34 Things You Need to Know in Reading in 5th Grade
1. There are two basic types of literature: fiction (made-up stories) and
nonfiction (true facts).
2. The characters are who are what the story is about.
3. The setting in a story is WHERE and WHEN the story takes place. Don’t
forget the WHEN part – morning, afternoon, or night? Which season? Past,
present, or future?
4. The conflict in a story is the problem the main character is facing. What
stands in the main character’s way of getting what he/she wants?
5. The plot of a story is simply the events that occur.
6. Dramatic literature is another word for a play. A play is broken down into
acts, which are broken down into smaller pieces called scenes.
7. Stage directions are part of the script of a play, or the part to be read
aloud by the performers. They are usually written like this: (speaks softly)
These words aren’t said aloud – they are directions for how the performer
should speak or move.
8. Figurative language helps form a special picture in your mind and help you
understand a special meaning in the story. Some examples are similes,
metaphors, personification, hyperboles, and puns.
9. Personification is a type of figurative language, giving a human quality to
something that is not human. (hint: human=person)
10. A metaphor compares two unlike things directly, without using the words
“like” or “as.” Ex: Our neighbor is an old bat!
11. A simile compares two unlike things using the words “like” or “as.” Ex: Your
hair shines like the sun!
12. A hyperbole is a gross exaggeration used to make a point. Ex: I haven’t slept
for days!
13. Dialogue demonstrates when a character is speaking. It is indicated by the
use of quotation marks. Ex: Brian said, “Hey Billy, watch out for that
baseball!”
14. Authors use strong verbs and rich adjectives and adverbs to provide good
description in their writing.
15. Theme is the author’s message about life. It is NOT about the story – it is
what we can learn about life from the story.
16. The main idea of a story can be summed up with this phrase: SOMEBODY
WANTED BUT SO. Ex: In Beauty and the Beast: Somebody/Belle wanted to
save her father, but he was captured by the Beast, so Belle takes her
father’s place and learns to love the Beast.
17. A poem is written in verses, usually in an artistic and stylistic form. It is
composed of lines (verses). The groups of lines, sort of like paragraphs, are
called stanzas. Many poems rhyme, but they do not have to do so.
18. Rhyme scheme is the rhyming pattern of the end word of each line. Some
common patterns are ABAB, ABBA, AABB.
19. Alliteration is the repeating of the beginning sound of several words in a
phrase. It doesn’t have to be the same letter; just the same sound. Ex: The
giant juicy bowls of jello jiggled in the jet.
20. An onomatopoeia is a sound word. Ex: buzz, bam, whack, fizz, zip, etc.
21. A judgment is an opinion about what you’ve read. You must always be able to
support your judgment with evidence (proof from the story).
22. The author’s purpose is the reason an author wrote his/her work. Did the
author write it to make you laugh? To teach you a lesson? To provide facts?
To change your mind about a topic?
23. Common graphic features found in nonfiction are charts, maps, diagrams, and
illustrations.
24. A diagram is different from an illustration because it has lines and labels
pointing to parts of the picture.
25. Chronological order means that a piece of nonfiction is written in TIME
order, starting with the beginning going through the end in the correct
order.
26. Classification schemes is a way to organize nonfiction by putting it into
sections. Ex: in a book about animals, the sections might be: desert animals,
ocean animals, river animals, arctic animals, jungle animals, animals with 2
legs, animals with 4 legs, etc.
27. Cause and effect: the cause happens first, which makes the effect happen
next. Ex: Cause = I studied hard. Effect = I passed my test!
28. Context clues help you figure out words you don’t know. You use the other
words in the sentence to help you figure out what the unknown word means.
29. Prefixes come before a root word. Common prefixes are un- (not), re-
(again), dis- (not), and pre- (before).
30. Suffixes come after a root word.
31. A synonym is a word that means the same thing as another word. Ex:
synonyms for big might be giant, huge, enormous, etc.
32. An antonym is a word that means the opposite as another word. Ex: antonyms
for big might be tiny, little, miniscule, etc.
33. A homophone is a word that sounds the same, but it is spelled differently.
Ex: to, two, and too; also see, sea; knight, night; etc
34. A multiple meaning word is a word that is spelled the same but has different
meanings. Ex: bat means 1) a nocturnal flying mammal, 2) a wooden stick used
to hit a baseball, 3) to flutter eyelashes
