Why Study Vocabulary?

Students who know the vocabulary for the content they are studying will understand more of what they read, will be more successful in school, and will score better on state tests. This is especially true for students who struggle with school. These are the vocabulary terms that have been identified as the words most often used in the Kentucky Elementary Core Content

Click on a link below to go directly to that subject test vocabulary.

4th grade-Reading, Writing, Science

5th grade-Math, Social Studies, Arts & Humanities, Practical Living/Vocational Studies

READING

4^th Grade

Word	Definition	Word	Definition
	Reading Skills		Reading Skills
antonym	A word meaning the opposite of another word	compound word	A word formed by combining two or more words
homonym	A word that is pronounced and spelled the same as another word but has a different meaning	synonym	A word that means the same or nearly the same as another word
	Literary Reading		Literary Reading
Character-istic	A typical quality or feature of something or someone	hyperbole	Something that is exaggerated
literature	Novels, plays, short stories essays, and poems that have lasting value or interest.	passage	A short section in a book or piece of music
plot	The main events or action in a written work	setting	The time and place of the action in a book, play, movie, etc.
	Informational Reading		Informational Reading
article	A piece of writing published in a newspaper or magazine	brochure	A booklet, usually with pictures, that gives information about a product or service
caption	A short title or description printed below a cartoon, drawing, or photograph	detail	Additional information that supports the main point
	Persuasive Reading		Persuasive Reading
biased	Prejudiced, or favoring one person or point of view more than another	editorial	An article or statement that reflects the opinions of the writer
opinion	The ideas and beliefs that you have about something	Perspec- tive	A particular way of looking at a situation
proposal	A plan or an idea	statistics	Facts or information expressed as a number or percentage
Testimon-ial	To tell in writing or verbally what you believe		*Practical/Workplace Reading*
	Practical/Workplace Reading	authentic	Real
consumer	Someone who buys and uses products and services	feature	A newspaper or magazine article that deals with a particular subject
Illustra-tion	A picture in a book, magazine, etc. or an example	journal	A diary in which you regularly write down your thoughts, ideas, and experiences
manual	A book of instructions that tells you how to do something	memo	A brief written reminder or a short letter written to people who work in the same office or organization
practical	Something that is useful, sensible or shows good judgment, or has to do with experience or practice	recipe	Instructions for preparing or doing something
sequence	A series or collection of things that follow in a regular or fixed order	specialized	Focused on one area of work or having learned a lot about one subject
warranty	A written promise or guarantee that a product will work or do what it is supposed to do.

WRITING

4^th Grade

	Writing Criteria		*Writing Criteria*
audience	The people who will read a written work or the people who view an event or performance	closure	Bringing something to an end
Documenta- tion	Evidence provided to prove that something is true or real	format	The shape or style of something
tone	The general quality, feeling, or style of something or a way of speaking or writing that shows a certain feeling or attitude	transition	A change from one form, condition, or place to another.
voice	A personal style or way of expressing yourself in writing		*Reflective Writing*
	Reflective Writing	influence	To have an effect on someone or something
publish	To produce and distribute a book, magazine, newspaper, or any other printed material so that people can buy it	reflection	To think carefully
reflective writing	Writing in which the writer examines his/her own writing skills, abilities, approaches, and products	strategies	Different ways to approach writing
	Personal Writing		*Personal Writing*
dialogue	Conservation, especially in a play, movie, television program, or book	event	Something that happens, especially something interesting or important
memoir	Writing that focuses on the personal experiences and relationships of the writer	personal essay	Writing that focuses on a cent4ral idea supported by a variety of incidents in the writer’s life
personal narrative	Writing that focuses on the significance of a single event in the life of the writer	personal writing	Writing that focuses on the life experience of the writer, includes personal narrative, memoir, and personal essay.
point-of-view	An attitude, a viewpoint, or a way of looking at or thinking about something	sensory	Something that relates to the five senses of hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, or feeling
	Literary Writing		*Literary Writing*
impression	An idea or feeling	literary writing	Writing that communicates with the reader about life
personifi- cation	Giving human traits or qualities to something that is not a person	simile	A way of describing something by comparing it with something else using the words “like” or “as”
suspense	An anxious and uncertain feeling caused by having to wait to see what happens		Transactive Writing (informative/persuasive)
	Transactive Writing (informative/persuasive)	anecdote	A short, often funny story about something that has happened
authentic	Real	clarify	To make something clear
conclusion	A decision or idea based on the facts that you have	diagram	A drawing or a plan that explains something
editorial	An article or statement that reflects the opinions of the writer	engage	To get someone’s attention or involvement
informative writing	Writing that attempts to communicate information	justify	To give a reason or explanation to show that something is fair or reasonable
persuasive writing	Writing that attempts to influence the audience to a particular point of view	transactive writing	Writing that presents ideas and information for real audiences to accomplish real purposes

