Atlas: A book of maps or a book of tables, charts, pictures on one subject.
Mr. Taylor has a world atlas in his classroom.
Abbreviation: A shorter form of a word or phrase, i.e. AZ for Arizona.
The abbreviation for the United States of America is U.S.A.
Adverb: A word that modifies a verb by identifying time, place, speed, etc.
Quickly is an adverb in the sentence "Jose quickly finished his homework. "
Antonyms: A word opposite in meaning to another word.
Cold is the antonym of hot.
Apostrophe; The mark used to show a letter or letters have been left out of a word or phrase or to show ownership.
Example of letters left out: You've is short for "you have" and an apostrophe shows that "have" is missing two letters.
Example of ownership: Mr. Taylor's class reads several books each year.
Example of ownership: The apostrophe in the sentence "Mr. Taylor's class reads several books each year." shows the class belongs to Mr. Taylor.
Bias: One meaning of "bias" is to like or dislike one thing over another.
Claudia has bias for chocolate over all other candy.
chronological order/sequence of events: To arrange events in the order they occurred.
In chronological order, our class has computer lab on Monday, music on Tuesday, gym on Wednesday, library on Thursday, and art on Friday.
complete sentence/ simple sentence/independent clause:
A complete sentence includes at least a subject and a verb.
"Claudia ran." is a complete sentence.
context clues: Words, phrases or sentences around a new word that helps the reader make a logical guess about the meaning of the new word. Use context clues to figure out what a new word means.
Contraction: A word or phrase shortened by leaving out one or more letters or sounds.
"You'll" is the contraction of "you will."
will not is WON’T
compound word: A compound word is made when two words are joined to form a new word.
The words "shoe" and "string" are joined to form the compound word "Shoestring."
biography
The history of a persons life.
If you become famous, someone will write your biography.
Describe: To tell or write about something. Please describe your backpack.
Declarative (telling sentence) A sentence that makes a statement. "The earth is round." is a declarative sentence.
Dictionary: A book of alphabetically listed words with their meanings and other information.
Students need a dictionary when they go to college.
Exclamatory (exclamation point) A sudden, angry outcry; to cry out; shout; or speak suddenly in surprise, etc.
"Lillian, be quiet! shouted her mother is an exclamatory phrase.
fact
Something that really happened; truth; actuality; things as they exist.
It is a fact that the moon revolves around the earth.
fairy tale: A fairy tale is a type of short story with fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments.
The story "Jack and the Beanstalk" is a fairy tale.
folk tale: A story or legend originating and traditional among a group of people (folk = people), especially one forming part of the spoken tradition of the everyday people.
The stories about Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox are folk tales.
Interrogative: Asking a question.
"Do you like chocolate ice cream?" is an interrogative.
Index: One meaning of "index" is an alphabetical list of names, subjects, etc., together with page numbers where they can be found--usually placed at the end of a book.
In this book, the index says there is information about the moon on pages 31 and 73.
Instructions: Education; teaching; lessons or a list of steps to be followed to complete an assignment.
(1) Every teacher at Rio Vista gives instructions to their students. (2) It is hard to use a TV remote without reading the instructions.
main characteristics: The most important things that identify a person, plant, object--or anything in the universe. The main characteristics of most cars are four wheels, a body where the driver and passengers sit, a steering wheel, an engine, and headlights and taillights.
Nonfiction (Information text)
Books and stories which only include real people, animals, plants, science, events, etc.
A book about birds in Tucson is a nonfiction book.
main idea: The main idea of a passage or reading is the the most important thought or message. (In contrast to the term topic, which refers to the subject under discussion.)
The main idea of Mr. Taylor's instructions is that it is important to follow directions.
multi-meaning words: Words which have more than one meaning.
Here are examples of how bat can be used in a sentence:
1. I watched the bat flitting through the trees.
2. Raymond gripped the bat tightly as he waited for the pitch.
3. I hope I can bat a home run!
Opinion: A person's belief based on what seems true, or probable; a person's judgment. How a person thinks or feels.
Many people have the opinion that French cooking is the best in the world.
Organization: A group of persons organized for some specific purpose, such as a club, business, team, etc.
The Rio Vista band is an organization of students with an interest in music.
personal narrative: A story that tells a story based on a personal experience of the writer. 1st person point of view will be used a lot.
Jasmine wrote a personal narrative about a trip to visit her grandmother.
Plural: more than one of something.
Bones/bones city/cities church/churches goose/geese
Knife/knives man/men child/children
Plot: The arrangement of the main events in a book, story, poem, or film, also known as the "story line." A plot is a fictional story that has a beginning, middle, and ending. You will also see the climax, conflict, resolution, etc.
point of view: A way of viewing things; an attitude or the position from which something is observed or considered; a standpoint.
It is Mr. Taylor's point of view that students must be held responsible for completing their work.
1st person: I, my, me, we, us
2nd person: you, your, yours.
3rd person: he, him, she, her, it, they , them
Possessive: The form of a word that shows ownership.
The possessive form of John is John's. For example, to say John owns the airplane, you would say "It is John's airplane."
One thing: ‘s more than one s’
Predicate: In a sentence, the verb (action word) or the verb and words that describe the verb. The predicate tells what the subject did or is doing.
"Runs fast" is the predicate in the sentence "Magaly runs fast."
Prefix: A prefix is placed at the beginning of a word to change its meaning.
In the word "unhappy," "un-" is the prefix.
Prefixes: Prefixes are placed at the beginning of words to change their meanings.
The prefixes we will see often are "pre-" (before), "post-" (after), "un-" (opposite of), "anti-"(against), "hemi-" (half), "non-" (absence of), "out-" (exceeding), "trans-" (across), etc.
