MCAS ELA Grade 4 key terms

The most important point a passage is making about its topic. It is what the author most wants a reader to understand after finishing the text.

The subject a text is about, often stated in a word or short phrase. It is broader than the main idea and does not say what the author thinks about it.

A fact, example, reason, or description in a text that helps prove or explain the main idea. Details answer questions like who, what, when, where, why, and how.

A short retelling of a text that states the main idea and the most important details in the reader's own words, leaving out minor information.

The message or lesson about life that a story or poem conveys, such as honesty matters or change is hard. A theme is not the same as the plot.

The sequence of events in a story, usually built from a problem, rising action, a climax, and a resolution. The plot shows what happens and why it matters.

A word describing a person's lasting qualities, such as brave, curious, or generous. Readers infer traits from what a character says, does, and thinks.

The reason a character acts, thinks, or feels a certain way. Motivation often explains why a character makes an important choice in a story.

The problem or struggle that drives a story forward. It may be between characters, between a character and nature, or inside a character's own mind.

The part of a story where the conflict is settled and the reader learns how things end for the characters. It often follows the climax.

A smart guess based on clues in the text plus what the reader already knows. An inference is not stated directly and must be supported by evidence.

A quotation, detail, or example from the text that supports an answer or idea. Good answers point to specific words or sentences as proof.

To combine several details from a text to decide something the author does not state outright. Conclusions should follow logically from the evidence in the passage.

To tell how two or more things are alike. Comparing often involves finding shared features, such as similar settings, characters, or ideas.

To tell how two or more things are different. Contrasting focuses on differences, such as how two passages treat the same topic differently.

The way an author organizes ideas in a text, such as cause and effect, comparison, chronological order, or problem and solution. Structure helps readers follow the author's thinking.

The order in which events or steps happen in a text. Words like first, next, then, and finally signal sequence to the reader.

A text structure that explains why something happened and what resulted. The cause makes the event occur, and the effect is the outcome.

The perspective from which a story is told, such as first person (I) or third person (he, she, they). Point of view affects what the reader can know.

The voice that tells a story. The narrator may be a character in the story or an outside observer who describes events.

Language that goes beyond literal meaning to create a picture or feeling, such as similes, metaphors, and personification. It is common in poetry and stories.

A comparison of two unlike things using the words like or as, such as brave as a lion. A simile helps readers picture an idea vividly.

A direct comparison that says one thing is another, without using like or as, such as the classroom was a zoo. Metaphors create strong images.

Giving human qualities to an animal, object, or idea, such as the wind whispered through the trees. It is a type of figurative language that adds imagery.

Words and phrases that appeal to the senses and help readers see, hear, smell, taste, or feel what is described. Imagery makes writing vivid and memorable.

A word or phrase near an unknown word that helps the reader figure out its meaning. Context clues may be definitions, examples, synonyms, or antonyms.

A word that means almost the same as another word, such as happy and glad. Recognizing synonyms helps readers understand unfamiliar vocabulary.

A word that means the opposite of another word, such as hot and cold. Antonyms are often used as context clues to explain meaning.

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 prefixes helps readers decode new words.

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

The main part of a word that carries its basic meaning, before prefixes or suffixes are added. For example, help is the root of helpful and unhelpful.

To restate a text's ideas in your own words while keeping the meaning the same. Paraphrasing shows understanding and is not copying.

The reason an author writes a text, such as to inform, persuade, entertain, or explain. The purpose shapes the words and structure the author chooses.

A category of writing with shared features, such as fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, or folktale. Knowing the genre helps readers predict how a text will work.

Writing about imagined people and events that are not presented as true. Stories, novels, and fables are examples of fiction.

Writing that presents real information about real people, places, or events. Articles, biographies, and textbooks are examples of nonfiction.

A genre of writing that uses lines, stanzas, rhythm, and often rhyme to express ideas and feelings. Poems frequently use figurative language and imagery.

A group of lines in a poem, separated from other groups by a blank line. Stanzas work like paragraphs in poetry.

The repetition of ending sounds in words, such as cat and hat. Rhyme is a common sound device in poems and songs.