Vocabulary Vault
What an informational text is mostly about.
What is topic/main idea?
An article explains how our eyes work and why light is necessary for vision. What is the article mostly about?
How our eyes help us see.
A text explains why something happened and what happened as a result. What text structure is this?
What is cause and effect?
A comparison that uses the words like or as.
What is a simile?
In The Science Behind Sight, the author explains that light enters the eye and helps us see. Is this information a main idea or a key detail?
Key detail
Important information that supports the main idea.
What is a key detail?
An article explains that animals use their senses to find food, avoid danger, and communicate. What is the main idea?
Animals use their senses to survive and interact with their environment.
An author explains how two animals use their senses in similar and different ways. What text structure is being used?
What is compare and contrast?
A comparison that says one thing is another.
What is a metaphor?
An author writes, "The sweet smell of strawberries filled the air as the warm sun touched my face." Which two senses are being described?
Smell and touch
The way an author organizes information.
What is text structure?
An article explains how animals survive in the wild. Which is a better key detail: "Animals are interesting" or "Bats use echolocation to locate insects in the dark"?
Bats use echolocation to locate insects in the dark.
A biography explains what happened in a person's life from childhood to adulthood, in the order the events occurred. What text structure is being used?
What is chronological order?
An author writes, "The moon was a glowing lantern in the night sky." What type of figurative language is being used?
What is a metaphor?
In The Science Behind Sight, a labeled diagram helps readers understand how the eye works. What do we call a part of a text that helps readers locate or understand information?
What are text features?
A text explains how to complete a science experiment by listing the steps in a specific order. What text structure is being used?
A student says the main idea of The Science Behind Sight is "Light enters our eyes." Is this too specific to be the main idea? Why or why not?
It is too specific to be a main idea: It is one detail about how sight works, not what the entire article is mostly about.
An article explains that a person's vision becomes blurry, then describes how glasses help them see clearly. What text structure is being used?
What is problem and solution?
"The icy wind stung my cheeks as leaves crunched beneath my feet." What type of details help readers imagine how this experience feels and sounds?
What are sensory details? (touch, sight, smell, taste)
In Animal Senses, an author explains that some animals have special abilities that help them survive and they add that, "A bat uses echolocation to locate objects." What do you call this?
They are using a key detail to support that animals have special abilities that help them survive.
An author gives facts, characteristics, and information about an animal's senses without explaining events in order. What text structure is being used?
What is description?
How are the senses of humans and animals similar, even when they use different senses to navigate?
Both gather information about their surroundings.
An article explains that a person has difficulty reading signs and then describes a tool that helps them access the information. What text structure is being used?
What is problem and solution?
An author uses descriptive language to help readers create a vivid picture or experience a scene in their minds. What vocabulary term describes this technique?
What is imagery?
An article explains that animals use their senses to find food, avoid danger, and survive. What do we call the most important idea that connects these details?
What is the main idea?