Five warm-ups for grades 6–8. Each takes three to five minutes. Answers and teacher notes are in the collapsed box under each prompt.
ELA
A complete sentence has a subject and a verb and expresses a complete thought. A fragment is missing one of those. Label each item C (complete) or F (fragment). Then fix two of the fragments so they become complete sentences.
- Because the bus was late.
- The cat slept on the warm windowsill.
- Running down the hallway with a heavy backpack.
- After the game ended.
- Stop!
Answer and teacher notes
1. F 2. C 3. F 4. F 5. C
Sentences 1 and 4 have a subject and verb, but words like because and after leave the thought hanging (“Because the bus was late… what happened?”). Sentence 3 has no subject and no complete verb. Sample fixes: Because the bus was late, we missed the first bell. Running down the hallway with a heavy backpack, Sam almost tripped. After the game ended, the fans cheered. Sentence 5 is the trap: a command has an understood subject, you (“You stop!”), so it is complete. Tip: read the item out loud by itself. If a listener would ask “And then what?” or “Who?”, it is probably a fragment.
Math
A road map has the scale 1 inch = 25 miles.
- Two towns are 3.5 inches apart on the map. How far apart are they in real life?
- Two other cities are 140 miles apart. How far apart are they on the map?
- A family drives between the two towns from question 1 at an average of 50 miles per hour. How long does the trip take, in hours and minutes?
- A new map uses the scale 1 inch = 50 miles. Will the towns from question 1 look closer together or farther apart on the new map? How many inches apart?
Answer and teacher notes
1. 3.5 × 25 = 87.5 miles.
2. 140 ÷ 25 = 5.6 inches. Check: 5.6 × 25 = 140. ✓
3. 87.5 ÷ 50 = 1.75 hours. 0.75 × 60 = 45 minutes, so 1 hour 45 minutes.
4. Closer together. 87.5 ÷ 50 = 1.75 inches. Each inch now stands for more miles, so the same real distance takes up less space on the paper.
A quick ratio table (inches : miles = 1 : 25, 2 : 50, 3 : 75, 3.5 : 87.5) helps students who get stuck. Common mistake in question 3: writing 1.75 hours as “1 hour 75 minutes.” Remind students that the decimal part of an hour has to be multiplied by 60.
Science
The color of a star usually tells you its temperature: blue stars are hotter than red stars. A white dwarf is the small, faint star left behind when a star like our Sun runs out of fuel. Astronomers at the University of Warwick in England reported this week that a white dwarf called WD J1330+6435 looks green, the first known green star in our galaxy. It has swallowed rocky debris, which added sodium to its outer layer, and that sodium absorbs the orange part of its light. (a) Put these star colors in order from coolest to hottest: blue, red, yellow-white. (b) If orange light is removed from a star’s white light, why might the rest look green to us? (c) In a survey of 151 nearby white dwarfs, 5 had unusual colors. About what fraction is that? Write it as “about 1 in ___.”
Answer and teacher notes
(a) Red → yellow-white → blue (coolest to hottest). (b) White light is a mix of all colors. Take one color out, and the colors that are left can blend into a different color than white. Here, with orange missing, the leftover light looks chartreuse-green. The star itself is not giving off “green” light only; something in its atmosphere is filtering its light. (c) 5 ÷ 151 ≈ 0.033, and 151 ÷ 5 ≈ 30, so about 1 in 30. The researchers estimate that about 1 in 30 white dwarfs may have an unexpected color.
Other white dwarfs in the study looked yellow, pink, or purple, depending on what material they had pulled in. These stars are much too faint to see without a telescope. Connection: a prism or a glass of water can split white light into a rainbow, which is a quick way to show that white light contains every color. Follow-up: why might it be useful to know what a star has “eaten”? (It tells scientists what its old planets or asteroids were made of.)
Sources: ScienceDaily: Astronomers Discover a Ghostly Green Star Unlike Any Known Before (University of Warwick); NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: The First Green Star, WD J1330+6435
Social Studies
The soccer star Pelé was born on October 23, 1940, in Três Corações, Brazil. His real name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento. He helped Brazil win the World Cup in 1958, 1962, and 1970, and Britannica credits him with 1,281 goals in 1,363 matches. In 1975 he joined the New York Cosmos, helping bring attention to soccer in the United States. (a) How many years ago was Pelé born? (b) How many years passed between his first and last World Cup wins? (c) About how many goals did he score per match? (d) Why might one athlete become a symbol for a whole country, and why would a U.S. team want a famous player from another country?
Answer and teacher notes
(a) 2026 − 1940 = 86 years. (b) 1970 − 1958 = 12 years. (c) 1,281 ÷ 1,363 ≈ 0.94 goals per match, almost one goal every game. He was only 17 during the 1958 World Cup, which was played in June, before his 18th birthday.
(d) Answers will vary. Strong ideas: winning on the world stage brings national pride, people everywhere recognize a famous athlete, and a star can make other countries notice a nation. A U.S. team in the 1970s could use a world-famous player to sell tickets, draw TV coverage, and get kids interested in a sport that was less popular in the United States at the time. Pelé retired in 1977 and died on December 29, 2022. Map tip: find Brazil, the largest country in South America, and the city of São Paulo.
Source: Britannica: Pelé
Current Events
The 2026 World Series begins tonight, Friday, October 23, when the Milwaukee Brewers host the Tampa Bay Rays at American Family Field in Milwaukee. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Central time. Neither team has ever won a World Series. The Brewers had the best record in the National League, 103 wins and 59 losses, which earned them home-field advantage. The World Series is best-of-seven: the first team to win four games is the champion. (a) What time does Game 1 start in Tampa Bay, which is on Eastern time? (b) What is the fewest number of games the series could last? The most? (c) Find the Brewers’ winning percentage (wins ÷ games played) to three decimal places. (d) Why might playing at home help a team?
Answer and teacher notes
(a) Eastern time is one hour ahead of Central, so 8:00 p.m. Eastern. (b) Fewest: 4 games (one team wins the first four). Most: 7 games (the teams are tied 3–3 after six). (c) 103 + 59 = 162 games. 103 ÷ 162 ≈ 0.636, so the Brewers won about 64% of their games. The 103 wins set a franchise record.
(d) Answers will vary: cheering fans, no travel, sleeping in their own beds, and knowing their own ballpark. In baseball, the home team also bats last, so it knows exactly how many runs it needs in the final inning. Schedule note: Games 1 and 2 are in Milwaukee, Games 3–5 move to the Rays’ home park, and Games 6 and 7 (if needed) return to Milwaukee. The Brewers’ only other World Series was in 1982. Keep it friendly: students can predict a winner, but grade the math, not the pick. Results will change daily, so check the latest score before class.
Sources: NBC Chicago: World Series schedule, start date, and format; Yahoo Sports: Rays vs. Brewers World Series Game 1 Preview; Wikipedia: 2026 World Series (schedule and records)
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