K-5 WRITING Scope & Sequence Glossary
Word
Definition
Abstract details
Adjective
Adverb
Affix
Writing details from thoughts or feelings (opposite is concrete details).
A word that describes a noun.
A word that modifies a verb, adjective or another adverb.
A syllable or group of syllables (e.g. prefixes, such as anti- or post-, and
suffixes, such as -ly or -ment) which, when added to a word or a root, alter
the meaning of the word.
A punctuation mark used to identify possession or the omission of letters
and/or numbers.
Writing a position, belief or conclusion that is supported by evidence. In
grades K-5 the term “opinion” is used to refer to this developing form of
argument.
The people to whom the author is writing.
Used to convey various conditions (e.g. can, may, must).
The meaningful form of a word after all affixes are removed.
A sentence with a subject, verb and often not always the object.
A noun that appears singular in formal shape but denotes a group of
persons or objects (e.g. herd, jury, or clergy).
A sentence with one independent clause and no dependent clauses.
Apostrophe
Argumentative
Audience
Auxiliary
Base word/root word
Basic sentence
Collective noun
Complete simple
sentence
Complex sentence
Compound sentence
Compound words
Conclusion
Concrete word/details
Confer
Conjunctions
Contraction
Conventional spelling
Conventions
Correlative conjunctions
Declarative
Dedication
Descriptive writing
Dialogue
Dictating
Discipline-specific tasks
Domain-specific words
9/21/2012
A sentence with more than one clause or verbal phrase.
A sentence with multiple independent clauses but no dependent clauses.
A word made up of two distinct words.
The final part; end or closure.
Writing words or details you could see or touch (opposite is abstract details).
To consult together and compare opinions (as in a teacher-to-student or
peer-to-peer conference).
Words used to combine sentences or clauses (e.g. and, or, but, so,
because).
A shortened form of a word where the missing letters are often replaced by
an apostrophe.
The way words are correctly spelled in the dictionary.
One of the Six Traits of Writing regarding directionality, spacing,
capitalization, punctuation, grammar, spelling, paragraphing and language
usage.
Connects two words, phrases or clauses together–often used with both, not
only, either and neither.
A sentence that makes a statement.
A statement of recognition in the front of a book.
Writing using words that help the readers see a detailed picture in their
minds.
Writing that shows the words the characters are speaking.
Writing down what is said by another person.
Writing tasks within content areas.
Vocabulary specific to a particular field of study (domain). In the Common
K-5 WRITING Scope & Sequence Glossary
Word
Definition
and phrases
Core State Standards domain-specific words and phrases are analogous to
Tier Three words.
A part of the writing process concerned with improving conventions,
grammar, and clarity of expression.
To add details.
Texts consisting of short sentences comprised of learned sight words and
CVC words; may also include rebuses to represent words that cannot yet be
decoded or recognized.
Facts, figures, details, quotations, or other sources of data and information
that provide support for claims or an analysis and that can be evaluated by
others.
A sentence that shows strong or sudden feeling. Exclamatory sentences
frequently use an exclamation point when used in written text.
Sentences that explain how or why.
Word images and figures of speech used to enrich language such as such
as metaphors, similes, personification, idioms, hyperboles, etc.
The writer’s first attempt at putting the ideas on paper.
A query narrowly tailored to task, purpose, and audience, as in a research
query that is sufficiently precise to allow a student to achieve adequate
specificity and depth within the time and format constraints.
The most widely accepted and understood form of expression in English in
the United States.
The organization, plan, style, arrangement, or layout of a piece of writing.
An unfinished or incomplete sentence.
A way to organize ideas and thinking, such as a story web or mind map.
A word of the same written form as another but of different meaning and
usually origin, whether pronounced the same way or not (bear and bare or
lead and lead/led).
A word pronounced the same as another but differing in meaning, whether
spelled the same way or not (heir and air).
The main message and the details that give more information about it.
An expression that does not mean what it literally says (e.g. you drive me
crazy, hit the deck).
Figurative language used to produce mental pictures and appeal to the
senses.
A form of written composition that has as its primary purpose explanation or
the communication of details, facts, and discipline- or content-specific
information (e.g. content area textbooks, encyclopedias, biographies).
Exclamation expressing emotion: sound, word, or phrase that expresses a
strong emotion such as pain or surprise, but otherwise has no meaning (e.g.
oh!, my).
