Thursday, April 14, 2011

Academic Vocabulary Games

Academic Vocabulary Games and Test Prep Games Grade K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 | EOG, EOC Exams, TerraNova, Stanford 10. Reading, Writing and Math Test Prep Games

Free fun ways to prepare for test using the free reading, writing, and math test prep games. Standardized test use tier 2 and tier 3 vocabulary to assess students exposure to academic content. The best test prep for Reading, ELA, and Writing is repeated exposure to “test prep vocabulary” in the form of engaging games. Sean Taylor The Dyslexic Reading Teacher 

FREE ACADEMIC VOCABULARY GAMES: SPARKLE


Have your children stand or sit on their desk so they are facing the teacher. Start at either end of room and give the first child a vocabulary word or definition. They say the definition or kid friendly sentence if given the vocabulary word or they must give the word when a definition is given. The child that cannot give an answer says SPARKLE and must sit down. Continue the game until you are down to one child! The last child that has answered all the vocabulary gets a small bag of popcorn. Every child that answers a hard vocabulary question correctly gets a pretzel, stamp, or a sticker.  They love this and it is great review for challenging academic vocabulary! Start with a mix of easy and hard words to get the kids excited and ready to study the challenging academic words.

Quick Reading and Vocabulary Games! 



Alien Vocabulary Game (Tier 3 Testing Words) (or Chutes and LaddersUse this free tier 3 academic vocabulary game to build test readiness. The game is designed to be a fun way to build academic vocabulary using a game students already know. A number of "CAMO Aliens" (ladders) and "Blues Aliens" (or "chutes") are pictured on the board, each connecting two specific board squares. The object of the game is to navigate one's game piece from the start (bottom square) to the finish (top square), helped or hindered by CAMO Aliens and Blues Aliens, respectively. Any time you land on an alien you have to draw a new card! If you land on the CAMO Aliens and answer the vocabulary question correctly you beam to the next highest CAMO Alien plus the move allowance on the card. If you land on the Blue Alien and get the question wrong you beam down to the next lowest Blues Alien. If you are on a Blue Alien and answer correctly you stay put until your next turn.


Dragons and AirShips Game
The game is a simple race to the top using the RBC Vocabulary Flash Cards, and is popular with children. 
Vocabulary Game Cards 5th 6th

Math Vocabulary Game Cards
Vocabulary Game Cards1st
Vocabulary Game Cards 2nd
Vocabulary Game Cards 3rd
Vocabulary Game Cards 4th
Vocabulary Game Cards 5th
Vocabulary Game Cards 6th
Vocabulary Game Cards 7th
Vocabulary Game Cards 8th

HARD GAME CARDS
Power Words 4th Grade Reading Vocabulary
Power Words 4th Grade Reading Vocabulary II
Literary Device
Idioms
Metaphor and Simile
Poetry

Science Vocabulary Cards
Science 4th and 5th Grade

Long Reading and Vocabulary Games and Simulations! 


Steampunk Board Game | Steampunk Reading Comprehension Board Game 

"The Legendary Lands" Steampunk, Sky Pirates, Airships, Myth, Legends and Totally Awesome Literary Adventure Board Game!

Exploring The Legendary Lands 
The Basic Game Contains  
  • 8 Character Sheets
  • 4 Map Sections
  • 12 ELA Reading Knowledge Game Cards
  • 6 Money Sheets
  • 1 Small Sky Library Poster
  • 1 Small Sky Pirate Poster
  • 2 Civilization Sheets
  • 1 Conveyance Voucher Sheet
  • 1 Front and Back Game Cover

The Legendary Lands 
Sky Village Book Mark
The Game Overview and  Description of Play
The board consists of 18 mythical and legendary lands with an ocean at its center. Some lands are named and others are to be named by the new explorers of “The legendary Lands”. The lands have a numerical value of 5 florins to 100 florins based on strategic locations and previous development. The value of the land is used to determine taxes paid to players at the end of game rounds. As the game progresses, players use florins to build, Railway Spurs, Sky Ships, Train Stations, Aerodromes, Universities, Sky Villages, Libraries, Sea Ports, Governments, and Sky Libraries or … use your imagination. Each player begins the game with 250 florins, one randomly selected conveyance ticket, 1 professor, and 4 students on any 5 florin land.

The student’s depth of knowledge determines the ability to acquire florins, explore/conquer new lands, monetize controlled lands, deepen knowledge and inevitably win the game.  Each turn, you'll explore new territories, build alliances with other players, battle adversaries, and use florins you've acquired to build new railway spurs, aerodromes, and sky villages. You can team up, trade florins and resources with other players, you can add new rules and change difficulty levels to ensure all players are able to play. New plots, scenarios, and endless game ideas ensure that The Legendary Lands will give your students hours of fun, imaginative, collaborative learning between players.

The basic objective of The Legendary Lands is to be the first scholar who builds a Sky Library or Two Universities.

