Academic Vocabulary 5th Grade 1

analyze

• to examine or study something very closely in order to understand it better

• to quickly glance at something without really looking at it closely

• to avoid looking at something because it's too difficult or confusing

• to make something more complicated than it really is

compare

• to look at two or more things and identify similarities and differences

• to believe something without any evidence or proof

• to guess without any evidence or knowledge

• to give a brief explanation of the most important points of something

contrast

• to show the differences between two or more things or ideas

• to show the similarities between two or more things or ideas

• to judge something based on its appearance only

• to describe something using only positive words

describe

• to use words to give details about something so that someone else can understand it.

• to make an educated guess about something based on evidence

• to find the main idea or central theme of something

• to find the setting of a story

determine

• to make a decision or find an answer after thinking about or studying something carefully

• the perspective from which a story is told

• to define a word or phrase

• the sequence of events in a story

explain

• to give information so that another person can understand something

• to compare two or more thoughts or ideas

• to make something seem more important, complicated, or difficult than it really is

• to judge or assess the value or worth of something

infer

• to make a guess based on facts and observations

• to briefly state the main idea of something

• to compare and contrast two ore more words or ideas

• to determine the main characters of a story or piece of writing

interpret

• to explain the meaning or significance of something

• to explain the sequence of events in a story

• to make a guess about what might happen next in a story

• to determine the attitude or mood of a story

summarize

• to briefly state the main points or ideas of something

• to find two or more words that mean the same thing

• to find the main characters in a story

• to define difficult words in a story

evaluate

• to judge how good or valuable something is based on a set of criteria or standards

• to find word that mean the opposite

• to briefly state the main points or ideas of something

• to restate an author's purpose for writing something