A journal or notebook in which a student records questions, problems, and
thoughts about a particular subject, idea, or concept as it is studied or
learned.
Words that help the writer connect ideas and sentences (e.g. because, and,
also).
Editing
Elaboration
Emergent reader texts
Evidence
Exclamatory sentences
Explanatory sentences
Figurative language
First draft
Focused question
Formal English
Formatting
Fragments
Graphic organizer
Homograph
Homophone
Ideas
Idiom
Imagery
Informative/explanatory
text
Interjection
Learning log
Linking words
9/21/2012
K-5 WRITING Scope & Sequence Glossary
Word
Definition
Literary text
A form of written composition that is original writing rather than analyzing or
synthesizing the writing of others (e.g. poetry, short stories, novels, plays,
scripts).
Text models that exemplify elements of the writer's craft that students can
explore and practice.
A figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to
which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance, as in
“laughter is the best medicine.”
A verb characteristically used with other verbs to express mood or tense. In
English, the modal auxiliaries are can, may, must, ought, shall, should, will,
and would.
A type of writing determined by the writer's purpose; often used
interchangeably with purpose. If the writer's purpose is to explain, then the
mode is expository.
Emotional atmosphere (e.g. suspenseful, peaceful, mysterious, terrifying)
created by the writer’s purposeful choice of vocabulary, pacing, and details.
A story with a series of events in a purposeful sequence, either fictional or
factual.
To use your senses to learn about something in detail.
The formation of a word, as cuckoo or boom, by imitation of a sound made
by or associated with its referent.
Any syllable ending in a vowel, like the word tree.
A basic form of the argument text type. “Opinion” is used instead of
“argument” in the Common Core State Standards for K-5 as young children
develop a variety of methods to extend and elaborate their work by providing
examples, offering reasons for their assertions, and explaining cause and
effect.
Ordering the writing so the reader can easily understand what the author
means.
To familiarize a reader with new surroundings or circumstances.
A phrase composed of two words with contradictory meanings (e.g. original
copy).
The speed or rhythm with which a story is told.
A word or phrase that means the same when read in either direction (e.g.
mom; radar; or a man, a plan, a canal – panama).
A brief and often simple narrative that illustrates a moral or religious lesson.
A statement that initially appears to be contradictory, but then, on closer
inspection, turns out to make sense. For example, “Nobody goes to that
restaurant, it’s too crowded.”
A distinct portion of written matter dealing with a particular idea, usually
beginning with an indentation on a new line.
A brief restatement in one’s own words.
A parody imitates the serious manner and characteristic features of a
particular literary work, in order to make fun of those same features.
Mentor text
Metaphor
Modal auxiliaries
Mode
Mood
Narrative
Observation
Onomatopoeia
Open syllable
Opinion
Organization
Orient
Oxymoron
Pacing
Palindrome
Parable
Paradox
Paragraph
Paraphrase
Parody
9/21/2012
K-5 WRITING Scope & Sequence Glossary
Parts of speech
Peer
editing/revision;
Peer-conferencing
Personal narrative
Personification
Persuasive writing
Phonemes
Phonemic
Awareness
Phonetic Spelling
Phrase
Planning
Plot
Point of view
Prefix
Preposition
Prewrite
Progressive verbs
Proverbs
Publishing
Purpose
9/21/2012
Classifications of words according to their relations to each other and to the things
they represent. The common parts of speech are: adjectives, adverbs, articles,
conjunctions, interjections, nouns, prepositions, pronouns, and verbs.
The process of having students read and respond to the writing of their
classmates.
A true story about the person who is writing it.
Giving human character or characteristics to inanimate objects, ideas, or animals.
Writing which is meant to change the way a reader thinks or acts.
The smallest unit of sound in a spoken word that makes a difference in the word’s
meaning.
The ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in
spoken words.
Writing the letters of the sounds heard when you slowly say a word (best-guess or
invented spelling).
A sequence of two or more words, arranged in a grammatical construction, and
acting as a unit in a sentence (e.g. “Thank you”).
Thinking about what you want to write about, who you are writing for, and how you
will organize it.
The structure of the events in a story, usually including rising action, climax, and
resolution.
Point of view is the way the author allows you to "see" and "hear" what's going on.
It also refers to various perspectives on a topic from different characters.
 First-person point of view is in use when a character narrates the story
with I-me-my-mine in his or her speech.
