My Word Book
Every word your child learns this year, with a simple meaning and an example.
309 words
A
- adaptation
- A body part or action that helps a living thing survive where it lives.
- A duck's webbed feet are an adaptation for swimming.
- Science · Week 30
- adverb
- A word that tells how, when or where something happens.
- In "the owl flew quietly," quietly is an adverb.
- ELA · Week 22
- agreement
- A promise that two groups make to each other.
- The two groups made an agreement to trade.
- amphibian
- An animal with smooth, wet skin, like a frog.
- A frog is an amphibian that starts life in water.
- Science · Week 26
- angle
- The corner made where two sides of a shape meet.
- A triangle has 3 sides and 3 angles.
- Math · Week 35
array
- Objects set out in equal rows and equal columns.
- An array of 3 rows of 4 shows 4 + 4 + 4 = 12.
- Math · Week 18
attribute
- A feature of a shape, such as how many sides or angles it has.
- One attribute of a triangle is that it has 3 sides.
- Math · Week 27
audio
- Sound that is recorded so people can listen to it.
- I made an audio recording of my poem.
- ELA · Week 35
B
- ballot
- A paper or form used to vote.
- She marked her choice on the ballot.
bar graph
- A graph that uses bars of different lengths to show data.
- The tallest bar on the bar graph shows the favorite pet.
- Math · Week 26
bar model
- A drawing of bars that shows the parts and the whole in a problem.
- My bar model showed 29 and 16 as two parts.
- Math · Week 7
- barter
- To trade goods or services without using money.
- Long ago, people would barter corn for cloth.
base ten
- Our number system, where 10 of one place make 1 of the next place.
- Base ten blocks show ones, tens and hundreds.
- Math · Week 9
- biodiversity
- The many different kinds of living things in a place.
- A coral reef has great biodiversity.
- Science · Week 25
- body of water
- A large area of water, like an ocean, lake or river.
- A lake is a body of water with land all around it.
- brave
- Willing to do something hard or scary.
- Ruby Bridges was brave when she walked into her new school.
- bridge
- Something built over water or a road so people can cross.
- We walked over the bridge.
- Science · Week 17
- budget
- A plan for how to spend and save money.
- My budget for the snack was 50 cents.
build on
- To add your own idea to what someone else just said.
- I want to build on what Sam said about owls.
- ELA · Week 26
bundle
- A group tied together, like 10 ones bundled to make 1 ten.
- I put a rubber band around a bundle of 10 sticks.
- Math · Week 2
- bury
- To put something in the ground and cover it.
- Squirrels bury acorns to eat later.
- Science · Week 27
C
- capital
- The city where a state or country's government meets.
- Washington, D.C., is the capital of the United States.
caption
- Words next to a picture that tell about it.
- The caption says worker ants carry a leaf home.
- ELA · Week 9
- celebrate
- To do something special for an important day.
- We celebrate birthdays with a song.
celebration
- A happy time to enjoy and honor something special.
- Our math celebration was a picnic plan.
- Math · Week 36
centimeter
- A small unit of length. 100 centimeters make 1 meter.
- The paper clip is 3 centimeters long.
- Math · Week 19
central message
- The big lesson or idea a story teaches.
- The central message is that small friends can help in big ways.
- ELA · Week 4
- citizen
- A member of a community or country.
- A good citizen helps keep the park clean.
coin
- A piece of metal money, like a penny, nickel, dime or quarter.
- I have one coin in my pocket: a dime.
- Math · Week 24
collaborate
- To work together with others to reach a goal.
- We collaborate to write a story as a team.
- ELA · Week 33
collective noun
- A noun that names a group, like a flock of birds.
- A team is a collective noun.
- ELA · Week 21
- community
- A group of people who live, work and play in the same place.
- Our community has a library and a park.
compare
- To look at how things are alike and different, or which is more.
- Compare 352 and 328: 352 is greater.
