Reading

6th Grade
 * Simile** - a figure of speech using like or as to compare two unlike objects. ( Her hands are as cold as ice.)
 * Metaphor** - a figure of speech comparing two unlike objects that does not use like or as. ( The classroom was a bee hive of activity.)
 * Synonym** - a word having the same or nearly the same meaning as another word. ( "afraid" means the same as "scared"; "flat" means the same as "level")
 * Setting** - the time and place in which the action of a story takes place. It can be directly stated or implied. (Goldilocks and The Three Bears: time - morning ; place - cottage in the forest)
 * Character** - a person depicted in a story. The main character in a story is known as the protagonist; The character who opposes him or her is the antagonist. ( Goldilocks, Three Bears)

7th Grade
 * Protagonist** - main character in the story (Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, etc.)
 * Antagonist** - character who opposes the main story (the Big Bad Wolf, the Wicked Queen, etc.)
 * Conflict** - the struggle in the story (The Big Bad Wolf wanted to eat Little Red Riding Hood; The Wicked Queen wanted to kill Snow White)
 * Point of view** - the narrator; who is telling the story (Once upon a time, there was a little girl who always wore a red riding hood.)
 * Antonym** - a word that means the opposite of a word (the opposite of "wicked" is "kind"; the opposite of "bad" is "good")
 * Plot** - sequence of events in a story; contains five major parts (The Big Bad Wolf goes to Grandmother's house and eats her. When Little Red Riding Hood gets to Grandmother's the wolf tires to pretend he's her gradmother. Little Red Riding Hood questions the Wolf about his teeth, and he tries to eat her. A woodcutter hears her cries for help, and kills the wolf. He then cuts Grandmother from the Wolf's stomach and they all live happily ever after.)

**__8th Grade__**
 * fiction** - prose writing that tells about imaginary characters and events (__The Outsiders__, __Surviving the Applewhites__, etc.)
 * nonfiction** - prose writing that presents and explains ideas or that tells about real people, places, objects, or events (History Text Books, Science Text Books, __Three Cups of Tea__, etc.)
 * personification** - when a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics (Scooby Do, Winnie the Pooh, The Giving Tree).
 * cause/ effect** - two events are related as cause and effect when one event brings about or causes the other. The event that happens first is the cause; the one that follows is the effect (CAUSE- I ate to much for dinner, EFFECT- so now I have a stomach ache).
 * fact/ opinion** - a fact is a statement that can be proved. An opinion, in contrast, is a statement that reflects the writer’s or speaker’s belief, but which cannot be supported by proof or evidence (FACT- The temperature in the room is 75 degrees. OPINION- It is too cold in this room!).
 * first person pov** - when the narrator is the main character of the story (Ex. I went to the store and bought cookies last night because my friends and I were hungry).
 * omniscient pov** - when the narrator is able to tell what is going on in the minds of all the characters in the story (Ex. The old lady went to the store and bought cookies last night because she was hungry).
 * genre** - a recognized category or classification of literature (SCIENCE FICTION- __The Giver__, FANTASY- __Harry Potter__, MYSTERY- Sherlock Holmes, HISTORICAL FICTION- __Wastsons Go to Birmingham__, REALISTIC FICTION- __Surviving the Applewhites__).