3rd Grade STAAR Reading Vocab Review
diagrams
A drawing that shows or explains something...usually includes labels and captions.
moral
A lesson about right and wrong
context clues
Clues in surrounding text that help the reader determine the meaning of an unknown word
illustrations
Drawings or photographs that help explain the text
obvious
Something that is clear or easy to understand.
source
Where information comes from.
audience
Who the piece of text was originally written for. Example: in a letter, look at who the letter is addressed to (Dear Mom)
nonfiction
Writing that tells about real-life, people, places, things, ideas, or events.
compassionate
a character trait that describes someone who has sympathy for others
timid
a character trait that describes someone who is shy
determined
a character trait used to describe someone who doesn't give up easily.
confident
a character trait used to describe someone who feels good about him/herself.
dialogue
a conversation between characters set off by quotation marks
fact
a statement that can be proved by experts, looking up information in a book, etc.
fiction
a story based on the imagination and not necessarily on fact. (Fake)
prefix
a word part that can be added at the beginning of a word to make a new word
suffix
a word part that can be added at the end of a word to make up a new word
drawing conclusions
combining several pieces of information to make an inference (conclude)
related
connected
selection
another name for a reading passage
beneficial
helpful
various
many different types. example: There are various genres of books in the library.
appeal
pleasing to your sense of hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, or touching
free verse
poetry that does not contain regular patterns of rhythm or rhyme
paraphrase
putting a part or all of a text into your own words
character traits
qualities that characters possess (honesty)
character motivation
reasons why characters act the way they do
comparison
shows how two things are alike/different or how one is better than the other ("This blanket is like a fluffy cloud.")
stanza
similar to a paragraph but in a poem
line
similar to a sentence but in a poem
captions
small text found near a picture that provides important information about the picture
comical
something funny.
obstacle
something that gets in the way of a goal
details
the bits and pieces of information that support the main idea
plot
the events that make up a story
sequence
the following of one event after another
genre
the kind of book, story, or passage that you are reading
result
the outcome of an experiment or problem
text features
the parts of text that stand out (diagram, table of contents, index, etc)
speaker
the person that narrates the poem
narrator
the person who is telling the story; the speaker
point of view
the perspective from which a story is told
motivation
the reason the character says or does something
subtitle
the smaller title that goes before a new section of the text.
biography
the story of a person's life written by someone else in third person point of view
autobiography
the story of a person's life written by that person in first person point of view
repetition
the use of the same words over and over
antonym
words that are opposites
synonym
words that have the same meaning
anxious
To feel excited and nervous at the same time.
author's purpose
The reason an author writes the text--to persuade, inform, explain and entertain
cause
The reason why something happens
message
The theme or central idea of a work, the insight it offers into life
expository text
this type of text informs or instructs the reader. It is nonfiction.
inference/infer
to draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented
contrast
to find the difference between two or more things
compare
to find the similarities between two or more things
summarize
to make a brief statement of the main events of a story. It has to have the beginning, middle, and end.
summary
to shorten (3-5 sentences) and tell the beginning, middle, and end of a passage
display
to show.
describe
to tell about something with details
third person point of view
told by a narrator from outside the story
first person point of view
told from the viewpoint of one of the characters using the pronouns "I" , "me", "my"
persuasive
used to convince the reader of the writer's point of view
main idea
what a piece of writing is mainly about
effect
what happens as a result of an event or action (what happens after)
similarity
when two things/people have something in common
setting
where and when the story takes place
