Key Academic Vocabulary

books/stories that are true and are about real things, people, events and places

• gives information about a topic

• tells facts that can be looked-up or proven

• tells about real events or real people• is divided into sections with headings

• may include photos with captions, maps, diagrams and illustrations to explain the facts

Expository text is nonfiction reading material. The intent of these written works is to inform or explain something to the reading audience.

Places where you can find expository text... textbooks, encyclopedias, scientific books/journals, atlases, directions, guides, biographies, newspapers, etc…

•tells how to do something

•tells what materials are needed

•tells steps in the correct order

the author’s most likely reason for

writing the selection

• entertain – to amuse someoneEX. fictional stories, comics, poems, jokes, riddles• inform – to give information about something; teach

somethingEX. news reports, research papers,, school news letters, pamphlets

from health clinics• persuade – to try to convince someone to think the way

you doEX. advertisements, newspaper editorials, junk mail, posters• describe – to create a character, set a mood or envision a

sceneEX.

• share feelings – to tell the reader what you are thinking EX. journals, diaries, letters

• descriptive – tells about something

• sequence – series or steps, items or events in numerical or chronological order

• problem/solution – problem attempted solutions, results; question and answer format

• compare/contrast – similarities and differences between two or more things

• cause/effect – reasons why something happens or exists

features in text to help locate

information (title, table of contents, illustrations,

photographs, bold text, italicized texts, charts, graphs)

pictures

•is a true story of a person’s life, written by another person

•usually tells events in time order

•is a true story of a person’s life, written by that person (also known as a memoir)

•usually tells events in time order

an account of one’s personal life and

experiences

A topic is a word or phrase that tells what the author is

writing about in a paragraph. The topic of a passage is a word or phrase that labels the subject but does not

reveal the specific contents of the passage.

• Every story or paragraph has a main idea.

• The main idea tells you what the story is about.

• The main idea maybe the lesson learned or moral of a story.

• The main idea is the most important part of a story or paragraph.

• The supporting details are the things that describe the main idea. • The supporting details make the main idea stronger.

A FACT can be proven to be true.

contains value language--An OPINION is what someone believes -it cannot be proven

true or false.

Example: good, difficult, easy, beautiful, should, etc…

to reduce large sections of text to

their essential points and main ideas

a vocabulary exercise in which an

association between a concept and its

attribute is presentExample: hot:cold as north:_______