MATHEMATICS

5^TH Grade

	Number/Computation		Number/Computation
associative property	An algebra property for addition and multiplication that means you can group numbers in any way without changing the answer; 1 + (2+3) = (1+2) +3 and 2 x (4x3) x3	communitive property	An algebra property for addition and multiplication that means you can change the order of the number involved without changing the result: 3x4=4x3 and 50+25=25+50
composite	A number with more than two factors	computation	A method of calculating by mathematical means
equivalent	The same in amount, value, or importance	estimate	Make an approximate or rough calculation about amount, distance, cost etc.
multiple	The product of a given number and another number, for example 4x2=8, so 8 is a multiple of 4, as are 12, 16, 20, etc.	prime	A number that has exactly two factors: itself and 1
properties of computation	Commutative, associative, identity properties of addition and multiplication, zero property of multiplication
	Geometry/Measurement		Geometry/Measurement
acute angle	An angle of less than 90 degrees	area	The figure that is formed by two lines that start at the same point and is measured in degrees
attribute	A quality or characteristic	congruent	Equal in shape or size
cube	A three-dimensional shape with six square faces	cylinder	A 3-D shape with flat, circular ends and sides, like a tube
diameter	A straight line through the center of a circle, from one side to the other	equilateral	A figure having sides of equal length
hexagon	A figure with six sides	intersecting	Meeting or crossing lines
measure	To determine the size or quantity of something	obtuse angle	An angle between 90 and 180 degrees
octagon	A figure with eight sides	parallel	Never intersecting and of equal distance apart at all times
pentagon	A figure with five sides	perimeter	The distance around the edge of a shape
perpendicular	Meeting at a 90 degree angle	quadrilateral	A closed shape with four sides and four angles
radius	A straight-line segment drawn from the center of a circle to its outer edge, half the diameter	segment	A part or section of something or the straight path that connects two points
volume	The amount of space taken up by a three-dimensional shape such as a box or a fish tank
	Probability/Statistics		Probability/Statistics
data	Information or facts	mean	The sum of a set of numbers divided by the number of numbers in the set, also called the average
median	The middle value in a set of data when the data is ordered from least to greatest	mode	The value or values that occurs most often in a set of data
probable	Likely to happen or be true	range	The difference between the greatest and least number in a set of data
	Algebraic Thinking

READING

4th Grade

Word

Definition

Word

Definition

Reading Skills

Reading Skills

Literary Reading

Literary Reading

Informational Reading

Informational Reading

Persuasive Reading

Persuasive Reading

Practical/Workplace Reading

WRITING

4th Grade

Writing Criteria

audience

closure

format

tone

transition

voice

Reflective Writing

influence

publish

reflection

reflective writing

strategies

Personal Writing

dialogue

event

memoir

Literary Writing

MATHEMATICS

5TH Grade

Number/Computation

Number/Computation

associative property

An algebra property for addition and multiplication that means you can group numbers in any way without changing the answer; 1 + (2+3) = (1+2) +3 and 2 x (4x3) x3

communitive property

An algebra property for addition and multiplication that means you can change the order of the number involved without changing the result: 3x4=4x3 and 50+25=25+50

composite

A number with more than two factors

computation

A method of calculating by mathematical means

equivalent

The same in amount, value, or importance

estimate

Make an approximate or rough calculation about amount, distance, cost etc.

multiple

The product of a given number and another number, for example 4x2=8, so 8 is a multiple of 4, as are 12, 16, 20, etc.

prime

A number that has exactly two factors: itself and 1

properties of computation

Commutative, associative, identity properties of addition and multiplication, zero property of multiplication

Geometry/Measurement

Geometry/Measurement

acute angle

An angle of less than 90 degrees

area

The figure that is formed by two lines that start at the same point and is measured in degrees

attribute

A quality or characteristic

congruent

Equal in shape or size

cube

A three-dimensional shape with six square faces

cylinder

A 3-D shape with flat, circular ends and sides, like a tube

diameter

A straight line through the center of a circle, from one side to the other

equilateral

A figure having sides of equal length

hexagon

A figure with six sides

intersecting

Meeting or crossing lines

measure

4^th Grade

4^th Grade

5^TH Grade