Achievement Vocabulary

The Key To Raising Scores

- a word opposite in meaning to another

ANTONYM

The antonym of hot is cold.

– a related or continuous series; a following of one thing after another

SEQUENCE

The numbers were arranged in sequence from smallest to largest.

1, 4, 8, 13, 19, 26, 34

– things that happen or occur

EVENTS

There were many important events leading up to the Civil War.

– a feature that helps to identify, tell apart, or describe recognizably

CHARACTERISTIC

One characteristic of a rabbit is its twitchy nose.

– noting similarities and differences after examining something

COMPARISON

After making a comparison of the two poems, Shannon could see that one poem described rain better than the other one.

– an indirect comparison used to suggest similarities (does NOT use “like” or “as”)

METAPHOR

The author used the metaphor, “The ship plowed the seas,” to suggest how the ship went through the water like a farmer’s plow goes through dirt.

– a word having the same meaning as another

SYNONYM

In England, a “mobile” is a synonym for a “cell phone.”

having the power to prove something is credible (worthy of belief)

PERSUASIVE

Her well-written book report was a persuasive way of getting me interested in reading the book.

– to find a characteristic or similarity in a reading selection

IDENTIFY

A hero in a book is easy to identify because he usually does good deeds.

– not real; made-up; make-believe

FICTIONAL

The babysitter told the child a fictional story about a baby dragon and a wizard.

– highlighting the differences rather than the similarities

CONTRAST

She was asked to contrast the different heroes in the story.

– a conclusion that can be drawn from available evidence

INFERENCE

He made an inference that the dog would bite after he heard it growl, bark, and show its teeth.

– someone who tells or recites the happenings of a story

NARRATOR

The play was in French so the theater hired an English-speaking narrator to tell the audience what was happening.

– a connection between two things

RELATIONSHIP

The two friends cared a lot for each other and had a great relationship.

– efficiently or successfully

EFFECTIVELY

Dr. Seuss effectively used rhyming words in his books.

– an affix (attachment) placed before a base word

PREFIX

The words “unknown” and “unnamed” have the same prefix.

Our new baby is still unnamed.

– a final summing up; a reasonable end or conclusion

CONCLUSION

Her scientific conclusion was that plants need water to live because the watered ones lived and the water-starved plants died.

– referring to things, events, parts, or characteristics in an informative way

DESCRIPTIVE

Charles used descriptive words to tell how the characters looked and sounded.

Hint: Descriptive words most often involve using the five senses.

– a place or attitude from which something is seen

VIEWPOINT

After reading about the awful accident from the driver’s viewpoint, you could understand why he was always so upset.

– the smallest grammatical word (morpheme) that cannot be divided further

ROOT

People debate whether the root of the word reappraisal is appraise or praise.

– the result from subtracting one number from another

IMAGINATIVE

Every day, Jerome was able to give a different and imaginative story about his missing homework.

Now, let me see. I think it might be

in my other shoes!

– to make clear; to make known in detail

EXPLAIN

Mike was able to explain his answer by including many descriptive details.

– additional facts, explanations, ideas, and/or descriptions

DETAILS

Jonathan included details in his story to explain things better.

– decided or settled

RESOLVED

The problem was resolved when Shana apologized for being mean.

– something known to exist or to have happened

FACT

It is a fact that Earth is not flat.

– a belief or judgment that is not certain

OPINION

“The school bus is a zoo,” is an opinion.

– a passage selected from something written

EXCERPT

Before answering the questions, he carefully read the short excerpt from the book.

– a figure of speech in which two dissimilar things are compared using “like” or “as”

SIMILE

A good example of a simile is, “Raquel lit up the room like sunshine.”

– having the form of a story

NARRATIVE

Nathan included many details in his personal narrative so people would know a lot about him.

– a reaction or answer to written material

RESPONSE

Jarrod wrote a long response to the test question because he had many things to say.

– looking over something written in order to correct or improve

EDITING

James made sure he did a good job of editing his narrative because he wanted it to be perfect.

– longer; lengthened; stretched out

EXTENDED

Ron checked his extended response to make sure he had written enough.

!

– choose; pick out; take by preference

SELECT

On the multiple-choice questions, Karen had to carefully select the right answer.

– to leave out; to fail to include

OMIT

Gayle checked over her narrative to make sure she didn’t omit any details that were asked for in the directions.

– to state or express in a brief, concise form

SUMMARIZE

After reading the entire, long passage, Jackie was able to summarize it into just two sentences.

– knowledge communicated; facts

INFORMATION

Dave checked all the information provided before attempting to answer the question.

– a portion or section of a written work

PASSAGE

Read the entire passage carefully and look for clues.

– original or basic materials used in research or to find answers

SOURCE

Two sources you might use to find the capital of a state are an encyclopedia or an almanac.

ENC

YCLO

PEDIA

MA

-ME

AL

MA

NA

C

– cautious; thorough

CAREFUL

Jennifer was being extremely careful when she thoughtfully read each question before writing her answers.

– to inspect for accuracy

CHECK

Devon knew he had to check every answer in order to pass the test.