I can infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word in a sentence using context clues (such as antonyms, synonyms, and other clue words).
When a student encounters an unknown word or phrase, he/she should use the clues from the surrounding words to figure out the meaning of the unknown word or phrase.
Definition clues: Explicit. It actually provides the definition of the word. You will see words like means, refers, to, or, is.
The worker decided to make the weapon from bronze, a mixture of copper and tin.
Example/Illustration: Often implicit. It is used to illustrate the unknown words meaning. Readers rely on own background knowledge to arrive at meaning.
The skater glided blithely around the rink as if she hadn’t a care in the world.
Contrast: The text provides an antonym or opposite expression. You will see words such as but, however, in contrast, instead, even though, or, although.
Jamal is boisterous, but his sister is calm and quiet.
Logic or Experience: Implicit. You must rely on prior knowledge and experiences to infer or guess the meaning of the unknown word. / http://www.scc.losrios.edu/~langlit/reading/contextclues/intro1.htm
Provides types of context clues and examples
http://www.sadlier-oxford.com/phonics/cows/first_cows.html OR
http://www.english-zone.com/vocab/vic02.html
Practice identifying the correct answers using context clues
http://vclass.mtsac.edu:920/readroom/context.htm
Provides definitions and examples of context clues
http://www.nytimes.com/learning/students/wordofday/
Word of the Day
I can identify, differentiate, and examine prefixes, suffixes, and root words.
The student knows how adding beginnings or endings to words change the meaning of the word.
Examples of prefixes:
Ante, counter, dys, hyper, inter, intra/intro, micro, pseudo, trans
Examples of suffixes:
Hood, ic, ify/if, logy, ure
Examples of roots:
Anthrop, belli, brev, cred, culpa, derm, duc/duct, ego, fac, jud/jur/jus, luc/lum, mega, ocu, ortho, ply, rect, the/theo, urv, vac, vir, / http://ueno.cool.ne.jp/let/prefix.html
Provides definitions and examples
http://www.southampton.liu.edu/academic/pau/course/webesl.htm
Interactive Vocabulary Workshop
http://www.kent.k12.wa.us/ksd/MA/resources/greek_and_latin_roots/transition.html
Lists of Prefixes, Suffixes, Roots, Meanings, and Origins
http://www.quia.com/jfc/65963.html
Interactive Flashcards
I can identify similes and interpret the author’s purpose.
A Simile is used when an author wants to compare two objects using like or as. The student should be able identify and interpret the use of similes in a piece of text. They are able to see the connection between two objects and also explain why the author used such a simile.
Examples of Similies:
“a voice as clear as a crystal bell”
The person’s voice very understandable and clear. A crystal bell’s sound is also very clear and understandable. Therefore the author wanted to reader to make the connection between the sound of the crystal bell and how the voice was very clear.
/ http://www.rhlschool.com/eng3n25.htm
Definitions and practice examples
http://www.saidwhat.co.uk/spoon/similes.php
List of example similes
http://www.how-to-study.com/similes.htm
Definition, Explanation, and Common Examples
http://www.quia.com/cb/130986.html
Interactive Figurative Language Jeopardy
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mfYzp7yiNqc
Video on Similes and Metaphors
I can identify metaphors and interpret the author’s purpose.
A metaphor is used when an author wants to compare two objects. The student should be able to identify and interpret the use of metaphors in a piece of text. They are able to see the connection between two objects and also explain why the author used such a metaphor.
Example:
He was a rock when the detective questioned him.
The author here is trying to create the image in the reader’s head that the person was lifeless and like stone when the detective was trying to question him. A rock has no emotion, and has no life in it. The person being questioned took the characteristic of the rock. / http://www.rhlschool.com/eng3n26.htm
Definition and short quiz
http://knowgramming.com/metaphors/metaphor_chapters/examples.htm
Popular Metaphor Resources
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_metaphor.html
Why use Metaphors and how to use them creatively
http://www.quia.com/cb/130986.html
Interactive Figurative Language Jeopardy
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mfYzp7yiNqc
Video on Similes and Metaphors
I can identify personification and interpret the author’s purpose.
Personification is used when an author wants to give something nonhuman or inanimate human traits. The student should be able to identify and interpret personification in a piece of text. They should be able to see the connection between the object and why it takes on human traits.
Example:
Morning’s sunshine crept over the landscape with pink fingers caressing the horizon.
