GACE ELA Practice

These flashcards cover essential vocabulary related to handwriting, writing conventions, grammar, literary techniques, and the writing process.

Handwriting

The skill of forming letters and symbols by hand to create written text.

Legibility

The clarity and readability of handwritten text.

Fluency in handwriting

The ability to write quickly and smoothly without hesitation or excessive pauses.

Graphomotor Development

The development of motor skills related to writing, including fine motor control and hand-eye coordination.

Pre-Writing Skills

Early activities that help children become accustomed to making marks on paper, such as coloring and scribbling.

Proper Grip

The correct way to hold a writing instrument to enhance control and reduce strain.

Visual Cues

Techniques used to assist students in remembering letter formation, like mnemonics.

Pragmatics

The social rules of language that guide how language is used in different contexts.

Semantics

The meaning of words and the relationships between them.

Syntax

The rules that govern the structure of sentences.

Subject-Verb Agreement

A rule that requires the verb to match the subject in number and person.

Cursive Writing

A style of writing in which letters are connected for fluidity.

Alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds in nearby words.

Hyperbole

An exaggerated statement not meant to be taken literally.

Metaphor

A figure of speech that makes a comparison between two unlike things without using 'like' or 'as'.

Dialogue

The spoken exchanges between characters in a literary work.

Characterization

The process by which the writer reveals the personality of a character.

Literary Techniques

Devices used by writers to produce specific effects in their writing.

Research Basics

The foundational skills needed for conducting effective research, including developing questions and evaluating sources.

Plagiarism

The act of using someone else's work or ideas without proper attribution.

Feedback in Writing

Constructive criticism provided to improve a writer's work.

Portfolio

A collection of a student’s work that showcases learning and progress over time.

Genres of Writing

Categories of writing that share particular conventions and purposes, such as narrative, informative, and persuasive.

Letter Formation

The specific motor movements and strokes required to correctly create individual letters of the alphabet.

Stages of Handwriting Development

The typical progression of skills children acquire, from pre-writing scribbles to fluent, legible script.

Impact of Handwriting on Communication

How the clarity and speed of handwriting can affect a reader's ability to understand a message and the writer's effectiveness in conveying thoughts.

Grammar and Conventions

The established rules governing the structure and usage of language in writing and speaking.

Subject-Verb Inversion

A grammatical structure where the verb comes before the subject, often used for emphasis or in questions.

Oral vs. Written Conventions

The differing rules and expectations for formality, sentence structure, and vocabulary in spoken versus written language.

Noun

A word that names a person, place, thing, idea, or quality.

Pronoun

A word that replaces a noun or noun phrase to avoid repetition.

Verb

A word that describes an action, state, or occurrence.

Grammatical Object

A noun or pronoun that receives the action of a verb or is affected by a preposition.

Preposition

A word showing the relationship of a noun/pronoun to other words, often indicating position, direction, or time.

Writing Conventions

Standard practices like punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar that ensure clarity and readability in written text.

Clause vs. Phrase

A clause contains a subject and a predicate, while a phrase is a group of words without both, functioning as a single unit.

Conjunction

A word used to connect words, phrases, or clauses.

Colon (punctuation)

A punctuation mark ( : ) used to introduce a list, explanation, example, or quotation.

Semicolon (punctuation)

A punctuation mark ( ; ) used to connect closely related independent clauses or items in a complex list.

Capitalization Rules

Guidelines for using uppercase letters at the beginning of sentences, for proper nouns, and in titles.

Comma (punctuation)

A punctuation mark ( , ) used to indicate a pause, separate list items, or set off non-essential information.

Hyphen (punctuation)

A punctuation mark ( - ) used to join words or parts of words.

Sentence Fragment

An incomplete sentence that lacks a subject, a verb, or expresses an incomplete thought.

Run-on Sentence

A sentence where two or more independent clauses are joined without proper punctuation or conjunctions.

Types of Sentences

Categories based on purpose (declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory) or structure (simple, compound, complex, compound-complex).

Sentence Elements

The basic structural components of a sentence, such as subject, predicate, object, and modifiers.

Teaching Literary Elements

Strategies and methods used to instruct students on the components and techniques found in literature.

Theme (literature)

The central idea, underlying message, or moral of a literary work.

Linear Plot Elements

The traditional sequence of events in a narrative: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

Types of Conflict (literature)

The struggles characters face, categorized as internal (man vs. self) or external (man vs. man, nature, society, technology).

Setting (literature)\n\n

The time, place, and environment in which the events of a story occur.\n\n

Rime (phonological awareness)

The part of a syllable containing the vowel and any following consonant sounds (e.g., "-at" in "cat").

Onset (phonological awareness)

The initial consonant sound(s) of a syllable that come before the rime (e.g., "c-" in "cat").

Text Features\

Components of a text (headings, captions, glossary) that aid comprehension and organization, often in non-fiction.

Stages of Writing Development

The developmental progression of writing skills, from emergent marks to fluent, conventional writing.

The Writing Process

The recursive steps writers typically follow: prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.

Figurative Language

Language that uses words or expressions with a non-literal meaning for rhetorical effect or vivid imagery.

Types of Text

Categories of written material based on purpose, such as narrative, informative, persuasive, and descriptive.

Skills Supporting Composition

Abilities essential for effective writing, including organization, idea generation, sentence fluency, and word choice.

Anchor Charts\n\n

Large visual displays created collaboratively with students to summarize key learning points or strategies for reference.\n\n

Presentations

Formal talks or demonstrations given to an audience to convey information, persuade, or entertain, often with visual aids.

Research Process

The systematic approach to conducting research: formulating questions, gathering, evaluating, synthesizing information, and presenting findings.