 The game can be played like a RISK style territory conquering game or a European Tile | exploration and development game.
The Legendary Lands CCSS ELA Reading Comprehension Board Games
  1. Grade k-3 | 300+ Sight Words & 60+ Primary ELA Reading Concepts Covered
  2. Grade 4-6 | 130+ Intermediate ELA Reading Concepts Covered
  3. Grade 7-9 | 90+ Advanced ELA Reading Concepts & 60+ Poetry, Greek and Latin Affixes and Roots Concepts Covered
CCSS ELA Reading Standards and Concepts Targeted:
  • Tier 2 and 3 Academic Vocabulary Development
  • Drawing Conclusions
  • Inferring
  • Compare and Contrast
  • Author’s Purpose
  • Characterization
  • Fact and Opinion
  • Main Idea
  • Figurative Language
  • Text Features
  • Summarizing 
  • Literary Elements
  • Elements of Writing
  • Grammar and Conventions
  • Elements of Poetry
  • Greek and Latin Affixes and Roots
  • Sample of CCSS ELA Cards 




"The Legendary Lands" Steampunk Airship Board Game and Literary Adventure Game!
In this RISK style “word domination game“ Steampunk board game of reading comprehension and reading strategies you are battling to conquer the world of literacy, writing elements, plot, text structures, literary elements, poetry and academic vocabulary. To win, you must launch daring adventures, assemble teams of scholars, resolve the quest set before you, build floating sky fortresses of learning (Sky Libraries), seek knowledge on all fronts, and sweep across vast literary lands with boldness and cunning. But remember, the dangers, as well as the rewards, are high. Just when the world of knowledge is within your grasp, your antagonist opponent might strike and take it all away!

 The game was designed to easily teach complex concepts like tier 2 and tier 3 academic vocabularies in a fun and novel way!

PDF Samples of Basic Game

Sample Vocabulary ELA One
Sample Vocabulary ELA Two
Sample Vocabulary ELA Three
Sample Vocabulary Game Cards ELA CCSS ELA Grade 1-2
Sample Vocabulary Game Cards ELA CCSS ELA  Grade 3-4
 Sample Vocabulary Game Cards ELA CCSS ELA   Grade 3-4
Sample Vocabulary Game Cards ELA CCSS ELA Grade 4-5

Science Vocabulary Game Cards I
Science Vocabulary Game Cards II
Science Vocabulary Game Cards III
Science Vocabulary Game Cards IV

Map Section ONE
Map Section TWO
Map Section THREE
Map Section FOUR

Game Money One
Game Money Two
Game Money Three
Game Money Four
Game Money Five
Game Money Six
Conveyance Tickets | Vouchers
Legendary Lands Game Cover
Sky Library Poster Small 
Dragons and Airships

Extra Character Sheets
Lady Alice 
Mr. Taylor the Sky Pirate
Mr. Wolf 
Princess Isabella 
Prior Hornbuckle
Queen Eleanor
Mr. Pirate
The Autistic Dragon
The Sultan
Back Cover














Knowledge of key academic concepts is imperative for success on standardized test. 

Civilization Cards Are Used
For Ongoing Simulations
  • The Game can be played as an ongoing simulation with teams or individuals working towards literary goals. Graduating with a diploma[s] from different colleges or building their own University.
  • The game can be played similarly to classic risk with the roll of the dice determining the outcome.
  • The game can played using the student’s knowledge of tier 2 and 3 academic vocabulary, math facts, quick math problems, reading comprehensions passages, or math terms to determine the outcome.
  • The students can invent their own plot ideas, Miss Red R Hood is captured and must be rescued, Queen Eleanor is besieged by Mr. Wolf in the Aquitaine Castle.
  • Students can use the Board | Map and Characters and make up their own rule.
  • The game is a great teaching tool for all forms of creative writing.

    The Legendary Lands Rules

    The Game can be played using modified Risk rules, as a teaching aide and or simulation, replacing the dice rolls with the students knowledge to determine the outcome.

    The Set Up | Cooperative Learning Groups
The “Boss” may assign students at the table the jobs of ‘banker (Secretary and Scribe), ticket master (Gopher and Cleanup Boss), geographer/chronologist (Praiser keeps the game positive)’ or any other cooperative grouping works above four students. Students playing in small groups can change jobs after a few rounds. The Boss is the Boss. The Banker will make sure all vocabulary cards (Tier 2 and 3 Academic Words), character pieces (glass beads), florins (money); dice are accounted for and will make certain that players’ vocabulary cards are in good condition before the start of the game. The ticket master sells tickets and keeps the game organized. The geographer/ chronologist (praiser) keeps the game positive, moving forward, and ensures the rules are being followed and understood. 

The game pieces are organized and its time to set up the game! 




Rescue Red Initial Set Up 
Most games are played with a plot or mission card. Miss Red is Kidnapped by the Sky Pirates. The sky pirates have kidnapped Miss Red, the other players must work together and rescue her if they can! Each player is limited to a maximum of 5-10 companions and the one sky pirate is limited to 10-20 henchmen depending on ability. Each player earns 25 florin for each correct answer to any knowledge question. All ties the dice determine the winner. The student may ask for the term or the definition on the study cards being played. The sky pirate wins if they defeat any single player on the board. The players win if the defeat the pirate by reducing their minions by half.