- Math · Week 14
- compass rose
- A drawing on a map that shows north, south, east and west.
- The compass rose shows north is at the top.
- compound word
- A word made by joining two smaller words.
- Starfish is a compound word: star + fish.
- ELA · Week 10
comprehension
- Understanding what you read or hear.
- I answered questions to check my comprehension.
- ELA · Week 31
connection
- A way two ideas, events or steps are linked.
- I made a connection between the rain and the flood.
- ELA · Week 12
- consequence
- What happens because of an action.
- The consequence of not watering the plant is that it dries up.
- consumer
- A person who buys or uses goods and services.
- I am a consumer when I buy a book.
- continent
- One of the seven largest areas of land on Earth.
- Africa is a continent.
- contraction
- Two words made into one short word with an apostrophe.
- Can't is a contraction of can not.
- ELA · Week 14
conversation
- A talk between two or more people who take turns.
- We had a conversation about our favorite books.
- ELA · Week 25
- coral reef
- A place in warm ocean water built by tiny animals called corals.
- Bright fish swim around the coral reef.
- Science · Week 25
- country
- A land with its own people and government.
- Canada is a country north of the United States.
- criteria
- The things a solution must do to be a success.
- Our criteria: the boat must float and hold 10 pennies.
- Science · Week 14
- crops
- Plants that farmers grow for food.
- Corn and wheat are crops.
- cube
- A solid shape with 6 square faces that are all the same size.
- A cube has 6 faces, 12 edges and 8 vertices.
- Math · Week 27
- culture
- The way a group of people lives.
- Food, music and language are parts of a culture.
D
data
- Facts or numbers you collect to learn about something.
- We collected data about our favorite fruits.
- Math · Week 25
- design process
- The steps to solve a problem: ask, imagine, plan, build, test, improve, share.
- We used the design process to build a bird feeder.
- Science · Week 18
- difference
- The answer when you subtract one number from another.
- The difference between 10 and 4 is 6.
- Math · Week 20
- doubles
- A fact that adds a number to itself, like 6 + 6.
- 7 + 8 is one more than the doubles fact 7 + 7.
- Math · Week 15
E
- election
- A time when people vote to choose leaders.
- The town has an election every year.
- engine
- A machine that makes something move.
- The train's engine pulled the cars.
- engineer
- A person who designs things to solve problems.
- An engineer designed the bridge.
- Science · Week 13
equal
- The same amount or value. The sign = means is equal to.
- 3 + 4 = 7, so 3 + 4 is equal to 7.
- Math · Week 6
equal addends
- Two numbers that are the same and add up to a sum, like 4 + 4.
- 8 is even because 4 + 4 = 8 uses equal addends.
- Math · Week 17
equation
- A number sentence with an equal sign, like 8 + 5 = 13.
- I wrote the equation 50 - 18 = 32.
- Math · Week 7
- erosion
- Moving bits of rock and soil to a new place.
- Rain caused erosion on the bare hill.
- Science · Week 20
estimate
- A careful guess about how many or how much.
- I estimate the shoe is 8 inches long. Then I measure.
- Math · Week 20
- evaporation
- When liquid water slowly turns into a gas you cannot see.
- Evaporation dried up the puddle on a warm day.
- Science · Week 19
even
- A number that can be split into two equal groups, with none left over.
- 8 is even: 4 + 4 = 8.
- Math · Week 17
evidence
- Facts or details that show something is true.
- I used evidence from the book to answer.
- ELA · Week 5
expand
- To write a number as the sum of its hundreds, tens and ones.
- If I expand 458, I get 400 + 50 + 8.
- Math · Week 3
expanded form
- A way to write a number as the sum of each place's value.
- The expanded form of 362 is 300 + 60 + 2.
- Math · Week 1
- experiment
- A test done to find out how something works or answer a question.
- Our experiment showed seeds need water to sprout.
- Science · Week 20
explain
- To tell how or why, so others can understand.
