Reading and Understanding Informational Text

An _______ ________ is a short statement or paragraph that tells what an article or a story is about. It does not include unimportant details or the opinions of the person writing it.

A __________ __________ of a text is one of the main points the author is making. (Sometimes this is called a main idea.) It can always be supported with details from the text.

_______ is the feeling you get from reading a piece of writing. Another way to describe it is atmosphere. When you walk into a place, it has an atmosphere that makes you feel a certain way; when you “walk into” a story, it too has an atmosphere that creates a feeling. Writers create this through word choice, imagery, dialogue, setting, and plot.

______ is the author’s attitude toward either the subject he or she is writing about or toward the reader. Words that could describe one of these include doubtful, humorous, gleeful, serious, and questioning. Authors create this through word choice, the information they include, and how they organize the text.

_________ writing has a professional, serious tone and is used for the business, legal, academic or professional purposes. Language is higher level and carefully selected for intent.

________ writing is casual and personal. Clues are use of slang, colloquialisms, frequent contractions, and simple language.

Authors use _________ _________ to bring attention to important details. In a nonfiction article, these include titles, subheadings, photos, captions, charts, and maps

To build their vocabulary, readers should use _____ _______ to try to figure out the meaning from details surrounding the unfamiliar word.

_______ ___ ________ in writing refers to the use of first person, second person, or third person speaker.

______ _______ point of view uses “I” to show events from one person’s perspective and is most commonly seen in narrative style nonfiction accounts, such as autobiographies or eyewitness news accounts.