Lady Alice Amelia Wonderland



Basic Placement
All players roll for highest dice to start the game and determine initial board placement. The player with the highest roll of the dice will deploy 5 scholars and one professor to any value 5 florin territories as well as become the first player to start the game. Play will proceed clockwise once the starting game player has been determined. If a tie for the highest roll exists, the involved players will roll again until a starting player is determined. Students start with One Main Character (ex. Queen Eleanor) and Five Companions, 200 Florin coins, conveyance ticket handed out randomly face down, and vocabulary cards or dice depending on the lesson or academic level. 

You and your students can make Steampunk characters or use literary characters like Alice in Wonderland.
  • Lady Alice Amelia Wonderland |  Airship Designer and Captain
  • Lord Jack “The Bean” Quick | Steampunk Mechanic and Engineer
  • Mr. Wolf | Sky Pirate 
  • Miss Red  R. Hood | Wolf Hunter, Geographer and Cartographer   
  • Mr. P. N. Boots | Ships Captain Retired 
  • Kate "Bonny Lass" Crackernuts | Restaurateur, Airship Caterer and Chef
  • Baron Von Rum Pelstiltskin | Time Bandit and Part Time Gold Weaver
  • Mr. Harry "Mad" Hatter | Tea Monger and Clockwork Engineer
  • Count Harry Beast | Barrister of Enchantments and Curses
Chronology of “The Legendary Lands”
1.      Placement and hiring of Main Characters and Companions, and movement and or hiring a conveyance
2.      Exploring an unoccupied territory, invading or migrating into an occupied territory. Migration is a good way to make allies or form teams.
3.      Knowledge phase, attack resolution for invaders and defenders, occupying new lands resolution. All knowledge phase activities use the vocabulary cards to determine completion of migration, invasion, or migration action. Dice are used for knowledge question ties, high roll wins the battle.
4.      Payment and Reinforcements

When a player is ending his/her turn they should:
1. State the intent to end turn
2. Decide to execute or not to execute the allowed movement and act accordingly based on that decision
3. Take the Florins if earned for completion of knowledge phase
If a player has not conquered a new Territory during the course of his/her turn then that player is not entitled to receive a Florin payment. If the non conquering  attacker  chooses  to  end  his/her  turn without  overtaking  another  territory then they should:
1. State the intent to hire a conveyance or to end turn
 See Movement
A turn consists of the following actions:
1. If hiring scholars is warranted a player begins by paying the banker 25 florins for each new scholar or 200 florin for a professor. Five scholars and one professor is the maximum reinforce allowance during the reinforcement part of a players turn. New scholars must be deployed to occupied territories immediately. Scholars are deployed, moved or reinforced.
2. You, as the invader or migrant, clearly express the territory you will invade as well as the territory you are defending, you can only invade a territory with a professor and any of his/her accompanying scholars. If a preference exists to answer level 5, 15 or 30 Florin question this must be stated during the attack. If no preference is stated the defender can ask any level question from any vocabulary card.

Steampunk Airship | Steampunk Sky Pirates
3. Attack begins and evaluation of scholars knowledge commences, a win or loss for both sides is determined via the answer to the vocabulary questions. The invader decides to continue with the attack cycle until all desired goals of the attack have been met or retreat is needed to stay in the game. The attacker chooses when to stop the attack cycle. The attacker should state that his turn is ending when attacks for his/her turn are finished.
4. When attacks have been completed the defender has the option to execute a reinforcement or movement from adjacent territory to fortify his/her position.

Rules for movement are as follows: 
A. Scholars/Professors can move to any adjacent territory on the board that is contiguous without a conveyance. Players are not allowed to move across water without an airship, clipper, steamship or ferry!
B.  minimum  of  one scholar must remain on a Territory at all times to show who is in possession of that territory.
C. You may opt not to execute movement.
D. If exploring  a new territory a player will take his/her scholar question to see if they can stay in the new territory.  
Conveyance Movement | Dice Mechanics | Natural Disasters Chart |
Time Bandits, Sky Pirates, Sea Pirates Probability Charts

Legendary Lands Conveyance
Movement
Capacity
Natural Disasters
Lose half your scholars
Sky Pirates, Time Bandits, Sea Pirates
Lose half your money or lose 2 turns
Airship
6 territories
10 Scholars
Roll 3 or higher
Roll 1
Steam Train
3 territories
30 Scholars
Roll a Six
Roll 1
Clipper
3 Atlantis Miles
5 Scholars
Roll 4 or higher
Roll odd
Steamship
6 Atlantis Miles
30 Scholars
Roll a Six
Roll 1
Ferry
Ferry Crossing
30 Scholars



Teach Reading and Writing the Fun Way!
Trade in Values
Scholars 25 Florin
Professors 200 Florin or 4 scholars

Dice Rolling Rules
Same as Risk 

End of the Game | Students can write their own Plot ideas or stories on cards and play or use the three bellow. Having the students write their own plot is a great tool to teach writing.

The best games are the ones the kids make up! 


Scenario One | First Plot | Limited Rounds 3, 5 or 7 Rounds
When a player has successfully taken control of more territory at the end of the agreed number of rounds  and or his/her territory is more than all other players you have won the game! You may lose if a player has fewer territories but more points from airships, trains and florins. Congratulation! You have reached the end of the game.