- I can explain why my answer makes sense.
- Math · Week 11
F
- fable
- A short story, often with animals, that teaches a lesson.
- In the fable, the slow turtle wins the race.
- ELA · Week 18
- fair
- Treating everyone the same way.
- Taking turns is fair.
- fair test
- A test where only one thing is changed.
- In a fair test, every plant gets the same water.
- Science · Week 5
- ferry
- A boat that carries people and cars across water.
- We rode the ferry to the island.
- Science · Week 17
fluency
- Doing something quickly, correctly and smoothly, like reading or adding facts.
- Practice helps me build fluency with my facts.
- Math · Week 7
folktale
- An old story that people told aloud and passed down over time.
- My grandma told me a folktale about a clever rabbit.
- ELA · Week 18
- food chain
- A picture or list that shows who eats what.
- In this food chain, grass is eaten by a rabbit.
- Science · Week 29
- food web
- All the food chains in one place, drawn together.
- Our food web shows the owl eats mice and snakes.
- Science · Week 29
- foot
- A unit of length equal to 12 inches. More than one are feet.
- A ruler that is 12 inches long is 1 foot long.
- Math · Week 14
- forecast
- A guess about what the weather will be, based on patterns.
- The forecast says it will rain tomorrow.
- Science · Week 23
fourth
- One of four equal parts of a whole. It is also called a quarter.
- I cut the cake into fourths for four people.
- Math · Week 29
- freedom
- Being free to make your own choices.
- The Liberty Bell is a symbol of freedom.
- freeze
- To change from a liquid to a solid when cooled.
- Water will freeze in the freezer.
- Science · Week 3
- friendly number
- A number that is easy to work with, like 10, 50 or 60.
- 59 is close to the friendly number 60.
- Math · Week 7
- fruit
- The part of a plant that grows around the seeds.
- An apple is a fruit with seeds inside.
- Science · Week 11
- fungi
- Living things like mushrooms that break down dead plants and animals.
- Fungi grew on the old log.
- Science · Week 27
G
- glacier
- A huge sheet of ice that moves very slowly over land.
- A glacier can carry big rocks as it moves.
- Science · Week 19
- globe
- A round model of Earth.
- I found my continent on the globe.
- glossary
- A list of words and their meanings at the back of a book.
- I looked up prey in the glossary.
- ELA · Week 9
- goal
- Something you want to get or do.
- My goal is to save $5.00 for a kite.
- goods
- Things people make or grow to use or sell.
- Apples and shoes are goods.
- government
- A group of people who make laws and take care of a place.
- The town government fixes the roads.
- governor
- The leader of a state.
- Each state has a governor.
graph
- A drawing that shows numbers or results so they are easy to compare.
- Our graph shows which fruit got the most votes.
- Math · Week 26
greater than
- More than. The sign > means greater than.
- 542 > 524, so 542 is greater than 524.
- Math · Week 1
- grocery store
- A store that sells food and things for the home.
- We buy milk at the grocery store.
H
half
- One of two equal parts of a whole.
- I cut my sandwich in half, and we each got one half.
- Math · Week 29
heading
- A title at the top of a section that tells what it is about.
- The heading "What Owls Eat" told me where to look.
- ELA · Week 9
- hexagon
- A flat shape with 6 sides and 6 angles.
- Each cell in a honeycomb is shaped like a hexagon.
- Math · Week 27
- holiday
- A special day when people remember or celebrate something.
- Independence Day is a holiday in July.
- honor
- To show respect for someone.
- Veterans Day honors people who served.
I
illustration
- A picture that helps tell a story or explain an idea.
- The illustration shows the fox running into the field.
- ELA · Week 5
- independence
- Being free to make your own choices and rules.
- On July 4, the United States celebrates its independence.
- index
- An ABC list at the back of a book that tells where to find topics.
- The index says nests are on page 12.
- ELA · Week 9
integrate
- To put ideas from words and pictures together.