The author here is using the words crept and the pink fingers to express how the morning sun shone on the landscape and brightened the horizon. / http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/personification.html
Definition and example
http://www.imschools.org/cms/Units/Poetry/personif.htm
Quiz for additional practice
http://www.americanrhetoric.com/figures/personification.htm
Examples with audio
http://www.quia.com/cb/130986.html
Interactive Figurative Language Jeopardy
http://youtube.com/watch?v=sH9FnChQy4U
Video on Personification in Music
I can identify hyperbole and interpret the author’s purpose.
A Hyperbole is used when an author wants to over exaggerate a point he or she is trying to make. The student should be able to identify and interpret the hyperbole in a piece of text. The student should be able to understand why the author used the hyperbole.
Example of hyperboles:
If I have told you once I have told you a million times…
The author is making a point that she has told this person something many times. Of course she did not do it a million times but she is exaggerating to make her point. / http://www.worsleyschool.net/socialarts/hyperbole/hyperbole2.html
Fun examples of hyperboles
http://www.dowlingcentral.com/MrsD/area/literature/Terms/hyperbole.html
Definition, Examples, and online quiz
http://www.berghuis.co.nz/abiator/rdg/hyperbolehelp.html
Definition
I can explain imagery and the author’s purpose for using it in the text.
Imagery is used when an author writes compelling to the readers five senses. (touch, taste, sight, hearing, and smell) They also refer to the senses that are inside the body such as hunger, pain, sadness, fear, or joy.
Example of Imagery:
I spot the hills
With yellow balls in autumn
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters
Here the author is using the reader’s sense of sight to create imagery. / http://mrbraiman.home.att.net/lit.htm
Definition of most literary terms
http://cte.jhu.edu/techacademy/web/2000/baczkowski/imageex.htm
Two examples in poetry
http://www.dowlingcentral.com/MrsD/area/literature/Terms/Imagery.html
Definition, Examples, and online quiz
I can find and restate the explicit main idea and supporting details.
I can infer the main idea.
The main idea is the central topic of a story. It is a statement that can usually sum up an entire article or essay. The main idea is sometimes stated directly. Other times, the reader must interpret or infer the main idea. The student should be able to identify and be able to restate the main idea of a passage.
Types of Questions about Main idea:
What are the main ideas of scene II?
What is the main idea of the passage?
This passage is mainly about…
What is the main topic of the passage? / http://www.moonstar.com/~acpjr/Blackboard/111BB/ComExplicit-Implicit.html
Explicit & Implied Main Idea Pointers and Essay Example
http://net2.valenciacc.edu/mwhissel/CPT/Reading/rea_006.htm
Implied Main Idea Definition and Example
http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/palmasola/rcmi1.htm
Main Idea Tutorial
I can define, identify, and analyze a theme of a narrative text.
The theme of a text is the central message of a story. Theme is almost exclusive to narrative text. It is sometimes referred to as the moral of the story.
Examples of theme in well known stories:
Three Little Pigs: It pays to spend your time and do things right the first time.
Boyz in the Hood: Violence hurts more than just the people involved. / http://www.learner.org/exhibits/literature/read/theme1.html
Analyzing Theme
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theme_(literature)
Definition
http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/patten/theme.html
Common Themes
I can explain the author’s purpose for using a given point of view.
Point of view is used to differentiate how a story is told. The types of point of view are first person, second person, and third person. The student should be able to differentiate between these types and be able to explain the author’s purpose for using the particular point of view.
First person: These stories use I, me, our, we, or my. The narrarator is a character in the story but not always the main character. A story told from one person’s point of view limits that character’s knowledge to his or her own ideas.
Second Person:
Third Person: These Stories use he, she, and they. The story is told by a narrator that is not part of the story. If the third person narrator appears to know what everyone in the story is thinking or feeling they are considered omniscient. When the narrator is limited to just what the protagonist thinks then it is called limited. / http://www.learner.org/exhibits/literature/read/pov1.html
Explanation and different types
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/pv.html
Examples of Point of View in Sleeping Beauty
http://writingcenter.tamu.edu/content/view/474/76/
Different types of point of view
I can explain and analyze the author’s purpose for using flashback.
A Flashback is used when the author wants to disrupt the chronology of a narrative by shifting to an earlier time in order to introduce new information. The student should be able to identify when the author is using flashback and be able to interpret why.
Example of flashback:
Me and Cathy were waiting too, because Granny always has something to say. She teaches steady with no let-up. “I was on this bridge one time,” she started off. “Was a crowd cause this man was going to jump you understand.”
