Games By Skill:

act – a major division of a drama, made up of scenes

actors – the people who perform the parts of different characters in a play

antonyms - words that have opposite meanings

aside – something said by a character in a drama meant only for the audience to hear

audience – the intended readers for a piece of writing

author – the person who wrote the story or article

author’s purpose (AP) – the reason the author wrote the story or article

author’s purpose to entertain – a story or article that you might read for fun (such as a narrative)

author’s purpose to explain – giving directions how to do something or why something happened

author’s purpose to express – to share thoughts and feelings

author’s purpose to inform – a story or article that gives information or news

author’s purpose to persuade - trying to make the reader believe a certain way, to influence

auto-biography – something an author has written about his or her OWN life

biography – something an author has written about the life of another person

caption – a short description or explanation that gives information about a picture, diagram, photo, or other piece of art

cast of characters – a list of characters who appear in a drama

cause and effect – a TS showing how one thing leads to another – why something happened and the result

characters - the people or animals in a story or poem

chronology – a TS showing what happens first, next, and last in a story – sequencing

climax – the turning point or point of greatest interest or suspense in a story

compare and contrast – a TS showing how two or more things are alike and different

concrete poetry – a poem that takes the shape of its topic

conflict (problem) - the trouble that the characters have in a story

context clues - words or phrases that help give meaning to unknown words

diagram – a drawing with labels that shows parts of an object or how something works

dialogue – the words characters or actors say to each other

diary/journal - A daily written record of personal incidents, experiences, and ideas (fiction or non-fiction)

drama – a kind of writing meant to be performed on stage; features dialogue and stage directions

drawing conclusions (conclude)/inference (infer) – trying to figure out things that are not stated based on both the details in the passage and the reader’s own experiences

example – an item that is the same as other things in a group

expository text – non-fiction text written to inform, explain, or describe

expression – a phrase that doesn’t mean what it says word for word

fable – a story that usually has talking animals and teaches a lesson/moral

fact – a statement that can be proved to be true

fairy tale – a made-up story with imaginary characters and magical events

fiction - a passage that tells a made-up story

first-person POV – when a character IN the story tells the story (I, me, my, we, etc.)

folktale – a story that is passed down from one person to another over time

footnote - A printed note or definition placed below the text at the bottom of the page

free verse – a style of poetry that does not follow a specific structure

genre – a type of writing such as fiction, non-fiction, poetry, etc.

graphic organizers – story map, web, or time line showing information in picture form

headings – names given to smaller sections of text

humorous poetry – a type of poem that tells about a funny moment

imagery – words that appeal to the reader’s five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch

important/supporting details - the details in a passage that support, or back up, the main idea (usually tell who, what, when, where, why, and how)

key words – terms specially used with the topic of the text (usually in italics or bold print)

legend – a story set in a real historic time that is told as if it really happened and as if the characters really lived

limerick – a humorous poem that has five lines

lyric (lyrical) poetry- a type of poem that expresses thoughts and feelings with musical language and does not tell a story

main idea - what a piece of writing is mostly about

making predictions – trying to guess what will happen next in a story

metaphor – a comparison of two unlike things NOT using the words “like” or “as”

meter – the pattern of rhythm in a poem

motivation - the reason a character does or says something

multiple-meaning words – words that are spelled the same but have more than one meaning

myth – a story from the distant past used to explain why the universe works the way it does

narrative poetry – a type of poetry that tells a story

narrator - the person in a story who tells the story

non-fiction – a type of writing that tells about real people, places, things, and events

opinion – a statement that cannot be proved (it is what someone THINKS or FEELS)

outline – short phrases used to organize information in a story or article (G.O.)

paired selection – two stories or articles that are meant to be read together to show comparison –similarities and differences

plot - the series of events that happen in a story

poetry – a type of writing that uses creative language, is written in lines, and often includes rhythm and rhyme

point of view (POV) – how the author sees something (his perspective) and affects the way he writes about it

prefix – letters added to the beginning of the word to make a new word

repetition – repeating words or lines

resolution – how the problem is solved in a story

rhyme – the effect when two or more words end with a similar sound

rhyme pattern (scheme) – the pattern of rhymes in a poem

rhythm – a pattern of sounds in a line

root word – the main part of a word

scene – part of an act in a drama. Each scene is set in a different time or place.

setting – the time and place that a story happens

simile – a comparison of two unlike things using the words “like” or “as”

stage directions – the written instructions in a drama that tell the actors what to do

stanza – a group of lines in poetry

story map – circles connected by lines that show important information from the story (G.O.)

suffix – letters added to the end of a word to make a new word

summary – briefly restates the main idea and important details of a story

supporting an answer – finding text evidence in the story to prove a conclusion

synonyms – words that mean the same thing or almost the same thing

text evidence – clues from the text that support inferences and conclusions made by the reader

text features – ways that a writer gives the reader information (used in non-fiction)

text structure – the organization the author uses to show how his ideas are connected

theme – is a story’s message, it can be a lesson about life or how people behave (moral)

third-person POV – when someone NOT in the story tells the story, like an invisible observer (he, she, they, etc.)

time line – a line showing dates in the order that events happened (G.O.)

trait – all the qualities that make up a character’s appearance and personality

venn diagram – two overlapping circles used to compare two things (G.O.)