Grade 5 Reading practice

Step 1: Word meanings

Building a big vocabulary helps you understand everything you read.

Example: What does this word mean? enormous

Tip: Look for word parts you know. "Transparent" has "trans", meaning through.

Step 2: Simile or metaphor?

A simile compares using like or as. A metaphor says one thing IS another.

Example: Is this a simile or a metaphor? My little brother is a ball of energy.

Tip: Look for the words like or as.

Step 3: Fact or opinion?

A fact can be proven. An opinion is what someone thinks or feels.

Example: Fact or opinion? Hockey is the best sport ever invented.

Tip: Words like best, boring and most relaxing signal opinions.

Step 4: Order of events

Authors don’t always tell events in order. Time words show what really happened first.

Example: What did Zoe do SECOND? Zoe finished her science report at 8 p.m. She had started researching right after school, and then she ate dinner at 6.

Tip: Look for before, earlier, after and then.

Step 5: Inference

Authors don’t tell everything. Readers use clues to figure out the rest.

Example: What can you infer? Marcus stared at the empty fridge, then at the pile of dishes in the sink. "Who ate all the pizza?" he groaned.

Tip: Find two clues, then decide what they suggest together.

Step 6: Find the best evidence

Strong readers support answers with exact details from the text.

Example: Which detail BEST shows that Nora is kind? Nora stayed after school every day to help the new student learn the hallways. She even saved him a seat at lunch.

Tip: Pick the detail that proves the answer, not just one that is true.

Step 7: Poetry tools

Poets use stanzas, rhyme, rhythm, alliteration and sound words to make poems come alive.

Example: What poetry tool is this? Buzz! went the bee. Crash! went the waves.

Tip: Read the poem out loud and listen to its sounds.

Step 8: Inference and author's purpose

An inference is a smart guess using clues from the text and what you already know.

Tip: Authors write to entertain, to inform or to persuade. Ask why this text was written.