Text Structure
Point of View
Figurative Language
Homophones
Context Clues
100
Daniel Sullivan was the first to notice the flames coming from the O’Leary barn at around 8:30 pm on October 8. A problem with the alarm box made it impossible for the people in the area to callbfor the fire department. By 9:30 pm the entire block was blazing.In another 3 hours, there were fires all over Chicago. The heavy wind coming from the lake only made the fire bigger. It would be another day before the fire would be completely out. By that time, 17,500 buildings had been burned.
Chronological
100
You are a mountain climber. Three years ago you spent the summer at a climbing school in the mountains of Colorado. Your instructors said that you had natural skills as a climber. You made rapid progress and by the end of the summer you were leading difficult rock and ice climbs.
2nd Person
100
After playing outside, Robert's skin was as cold as ice.
Simile
100
Spell the Missing Homophone They lost _____ jackets at the movies and had to go back to get them.
Their
100
There is great disparity between rich and poor. openness sameness oneness difference
difference
200
Icebergs—giant blocks of ice that float in the sea—come in many shapes, sizes, and colors.Some are deep blue or green. Some look like floating sculptures. Old icebergs that have been worn down by the weather sometimes look like pillars of ice. Usually, only about one-fifth of an iceberg appears above the surface of the water. The other four-fifths of the “berg” is hidden underwater, out of sight. Sometimes, an iceberg has what is called a “ foot, ” an extension completely underwater. These are especially dangerous for ships. Itwas an iceberg “foot” that sank the Titanic in 1912, killing 1,503 people.
Description
200
Three shots like thunderclaps rang out from surround speakers in the basement rec room. A white controller jumped in Reid Anderson’s hand each time he squeezed the trigger. Tactile feedback. A speaker in the controller made snapping sounds like the action of a pistol. Reid felt this more than he heard it. The shots made his ears ring.
Third Person
200
Her stomach danced with butterflies when she thought of the CRCT.
Personification
200
Don’t be cowed by other’s attitudes. Speak your mind. closed open silenced determined
silenced
300
To a small child, the ocean and the pond seem very much the same. However, there are important differences to point out. To begin with, a pond is a very small body of water. The ocean covers more than half of the earth’s surface. Ponds are very shallow, but the ocean is seve ral thousand miles deep in most places. Some green pond plants are rooted in mud on the floor of a pond. Because of the ocean’s depth, the sunlight can’t reach the ocean’s floor, hence no green plants grow there. Ponds contain fresh water, which means there is no salt content. The ocean, though, is the largest body of salt water on earth. While they are both bodies of water, there are clearly major differences between the ocean and a pond.
Compare and Contrast
300
Aunt Harriet never meant to say any of this when Elizabeth Ann could hear, but the little girl’s ears were as sharp as little girls’ ears always are, and long before she was nine, she knew all about the opinion Aunt Harriet had of the Putneys. She did not know, to be sure, what “chores” were, but she took it confidently from Aunt Harriet’s voice that they were something very, very dreadful.
3rd Person
300
My little sister howled like a lonely wolf when my mom left her with the babysitter.
Simile
300
Grab ____ coats and jackets before you leave today.
your
300
Don’t feel abashed when you make a mistake. satisfied determined embarrassed welcome
embarrassed
400
The sun bear, native to Southeast Asia, is an endangered species for two reasons. First, people in this part of the world hunt the sun bear for body parts such as the gall bladder, the claws and the meat. The body parts are valuable because some people believe that eating them will help heal broken bones and bruises. They believe this because the sun bear appears to fall out of trees without injuring itself. Additionally, special restaurants serve bear paws and bear meat to diners who think that eating this kind of meal will bring good health. In addition to being hunted, the sun bear’s habitat is being destroyed. The jungles where the sun bears live are being cleared to make way for homes and farms. Legendary beliefs can be harmful to nature.
Cause and Effect
400
The man brings his legs over the front of the cot when the shake starts again. A longer, firmer shake, and another crash, this time closer. The man gets to his feet and walks slowly to the door. Silence. The boy sits up. “No,” the man whispers, and in that instant the blade of a sword, long and gleaming, made of a shining white metal that is not found on Earth, comes through the door and sinks deeply into the man’s chest.
3rd Person
400
Beatrice is a witch when she doesn't get enough sleep.
Metaphor
400
_____ my favorite students ever.
They're
400
I am subordinate to the president and must follow her orders. above beneath on par with equal
beneath
500
Jack always had great grades until 4th grade. During 4th grade, he stopped doing his homework. His grades plummeted. His teacher fussed, and his mom worried. One day he decided to change. He started doing his homework, listening to his teacher, focusing, and by May he had all A's again.
Problem and Solution
500
It all began when Ms. Frizzle showed our class a film strip about the human body. We knew trouble was about to start, because we knew Ms. Frizzle was the strangest teacher in the school.
First Person
500
The door was a creaky old man when the wind blew.
Personification
500
Force ____ motion.
affect
500
The herculean girl threw the heavy rock across the playground with little effort.
strong
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