of something, you are biased against it. If you have to make a choice about these two things,
you’ll be inclined towards the thing you have a good impression about. So you won’t consider its
disadvantages or weak qualities much.

For example, imagine that you are a teacher, and you see two students fighting. You personally know
one of them. So you jump to the conclusion that it was the other student who started the fight. Here
you are being biased towards the student you personally know. But in reality, you really have no idea
who started the fight.
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What is Prejudice

Prejudice is a preconceived opinion that is not based on actual experience or reason. It is often
considered to be a negative, unfair towards a person based on that person’s membership in a particular
social group. Prejudice can be based on factors like religion, gender, age, caste, and race. For example,
some people may consider all Muslim women to be illiterate and uneducated. This is actually a prejudice
against religion and gender.

Although prejudice can be both negative and positive, we often tend to have negative views towards
those who don’t belong to our social group. In contrast, we show positive attitudes to people who
belong to our social groups. This mainly happens because of ignorance and lack of trust. It is also
important to note that we learn prejudice from those around us; it is not something we are born with.
But it is not very easy to change such prejudices since they have been engrained in people since
childhood.

Difference Between Bias and Prejudice

Definition

Bias is an inclination for or against a person, idea or thing, especially in a way considered to be unfair.

Prejudice is a preconceived opinion that is not based on actual experience or reason.

Positive vs Negative

Bias can be positive or negative.

Prejudice mostly involves having negative attitudes towards another party.

Result

Bias results in unfairness.

Prejudice often results in discrimination.

Most newspaper articles break down into two categories:

 News articles
 Feature articles

You will also find opinion pieces, like editorials and book and movie reviews. But this
lesson deals strictly with news and feature articles.
Here's how you can tell the difference between a news story and a feature story.

 News articles cover the basics of current events. They answer the questions: who,
what, where, how, and when?
 Feature articles are longer and more in depth than regular news articles. They cover
one subject from multiple angles and are written in a more creative, entertaining format.
Although a news story can be creative and entertaining, too. Check out the examples
below.
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It is important to remember that both news and features demand the same level of
research and reporting.
Read examples of news and feature articles from the Scholastic Kids Press Corps.
Read them all, then write your own articles modeled after them.

The Basic Story Outline

The best way to structure a newspaper article is to first write an outline. Review your
research and notes. Then jot down ideas for the following six sections. Remember, this
is just a foundation upon which to build your story.
I. Lead sentence
Grab and hook your reader right away.
II. Introduction
Which facts and figures will ground your story? You have to tell your readers where and
when this story is happening.
III. Opening quotation
What will give the reader a sense of the people involved and what they are thinking?
IV. Main body
What is at the heart of your story?
V. Closing quotation
Find something that sums the article up in a few words.
VI. Conclusion (optional—the closing quote may do the job)
What is a memorable way to end your story? The end quote is a good way to sum
things up. That doesn’t always work. If you are quoting more than one person with
different points of view in your story, you cannot end with a quote from just one of them.
Giving one of your interviewees the last word can tilt the story in their favor. In this age
of the Internet, you can also end your story with a link to more information or even your
own behind-the-scenes blog post.
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Now It’s Your Turn

STEP 1: Read the fact sheet and write the following.

Fact Sheet

You're on the graveyard shift at the Centerville Gazette. You phone the cops to see if
anything's going on. Lt. Jane Ortlieb of the Centerville Police Department tells you there
was a shooting tonight at the Fandango Bar & Grill on Wilson Street in the Grungeville
section of the city.

You're back at the Centerville Gazette. It's the day after the shooting outside the
Fandango Bar & Grill on Wilson Street in the Grungeville section of the city. You phone
the cops to see if they have anything new on the case. Lt. Jane Ortlieb tells you that
early this morning they arrested an ex-con named Frederick Johnson, 32, in connection
with the shooting.

What is the…?
Lead sentence:
Introduction:
Opening quotation:
Main body:
Closing quotation:
Conclusion:
Remember, not ALL of these elements may be represented in the story, or even in one
place.
STEP 2: Now, using your research and notes, write an outline for your own article.
Remember, your first version of a story is a first draft, not a finished article. Here a few
good tips for turning in a quality story to your editor/teacher.

 Read the story at least one time for comprehension. You want to make sure your writing
tells a story with a beginning, middle, and end. Also, check to make sure you have at
least two good quotes in it if at all possible.
 Go back over your draft to check for spelling and punctuation errors.
 Now, read it out loud. This will help you catch any awkward phrases, or sentences that
don’t sound right.
 Once your piece is polished, turn it in to your editor. Be sure you have a slug or headline
(which tells the subject of the story), a date, and your byline.