Vista Language Arts Lessons

  Alliteration is when two or more words that start with the same sound are used repeatedly in a phrase or a sentence. The repeated sound creates the alliteration not the same letter. Example: "tasty tacos" is considered an alliteration but "thirty typist" is not because the "th" and "ty" don't sound the same.  Alliteration is a type of repetition-a repetition of sounds. Alliteration can make your words more engaging and entertaining-especially if you are trying to engage an audience and you want them to pay more attention. Also used in advertising, musicians and to express emotion. 1. Clary closed her cluttered clothes closet. 2. Harry hurried home to watch football on TV. 3. Rachel ran right until she realized she was running round and round.  4. Polly's prancing pony performed perfectly. 5. The boy buzzed around as busy as a bee. 6. Make mountains out of a molehill. 7. Matthew met Michael at the Moor 8. Busy buzzing, the bee behaved be...

Tongue Twisters are a good way to practice and improve pronunciation and fluency.  They can also improve accents with repetition of sound. 1. How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, and chuck as much wood As a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood 2,How can a clam cram in a clean cream can? 3. Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear.  Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair.  Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was he? 4. I have got a date at a quarter to eight.  I'll see you at the gate, so don't be late. 5. You know New York, you need New York, you know you need unique New York. 6, I saw a kitten eating chicken in the kitchen. 7. If a dog chew shoes, whose shoes does he choose? 8 I thought I thought of thinking of thanking you 9. I wish to was my Irish wristwatch. 10. Near an ear, a nearer ear, nearly eerie ear 11. A big black bear sat on a big black rug 12. Tom threw Tim three thumbtacks 13. Nine nice night nurses nursi...

A Simile is a literary device that compares two things in an interesting and vivid way. Words such as "like" and "as' are used to compare two ideas. 1. He was as quiet as a mouse As he entered his father's hospital room, he was as quiet as a mouse. 2. smelling like a rose After winning the lawsuit, she walked out the court house smelling like a rose and waving her hands in the air with joy. 3. As dry as sandpaper The cracked earth near the Salton Sea was as dry as sandpaper. 4. roared like an angry lion The lightening and thunder over the dark skies roared like an angry lion. 5. swim like a fish She swims like a fish because she had lessons at the young age of 2. 6. eat like a bird- When the starlet was asked how she stayed so thin, she said: "I eat like a bird." 7.As clean as an operating room Her bright and shiny kitchen is as clean as an operating room. 8. as blind as a bat Without my glasses I am as blind as a bat. 9. footsteps as soft as cat paws M...

  Oxymoron- is a self-contradicting word or group of words. A paradox is a statement or argument  that seems to be contradictory or to go against common sense, but that is yet or perhaps true. 1. less is more- A vanilla ice cream with light sugar sprinkles is considered less is more. 2. accurate estimate- The car repairman gave me an accurate estimate for my car tune up. 3. alone together- When we go to the lake for our annual vacation, we love being alone together. 4.awfully good-  The wedding banquet served an awfully good assortment of food choices. 5. bittersweet- Our departure from our Rome vacation was bittersweet because we had to say farewell to our grandparents. 6. climb down-  I helped the kid to climb down from the ladder. 7. close distance- The campground is a close distance from the park parking lot. 8. cheerful pessimist- The president appears to be a cheerful pessimist about the lack of support from his political team.  9. definite maybe- When I a...

  1. The directions to the summer home were easier to find because he explained it to me very thoroughly. 2. So I could understand the comic's monologue about the "Tooth Fairy" in his childhood, he explained it to me like a six year old. 3. He clearly explained it to me so I could understand what he was saying in French.  4. I was able to understand the new computer program because he explained it to me in a clear, concise, manner. 5. Watching the dog roll over several times, his owner explained it to me as a trick it learned by itself.  6. So I would not make a mistake setting the table, I asked the hostess to explain it to me by drawing a diagram.  7. While visiting the museum tour of the Picasso exhibition, the art docent explained it to me personally.  8. To make itself understood, the cat explained it to me by meowing loudly. 9. My gardener brought a new lemon tree hybrid and explained it to me in order to agree with the planting. 10. "Can you explain it to...

  1.prologue The prologue of the play began with the main character speaking to the audience. The symbolic seeds in the prologue of the story become the gigantic sunflowers at the end. 2. epilogue The epilogue of the story discussed how the hikers ultimately reached their destination on horseback. Their were three endings in the play and the epilogue gave hints on which fit the best. 3. merengue The peaks of the merengue were almost 3 inches tall thereby giving the lemon pie a delicious appearance.  The trifle dessert has four layers of strawberries and bananas divided by three layers of merengue. 4. vague The car dealer  was very vague about the delivery date of my new car, stating possibly in two-three weeks. The directions to his house were too vague for his friends to find the location. 5. morgue The man that died in the car accident was sent directly to the morgue instead of the hospital. The morgue was overloaded after the earthquake too many lives. 6. tongue The to...

1. among- I felt joyful among my friends at the class reunion dinner. Among all the students, they decided to donate their classroom funds to the ASPCA in their town. . 2. along- The bicycle path wraps along the river bank and through the forest of redwoods. He decided to go along with his friend's idea of investing 20% of his salary. 3. flung- The boys flung mud balls at their friends as a joke and to have fun making a mess His idea of walking from southern to northern California in 30 days was considered "far flung" until he actually succeeded. 4. vying- When I come home from work, all my cats try vying for my attention by meowing as loud as they can. All vying swimmers are registering with the coach. 5. slang "Dressed to the nines" is an  old slang expression for dressing beautifully and full of class. "He's the cat's pajamas" is also an old slang expression for being handsome. 6.sprung Spring has sprung and the flowers are blooming througho...