Georgia Milestones Grade 4 ELA key terms

The most important point a passage is about. It is what the author wants readers to understand after reading the whole text, and it is usually stated or strongly suggested in the opening or closing sentences.

Specific facts, examples, reasons, or descriptions in a text that explain, prove, or develop the main idea. They answer questions like who, what, when, where, why, and how.

A message or lesson about life that a story conveys, such as honesty matters or hard work pays off. It is not the plot; readers infer it from what characters do and learn.

A short retelling of a text that includes only the most important events or ideas, in the order they matter, without personal opinions or small details.

Words, sentences, or details taken directly from a passage that support an answer, opinion, or inference. Good answers quote or point to evidence rather than relying on guesses.

A conclusion a reader draws by combining clues in the text with what the reader already knows. The answer is not stated directly, but the text gives enough hints to support it.

A smart guess about what will happen next in a story or what a text will explain, based on clues already read and on the reader's own experience.

The words and sentences around an unfamiliar word that help a reader figure out its meaning. Types include definitions, examples, synonyms, antonyms, and general sense of the sentence.

A word describing what a character is like on the inside, such as brave, selfish, or patient. Readers infer traits from the character's actions, words, and thoughts, not from appearance alone.

The perspective from which a story is told. First person uses I or we; third person uses he, she, or they, and may be limited to one character's thoughts or all-knowing.

The voice or person who tells a story. The narrator may be a character in the story or an outside observer, and the narrator is not always the same as the author.

The words characters speak to each other in a story, usually shown inside quotation marks and marked with commas and dialogue tags such as said or asked.

A hint or clue an author gives early in a story about something that will happen later. It builds suspense and often rewards careful reading.

Explaining how two or more things are alike and how they are different. Signal words include both, alike, similarly, unlike, however, and on the other hand.

The way an author organizes information in a text, such as description, sequence, cause and effect, compare and contrast, or problem and solution. Structure helps readers follow the author's thinking.

A text structure that explains why something happened and what happened as a result. The cause makes something occur; the effect is the result, often signaled by because, so, since, and as a result.

A text structure that presents events or steps in time order. Signal words include first, next, then, after, finally, and dates or times.

The reason an author writes a text: to inform, to persuade, to entertain, or to explain how to do something. Readers identify purpose by noticing the text's content and tone.

A fact is a statement that can be proved true; an opinion is a belief, feeling, or judgment that cannot be proved. Words like best, should, and beautiful often signal opinions.

To write or speak in a way that tries to change the reader's thinking or get the reader to act. Persuasive texts use reasons, evidence, and sometimes emotional language.

Language that goes beyond literal meaning to create pictures or feelings, including similes, metaphors, idioms, and personification. It is common in poetry and descriptive writing.

A comparison of two unlike things using the words like or as, such as quiet as a mouse or runs like the wind. Similes help readers picture an idea.

A comparison that states one thing is another without using like or as, such as the classroom was a zoo. Metaphors create vivid meaning by connecting two unlike ideas.

A common expression whose meaning cannot be understood from the individual words, such as under the weather or hit the books. Idioms are learned as whole phrases.

Descriptive words and phrases that appeal to the senses so readers can see, hear, smell, taste, or feel what is described. Imagery creates mood and helps readers visualize.

The feeling a text creates in the reader, such as suspense, calm, or sadness. Word choice, imagery, and setting all work together to build mood.

The attitude an author or narrator shows toward the subject, such as humorous, serious, or hopeful. Tone is revealed through word choice and details.

A word that has the same or nearly the same meaning as another word, such as happy and joyful. Synonyms help readers understand unfamiliar words through context clues.

A word that means the opposite of another word, such as hot and cold. Antonyms are one kind of context clue that can reveal a word's meaning.

One of two or more words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings, such as their, there, and they're, or to, too, and two.

A word part added to the beginning of a base word that changes its meaning, such as un- in unhappy or re- in rewrite. Knowing common prefixes helps readers decode new words.

A word part added to the end of a base word that changes its meaning or its part of speech, such as -ful in hopeful or -less in careless.

The base part of a word that carries its main meaning and remains after prefixes and suffixes are removed, such as help in helpful or unhelpful.

A word that names a person, place, thing, or idea, such as teacher, Atlanta, bicycle, or courage. Nouns can be common or proper, singular or plural, and concrete or abstract.

A word that shows action or a state of being, such as run, think, or is. Verbs must agree with their subjects in number and tense.

A word that describes or modifies a noun or pronoun, such as tall, three, or friendly. Adjectives answer questions like what kind, which one, and how many.

A word that describes a verb, adjective, or other adverb, often telling how, when, or where, such as quickly, yesterday, or here. Many adverbs end in -ly.

A word that takes the place of a noun, such as he, she, it, they, or them. Pronouns must clearly refer to a specific noun, called the antecedent.

The rule that a verb must match its subject in number. A singular subject takes a singular verb, and a plural subject takes a plural verb, as in she runs and they run.

Punctuation marks used to show the exact words someone speaks or to mark the title of a short work, such as a poem, article, or song.

Marks such as periods, commas, question marks, and exclamation points that help readers understand sentence structure and meaning. Punctuation shows where ideas pause, stop, or ask.

A group of words that expresses a complete thought and contains a subject and a predicate. A complete sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with punctuation.

A group of sentences about one main idea, usually starting with an indented first line. A strong paragraph has a topic sentence, supporting details, and a closing sentence.

To restate a text's meaning in your own words while keeping the same ideas. Paraphrasing shows understanding and is different from quoting directly.

Writing that states a point of view and supports it with reasons and evidence. A strong opinion piece has a clear claim, organized reasons, and a concluding statement.

Writing that explains or teaches a topic using facts, definitions, and details. It is organized with a clear introduction, grouped ideas, and a conclusion.

Writing that tells a story, real or imagined, using characters, setting, plot, and dialogue. A strong narrative has a clear beginning, middle, and end.

The time and place in which a story happens. Setting can affect characters' choices and can create mood, and it may change during a story.

The sequence of events in a story, usually built around a problem or conflict that characters face and work to resolve.

Writing that uses lines, stanzas, rhythm, and often rhyme to express ideas or feelings. Poems may use figurative language and imagery more densely than prose.

A group of lines in a poem that are separated by space from other groups, similar to a paragraph in prose. Stanzas help organize a poem's ideas.