MCAS ELA Grade 4 flashcards
MCAS ELA Grade 4 · Build recall with a focused review session.
32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.
- Main idea
- The most important point a passage makes about its topic. It is usually stated in one sentence and is supported by most of the details in the text.
- Theme
- The message or lesson about life that a story reveals through its events and how characters change. It is not the same as the topic or main idea.
- Supporting detail
- A fact, example, or event in a passage that explains, proves, or develops the main idea. Good readers use details to justify their answer choices.
- Summary
- A short retelling that includes the characters, the problem, the most important events in order, and the solution, while leaving out minor details and personal opinions.
- Inference
- A conclusion a reader draws by combining clues in the text with background knowledge. The text supports it even though it is not stated directly.
- Explicit information
- Information stated directly in the text with clear words. A question asking what the text says can be answered by locating the exact sentence.
- Text structure
- The way an author organizes ideas, such as cause and effect, compare and contrast, chronological sequence, or problem and solution. Signal words often reveal the structure.
- Compare and contrast
- A text structure that shows how two or more things are alike and different. Signal words include both, alike, unlike, however, and on the other hand.
- Cause and effect
- A text structure linking why something happened to what happened as a result. Signal words include because, since, as a result, therefore, and so.
- Chronological order
- A text structure that presents events in the order they happened. Signal words include first, next, then, after, later, and finally.
- Simile
- A comparison of two unlike things using the words like or as, such as cheeks as red as apples. It helps readers picture an idea.
- Metaphor
- A comparison that states one thing is another without using like or as, such as the classroom was a zoo. It creates a vivid image.
- Personification
- Giving human qualities or actions to an animal, object, or idea, such as the wind whispered through the trees. It makes description more vivid.
- Idiom
- A common expression whose meaning cannot be understood from the literal words, such as under the weather meaning feeling sick.
- First-person point of view
- The narrator is a character in the story and uses words like I, me, and we. The reader learns only what that character sees and knows.
- Third-person point of view
- The narrator is outside the story and uses he, she, they, or names. The narrator may know the thoughts of one or more characters.
- Context clues
- Words and sentences around an unknown word that help the reader figure out its meaning, including definitions, examples, contrasts, and general sense of the sentence.
- Prefix
- A word part added to the beginning of a base word that changes its meaning, such as un- meaning not, re- meaning again, and pre- meaning before.
- Suffix
- A word part added to the end of a base word that changes its meaning or part of speech, such as -less meaning without or -ful meaning full of.
- Antonym
- A word with the opposite meaning of another word, such as hot and cold. Contrast clues in a sentence often use antonyms near an unfamiliar word.
- Synonym
- A word with nearly the same meaning as another word, such as quick and fast. Restatement clues often place a synonym near an unfamiliar word.
- Author's purpose
- The reason an author writes a text: to inform, to persuade, to entertain, or to explain how to do something. Purpose shapes the kinds of details included.
- Opinion writing
- Writing that states a clear claim about a topic and supports it with reasons and evidence, often ending with a concluding statement that restates the position.
- Informative writing
- Writing that explains or describes a topic using facts, definitions, and details grouped logically, often with headings and linking words such as also and because.
- Narrative writing
- Writing that tells a story with characters, a setting, a problem, and events in order, using description and dialogue to show what happens.
- Dialogue punctuation
- Exact spoken words go inside quotation marks, the first word is capitalized, and the comma or period goes inside the closing quotation mark.
- Commas in a series
- Commas separate three or more items in a list, as in bread, milk, and eggs. The comma before and is commonly used in Grade 4 writing.
- Complete sentence
- A group of words with a subject and a predicate that expresses a complete thought. Missing either part creates a fragment.
- Run-on sentence
- Two or more complete sentences joined without correct punctuation or a conjunction. It can be fixed with a period, semicolon, or comma plus and, but, or so.
- Subject-verb agreement
- A singular subject takes a singular verb and a plural subject takes a plural verb, as in the dog runs and the dogs run.
- Transition words
- Words and phrases such as however, therefore, in addition, and for example that link ideas and show how sentences and paragraphs relate.
- Reference sources
- Resources used to find information: a dictionary gives word meanings, a thesaurus gives synonyms, an atlas gives maps, and an almanac gives facts and statistics.