Name:_______________

Key Classroom Vocabulary
7th Grade Core


Active Reading Strategies

1. The seven active reading strategies are: 1) predicting 2) connecting 3) evaluating 4) questioning 5) reviewing 6) visualizing
and 7) inferring.

2. When reading, using what you know to logically guess what will happen in the future is predicting.

3. Thinking of similarities between what is described in the selection you are reading and what you have experienced, heard, or read about is connecting.

4. When you form your own opinions, both during and after reading, the active reading strategy being used is evaluating.

5. Good readers ask themselves questions to understand characters and events while they read. This active reading strategy is called questioning.

6. The process of pausing while reading to think about previous events and check understanding is called reviewing.

7. A logical guess or conclusion based on facts, or reading between the lines, is inferring.

8. The process of forming a mental picture from a written description is called visualizing.

Literary Terms

9. Characters that play a significant role in the conflict and its resolution are called major characters.

10. Less important characters in a literary text are called minor
characters.

11. A character is one of the people or animals in a story.

12. The antagonist is the “bad guy” in a story.

13. The hero of the story is called the protagonist.

14. The setting in a story includes both time and place.

15. Conflict is the problem in the story which triggers the action.

16. The two types of conflict are 1)internal and 2)external.

17. External conflict is when a character struggles against some outside person or force.

18. Internal conflict is when the struggle is within a character. For example, emotional or mental problems.

19. The sequence of events in the story is the plot.

20. The theme is the message about life or human nature communicated by a work of literature.

21. A metaphor is a comparison of two unlike things that have something in common.

22. The climax is the highest point of interest or suspense in the plot line.


23. The perspective from which a story is told is called its point of view.

24. Point of view can come from the first, second, or third person perspective.

25. Third person point of view can be either omniscient or limited omniscient.

26. Omniscient point of view allows the narrator to share the thoughts and feelings of all characters.

27. Limited omniscient point of view allows the narrator to share the thoughts and feelings of only one character.

28. A comparison of two unlike things that have some quality in common using words such as like, as, or resembles, is called simile.

29. In a literary work, a flashback is a scene that interrupts the present action to describe an event that took place at an earlier time.

30. The mood , or atmosphere, is the feeling created in the reader by a literary work.

31. A writer’s attitude toward his or her subject is called tone. Examples include, angry, amused, tragic, etc.

***add resolution
and exposition

Forms of Literature

There are four broad genres of Literature: Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, and Drama.

32. Writing that comes from an author’s imagination is fiction.

33. Writing about real people, places, and events is non-fiction.

34. Poetry is a type of literature that expresses ideas and feelings in compact, imaginative, and musical language.

35. The form of literature meant to be preformed by actors before an audience is called drama.

Writing Process

The six phases of the writing process are: pre-write, plan, draft, revise, edit, final draft.

36. A pre-write has two parts; the brainstorm and the plan. To brainstorm means to jot down all your ideas into a web or list without concern for organization.

37. A plan is written to organize your brainstorming ideas into a formal or informal outline, box organizers, or categories.

38. The draft is the first attempt at writing your paper. It is the “sloppy copy” that you write concentrating on developing your ideas into paragraphs.

39. When you revise you improve your writing in: word choice, sentence fluency, organization, voice, and developed ideas. Ways to do this are: adding, rearranging, removing, and replacing. (ARRR)

40. During editing you check your revised writing for punctuation, spelling, grammar, and usage errors.

41. A final copy is a neat copy that is either word processed or written neatly in ink. It is your best work.

Responding to Reading

42. In order to earn full credit on an extended response question in reading, you should answer the prompt accurately, and you should elaborate by including 4 to 5 examples from the text which support your answer.


43. In order to earn full credit on a short answer question, your answer should include 2 to 3 pieces of evidence from the text.

44. A book review is a way of expressing your thoughts and feelings about a book. The writer tries to give another person an overall picture of the book by highlighting the appropriate literary elements.

Writing Essentials

The basic parts of good paragraph are: the topic sentence, the body, and the closing sentence.

48. A paragraph is a group of related sentences that work together to develop a main idea or accomplish a single purpose.

45. The topic sentence tells the reader what the paragraph is about.

46. The body, or the main part of the paragraph, gives the reader all of the information he/she needs to understand the subject.

47. The closing sentence, or conclusion, should try to remind the reader of the subject and keep them thinking about it.



49. A summary is a short piece of writing that restates the main ideas from the beginning, middle and end of something you have read.

50. A compare and contrast paragraph tells how things are alike and how they are different.

51. A comparison paragraph explains how things are alike.

52. A contrast paragraph explains how things are different.

53. Words or phrases that connect ideas are called transitions.

54. Elaboration refers to the supporting details that you include to tell more about your main idea.

Six Traits

The six traits of writing are: ideas and content, organization, word choice, sentence fluency, voice, and conventions.

55. The trait of ideas and content focuses on writing that is clear, well-supported or developed, and improved by the kind of detail that keeps the readers reading.

56. The trait of organization focuses on writing in which the order, presentation, or structure of the piece guides the reader through the text.