The phrase in red is a flashback because the author is referring to an earlier experience to introduce new information. / Definition
http://users.wirefire.com/tritt/tip11.html
Why use flashback?
I can explain the author’s purpose for using foreshadowing.
Foreshadowing is used when the author wants to give clues to the readers to upcoming events in a story. The student should be able to identify when an author is using foreshadowing and make predictions as to what he or she is hinting to.
Example:
“If you jus’ happen to get in trouble like you always done before, I want you to come right her an’ hide in the brush.”
Here the author is giving the reader a clue that a character is going to get into trouble later in the story and that he is going to have to hide in the brush. / http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/foreshadowing.html
Definitions and Sample
http://users.wirefire.com/tritt/tip11.html
Why use foreshadowing?
I can analyze the author’s tone and how it affects the mood of the story.
Tone is usually used to describe an author’s attitude toward the subject, characters, or reader. Mood is referred to the atmosphere of the work. The student should be able to infer the tone and mood of a piece of text.
Tone can be described in such terms as:
·  Formal
·  Informal
·  Sympathetic
·  Serious
·  Matter of Fact
Mood can be described in such terms as:
·  Mysterious
·  Joyous
·  Gloomy
·  Depressing
·  Peaceful.
Tone is attitude and mood is atmosphere. Many times the tone will create the mood. / http://www.dowlingcentral.com/MrsD/area/literature/Terms/Mood.html
Examples of mood
I can explain the author’s purpose for using satire.
Satire is used when an author uses ridicule or scorn, often in a humorous or witty way, in order to expose follies and weaknesses. The student should be able to recognize when an author is being satirical and be able to interpret it.
Example of Satirical text:
“Urgent taxpayer bulletin: The Federal Budget Surplus Crisis has become so severe that there is now serious talk in Washington of letting you keep slightly more of your own money.
That is correct. The government has been taking in so much of your money that EVEN CONGRESS is having a hard time spending it all. Not that Congress isn’t trying!
Here the target of the Satire is Congress and the government. The author is using humor to expose how much money congress takes from the taxpayer.
‘ / http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/satire.html
Definition and Example
http://readwritethink.org/lesson_images/lesson811/contemporary-examples.pdf
Examples of Satire in Pop Culture
I can explain the author’s purpose for using irony.
Irony is used when an author wants to contrast between what seems to be and what really is. The student should be able to identify when an author is using irony, know what type of irony the author is using, and be able to explain it.
Three types of Irony:
Verbal Irony: refers to the difference between what a character says and what he or she means.
Irony of Situation: Occurs when events are contrary to what is expected.
Dramatic Irony: Describes a situation in which the audience or reader of a play knows more about a character’s situation that he or she does. / http://rhetoric.byu.edu/figures/I/irony.htm
Definition and Example
http://www.cvco.org/education/etohc/irony.htm
Examples of Irony in Everyday Life
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/irony.html
Examples of Irony
I can analyze the author’s use of symbolism.
Symbolism is used when an author wants a person, place, thing, or event to stand for something abstract, such as an idea or emotion in a literary work. Students should be able to identify when something is being used as a symbol and be able to interpret what it stands for.
Example of symbolism:
She looked at the tree that had been there for years. It had weathered so many years of weather. It had eluded the clearing of land for development. Its roots had grown deep and spread wide across the land. It was strong and nearly immovable. She stared at the tree and realized the mistakes she had made in life.
The tree is a symbol of strength. The girl in this paragraph realizes that she had never stayed in one place long enough to grow roots or to gain strength. The tree is a symbol for the abstract idea that a person needs strong roots in order to have a good life.
I can identify and analyze the plot elements (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, conflict and resolution) to analyze a story.
Plot is what happens in a story. Author’s use plot to organize and structure their writing. It usually unfolds in chronological order and has five main parts.
Parts of Plot:
Exposition:
Rising Action:
Conflict
Climax
Falling Action
Resolution
Other parts of plot are:
Subplot: Story within a story that expands the plot.
Parallel Episodes: events that are happening at the same time. / http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/plot-diagram/
Interactive Plot Diagram
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/literature/read/plot1.html
Parts of a Plot
http://www.quia.com/mc/155157.html
Elements of Plot Matching Game
http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/lit-elements/
Interactive Conflict Map
I can describe the role of the protagonists and antagonists.
I can describe the role of flat and round characters.