Reading Skills Review

Reading Skills Review

We have learned a lot of reading skills so far this year! Let's review and practice them together.

What are context clues?

• We use context clues to find out the meaning of an unknown word by using "clue" words around it in the text

• Sometimes the context clues are in the same sentence as the unknown word, and sometimes they are in sentences before or after it instead

• We need to figure out the meaning of the unknown word AND be able to list the "clue" words that helped us figure that meaning out

Multiple Choice

Ti'Adra had never seen Sandra before. At first, Tiadra felt somewhat uneasy. As Sandra talked, Ti'Adra's misgivings melted away. She couldn't tell if it was the twinkle in her eye or the soft drawl of her voice, but she was really warming up to the girl!

What does it mean to have misgivings in this paragraph?

• To donate something

• To be uncertain about something

• To not like someone

• To accidentally give something

Multiple Choice

Coco began barking as I ran to relay a message to Uncle Bob and the truck driver that the milk was leaking. As they turned around and saw the milk, Uncle Bob frowned.

Which meaning of the word relay is being used in this sentence?

• A race run by several different runners working as a team

• An electrical device activated by a current of electricity

• To pass something on to someone else

Multiple Choice

Bugs can smell some things from up to a mile away. The two antennae on a bug are also able to detect motions and tastes. Small hairs cover the antennae. These hairs are used to recognize smells, movements, and tastes.

Which word best helps the reader understand the meaning of the word detect in this paragraph?

• Recognize

• Use

• Cover

• Antennae

What are text features?!

• Anything included in a passage besides the words themselves

• This can include things like headers, pictures, captions, bolded words, maps, glossaries, timelines, graphs, tables, and diagrams

• When you see a text feature, always ask yourself: what kind of text feature is it, what is is showing me or giving me information about, and WHY did the author include it here

Multiple Choice

A long tail extends out the backside of an armadillo. It too is covered by tough skin. Sometimes, an armadillo uses its tail to keep its balance when standing on its two back feet. The armadillo does this to get higher in the air in search of food or danger.

The picture of the armadillo on its tail was most likely included:

• To show how an armadillo looks for a place to sleep

• To show how an armadillo uses the bands around its body to stay safe

• To show how an armadillo prepares to eat a meal

• To show how an armadillo searches for food

Multiple Choice

What kind of text features helps to organize information by topic throughout a passage?

• Headers or sub-headers

• Timelines

• Photographs

• Captions

Inferring Characters' Feelings & Motivations

• We can figure out why characters behave a certain way or how they feel without being told directly

• We can do this by paying close attention to their words, thoughts, and actions

Multiple Choice

Which of these sentences allows us to infer that a character is feeling brave?

• Tomas knew that it would be scary to speak in front of the whole school, but he knew he wanted to try.

• Alyie nearly jumped out of her skin when the door squeaked open.

• Trent wondered, even with all of his practice, if it was worth it to enter the competition. He was afraid he might not be ready yet.

• Grant skipped down the street whistling happily - he knew that a great day was ahead!

Multiple Choice

"Wait," said Dad. "I meant we aren't GOING to the pool... because we're getting one of our own!"

Mom, Kristen, Paul, and I sat there staring at Dad. For a moment, no one said anything. We just looked at Dad, wide-eyed, with our mouths hanging open. Finally, Paul managed to squeak out, "We're getting a pool?"

Based on their actions and words, the reader can tell that Dad's family members feel:

• Upset

• Sad

• Shocked

• Disappointed

Figures of Speech

• A word or phrase that doesn't mean exactly what it says (non-literal)

• Similes compare two things using like or as (Ex: fast as a cheetah)

• Metaphors compare two things by calling one thing something else (Ex: He was a speeding cheetah.)

• Personification is where non-human things like animals, ideas, or items are given human characteristics (Ex: animals talking, trees "waving in the breeze")

Multiple Choice

Which of the following sentences shows a non-human thing acting like a person?

• The newspaper was delivered to our house at 6 a.m.

• The coffee maker felt abandoned when no one brewed coffee that morning.

• I saw three caterpillars on the grassy hill.

• The T.V. turned on when we clicked the remote.

Main Idea and Supporting Details

• Main idea can be used for a whole passage OR a single paragraph

• The main idea is what the passage or paragraph is MOSTLY about

• Main ideas are stated in the TOPIC SENTENCE, which are usually toward the very beginning of the paragraph or passage

• Supporting details are facts and information (listed AFTER the main idea) that tell us more information about the the main idea

Multiple Choice

No one country owns Antarctica. This vast continent of ice and snow makes up about one tenth of the land on planet Earth. Antarctica is the coldest and windiest place on Earth. Temperatures can plunge to over 100 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. Winds can race across the surface of the ice covered continent at speeds of well over 100 miles per hour. This harsh land has few plants and animals and even fewer people.

What is the main idea of this paragraph?

• Many countries would like to claim Antarctica as part of their country.

• Windy places can make temperatures very cold.

• Antarctica is not home to many permanent residents.

• Antarctica is a huge and very cold continent.

Multiple Choice

Which words from the paragraph are the MOST helpful to us in determining the correct main idea: Antarctica is a huge and very cold continent?

• Speeds of well over 100 miles per hour

• vast continent of ice and snow

• harsh land

• No one country owns

Multiple Choice

Win Shirts for Your School!

Enter our contest, held from April 8 until April 22, and try to win enough t-shirts for everyone in your school! That’s right! Everyone in your school could be wearing one of our special, colorful t-shirts if you are the rand Prize winner. The second place prize is enough t-shirts for every student at your grade level at your school. The third place prize is enough t-shirts for everyone in your class at your school.

What information can you find in this paragraph?

• How many people total can enter the competition

• Details about the choices for colors and designs of the t-shirts

• What you will get if you are one of the top three winners

• How long your t-shirts will take you arrive at your school

Point of View

• Who is narrating the text?

• 1st person point of view/narrator: the story is being told by someone IN the story (uses words like "I," "we," "myself," that let us know they are personally involved in the events taking place)

• 3rd person point of view/narrator: the story is being told by someone who is NOT a part of the story (someone watching the story unfold from up in the clouds and telling us about what they're seeing; uses words like "he," "they," "them," that let us know they are NOT included in what is happening)

Multiple Choice

Which of these sentences shows first person narration/point of view?

• "She ran down the street waving," because "she" is a signal word for first person point of view.

• "I talked quietly to myself as I walked home," because the speaker includes herself in the story.

• "Allan, Andrea, and Dom couldn't believe their eyes," because there is a group of people in the story.

• "The team celebrated their win with delicious Andy's ice cream," because it is clear that the narrator is not included in the team.

Author's Purpose

• This is all about thinking like a WRITER instead of a reader!

• You may have to infer why the author wrote an entire passage (to persuade, entertain, describe, inform, or explain)

• You may have to infer why an author included a specific line, sentence, or piece of information in the text

Multiple Choice

It’s quiet now, a silent world, there is no noise at all.

The leafless trees so stark and bare and standing oh, so tall,

Are reaching up their crooked hands, their fingers to the sky,

As white, soft, cotton swirls and dances while it’s floating by.

I taste some on my stuck out tongue, it tickles on my nose,

So cold and white, so shining bright, it chills me to my toes.

What was the author's main purpose for writing this poem?

• To entertain the reader by telling them an interesting story about a snow day

• To inform the reader about snow days by giving them facts and information that we could check with research

• To describe the experience of being out in the snow by using words that appeal to the five senses

• To persuade the reader that winter is the best season by making snow seem great