57. The trait of word choice focuses on precise, vivid, natural language that paints a strong, clear, and complete picture in the reader’s mind.

58. The trait of sentence fluency focuses on writing that has an easy flow and rhythm combined with sentence sense and clarity that makes the text a delight to read aloud.

59. The trait of voice focuses on the writer’s energy and passion for the subject shown in the writing, making the text lively, expressive, and engaging.

60. The trait of conventions focuses on the writer’s ability to show control over a wide range of standard writing mechanics - spelling, punctuation, grammar, and usage.

Vocabulary Development

61. Sometimes you can look at the surrounding words and pick up hints (or clues) that help you figure out the meaning of a difficult word. This is called using context clues.

62. An appositive is a word or phrase that indentifies or renames a noun or pronouns.

63. Sometimes you can look up a difficult word in the back of the book. This section of the book is called a glossary.

64. Sometimes you can figure out the meaning of a word by breaking it apart and using roots, suffixes, and prefixes.

65. A root is a word or word base from which other words are made by adding a prefix or suffix.

66. A suffix is a word part that is added to the end of a word. Some common examples are ly, ful, sion, meant.

67. A prefix is a word part that is added to the front of a word. It often changes the meaning of the word it is added to. For example, when un is added to the word fair, it becomes unfair.

Eight Parts of Speech

The eight parts of speech include: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, conjunction, preposition, pronoun, interjection.

68. A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. Examples include: student, Cleveland, cooperation.

69. A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun or another pronoun. Examples include: he, she, it, we, they.

70. A verb is a word that expresses an action or a state of being. The forms change to show the time of the action.
Examples include: borrow, snicker, invent, do, is, look.

71. An adjective is a word that modifies or describes a noun or pronoun. It tells which one, how many, what kind, or how much.
Examples include: silly, purple, strong, shiny, few.

72. An adverb is a word that modifies or describes a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. It tells where, when, how, or to what extent.
Examples include: never, quiet, frequently, soon, happily, here.

73. A preposition is a word that shows how the noun or pronoun that follows it is related to some other word in the sentence. Many show direction, position, or relation in time.
Examples include: at, during, between, from, after, of, to

74. A conjunction is a word that connects words or groups of words. Examples include: and, or, but, yet, because, although

75. An interjection is a word or group of words that shows strong or sudden emotion. It can stand by itself.
Examples include: gee, oh, oops, look out, wow

Expository and Persuasive Writing

76. Expository writing is writing that tells or informs.

77. In persuasive writing, the writer works to convince the reader to think or act in a certain way.

Prompt Language

78. To analyze means to find out the nature of something by separating it into parts; to examine carefully and in detail.

79. To apply means to use practically or specifically. An apply question usually asks that you transfer abstract concepts into everyday or concrete examples.

80. To cite means to use a quote, passage, example, or other text to support your response.

81. To explain means to make clear and understandable, to tell the meaning, or give the reason or reasons for.

82. To criticize means to point out the good and the bad points, not just the bad as many people think. It means to judge the merits and the faults.

83. To defend means to support or uphold by argument. When a prompt indicicates to defend , you are asked to give evidence or examples which support a particular point of view.

84. To define is to give a clear, concise meaning for a term. Generally, a define question is answered by identifying the class to which the term belongs, and then explaining how it differs from other “things” in that class.

85. To demonstrate means to describe or explain a process. To demonstrate also can mean to logically prove or show an argument.

86. To describe means to give a word picture of something; to tell a story in detail. The word describe directs the answer of the question to be organized either spatially or chronologically.

87. To design may imply drawing a plan or sketch. Design can also mean to explain intention or outline a plan or proposal.

88. To diagram means to organize in a graphic way; to chart, to draw, sketch, or outline. A good diagram will label all parts of a figure appropriately.

89. To discuss usually requires a long and complete response to the specific question. Discuss means to talk or write about an issue from all aspects.

90. To distinguish means to differentiate or point out the differences between two things. Distinguish usually implies a compare and contrast response.



91. Similar to criticize, to evaluate means to give a judgment of value.


92. Explain means to make plain, to clarify, to analyze, and to account for. An explain question calls for cause and effect evaluation. The answer can best be presented in step-by-step organization.

92. A how question directs you to provide an answer which considers causality, manner, extent, or condition.

93. To identify means to name, to make known, to bring out.

94. To illustrate means to show by means of a picture, chart, diagram, or some visual presentation.

95. To interpret means to clarify, to expound, or explain the significance of something. It also means to translate the meaning of something. It is often used with famous quotations.

96. To justify means to show what is right, positive, valid, proper, and reasonable. The writer must stress the advantages of a position over the disadvantages.

97. List means to itemize usually with numbers or letters.

98. To enumerate can be interchanged with list, but is less formal. It can be random.

99. To outline means to organize a set of ideas in main divisions and subordinate division. A somewhat formal system is generally employed.

100. Similar to justify, prove means give evidence, present fact; argue so as to convince.



50. A ballad is a long poem. It usually tells a story and may or may not rhyme.

Classroom vocabulary updated 1/14 2002 #