The sentence "John was unhappy in preschool" has two prefixes.
punctuation (commas)
Special marks in sentences or phrases that make the sentences or phrases easier to understand. Some common punctuation marks are: . , ' ; ? !
The comma ( , ) tells where to pause or take a breath.
root word: A word that can start to build the meaning of many words.
"Corn" is the root word of : popcorn; cornflower; cornmeal; cornbread; and cornmeal: all the words mean something about corn.
run-on sentence/incomplete sentence/ fragment:
A run-on sentence is a sentence in which two or more independent clauses (i.e., complete sentences) are joined without appropriate punctuation ( ; ) or a conjunction (and, for, nor, but, or, yet and so).
"Sydney and Sabrina were in the band Sydney played the saxophone Sabrina played percussion" is an example of three run-on sentences.
Introduction: The introduction is at the beginning of a story and it tells you what the main idea(s) will be; it lets you "meet" the main idea. An introduction to your teacher lets you meet.
Singular: In grammar, the form of a word that says there is only one of something.
In the sentence "There was only one Juliana in the class, but there were two Gabriels," Juliana is singular and Gabriels is plural.
Sign: The word "sign" has many meanings. Among them are: to write your name (signature); a symbol with a specific meaning ( $ meaning dollars); and hand gestures that give information (sign language).
When you vote in any election, you have to sign your name.
story elements (character, setting, plot)
The who, what, where and why--the parts that make up a story.
In Harry Potter, the main characters are Harry, Hermione, and Ron; the setting is Castle Hogwarts; and the plot is to learn to be wizards and keep Harry safe from Voldemort.
Schedule: The way things are planned to happen in our lives, schools, or work.
Sometimes Mr. Taylor's class schedules a trip to the gem and mineral show in February.
Subject: whom or what the sentence is about. Think of a noun (person place, thing, animal, or idea)
The person, place or thing that does the action in a sentence.
In the sentence "Michael finished his report before lunch," "Michael" is the subject, and "finished" is the action (verb).
Suffixes: Letters or syllables added to the end of a word to change its meaning.
Suffixes such as "-ish" and "-er" can be added to the word "small" to change its meaning to smallish and smaller.
Summarize: find the main idea of each paragraph
To state briefly; to shorten to its most important parts.
supporting details: They come after the topic sentence, making up the body of a paragraph. What do they do? They give details to develop and help the reader better understand the topic sentence (main idea).
If your topic sentence is "Harry Potter has a special wand," you could add supporting details about the wand, such as where he got it, what it's made of, and why it's a special wand.
Synonyms: Compare
Different words that have the same meaning.
Synonyms of "bend" are curve and twist.
verb (types and functions)
A word that in a sentence that tells you the action (bring, read, walk, run, learn), or a state of being (be, exist, stand).
In the sentence "Anthony ran his race and is now standing next to the track," "ran" (the action) and "standing" (state of being) are both verbs.
Acronym: A word that is made by putting together parts of other words.
The word "radar" is an acronym that was built from "radio detecting and ranging"
( "ra + d + a + r" ).
Adjective: size, shape, color, how many, descriptive words
A word or phrase that modifies (describes) a noun .
The word "brilliant" is an adjective in the sentence "Yatzari is a brilliant student". "Brilliant" describes the noun "student".
adverb: Most adverbs in in – ly. Adverbs tell, when, where, and how
A word that Modifies (describes) a verb.
"Suddenly" is an adverb in the sentence "Anthony suddenly remembered his homework assignment". "Suddenly" describes the verb "remembered."
Almanac: A book that gives useful information about a particular subject; sometimes published in a month-by-month order.
For example, a gardening almanac might tell when to plant different flowers and vegetables.
Analogy: A phrase or sentence that shows how different things may be alike in some ways.
"A human heart is like a pump" is an analogy. The heart and pump are alike in one way: they each pump something.
A dog is to loyal as a cat is to independence.
Anthology: A book that is a collection of different writers' works (essays, stories, poems, etc.).
"Mr. Taylor had so many interesting stories to tell. One day he was going to publish his collection as 'An Artist's Anthology.' "
Antonym: Contrast
A word that has an opposite meaning.
An antonym of "hot" is "cold"; an antonym of "fast" is "slow".
Aphorism; A short, clear, wise statement that tells an opinion or a saying that many people believe is true.
An aphorism about a famous musician is the sentence "Irving Berlin has no place in American music - he IS American music."
audience (as listeners and readers)
A group of people that gather to see or hear a performance - when the performance is an "out-loud" reading, the performers are the readers and the audience are the listeners.
For example: "Mr. Taylor and Maria were taking turns reading 'The Chamber of Secrets' to the class. The audience was very quiet as the readers reached a scary part of the story."
author's purpose : The reason for writing - to inform, to question, to entertain.
"Fernando worked hard on his first prompt. His author's purpose was to entertain his readers with his funny story."
Autobiography: The story of someone's life, written by that person.
"Mr. Taylor had given the students their first assignment of the year: a one-page autobiography."
Bibliography; Last Name, First Name. Name of the book. City of publication: Publisher’s name, Copyright Date.
*Never use an ISBN number in a bibliography*
A list of the books and materials consulted; appearing at the end of the text. "Leslie was sure to include her bibliography at the end of her science report."
Brochure: A booklet or pamphlet that describes a subject; often an advertisement.
"Mrs. Kuhn carefully read the brochure that announced the opening of the University Science Fair."
Caption: A short description or title of an illustration in a text.
"Gloria had written the caption ' What I Want to be When I Grow Up ' under her drawing of a jet pilot ."