Scenario Two | Second Plot | Sky Ship Port Control
When a player has successfully taken control of all 4 Sky Ship Ports they are also the winner! Congratulation! You have reached the end of the game.

Scenario Three  |  Third Plot | Building a Sky Library
Steampunk Airship | Steampunk Sky Library

When a player has successfully built a Sky Library at a cost of 5000 florin they are the winner! Congratulation! You have reached the end of the game.






Honor System! We ask that you make a $5-$10 donation for the use of the games. Please help support Reading Sage with a small PayPal donation to develop more CCSS ELA game content. 

A Sample of the new vocabulary flash cards that can be used with any board game or "The Legendary Lands".  The student reads the definition or the term and provides the correct answer to move or advance in the game. The can be used with Hot Dots! 


New CCSS ELA Game Cards Grade 2
The New CCSS ELA Game Cards are for Grades 2-10! 
Each set of grade level game cards covers three years of tier 2 and tier 3 academic vocabulary and CCSS ELA concepts.  





  1. Grades 1-2-3  80 Reading ELA Game Cards
  2. Grades 3-4  120 Reading ELA Game Cards  
  3. Grades 5-6  120 Reading ELA Game Cards 
  4. Middle School  120 Reading ELA Game Cards 
  5. High School 120 Reading ELA Game Cards 

New CCSS ELA vocabulary game cards sets!   

























Students can use standards based reading passages from released test but this slows down the play. 

Sample Reading Passages

  A solar cell (also called a photovoltaic cell) is an electrical device that converts the energy of light directly into electricity by the photovoltaic effect. It is a form of photoelectric cell that when exposed to light can generate and support an electric current without being attached to any external voltage source. The term "photovoltaic" comes from the Greek meaning "light", and from "Volt", the unit of electro-motive force, the volt, which in turn comes from the last name of the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta, inventor of the battery (electrochemical cell). The term "photo-voltaic" has been in use in English since 1849.  Words 128 reading Level High School

If answered correctly Move 6 or win the Battle

Which of theses statement is correct?

  1. A solar cell generates electricity using heat.
  2. The term "photovoltaic" comes from the Italian meaning "light"
  3. photo-voltaic cell works without an outside power source.
Read the Passage and answer the question:
  
Learning the CCSS ELA the Fun Way!
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest planet in the Solar System, after Jupiter. Saturn has a large ring system that consists of nine continuous main rings and three discontinuous arcs, composed mostly of ice particles with a smaller amount of rocky debris and dust. Sixty-two known moons orbit the planet; fifty-three are officially named. This does not include the hundreds of "moonlets" within the rings. Titan, Saturn's largest and the Solar System's second largest moon is larger than the planet Mercury and is the only moon in the Solar System to retain a substantial atmosphere. Saturn is a gas giant with an average radius about nine times that of Earth. While only one-eighth the average density of Earth, with its larger volume Saturn is just over 95 times more massive than Earth. Reading Level Middle School
Which of these statements is not true?


Reading Questions
"The Legendary Lands"
  1. Saturn is the largest planet in the solar system and has nine large rings.
  2. Saturn is named after the Greek god Saturn.
  3. Titan, Saturn’s moon is larger than all others moons in the solar system except one.



     Please email me for more information about the game and an opportunity to receive a free copy of the game!




The Queen
Steampunk Character Sheet Back















Word Work Grade 1, 2, 3, and 4 | Word Work Sight Words

A Fun Free Word Work Game plus Free Word Work Flash Cards! Pre School, Kindergarten, Grades 1, 2, 3, and 4! A sight word game that reinforces basic grade level sight words knowledge! Use the snakes and ladders game boards bellow with the word work flash cards to play a fun game that helps students’ master Dolch sight words.

sight word is a word whose spelling is not straight forward and, therefore, does not enable an emergent reader to determine what spoken word it represents just by sounding it out according to phonemic rules. Emergent readers recognize sight words from having memorized them or by drawing their meaning from context.

Dedicated to all the reading teachers and parents that help students acquire the great skill of reading. Sean 

Kindergarten Word Work | Dolch Sight Words Game Cards Kindergarten
4th Grade Word Work | Dolch Sight Words Game Cards 4th Grade

Use the Game Boards with dice or the Game Cards! 


