Grade 3 – English Language Arts Terminology and Definitions
Act – a main part of a play, such as the beginning, middle, or end
Adjective – a word that describes a noun
Adverb – a word that describes a verb
Antonyms – words that have the opposite meaning
Article – a word that tells you whether a noun is definite or indefinite
Capital Letter – and “upper-case” letter
Capitalize – to make the first letter in a word a capital letter
Cause – the reason something happens; leads to an effect
Character – a person in a story
Comma – a special mark used to separate items in a list
Compare – look for things that are the same about two sentences, passages, or topics
Concluding Sentence – a sentence that ends a paragraph and sums up its main point
Context – the text surrounding a word or sentence
Contrast – to find things that are different about two sentences, passages, or topics
Definite Article – tells you exactly which person, place, or thing you are talking about
Detail – a sentence or bit of information that supports the main idea of a paragraph or passage
Dialogue – the spoken lines characters say to each in a drama
Drama – a story that is written to be performed on a stage, such as a play
Effect – the result of a cause
Exaggeration – saying that something is more than what it is
Fact – a statement that is always true
Fiction – stories that are made-up; events in fictional stories did not really happen
Heading – a word or phrase that comes before a page or paragraph, and tells you the topic
Homographs – words that are spelled the same, but that have different meanings
Homophones – words that sound the same, but that have different meanings and spellings
Indefinite Article – an article that does not tell you exactly which person, place, or thing you are talking about
Inference – a conclusion that make, based on the information you have
Main Character – the person a story is mostly about
Main Idea – what a story or passage is mostly about
Metaphor – a suggested comparison of two like things that does not use “like” or “as”
Nonfiction – a type of writing that contains facts and teaches you something
Noun – a person, place, or thing
Opinion – a belief about a subject
Pattern – something repeated over and over again
Period – a special mark used to show that a statement has ended
Plot – the main action in a story
Poem – a type of writing that includes stanzas, rhythm, and rhyme
Prefix – a group letters added to the beginning of a root word to form a new word
Pronoun – a word that takes the place of a noun
Rhyme – a set of words or lines that sound very much alike
Rhythm – the way the lines in a poem sound when you read them; when the lines of a poem sound like a song when you read them
Root word – a simple word that becomes a new word by adding more letters at the beginning or end
Scene – a small part of a play; part of an act
Sequence – the order in which events in a passage happen
Setting – the time and place in which the events of the story happen
Simile – a comparison of two like things, using the words “like” or “as”
Stage Directions – the instructions in a drama that tell you what the characters are doing before, during, and after dialogue is spoken
Stanza – a set of lines in a poem
Subject – the noun that is the subject of a sentence
Suffix – a group of letters added to the end of a root word to form a new word
Supporting Sentence – a sentence in a paragraph that supports the topic sentence; usually any sentence other than the first and last sentences in a paragraph
Synonyms – words that have the same, or almost the same, meaning
Tense – tells you when a sentence is happening
Theme – the author’s general message in a story
Topic – the main subject of a nonfiction passage
Topic Sentence – sentence that tells you the topic of a paragraph; usually the first sentence in the paragraph
Verb – the action word in a sentence
Grade 4 – English Language Arts Terminology and Definitions
Act – a main part of a play, such as the beginning, middle, or end
Adjective – a word that describes a noun
Adverb – a word that describes a verb
Alliteration – use of words that start with the same sound
Antonyms – words that have the opposite meaning
Article – a word that tells you whether a noun is definite or indefinite
Author – person who wrote something
Author’s Purpose – why an author wrote something
Bar Graphs – graphics that group information using bars
Beat – one sound in a line of a poem
Capitalization – use of capitals, or upper case letter, to set words apart and write proper sentences
Cause – a person, a thing, or an event that makes something happen
Character – a person in a story
Commas – marks used to add pauses in sentences or separate items in a series
Comparison – act of finding the qualities two items share
Concluding Sentence – sentence that ends a paragraph
Content-Specific Words – words with special meanings, that apply to certain subjects
Context Clues – hints from other words in a piece of writing
Contrast – act of finding the ways in which two items differ
Definite Article – the word the
Details – pieces of information, usually specific that relate to and support, the main idea
Dialogue – set of words, or lines, actors say in a play
Effect – result; the thing that happens
Exaggeration – act of making something seem more that it is
Fact – something you can prove
Fiction – type of writing that is made up
Headings – short titles in a piece of writing that tell you what’s coming
Homographs – words that are spelled the same but mean different things
Homophones – words that sound the same but are spelled differently
Indefinite Article – the words a or an
Index – lists pages where you can find subjects
Inference – guesses drawn from facts
Main Idea – main thing a piece of writing is about
Maps – pictures of where things are and how to find them
Metaphor – compare two things directly using a form of the verb is
Meter – how the lines of a poem sound when read aloud
Nonfiction –piece of writing that is based on facts
Noun – person, place, or thing
Novel – A long piece of writing that is made up
Opinion – a personal thought
Paragraphs – main building blocks of writing
Periods – marks that mean “stop” in sentences; they come at the ends of sentences
Personification – act of giving human qualities to something that isn’t human
Play – piece of writing that is meant to be acted out
