Vocabulary
What is a central (main) idea?
What is the climax?
What does "theme" mean?
Theme is the lesson, message, or moral of the story
Inferencing means ________.
Which text feature would you use to find the names of all chapters in a book and the pages where they started?
Table of Contents
The sequence of events in a story or novel is called the ________.
During the introduction, it is important to introduce the ________ and the ________.
characters and conflict
Themes are about universal topics. For example, a topic could be compassion, relationships or fate. A theme is often stated as a judgment about one of these topics. For example, a theme about the topic of relationships could be "relationships teach you important lessons."
Which of the following could be the theme of a story?
It is snowing. Your friend Justina is coming to sleep over. She texts you that she's on her way but will be late. What is the best inference you could make?
She is running behind because of the weather.
If a word is in bold, italics or underlined, it might be ________.
If a word is in bold, italics or underlined, it might be ________.
When you use details or evidence in a text to draw a conclusion, you ________.
What is the correct order of the plot elements?
climax
rising action
falling action
resolution
exposition
exposition
rising action
climax
falling action
resolution
Which of the following could be a theme of a story?
James is standing near the corner when a bus roars by. James yelps and runs after it, waving his arms frantically. The best inference you can make is that James ________.
James wanted to ride that bus.
In the book she's reading, Jenny sees a picture of a plant with different parts labeled. This is a ________.
Diagram
What is a summary?
a short explanation of a text
Read the passage. Which plot element is shown in italics?
The wolf was frustrated that he couldn't blow down the house of the third little pig, so he tried instead to get the pig by climbing through the chimney. Surprise! He fell right into a pot of water that the little pig had on for supper. "Yum!" said the little pig. The pig invited his two brothers over. They ate a delicious wolf stew for dinner and all lived happily ever after.
Read the following passage from a story.
As Tai strummed the guitar, Charlesa looked at her with pride. For so long, Tai's fingers had clumsily tripped over the strings, but now she played the song with ease. Getting to this point hadn't been easy for Charlesa, either. She sighed, trying to bury the memories of all the screaming tantrums Tai had thrown. Once, she nearly threw her guitar against a wall. But now when Tai smiled, and the tune of "Sweet Home Alabama" floated out of the instrument, Charlesa smiled, too. It had been worth it.
Which of the following is most likely a theme of the story?
Ben is auditioning for a part in the school play. He's been fine all day, but right before the audition he says he feels sick. You might infer that Ben ________.
Ben is nervous about the audition.
A graph or chart ________.
Read the following passage.
Backstage, Hatim felt tense. He had been practicing for weeks, but he was still nervous. "Just breathe," he told himself. "You've got this." Still, he felt a flutter in his chest. He tried to quiet his worried mind as the music started. There was his cue. It was time to go on stage.
Which definition of the word "tense" is used in this passage?
Read the passage. Which plot element is shown in italics?
It was dark and a little eerie by the campfire where Jonas and his friends were huddled. They were telling ghost stories, and each boy tried to make his story scarier than the last. Jonas looked around to see if his dad was anywhere nearby. Suddenly, they heard a loud crack and rustling in the nearby woods. "What's that?" whispered Jonas to the boy next to him. He didn't want to admit it, but he was downright scared now. His heart was racing. He could see a large shadowy figure approaching, holding something that looked like a knife. "Thought you might want to toast some marshmallows," said Jonas's father as he stepped into the light of the fire. He held up a bag of marshmallows in one hand and metal skewers--not a knife--in the other. Jonas and his friends breathed sighs of relief. His father taught the group a secret trick for making toasted marshmallows, and they each ate about fifteen.
Read the following passage from a story.
"Ajit is so excited to see you," he heard his mother shout into the phone. She always spoke louder on long-distance calls, as if raising her voice would help it travel across the Atlantic. "Aren't you, Ajit?" she demanded.
Ajit slumped in his chair, pushing wrinkled peas around his plate. His suitcases stood at attention in the hallway, holding eight weeks worth of shirts, pants and socks. Suddenly, a loud crash sounded.
"Patches!" his mother shrieked.
In the hallway, Patches the cat stood next to an overturned suitcase and the remnants of a shattered vase. As Ajit's mother rushed to assess the damage, Patches sidled up to Ajit, rubbing his face against Ajit's leg. Ajit reached down to stroke him, and Patches looked up, blinking his green eyes. He stared at Ajit with his knowing look—a look that seemed to offer so much and ask for so little in return.
Which of the following is most likely a theme of the story?
Read the following passage.
Julio looked down, regarding his shadow, which was long under the high noon sun. Squinting, he wondered where everyone was. He looked around but saw only a group of prickly cacti standing at attention. His mind began to race. Sweat trickled in small streams down his neck. Was the temperature rising? How much hotter could it possibly get? “Water,” thought Julio. “I’ll try to find some water.” Clearing his throat, he began to walk east, clouds of dust swirling around his feet.
Which detail from the passage provides the best evidence that the story takes place in a desert?
Juan is writing a report on Italian food. He finds a book titled “Foods of the World.” He opens to Chapter 2 on page 12 and reads the word “Spain” in large letters. Further down on the page, he reads the word “Northern Spain ” in smaller letters. Page 12 of Juan’s book ________.
A) had no text features
B) had a diagram but no other text features
C) had the table of contents only
D) had a heading and subheading
D) had a heading and subheading