Snakes and Ladders Board Game


Sorry or Parcheesi Type Board Game




Pre School | Pre-primer: a, and, away, big, blue, can, come, down, find, for, funny, go, help, here, I, in, is, it, jump, little, look, make, me, my, not, one, play, red, run, said, see, the, three, to, two, up, we, where, yellow, you
Kindergarten | Primer: all, am, are, at, ate, be, black, brown, but, came, did, do, eat, four, get, good, have, he, into, like, must, new, no, now, on, our, out, please, pretty, ran, ride, saw, say, she, so, soon, that, there, they, this, too, under, want, was, well, went, what, white, who, will, with, yes
1st Grade: after, again, an, any, as, ask, by, could, every, fly, from, give, giving, had, has, her, him, his, how, just, know, let, live, may, of, old, once, open, over, put, round, some, stop, take, thank, them, then, think, walk, were, when
2nd Grade: always, around, because, been, before, best, both, buy, call, cold, does, don't, fast, first, five, found, gave, goes, green, its, made, many, off, or, pull, read, right, sing, sit, sleep, tell, their, these, those, upon, us, use, very, wash, which, why, wish, work, would, write, your
3rd Grade: about, better, bring, carry, clean, cut, done, draw, drink, eight, fall, far, full, got, grow, hold, hot, hurt, if, keep, kind, laugh, light, long, much, myself, never, only, own, pick, seven, shall, show, six, small, start, ten, today, together, try, warm
4th Grade Nouns
apple, baby, back, ball, bear, bed, bell, bird, birthday, boat, box, boy, bread, brother, cake, car, cat, chair, chicken, children, Christmas, coat, corn, cow, day, dog, doll, door, duck, egg, eye, farm, farmer, father, feet, fire, fish, floor, flower, game, garden, girl, good-bye, grass, ground, hand, head, hill, home, horse, house, kitty, leg, letter, man, men, milk, money, morning, mother, name, nest, night, paper, party, picture, pig, rabbit, rain, ring, robin, Santa Claus, school, seed, sheep, shoe, sister, snow, song, squirrel, stick, street, sun, table, thing, time, top, toy, tree, watch, water, way, wind, window, wood

The Legendary Lands only Available By Email!

More Academic Vocabulary Games

FREE ACADEMIC VOCABULARY GAMES: SPARKLE

Have your children stand or sit on their desk so they are facing the teacher. Start at either end of room and give the first child a vocabulary word or definition. They say the definition or kid friendly sentence if given the vocabulary word or they must give the word when a definition is given. The child that cannot give an answer says SPARKLE and must sit down. Continue the game until you are down to one child! The last child that has answered all the vocabulary gets a small bag of popcorn. Every child that answers a hard vocabulary question correctly gets a pretzel, stamp, or a sticker.  They love this and it is great review for challenging academic vocabulary! Start with a mix of easy and hard words to get the kids excited and ready to study the challenging academic words.

Vocabulary Pig!

Each turn, a player draws an academic vocabulary card and shows the definition to the other players. The player must give an example or definition to keep the card and continue playing. The player gets to keep every card they can define. If a player cannot give a correct answer they place the card at the bottom of the deck and forfeit their turn. At any time during a player's turn, the player is faced with two options:

Option one, draw the next card and give a correct definition and keep playing piggy piggy piggy.

Option two, pass on the card, and the next player must give the definition or lose all their points!

The first player to score 100 wins!


VOCABULARY Parcheesi Rules of play

Academic Vocabulary Parcheesi is played with one deck of academic vocabulary cards (25-30) cards and the goal of the game is to move each of one's pieces home to the center space.

Each player selects four pieces of the same color and places them in their "nest," or starting area. The game board should be positioned so that each player's nest is to his right. Pieces enter play onto the darkened space to the left of the nest and continue counter-clockwise around the board to the home path directly in front of the player.










  



 Yes / No Phonics and Word Game

Free Yes / No Phonics Game

The Idea behind the Yes No Phonics and Word game is to help students use auditory discrimination to build phonemic awareness by quickly answering Yes No questions. Turn any word list or set of flash cards into a fast fun phonics game. YES / NO Short and long vowels, consonant blends, beginning sounds, ending sounds, syllables, silent e, and so much more.

Sample Yes No Phonics Questions!


Does the word end in a vowel? Yes/No

Does the word begin with a letter____? Yes/No

Does the word end with a consonant? Yes/No

Does the word luck have a ck like the word truck? Yes/No

Does the word read have ea like tea? Yes/No

Does bat, fat, cat, rat, hat, mat, and sat end with et? Yes/No

Does ice have a long I sound? Yes/ No

Does cat have a long a sound? Yes/No

Does the word ship start with ch? Yes/No

Does the word hand end with ng? Yes/No

Does the word slide start with st? Yes/No


Please share your favorite reading and phonics games!


ACADEMIC READING VOCABULARY
VOCABULARY SPARKLE PRIMARY
RBC Sample GAME Cards Vocabulary 3rd


ab·bre·vi·a·tion
noun
a shortened form of a word or phrase used in writing.
"Ave." is an abbreviation for the word "avenue."
"Tues." is an abbreviation for the word "Tuesday."

similar words:
condensation, contraction, reduction
ad·verb
noun
a word that describes or modifies a verb, adjective, 
or other adverb. Adverbs are also used to modify a 
whole sentence.
In the sentence "Unfortunately, she spoke 
so slowly that most of the audience was 
very bored," the words "unfortunately," 
"slowly," and "very" are adverbs.
an·to·nym
noun
a word that has the opposite meaning of another word.
"Late" is an antonym of "early."

similar words:
contrary, opposite
a·pos·tro·phe
noun
a punctuation mark ('). It is used to show where 
one or more letters or numbers have been left out. 
"Wouldn't" for "would not" and "'87" for "1987" use 
apostrophes this way.
At·las
noun
1.
a giant in Greek mythology who had to support the
 heavens on his shoulders.
2.
(lower case) a book of maps, tables, or charts.
cause
noun
something or someone that brings about a result or effect.
Smoking is one cause of lung cancer.
A cigarette was the cause of the fire.

