Reading Comprehension Strategies

• Word Analogy: A comparison to suggest a relationship between two sets of words.
• Synonym: A word has a similar meaning to another word.
• Antonym: A word means the opposite of another word.
• Cause and Effect: One word is a cause, and the other is an effect to it.
• Part-Whole: One word represents a part, and the other represents the whole.
• Affix: A group of letters added at the beginning or end of a word to change meaning.
• Prefix: A group of letters at the beginning of a word that changes its meaning.
• Root: A basic word element that may/may not stand as a word on its own.
• Suffix: A group of letters at the end of a word that changes its meaning.
• Context Clue: Hints that help clarify the meaning of a word in surrounding text.
• Cause and Effect: An action results in a specific outcome.
• Chronological: Arranging events in the order in which they happened.
• Compare and Contrast: To examine similarities and differences between two or more things.
• Formal Language: Written/spoken language uses accepted grammar rules and vocabulary.
• Informal Language: Conversational language; may not use proper grammar/structure.
• Prompt: A specific writing assignment.
• Purpose: The reason the author is writing.
• Style: A notable quality with the way an author expresses something.
• Typo: A typographical/minor sentence error in writing.
• Hook: In an essay, the sentence that captures the reader's attention in essay.
• Introduction Paragraph: Usually includes a thesis statement or claim.
• Thesis Statement: A statement of the purpose, included in the initial paragraph.
• Steps to Solving Word Analogies:
• Determine the relationship between the first pair of words.
• Then, apply that same relationship to the other word pair.
• Root: The main part of a word.
• Prefix: Added to the beginning of a word.
• Suffix: Added to the end of a word, to create a new word.

Using Prefixes, Suffixes, and Roots

• The suffix -ic means "related to."
• hyper-: Over or above
• Astro: Star or planet
• -ic: Like or related to
• mono-: One
• Phone: Sound
• -less: Without or missing
• poly-: Many
• Phob: Fear
• -ology: The study of

Word Meanings

• Astrology: The study of stars or planets
• Monophonic: Related to one sound
• Polyphobic: Related to a fear of many things

Contextual Clues

• Synonym Context Clue: Using a word that has the same meaning as the target word in the near vicinity to help understanding.
• Antonym Context Clue: A word with the opposite meaning used in the sentence.
• Definition Context Clue: Explanation of the word's meaning within the sentence.
• Precariously likely means "unstable" or "likely to fall."
• "Overt" means easy or obvious, and is determined by reading the sentence before it.
• "Abhors" means to hate.

Commonly Confused Words

• Choose: To select
• Chose: Selected
• Loose: Not tightly fixed in place
• Lose: To suffer a loss
• Principal: Main
• Principle: A fundamental truth
• Their: A possessive pronoun
• They're: The contraction for "they are"
• There: In that place

Revising and Editing

• Prewriting includes figuring out purpose and audience.
• Most academic papers use formal language.
• Writing process to strengthen writing:
  • Rewriting to make understandable and effective.
  • Fixing typos and grammatical errors.
  • Publishing is putting the work for others to read.
• Revising:
  • Detail does not support essay's purpose.
  • Idea lacks clarity.
  • No connection to two ideas.
• Editing:
  • Word is misspelled.
  • Proper noun is not capitalized.
• Purpose: To inform, persuade, or entertain.
• Effective introductions: Clearly state the essay's purpose.
• Introduction Paragraph:
• Opener to captivate reader.
• Include background information that leads to the essay's main point.
• State the main idea and purpose of the essay.
• Types of hooks: Anecdote, Statistic, Question, Imagery.
• Precise language should be clear and specific.

Essay organizational structure

• Compare and Contrast: Examines similarities and differences with objects/events.
• Chronological: Puts events/steps in a particular order.
• Cause and Effect: Explains how something caused another thing to happen.
• Figure out the purpose and audience:
• Decide on a topic.
• Gather ideas.
• Do initial research.
• Choose an organizational structure.