Vocabulary
This strategy involves looking at the words around an unknown word to figure out its meaning.
What are context clues?
This is the central message, lesson, or "moral" the author wants the reader to learn.
What is the theme?
"The classroom was a zoo" is an example of this comparison.
What is a metaphor?
This is the first sentence of a paragraph that tells the reader the main idea.
What is a topic sentence?
This punctuation mark is used to separate items in a series or before a conjunction in a compound sentence.
What is a comma?
The Greek root "tele" (as in telephone or telescope) means this.
What is far or distant?
In an informational text, these help you find specific information (Examples: Bold words, titles, or captions).
What are text features?
Giving human qualities to non-human things, like "the wind whispered through the trees."
What is personification?
Words like however, therefore, and in addition are used for this purpose.
What are transitions?
These are the three main verb tenses used in English.
What are past, present, and future?
If a story says a character is "rejuvenated" after a nap, it means they feel this way.
What is refreshed or made young again?
To do this, you must use what the text says PLUS your own background knowledge.
What is make an inference?
An extreme exaggeration not meant to be taken literally, like "I've told you a million times."
What is a hyperbole?
In an essay, this is the sentence that clearly states what the rest of your essay will be about.
What is a thesis statement?
This type of word describes a verb (often ends in -ly).
What is an adverb?
Read this sentence: "After the long hike up the steep mountain, the travelers felt enervated, lacking the energy to even pitch their tents for the night."
Based on the context clues in the sentence, what does the word enervated mean?
What is exhausted, weakened, or drained of energy?
This text structure explains why something happened and what the result was.
What is Cause and Effect?
This is a comparison using the words "like" or "as."
What is a simile?
To avoid plagiarism, you must do this when using a direct quote from a text.
What is cite your source/ the text?
A compound sentence that contains two independent clauses is joined by a comma and THIS (think FANBOYS).
What is a coordinating conjunction?
The suffix "-ous" (as in courageous or joyous) changes a word into this part of speech.
What is an adjective? (Meaning "full of")
One text uses keywords like "I" and "me" to tell a personal story, while another uses "he," "she," and "they" to report facts. Identifying if a text is written in 1st Person or 3rd Person helps you determine this.
What is Point of View?
A common expression where the meaning is different from the literal words (e.g., "piece of cake").
What is an idiom?
This "E" word is the information from the text that proves your claim is true.
What is evidence?
These "position" words show the relationship between a noun and another part of the sentence (e.g., under, between, during).
What are prepositions?