synonyms:
agent, influence, source
antonyms:
effect
similar words:
factor, motive, occasion, root, stimulus
char·ac·ter
noun
all those things that make a person, place, or 
thing different from others.
This neighborhood has a friendly character.
He has an honest character.

synonyms:
air, attributes, essence, identity, 
nature, personality
similar words:
characteristics, complexion, 
disposition, features, individuality, reputation
con·trac·tion
noun
an act of contracting.
Muscle contractions can cause pain.

synonyms:
shortening, tightening
antonyms:
expansion, extension
similar words:
narrowing, reduction, shrinking, squeeze
ef·fect
noun
something produced by a cause.
The effect of the snow storm was a day off from school.

synonyms:
consequence, impact, result
antonyms:
cause
similar words:
by-product, conclusion, fallout, 
issue, outcome, reaction
en·cy·clo·pe·di·a [or] en·cy·clo·pae·di·a
noun
a book or set of books that has information on a 
wide variety of subjects, or on many aspects of 
one subject.
Encyclopedias are arranged in alphabetical order.
ex·clam·a·to·ry
adjective
of or expressing exclamation or exclamations.
fact
noun
something said or known to be true.
It is a fact that water covers most of the earth's surface.

synonyms:
truth
antonyms:
fiction
similar words:
certainty, given
in·ter·rog·a·tive
adjective
having to do with, forming, or being a question. 
"Why don't you take a walk?" is an example of an 
interrogative sentence.
o·pin·ion
noun
what one thinks about something or somebody; 
viewpoint. An opinion is not necessarily based on 
facts. Feelings and experiences usually help a person
 form an opinion.
In my opinion, our math teacher is the best teacher 
in the school.

synonyms:
conviction, idea, impression, position, 
sentiment, understanding, view, viewpoint
similar words:
attitude, belief, conviction, 
feeling, impression, judgment, perception
plu·ral
adjective
having to do with or naming the form of a word 
that signals more than one.
The word "kittens" is a plural noun.
noun
the form of a word that names or refers to more 
than one thing.
The plural of "dog" is "dogs."
pos·ses·sive
adjective
having a strong desire to own and keep things.
He is too possessive about his books to 
let me borrow one.

similar words:
greedy, jealous
run-on sentence
noun
in writing, two or more sentences incorrectly 
constructed as one.
se·quen·tial
adjective
forming or marked by a sequence of parts or units.

synonyms:
chronological
set
noun
the scenery for a play or movie.
The set for our play included a castle with 
hills in the background.

synonyms:
scenery
stan·za
noun
a group of related lines in a poem that make up 
one section within the poem. Stanzas often have a 
regular meter and rhyme pattern.
sum·ma·rize
transitive verb
to restate in a concise form.

synonyms:
abstract, brief, digest, recapitulate, 
sketch, sum up, synopsize
similar words:
abbreviate, abridge, capsulize, 
compress, condense, digest, epitomize, restate
syn·o·nym
noun
a word having the same or nearly the same meaning 
as another word of the same language.
"Abundant" and "plentiful" are synonyms.
the·sau·rus
noun
a book that lists words with their synonyms or antonyms.
I looked in a thesaurus for a word that means 
the same thing as "useful."

similar words:
collection, dictionary, encyclopedia
verb
noun
a word that expresses a state of being or an action. 
Verbs usually have different forms to express tense, 
voice, mood, and number. "Read," "blew," "drives," 
"seemed," and "skip" are examples of verbs.
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al·lit·er·a·tion
noun
the repetition of the same sound at the beginning 
of words in a phrase or sentence.
"She shears sheep" is an example of alliteration.
a·nal·o·gy
noun
similarity or correspondence between two 
otherwise dissimilar things.
There is an analogy between winter and death.

synonyms:
affinity, correspondence, identity, 
resemblance, similarity
antonyms:
dissimilarity
similar words:
connection, equivalence, 
homology, kinship, likeness, metaphor, 
parallelism, relationship, semblance, 
simile, similitude
cap·tion
noun
the words that describe a picture or graph in a 
magazine, book, or newspaper.
Most photographs in magazines have 
captions underneath them.
com·pare
verb
to note or describe the similarities or differences of.
The teacher compared the climate in the U.S. 
with the climate in Mexico.

similar words:
contrast
con·trast
verb
to compare in order to make differences clear.
The book contrasted women's lives a 
hundred years ago with the lives of women today.

synonyms:
distinguish
similar words:
oppose
double negative
noun
the use of two negative words in one sentence, 
considered substandard when intended to express
 a single negation.
fa·ble
noun
a short tale that teaches a lesson. The characters in 
fables are often animals who speak and act like people.
"The Fox and the Grapes" is a well-known fable by Aesop.

synonyms:
allegory, tale
similar words:
folk tale, parable, story, yarn
gen·re
noun
a particular type, sort, or category.
The bookstore also sells music CDs of various genres.

synonyms:
class, fashion, form, genus, kind, 
like, sort, species, variety
similar words:
brand, category, class, type, variety
hom·o·nym
noun
a word that is pronounced and often spelled the 
same as another word, but has a different 
meaning. In the sentence, "She was mean to 
me, but she didn't mean it," the two instances of 
"mean" are homonyms.
in·dex
noun
an alphabetical list of subjects, names, or other
information in a book, with page numbers given for each item.
in·fer·ence
noun
a conclusion derived from inferring.

