1. ASManager2_6.zip Driver
2. E_SUBJCT.txt File Contents

E_SUBJCT.txt Driver File Contents (ASManager2_6.zip)

Name: <  >
Class: <  >
Date: <  >


Keep to the Subject


When you write a paragraph, all the sentences in the paragraph should be about the main idea.

In the paragraphs below, the main ideas are shown inside brackets [ ]. Delete any sentences that are not about the [main idea].


A Human Cannonball

[Being a human cannonball is an unusual occupation.] My dad is an electrician. In 1877, a woman named Zazel was the first person to hold this job. She used elastic springs, which were compressed and then released, to send her shooting out the end of a cannon. Once I had a toy cannon. Zazel always landed safely in a net some distance away. Sometimes she flew as far as sixty feet. She also liked to drive race cars.


Name and save this file now. (Press ctrl+S, type a name for the file, and press enter.)

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Check your paragraph against the one below. The sentences have been deleted that do not pertain to the main idea.

[Being a human cannonball is an unusual occupation.] In 1877, a woman named Zazel was the first person to hold this job. She used elastic springs, which were compressed and then released, to send her shooting out the end of a cannon. Zazel always landed safely in a net some distance away. Sometimes she flew as far as sixty feet.


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Delete any sentences that are not about the [main idea].


Telling Time

[Before the clock was invented, there were many instruments for telling time.] Many of these instruments used shadows created by the sun. A digital watch is the easiest to read. The very earliest form of sun clock was simply a stick stuck in the ground. When the shadow was shortest, it was noon. Sticks were also used for weapons. From the shadow stick came the sundial.


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Check your paragraph against the one below. The sentences have been deleted that do not pertain to the main idea.

[Before the clock was invented, there were many instruments for telling time.] Many of these instruments used shadows created by the sun. The very earliest form of sun clock was simply a stick stuck in the ground. When the shadow was shortest, it was noon. From the shadow stick came the sundial.


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Delete any sentences that are not about the [main idea].

Travel Tool

[Maps have many uses.] They tell us how to get from one place to another. They help us decide whether to use a car, bus, plane, or boat to reach our destination. I'm afraid to fly in planes. Maps also keep us from getting lost. It is a very scary feeling to be lost and not know where you are. Maps make a handy travel tool.


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Check your paragraph against the one below. The sentences have been deleted that do not pertain to the main idea.

[Maps have many uses.] They tell us how to get from one place to another. They help us decide whether to use a car, bus, plane, or boat to reach our destination. Maps also keep us from getting lost. Maps make a handy travel tool.


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Add two sentences to the paragraph below that are not related to the main idea. Then have your partner or friend look for your "off the subject" sentences.


Nearsighted Elephants

Elephants have poor sight and are colorblind. Their eyes are small in relation to the enormous head. An elephant cannot turn its head completely, and so it can see only in the front and to the sides. The animal must turn around to see anything behind.


If you haven't done so already, name and save this file now. (Press ctrl+S, type a name for the file, and press enter.)

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end of activity
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