Key Academic Vocabulary Terms

Unit 1 Get the Message!

Theme 1 – Messages That Matter

Title: “The Power of Poetry”
Author: Gary Soto
Genre: Poems and Interview
Terms
character motive / mood
details / opinion
draw conclusions / paraphrase
edit / prediction
free verse / stanza
inference / visualize
Title: “Talking Walls”
Author: Margy Burns Knight
Genre: Essay
Terms
compare and contrast / preview and predict
context clues / story elements
inference / supporting details
main idea
Writing Genre: Technical Documents
advertisement / informational materials
announcement / instructional manuals
application / memos
brochure / public documents
business letter / purpose
consumer documents / resume
contract / schedules
fact or opinion / warranty
guarantee / work place documents
how-to


Academic Vocabulary Terms

Academic Vocabulary Terms, Level B, Theme 1, 08-09

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Unit 2 A Sense of Place

Theme 1 – Fitting In

Academic Vocabulary Terms, Level B, Theme 1, 08-09

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Title: “The Keeping Quilt”
Author: Patricia Polacco
Genre: Family History
Terms
author / details
compare and contrast / draw conclusions
sequence / main idea
basic situation / preview and predict
character / resolution
climax / rising action
conflict / setting
context clues / story elements
conclusion / title
denouement
Title: “Human Family”
Author: Maya Angelou
Genre: Poem
Terms
fact or opinion / personal experience
figurative language / simile
metaphor / stanza
preview and predict
Title: “Beyond the Color Line”
Author: Janell, Jenny and Christian
Genre: Self-Portraits
Terms
context clues / paraphrase
details / preview and predict
fact or opinion / summary
inference
Writing Genre: Biography
author / introduction
basic situation / main event
body paragraphs / outcome
challenge / plot
character traits / point of view
climax / purpose
conclusion / resolution
conflict (or challenge) / rising action
commentary / setting
denouement / somebody wanted, but, so
description / sensory details
dialogue / setting
evidence / thesis
first person point of view / title
incident / third person point of view
interview

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Key Academic Vocabulary Terms

Unit 3 Follow Your Dreams

Theme 1 – What Matters Most

Academic Vocabulary Terms, Level B, Theme 1, 08-09

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Title: “Ginger for the Heart”
Author: Paul Yee
Genre: Historical Fiction
Terms
cause and effect / dialogue
characterization / inference
classify / opinion
compare and contrast / prefix
conclusion / preview and predict
context clues / summarize
details
Writing Genre: Response to Literature
audience / main idea
audience / narrative
author’s purpose / opinion
basic situation / paraphrase
body / plot
character / point of view
character traits / purpose
commentary / quotations
conflict / setting
conclusion / set up situation
details / summarize
evidence / title
examples / theme
infer / thesis
introduction / transition words
main character / turning point
Title: “Twins”
Author: Debra and Lisa Ganz
Genre: Article
Terms
preview and predict / paraphrase
inference / cause and effect
character point of view

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Key Academic Vocabulary Terms

Academic Vocabulary Terms, Level B, Theme 1, June 2007

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Unit 4 Coming Full Circle

Theme 1 – The Certainty of Change

Title: “The Mother Who Lost a Daughter”
Author: Anne Rockwell
Genre: Greek Myth
Terms
analyze / foreshadow
author / preview and predict
basic situation / resolution
character / rising action
character point of view / sequence
conclusion / setting
conflict / story elements
climax / supporting details
denouement / title
fantasy or reality
Title: “Chrysalis Diary
Author: Paul Fleishman
Genre: Poem
Terms
alliteration / consonance
choral reading / point of view/meaning
Writing Genre: Research Reports
anecdotes / interview
article / introduction
body / main ideas
conclusion / purpose
description / restatement
electronic sources / sources
example / summarize
facts / supporting details
heading / thesis statement
hook / topic
Title: “The Big Blast
Author: Patricia Lauber
Genre: Science article
Terms
compare and contrast / preview and predict
cause and effect / skim
note taking / summarize
paraphrase


Key Academic Vocabulary Terms

Academic Vocabulary Terms, Level B, Theme 1, June 2007

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Unit 5 Overcoming Obstacles

Theme 1 – Making a Difference

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Title: “Saving the Peregrine Falcon”
Author: Caroline Arnold
Genre: Science Article (expository)
Terms
author’s point of view / inference
author’s purpose / mood and tone
cause and effect / preview and predict
conclusion / summarize
details / synthesize
Writing Genre: Persuasive
anecdote / hook
argument / introduction
audience / opinion
body / personal experience
call to action / position
claim / proposition
conclusion / purpose
convince / quotation
counter argument / reader’s concern
defend / reason
emotion / statistics
evidence / support
example / thesis statement
expert / wrap/closure
fact

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Title: “A Celebration of the Everglades”
Author: Frank Asch and Ted Levin
Genre: Article and Poems
Terms
author’s purpose / personification
author’s style / repetition
preview and predict / metaphor

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