Plot – set of events that make up a story
Poem – piece of writing set in groups of lines called stanzas; sometimes uses rhyme
Prefix – group of letters that area added to the beginning of a root word to change its meaning
Prior Knowledge – something you already know
Problem – challenge; something to fix
Pronouns – words that replace nouns
Rhyme – to sound alike
Root word – main piece of a word
Scenes – units that make up an act in a play
Sentence tense – when a sentence takes place (in past, present or future)
Setting – time and place of a piece of writing
Sequence – order in which things happen
Simile – compares two things using the word like or as
Solution – answer to a problem
Stage Directions – tell actors what to do in a play
Story – short piece of writing that is made up
Subject – person, place, or thing that does something in a sentence
Summarizing – act of briefly describing a story
Synonym – word with the same or similar meaning as another word
Suffix – group of letter that are added to the end of a root word to change its meaning
Supporting sentences – sentences that support the topic
Table of Contents – lists all the book’s sections, or chapters, in order
Tables- graphics that show words in columns and rows
Theme – main lesson of a passage
Title- name of a piece of writing
Topic – what a piece of writing is about
Topic Sentence – sentence that tells what the paragraph’s about
Traits – qualities of characters
Venn Diagram- graphic that uses circles to show how things are alike and how they differ
Verb – action word in a sentence
Grade 5 – English Language Arts Terminology and Definitions
Actions – the things that a character does
Adjective – a word that describes a noun
Adverb – a word that describes a verb
Affix – a group of letter added to the beginning or ending of a root word
Antonyms – words that mean opposite things
Article – a word that comes before a noun, telling you whether the noun is definite or indefinite
Author - the person who wrote the story, article, play, drama, or other passage
Cause - the reason why something happens
Capitalization – the process of making the first letter in a word an Upper-Case letter
Chapter – a section of a book that discusses a particular topic
Characters – the people (or equivalent) in a story
Climax – the part of plot with the most exciting or important events of a story, and which often comes near the end of a story
Comma- a special kind of punctuation that is used to indicate a pause or separation in writing
Compare – a process in which you look for things that are the same
Concluding Sentence – the sentence that ends the paragraph
Conflict – the part of plot, usually in the beginning of a story, that sets out the main problem or struggle
Conjunction- a joining word, such as “and” or “or”, used to link two or more ideas or phrases in a sentence
Context – what is happening in the sentence of paragraph
Contrast – a process in which you look for things that are different
Cycle Diagram – a type of graphic used to show a circular process
Definite Noun- a specific person, place, thing or idea
Detail – a sentence or fact that gives you information about a topic
Dialogue – the spoken conversation between characters in any type of writing
Drama – a type of writing that is meant to be performed, such as a play
Effect – something that happens as the result of a cause
Emotions – what a character feels
Fact – information that can be proven
First Person – a narrative style told from the viewpoint of a character in a book
Flowchart – a type of graphic used to show how one step in a process leads to another, also called a graphic organizer
Heading – a short title that comes before a page or paragraph, telling you what the topic of the page or paragraph will be
Indefinite Noun – A person, place, thing, or idea that is not specific
Index – an alphabetically arranged list of key terms, with page numbers, found in the back of a book
Inference – a kind of guess you make about what is happening, based on what the narrator tells you
Informational Passage – a passage that gives you facts without trying to make you feel a certain way
Main Idea – what a story or passage is mainly about
Metaphor - a figure of speech that compares two different things without using the words “like” or “as”
Meter – a pattern of rhythm in a poem
Motives – the reasons why a character does something
Narrative – a type of writing that describes a sequence of events; a story
Narrator – the person telling the story
Opinion – a viewpoint or personal belief that cannot be proven true or false; opinions often vary from person to person
Organizational Chart – a type of graphic used to show where things and/or people are situated within an organization
Paragraph – a carefully built piece of writing used to communicate information and which consists of a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a concluding sentence
Period – a type of punctuation used to indicate that a sentence has ended; periods are only used with statements
Personification – giving human qualities to animals and objects
Persuasive Passage – a type of passage that tries to change your mind about something or tries to make you think or feel a certain way about something
Plot – the main series of events in a story
Poetry – a type of writing that uses expressive language written in a series of lines and stanzas
Point of View – the perspective or angle from which a story is told
Prefix – a group of letters added to the beginning of a root word
Problem – a situation in a story which is often confusing, troubling, distressing, or conflicting and which needs a solution
Pronoun – a word used in place of a noun (usually to prevent too much repetition)
Radial Diagram – a type of graphic used to show how things are related to one another
Relationships – the dynamics of who a character gets along with or does not get along with
Resolution – the part of plot in which a story’s problems and conflicts are solved, and which often is the final part of a story
Rhyme – the use of words that sound very much alike
Rhythm – the way the lines in a poem sound when you read them
Rising Action – the part of plot that happens after the conflict, and which consists of events leading up to the climax
Root – a base word used to make a bigger word
Sequence – the order in which things happen