- I integrate the diagram and the text to understand the plant.
- ELA · Week 11
- invent
- To make something new that was never made before.
- People invented the wheel long ago.
- inventor
- A person who makes something new that was never made before.
- The inventor made a new kind of plow.
J
K
key word
- An important word that helps you understand a text.
- Predator is a key word in the shark book.
- ELA · Week 15
L
- label
- A word that names a part of a drawing.
- I added a label to each part of the flower.
- Science · Week 15
- landform
- A natural shape of the land, like a mountain, hill, valley or plain.
- A mountain is a tall landform.
- language
- The words people use to speak and write.
- My friend speaks two languages.
- law
- A rule that everyone in a town, state or country must follow.
- It is a law to stop at a red light.
length
- How long something is from one end to the other.
- The length of my pencil is 7 inches.
- Math · Week 19
lesson
- What a story teaches you about how to act.
- The lesson of the fable is to be patient.
- ELA · Week 24
- life cycle
- The way a living thing is born, grows and changes.
- A frog's life cycle goes egg, tadpole, froglet, frog.
- Science · Week 31
line plot
- A number line with an X above it for each piece of data.
- My line plot has three Xs above 5 inches.
- Math · Week 25
linking word
- A word like because, and or also that joins ideas.
- I like dogs because they are friendly.
- ELA · Week 12
- living thing
- Something that grows and needs food, water and air.
- A tree is a living thing, but a rock is not.
- Science · Week 7
M
main topic
- What a whole text is mostly about.
- The main topic of the book is how ants live.
- ELA · Week 8
- make a ten
- An adding strategy: move some from one number to make a 10 first.
- 9 + 5 = 10 + 4 = 14.
- Math · Week 7
- map
- A flat drawing of a place, seen from above.
- The map shows the park and the school.
- map key
- The part of a map that tells what its colors and symbols mean.
- The map key shows that a blue line is a river.
- matter
- Anything that takes up space and has mass.
- Water, air and rocks are all matter.
- Science · Week 1
- mayor
- The leader of a town or city.
- The mayor opened the new park.
- melt
- To change from a solid to a liquid when heated.
- The ice cream will melt in the sun.
- Science · Week 3
mental math
- Solving a problem in your head, without writing it down.
- I used mental math to find 10 more than 523.
- Math · Week 10
- minute hand
- The long hand on a clock. It shows the minutes.
- When the minute hand points to 6, it is half past the hour.
- Math · Week 23
model
- Something that shows how a thing looks or works, like blocks for a number.
- I used blocks to make a model of 234.
- Math · Week 3
money
- Coins and bills that people use to buy things.
- I counted my money: 1 quarter and 2 dimes make 45 cents.
- Math · Week 34
multi-step
- A problem that takes more than one step to solve.
- This multi-step problem has an add step and a subtract step.
- Math · Week 31
N
narrative
- A story that tells about events, real or made-up.
- My narrative tells about my first day at the lake.
- ELA · Week 1
- nation
- A group of people with their own land, leaders and ways of life.
- The Cherokee Nation has its own government.
- natural resource
- Something from nature that people use.
- Water and trees are natural resources.
- needs
- Things you must have to live and stay healthy.
- Food, water and shelter are needs.
- neighbor
- A person who lives near you.
- Our neighbor helps us rake leaves.
nonfiction
- Writing that gives true facts about real things.
- A book about real sharks is nonfiction.
- ELA · Week 7
number line
- A line with numbers in order, spaced at equal distances.
- I hopped from 16 to 23 on the number line.
- Math · Week 7
- nutrients
- Things in the soil that help a plant grow.
- Plants get nutrients from the soil.
- Science · Week 7
O
- ocean
- A very large body of salt water.
- The Pacific Ocean is the largest ocean.
odd
- A number that cannot be split into two equal groups. One is left over.
- 7 is odd: 3 + 3 + 1.
- Math · Week 17
operation
- A math action, like adding or subtracting.
