Worksheet

On the Air: Morning Announcements and Group Talk

A short play about two students who read the school announcements helps grade 4 students tell formal English from informal talk.

Grade 4ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toL.4.3.c

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What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 Common Core standard
Printable answer key
10 questions
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Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 4
Subject: ELA
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students tell apart situations that call for formal English from those where informal talk fits.
Students identify formal and informal sentences in a play.
Students write a formal announcement for the whole school.

How to use

Have students read the play aloud in parts, then discuss how the speakers' words change for each audience before they answer the questions.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

L.4.3.c

Tell apart situations that call for formal English, such as presenting ideas, from those where informal talk fits, such as small-group discussion.

Preview

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Name Date

On the Air: Morning Announcements and Group Talk

Read a short play and notice when the speakers use formal English.

Read the play

On the Air

1SCENE 1: The school office, ten minutes before the bell. Kwame and Ana Sofia sit beside the microphone with the announcement sheet. Ms. Bell, the office manager, is sorting the mail.

2KWAME: Dude, I'm so nervous. My hands are all sweaty.

3ANA SOFIA: Chill. We practiced, like, a million times. You got this.

4MS. BELL: Right now you two are just friends chatting, and that is fine. When you press the button, though, every classroom in the school will hear you. Use your announcement voices.

5KWAME: (pressing the button) Good morning, students and staff. Today is Tuesday. Please listen carefully to today's announcements.

6ANA SOFIA: The art club will meet in Room 12 after school. Students who would like to join should bring a sketchbook.

7KWAME: Also, there's, like, a ton of jackets in the lost and found, so go grab yours, guys.

8MS. BELL: (whispering and tapping the sheet) Read it the way it is written.

9KWAME: Excuse me. Many jackets have been left in the lost and found. Please check the table by the gym before Friday.

10ANA SOFIA: Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day. (She lets go of the button.)

11KWAME: Phew! Did I mess up big-time?

12ANA SOFIA: Nah, you fixed it super fast. It was no big deal.

13SCENE 2: Later, in Room 4B. Mr. Diaz's students sit in groups of four to plan posters for the art club.

14MR. DIAZ: Share your ideas freely with your group. In ten minutes, each group will present its best idea to the whole class.

15ANA SOFIA: Ooh, what if we draw a giant paintbrush? That'd be awesome!

16LUCAS: Yeah! And we could make the letters all drippy, like wet paint.

17MR. DIAZ: (ten minutes later) Group 3, please come up and present.

18ANA SOFIA: (standing in front of the class) Our group would like to share our poster idea. We plan to draw a large paintbrush with dripping letters. We hope it shows that the art club is creative and fun.

Think about the play

Use the numbered lines of the play to answer.

In line 4, Ms. Bell says the friends' chatty talk is fine "right now." Why?

A. The whole school is listening to them already.
B. Ms. Bell is the only grown-up in the school.
C. They are reading the announcement sheet aloud.
D. They are only talking to each other for now.

One of these sentences was said to the whole school by mistake. Underline the informal sentence.

Good morning, students and staff.Students who would like to join should bring a sketchbook.Also, there's, like, a ton of jackets in the lost and found, so go grab yours, guys.Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.

Why does Ms. Bell tap the sheet in line 8?

A. Kwame used informal words in front of the whole school.
B. Kwame forgot to say which day of the week it was.
C. Kwame read the art club news before Ana Sofia did.
D. Kwame spoke too quietly for the classrooms to hear.

Write formal or informal in each blank.

Word bank: formal · informal

When Kwame reads the news to every classroom, his talk should be . When Kwame and Ana Sofia chat before pressing the button, their talk is . When Ana Sofia shares ideas with Lucas at their table, the talk is . When Ana Sofia presents the poster idea to the class, her talk is .

How is Ana Sofia's language in line 18 different from her language in line 15?

A. In line 18 she uses more slang and shorter words.
B. In line 18 she uses complete, polite sentences.
C. In line 18 she asks her group a friendly question.
D. In line 18 she whispers so only Lucas can hear.

Choose the right words

Decide which kind of English fits each speaker and audience.

Sort these lines from the play. Is each one formal or informal?

Chill. We practiced, like, a million times.Please check the table by the gym before Friday.Phew! Did I mess up big-time?Yeah! And we could make the letters all drippy.Our group would like to share our poster idea.Please listen carefully to today's announcements.