 Second-person point of view, in which the author uses you and your, is
rare; authors seldom speak directly to the reader.
 Third-person point of view is that of an outsider looking at the action. The
writer may choose third-person omniscient, in which the thoughts of every
character are open to the reader, or third-person limited, in which the
reader enters only one character's mind, either throughout the entire work
or in a specific section. Third-person limited differs from first-person
because the author's voice, not the character's voice, is what you hear in
the descriptive passages.
An affix placed before a base or another prefix, as un- in unkind.
Words that are used before nouns and pronouns to form phrases functioning as
modifiers of verbs, nouns, or adjectives that typically express a spatial, temporal,
or relationship, as in, on, by, to, since.
Planning that occurs early in the writing process that may include sketching,
talking, notes, outlines, or graphic organizers.
A verb construction (made up of a present form of the verb “to be” plus a present
participle) that conveys a sense of ongoing action at the present time.
Short pithy statement of a general truth, one that condenses common experiences
into memorable form.
Making a finished product to share with an audience.
The main reason an author writes.
K-5 WRITING Scope & Sequence Glossary
Rebus
Recall
Recount
Reflexive pronouns
Retell
Revising
Root Words
Run-on sentences
Scaffolding
Sequence
Shared writing
Short research
project
Simile
Source
Subject-Verb
Agreement
Suffix
Summarize
Syllable
Synonym
Syntax
Technical Writing
Temporal Words
Tense
Text Types
Theme
9/21/2012
A mode of expressing words and phrases by using pictures of objects whose
names resemble those words.
Sharing information gathered from experiences or sources.
Carefully retelling the sequence events and details of a story or event.
Reflexive pronouns are used when the complement of the verb is the same as the
subject (myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, ourselves, yourselves,
themselves).
Sequencing the events (including story elements) in a story in chronological order.
A part of the writing process concerned chiefly with a reconsideration and
reworking of the content of a text relative to task, purpose, and audience.
The form of a word after all affixes are removed. Note: a root may be independent,
or free, as read in unreadable, or may be dependent, or bound, as liter (from the
Greek for letter) in illiterate.
An ungrammatical sentence in which two or more independent clauses are
conjoined without a conjunction.
Providing a temporary framework for the student who is working just beyond
her/his independent capabilities.
Arranging content (events, information, or ideas) in an order (see Thinking Skills
for strategy charts and graphic organizers).
Teacher leads class or group in composing a text, with teacher scribing for the
students so they can focus on composing the text. The teacher may lead the class
to explore various text types, construct more complex sentences, edit, and
proofread. The class is encouraged to contribute to the construction of the text.
An investigation intended to address a narrowly tailored query in a brief period of
time, as in a few class periods or a week of instructional time.
A figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, usually using
like or as (e.g. “she swims like a dolphin”).
A text used largely for informational purposes or research.
Singular subjects need singular verbs; plural subjects need plural verbs. (ex: My
brother is a nutritionist. My sisters are mathematicians.)
An affix attached to the end of a base, root, or stems that changes meaning or
grammatical function of the word (e.g. -en added to ox to form oxen).
To determine what is important in the text, condense this information, and put it
into one's own words. A summary is usually three to five sentences long (see
Thinking Skills for strategy charts and graphic organizers).
A sound found in a word that can be said without interruption.
A word having the same or nearly the same meaning as another.
The way words, phrases, and clauses are combined to form sentence order.
Type of expository writing most often used to convey information and give
directions for technical or business purposes.
Transition words that signal event order, such as first, next, last or finally.
The time of a verb's action or state of being, such as past, present, or future.
Common Core text types are Argumentative, Informational/Explanatory, and
Narrative.
The central idea or universal concept that can be identified across pieces of
writing. The theme often involves the lesson, moral, message or concepts learned.
K-5 WRITING Scope & Sequence Glossary
Third person
Topic
Transitional Words
or Phrases
Verb
Voice
9/21/2012
The third person point of view is a form of storytelling in which a narrator relates all
action in third person, using third person pronouns such as "he" or "she."
The subject or focus of a piece of writing. Usually a single word like: friendship,
recycling, or hobby.
Words or phrases used to link ideas or events (e.g. for instance, in order to, in
addition).
The part of speech that expresses existence, action, or occurrence in most
languages.
The sense of the person behind the writing (e.g. serious, honest, compassionate,
or angry).