synonyms:
conclusion, consequence, derivation, judgment
met·a·phor
noun
a phrase that describes something by comparing it to 
some other thing.
"Her words are pearls" is a metaphor.
out·line
noun
a line or shape showing the outside edge of a figure or object.
Draw an outline of your own house.

synonyms:
contour, figure, line, profile, shape, silhouette
similar words:
boundary, form
pre·dic·tion
noun
a statement that something might happen or is 
expected to happen.
Jean's prediction was that the coin would land heads up.

synonyms:
forecast, foretelling, prophecy
proof·read
verb
to examine for mistakes and make corrections.
I asked a friend to proofread my report.

synonyms:
proof
quo·ta·tion
noun
1.
the act of quoting.

synonyms:
quote
2.
a quoted passage from a book or the like.

synonyms:
excerpt, quote
sim·i·le
noun
a figure of speech in which two different things 
are compared by using the words "like" or "as." 
"The cake was as light as a feather" is an example 
of a simile.
topic sentence
noun
a sentence, usu. at the beginning, that sets 
forth the main idea of a paragraph or other 
unit of expository writing.
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af·fix
verb
to attach or join physically (usually used with "to").
She affixed a poster to the wall.

synonyms:
attach, fasten, mount, post, stick
antonyms:
detach, unfasten
similar words:
connect, glue, join, nail, paste, pin, staple, tack
al·ma·nac
noun
a book of interesting and useful facts about many different subjects.
ci·ta·tion
noun
the act of citing or quoting, or the passage or source so cited.

synonyms:
excerpt, quotation, quote
similar words:
excerpt, extract, passage, reference
clause
noun
a group of words that has a subject and a verb. Clauses can be part or all of a sentence.

similar words:
clause, dependent, sentence, simple sentence
con·junc·tion
noun
a word that connects other words, phrases, clauses, or sentences. "And," "while," 
and "because" are some conjunctions.

similar words:
connector
hy·per·bo·le
noun
in rhetoric, an obvious and deliberate exaggeration or overstatement, 
intended for effect and not to be taken literally,
 such as "He had a million excuses". (Cf. litotes.)
Much of the writer's humor arose from 
his brilliant use of hyperbole.

synonyms:
exaggeration, overstatement
antonyms:
litotes, understatement
similar words:
inflation
id·i·om
noun
a phrase that cannot be understood by understanding the
 meanings of each of its words. The phrase "fall out," 
meaning "have a disagreement," is an idiom.

similar words:
construction, expression, phrase, slang
im·age·ry
noun
images that are created in the mind while reading or looking at art.
The book is full of jungle imagery.
im·ply
verb
to hint or suggest without saying directly.
When she said that the floor was dirty, she was
 implying that I should mop it.

synonyms:
allude, hint, suggest
antonyms:
state
similar words:
indicate
in·ter·jec·tion
noun
a word or expression that shows strong feeling; exclamation. 
"Oh no!" and "Oops!" are examples of interjections.

synonyms:
exclamation
met·a·phor
noun
a phrase that describes something by comparing it to some other thing.
"Her words are pearls" is a metaphor.
nar·ra·tive
noun
a story, description, or account of events.
Novels are long narratives.

synonyms:
account, anecdote, story, tale
similar words:
description, fiction, history, novel, recital, report
on·o·mat·o·poe·ia
noun
the formation or use of words whose sounds suggest the
 meanings of the words, such as "bang," "moo," or "jingle".
per·son·i·fi·ca·tion
noun
a person considered to be a perfect example or embodiment 
of some quality or other abstraction.
He was the personification of humility.

synonyms:
byword, embodiment, epitome, image
similar words:
figure, ideal, incarnation, paradigm, 
picture, quintessence, realization, type
point of view
noun
a way of thinking about or looking at something.
The coach did not agree with the referee's point of view.

synonyms:
angle, idea, light, perspective, position, stand
pre·po·si·tion
noun
a word that shows a connection or relation between a noun 
or pronoun and some other word. In the sentence, "We went 
to the market and talked about the weather," "to" and "about" 
are prepositions.
prompt
adjective
done immediately and without pause.
This snack bar is known for its prompt service.

synonyms:
immediate, instant, punctual, quick, swift
antonyms:
delayed, late, tardy
similar words:
brisk, rapid
sim·i·le
noun
a figure of speech in which two different things are compared
 by using the words "like" or "as." "The cake was as light 
as a feather" is an example of a simile.
su·per·la·tive
adjective
of the finest kind or highest quality.
He is a superlative flute player.

synonyms:
ace, best, capital, finest, first-class, 
first-rate, prime, superb, supreme, top
antonyms:
poor
similar words:
capital, classic, excellent, exceptional, 
exquisite, magnificent, outstanding, sterling, 
super, superior
theme
noun
the main subject or topic.
The theme of his talk was world peace.

