STAAR Reading Vocabulary
Across
- 3. the turning point in the action of a story--the problem is solved (highest point of action)
- 7. what a piece of writing is mainly about--the BIG PICTURE - it's never one thing!
- 11. sometimes authors overstate the facts leading to a false of importance. (We will all be doomed if we don't take a stand now!) (This is a one-time offer. You can't get this price after today.) Key words: always, never, everyone
- 12. an expression with a meaning different from the literal meaning of the individual words (It's raining cats and dogs!)
- 13. the reason why something happens
- 14. the perspective from which a story is told
- 15. a listing of words with synonyms and antonyms
- 16. drawings or photographs that help explain the text
- 18. giving human qualities to non-human things (Example: the wind whistled)
- 22. a practical lesson about right and wrong
- 23. words and phrases that create imagery by using the 5 senses (sight, smell, sound, taste, touch)
- 24. to draw a reasonable conclusion from the information presented (put clue together with your good brain)
- 25. the struggle or problem in the story that a character must resolve
- 27. instructions for actors and stage crew, usually set in italics
- 28. the person who is telling the story; the speaker
- 29. the repetition of consonant SOUNDS at the beginning of words. For example, Sally sells seashells by the sea shore.
- 32. in the time order in which events happened (sequence or time order)
- 35. a comparison or two unlike things without using like or as (Example: Her eyes are blue jewels.)
- 37. clues in surrounding text that help the reader determine the meaning of an unknown word (look above, in, below, and all around the text of the unfamiliar word)
- 38. the ending or final outcome of a story
- 39. shows how two things are alike/different or how one is better than the other
- 40. the reason the author has for writing. (Inform, persuade, express, explain & entertain)
- 42. brief statement of the main events of a story (BME-beginning, middle, end)
- 43. elaborate exaggeration (Example: I'm so hungry I could eat a horse OR I walked a million miles.)
- 44. scheme the pattern of rhyme in a poem (ex. ABAB)
Down
- 1. comparison using like or as. Clue: You "smile" when you see someone you like." Example: The car was as cold as ice.
- 2. a story written to be performed by actors; a play
- 4. writing that is factual, not creative or fictional.
- 5. a drawing that shows or explains something...usually includes labels and captions.
- 6. the use of words that represent sounds "Pow", "Bang"
- 7. a fictional tale that explains the actions of gods or the causes of natural phenomena
- 8. a collection of word pictures that appeal to the reader's senses; uses devices such as metaphor, simile, etc.
- 9. used to convince or persuade the reader of the writer's point of view
- 10. a beginning or coming into being
- 17. the point of view that told by an all-knowing narrator from outside the story who reveals what every character thinks and feels
- 19. the point of view that told from the viewpoint of one of the characters using the pronouns "I" and We"
- 20. when a portion of the story goes back in time
- 21. the use of clues to suggest events that will happen later in the plot
- 26. the point of view that the the narrator focuses on the thoughts and feelings of only one character
- 30. the central idea or message of a work, the insight it offers into life (life lesson)
- 31. where and when the story takes place
- 33. a literary work based on the imagination and not necessarily on fact.
- 34. to demonstrate that something is right; to defend with reasons
- 36. the story of a person's life written by that person in first person point of view
- 41. a conversation between two persons