FAST ELA Grade 5 Reading cheat sheet

Plot structure: exposition introduces setting and characters, rising action builds conflict, climax is the turning point, falling action resolves complications, resolution ends the story.

Conflict types: character vs. character, character vs. nature, character vs. society, character vs. self; identify the type by naming both sides of the struggle.

Direct characterization states a trait outright; indirect characterization reveals it through a character's words, actions, thoughts, appearance, or others' reactions.

Theme is the message about life or human nature; it must be a full statement, not a single word like 'friendship' or the topic alone.

Poetry: a stanza is a group of lines, a line break is where a line ends, and rhyme scheme is labeled with letters (AABB, ABAB) matching end sounds.

Figurative language in poetry: simile uses like or as, metaphor states one thing is another, personification gives human traits to nonhuman things, hyperbole is deliberate exaggeration.

Drama is written to be performed: dialogue is spoken text, stage directions in brackets or italics tell actors how to move or speak, and scenes divide acts.

Narrator point of view: first person uses I or we, third-person limited stays with one character's thoughts, third-person omniscient knows all characters' thoughts.

A summary of literary text names characters, setting, conflict, key events in order, and resolution, leaving out minor details and personal opinion.

Central idea is the main point of the whole text; a supporting detail is a fact, example, or reason that backs up the central idea.

Text structures: cause and effect, compare and contrast, chronological order, problem and solution, and description; signal words such as because, however, first, and therefore reveal the structure.

An author's claim is the position being argued; evidence is the facts, examples, or expert statements offered to support it; reasoning links evidence to the claim.

A fact can be checked; an opinion expresses a belief or feeling. Words like best, worst, should, and beautiful often signal opinion.

Firsthand account: the author personally experienced the event. Secondhand account: the author reports using other sources; firsthand accounts include feelings and personal details.

Graphic features carry meaning: diagrams show parts, timelines show sequence, maps show location, and captions explain a visual; a text feature question asks how the feature helps the reader.

To compare two texts on one topic, note what both explain, what only one explains, and how the authors' purposes or points of view differ.

An inference is a conclusion drawn from text evidence plus background knowledge; the answer must be supported by words actually in the passage.

Context clues: definition clues restate meaning nearby, example clues follow for example or such as, contrast clues follow but or unlike, and inference clues require combining surrounding sentences.

Common prefixes: un- and non- mean not, re- means again, pre- means before, dis- means not or opposite, mis- means wrongly, and sub- means under.

Common suffixes: -less means without, -ful means full of, -able and -ible mean capable of, -tion and -ment form nouns, and -ly often forms adverbs.

A Greek or Latin root carries core meaning: bio means life, graph means write, tele means far, port means carry, spec means look, and aud means hear.

Homophones sound alike but differ in spelling and meaning (their, there, they're); homographs share spelling but may differ in meaning and pronunciation (bow).

Reference skills: guide words at the top of a dictionary page bound the entries; a thesaurus supplies synonyms and antonyms; an index lists topics with page numbers.

Idioms mean something different from the literal words (break the ice); similes and metaphors compare, while idioms are fixed expressions whose meaning must be learned.

Denotation is the dictionary meaning of a word; connotation is the feeling it suggests, so thin, slim, and skinny share denotation but differ in connotation.

Source reliability test: check the author's credentials, the publisher, the publication date, and whether sources or evidence are cited.

Primary source is a direct record from the time (letter, photograph, diary); secondary source interprets or summarizes primary sources (textbook, encyclopedia article).

Multimodal text combines modes such as words, images, sound, and layout; each mode adds meaning, so ask what the image or audio shows that the words do not.

Audience and purpose determine form: to persuade use a claim with evidence, to inform use organized facts, to entertain use narrative techniques.

A presentation needs an introduction stating the topic, organized main points with supporting details, and a conclusion that restates the main idea.

When speaking, volume, pacing, eye contact, and clear pronunciation affect whether the audience understands the message.

Evaluating media: identify who created the message, the target audience, the techniques used (music, color, repetition), and the point of view being promoted.

Paraphrasing restates a source's idea in your own words and structure; quoting copies exact words and requires quotation marks and credit to the source.

Fluency components: accuracy (correct words), rate (appropriate speed), and prosody (expression, phrasing, and attention to punctuation).

Punctuation guides oral reading: a period signals a full stop, a comma a brief pause, a question mark rising intonation, and a dash a pause for emphasis.

To decode an unfamiliar multisyllable word, divide it into syllables using vowel patterns, then blend the parts and check whether the word makes sense in context.

Six syllable types: closed (cat), open (go), vowel-consonant-e (cake), vowel team (rain), r-controlled (car), and consonant-le (table).

Vowel teams and digraphs: two letters can spell one sound (ea in bread, oa in boat, sh in ship); silent e usually makes the preceding vowel long.

Self-correction routine: when a word does not make sense, reread the sentence, apply another decoding attempt, and confirm meaning before continuing.

Repeated reading of the same short passage improves rate and expression; a reader who reads accurately but word by word lacks phrasing.

Word analysis for meaning: strip affixes to find the base word, then use the base's meaning plus prefix and suffix meanings to build the word's meaning.