Reading Skills
Academic Universe
Compare and Contrast
Context Clues
Exploration
Challenge
100

This word means: To examine something carefully and think about all of its parts.

✅ Analyze 


Good readers analyze characters, evidence, and ideas—not just summarize them.


100

This vocabulary word means: An idea that can be tested through investigation.

✅ Hypothesis 


Scientists create hypotheses before experiments.

100

This word means: to find how two or more things are alike.

✅ compare


Readers compare characters, settings, themes, or ideas by identifying similarities.

100

This word means: a small group of words that work together in a sentence.

✅ Phrase


A phrase is not a complete sentence but helps build meaning.


100

This word means: a journey with a purpose, often to discover something new.

✅ Expedition


Explorers often go on expeditions to study places, animals, or cultures.


100

This vocabulary word means: to show or make something known.

✅ Reveal


Authors reveal information slowly to keep readers interested.

200

You use this skill when you decide something after reading evidence.

✅ Determine 


Authors don't always tell us directly. We determine using clues.

200

What word means

A statement that something is true?

✅ Claim


Claims should always be supported with evidence.

200

This word means: to find how two or more things are different.

✅ Contrast


Signal words like however, unlike, and on the other hand often introduce contrasts.

200

This vocabulary word means: a short part taken from a larger text.

✅ Excerpt



Authors often provide excerpts to give readers a preview of a longer work.

200

This vocabulary word means: the act of investigating or traveling to discover new places or information.

✅ Exploration


Exploration can happen in science, geography, history, and even through reading.

200

This vocabulary word means: to stand for or show something else.

✅ Represent


A flag can represent a country.

300

This word means: To judge the value or quality of something.

✅ Evaluate 


Evaluate means using evidence before making a judgment.

300

This word means: Facts or information collected for study.

✅ Data


Scientists collect data before making conclusions.

300

Which vocabulary word means: to be different or not the same?

✅ Differ


Students often confuse differ with contrast. Differ simply means "to be different."

300

Which vocabulary word means: a part of a story or text?

✅ Passage



State assessments frequently ask students to analyze a reading passage.

300

Which vocabulary word means: to change so something fits a new environment or situation?

✅ Adapt


Plants, animals, and people adapt to survive or succeed.

300

Which word means: to have an effect on someone or something?

✅ Influence



Characters often influence each other's decisions.

400

This word means:

The reason an author wrote something.

✅ Purpose 


Ask:

"Why did the author write this?"

400

What vocabulary word means: To place things into groups based on similarities?

✅ Classify 


Readers classify information to organize ideas.

400

This vocabulary word means: almost the same, but not exactly alike.

✅ Similar


Encourage students to explain how two things are similar using evidence.

400

This word means: the feeling or emotion a word suggests beyond its dictionary definition.

✅ Connotation


Words with similar meanings can have very different connotations (for example, slim vs. skinny).

400

This word means: the physical features of land, such as mountains, valleys, or deserts.

✅ Terrain


Terrain can affect where people travel, build, or explore.

400

This vocabulary word means: a connection between people or things

✅ Relationship



Think about relationships between characters, events, or ideas in a text.

500

What vocabulary word means

Where information comes from?

✅ Source 


Reliable sources make strong arguments.

500

This word means: The way something is built or organized.

✅ Structure

Stories, essays, and buildings all have structure.

500

This word means: to put objects or ideas into groups based on shared characteristics.

✅ Classify


Scientists classify living things, and readers classify information to organize ideas.

500

This vocabulary word means: a point of view or the way someone sees a situation.

✅ Perspective


Changing a character's perspective can completely change how a story is understood.

500

What vocabulary word means: an important task or goal?

✅ Mission



Every astronaut has a mission to complete

500

This vocabulary word means: to find a solution to a problem.

✅ Resolve



Stories often end when the main conflict is resolved.