synonyms:
subject, topic
similar words:
argument, concept, idea, 
intent, meaning, notion, point, text
Terms Definitions
nonfiction writing that is true
fables stories with talking animals that have a moral
recipe a set of instructions for making something
fiction writing that is made up
dictionary book that tells what words mean
advertisement a public notice published to get people's attention or to get them to buy something
almanac a book that contains statistical information over a long period of time
repetition the act of repeating something said or done
article nonfiction piece of text usually found in newspapers or magazines
legends folk tales full of people from history like Davy Crockett
fairy tales stories with royalty, good vs. evil, start with "Once Upon a Time" & end with "happily ever after"
rhythm the beat of a poem
folk tales fiction stories that have been told for generations
poet the writer of a poem
mood the feeling you get from a piece of writing
poetry writing that often has rhythm and rhyme, but not always
tall tales folk tales full of exaggeration like Paul Bunyan
atlas book of maps
biography true story of a person's life written by someone else
autobiography true story of a person's life written by the person
speaker the person doing the talking in a poem
stanza part of a poem; like a paragraph
novel long fiction story, usually a chapter book
main idea what a piece of writing is mainly about
summary gives the main idea and important details of a passage
theme a more generally stated topic concerning a passage's main ideas
poem a composition in verse, usually divided into stanzas
fantasy make believe stories that contain magic or other things that couldn't happen in real life
moral lesson in a fable or story
rhyme words in a poem that sound alike
character a person or other creature in a story
setting the time and place of the story's events
author the person who wrote the story or passage
narrator the person who is telling the story

VOCABULARY SPARKLE INTERMEDIATE

non-fiction a type of literature that tells about real-life people, places, events, things, etc.
drama a play written to be performed by actors
myth a folktale (fictional story) about gods and goddesses (mythology)
tall tale an American hero folktale full of extreme exaggerations
fable a folktale, usually with talking animals, that always has a moral to it
main idea what a piece of writing is mainly about
summary gives the main idea and important details of a passage
theme a more generally stated topic concerning a passage's main ideas
genre a classification of literature, such as fiction, drama, poetry, etc.
fiction a type of literature that tells a made-up story
simile a comparison of two unlike things using the words "like" or "as"
realistic fiction a make believe story that could really happen
historical fiction a make believe story which could have happened a long time ago based on historical facts
analogy a comparison that shows a relationship between two things
metaphor a comparison of two unlike things not using the words "like" or "as"
paraphrase restating something using different words (rephrasing)
context clues words, phrases, or sentences that give meaning to unknown words
denotation the dictionary definition of the word- the literal meaning
connotation the extra sense that the word implies-pos. or neg. (cheap/inexpensive)
repetition creating a "special effect" by repeating a sound or word
suspense a feeling of uncertainty or dread about what will happen next
sarcasm an expression that is personal, jeering, and intended to hurt
oxymoron a seemingly contradictory combination of words (jumbo shrimp)
onomatopoeia a word or phrase that imitates the sound (whoosh)
plot the action of the story
resolution the final outcome of the story-or the solution of the problem
character a person or other creature in a story
setting the time and place of the story's events
climax the point of greatest interest or suspense in the story
conflict the main problem the character faces (with others, self, or nature)
personification gives animals or objects human qualities or characteristics
hyperbole the deliberate use of exaggeration
symbolism the use of one thing to stand for or represent another
imagery the use of vivid description to create a picture in the reader's mind
foreshadow gives clues that suggest what might happen in the future
flashback interrupting the story with events from the past
irony a statement meaning the opposite of what is literally stated
idiom a saying that can not be literally translated
allusion a reference to a well-known work of literature, art, music, etc.
audience the person or persons to whom the writing is addressed
author the person who wrote the story or passage
narrator the person who is telling the story
point of view the relationship of the narrator to the story (viewpoint)
1st person pov when a character in the story tells the story (using I, me, my, we, etc.)
3rd person pov when someone not in the story tells the story (like an invisible observer)
dialogue when the characters in a story speak (usually set off by quotation marks)
style/voice the way the author uses phrases and sentences to make his story distinctive
tone the author's attitude about his topic- can be positive, negative, or neutral
mood the feeling or atmosphere in the story set by the author
inference a guess based on a known fact, a conclusion
cause/effect a text structure exploring the reason something happened (cause) and the result (effect)
compare/contrast a text structure showing similarities (comparisons) and differences (contrasts)
problem/solution a text structure examining how conflicts or obstacles (problems) are overcome (resolved)
chronology a text structure presenting events in the order in which they occur (sequencing)
inductive a text structure that starts with specific ideas and works toward a general idea
deductive a text structure that starts with a general idea and works toward specific ideas
spatial order a text structure that shows where things are
categorization a text structure that puts things in categories
fact a statement that can be proved- or disproved
opinion a statement that can not be proven- someone's own belief
bias a strong prejudice for one side over another- favoring only one side
objective a work based on fact, having no bias or partiality
propaganda persuasion techniques
synonyms words that have similar meanings
antonyms words that have opposite meanings
alliteration The repetition of identical consonant sounds in words relatively near to each other (in the same line or adjacent lines).
allusion - a reference to a literary work, or work of art  

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for this blog. I know it is passion that underlies the work. I tried to copy and print the information to use, but it doesn't work too well. Can you make a print link for this? I want to use it with my 3 kids.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you!