- Adding and subtracting are opposite operations.
- Math · Week 9
opinion
- What someone thinks or feels about something.
- My opinion is that fall is the best season.
- ELA · Week 4
P
pair
- Two things that go together.
- I matched the beans in pairs. None was left, so 10 is even.
- Math · Week 17
partition
- To split a shape or an amount into parts.
- I partitioned the rectangle into 2 rows and 3 columns of squares.
- Math · Week 28
- patience
- Waiting calmly for something.
- Saving money takes patience.
pattern
- Something that repeats or changes the same way again and again.
- The pattern 5, 10, 15, 20 grows by 5 each time.
- Math · Week 4
- pentagon
- A flat shape with 5 sides and 5 angles.
- I drew a pentagon that looks like a little house.
- Math · Week 27
performance
- Reading, singing or acting in front of an audience.
- Our class gave a performance of the play.
- ELA · Week 36
picture graph
- A graph that uses pictures to show data.
- Each smiley face on the picture graph stands for one vote.
- Math · Week 26
place value
- The value a digit has because of its place in a number.
- In 526, the 5 is worth 500 because of its place.
- Math · Week 1
- planet
- A large body in space, like Earth, that moves around the sun.
- We live on the planet Earth.
point of view
- How a character sees and feels about what happens.
- The two characters had different points of view about the rain.
- ELA · Week 6
- pollen
- A yellow powder in flowers that helps plants make seeds.
- The bee's legs were covered in pollen.
- Science · Week 11
- pollinator
- An animal, like a bee, that carries pollen from flower to flower.
- A butterfly is a pollinator.
- Science · Week 11
- prediction
- What you think will happen.
- My prediction is that the ice will melt in an hour.
- Science · Week 2
- producer
- A person who makes a good or does a service.
- The baker is a producer of bread.
- property
- Something you can observe about an object, like its color or texture.
- One property of a rock is that it is hard.
- Science · Week 1
- protect
- To keep safe.
- A helmet protects your head.
publish
- To make a final, neat copy of your writing to share.
- We published our books and read them to our families.
- ELA · Week 12
purpose
- The reason something is done or made.
- The purpose of this book is to teach about frogs.
- ELA · Week 28
Q
R
- rain forest
- A warm place with tall trees that gets rain almost every day.
- Many kinds of monkeys live in the rain forest.
- Science · Week 9
reason
- Why someone thinks or does something.
- One reason I like fall is the colorful leaves.
- ELA · Week 16
reasoning
- The reasons someone gives to show why an idea is true.
- The author's reasoning was that bees help plants grow.
- ELA · Week 34
- recycle
- To make something used into something new.
- We recycle paper and cans.
reflexive
- A reflexive pronoun ends in -self or -selves, like myself or ourselves.
- I made the card myself.
- ELA · Week 22
regroup
- To trade 10 ones for 1 ten, 10 tens for 1 hundred, or back.
- I regrouped 12 ones as 1 ten and 2 ones.
- Math · Week 7
- repeated addition
- Adding the same number again and again.
- 3 rows of 4 is the repeated addition 4 + 4 + 4 = 12.
- Math · Week 18
- reptile
- An animal with dry, scaly skin, like a snake or a turtle.
- A lizard is a reptile.
- Science · Week 26
response
- What a character does or says when something happens.
- His response to the storm was to hide under the bed.
- ELA · Week 24
- responsibility
- Something you should do.
- It is my responsibility to put away my toys.
- responsible
- Doing your jobs without being asked.
- I am responsible when I feed my dog every day.
- results
- What you found out from a test.
- Our results showed the plant in the sun grew tallest.
- Science · Week 2
retell
- To tell a story again in your own words, in order.
- I can retell the story on five fingers.
- ELA · Week 1
- reversible
- A change that can be undone.
- Melting ice is reversible, because the water can freeze again.
- Science · Week 4
review
- To look back at what you learned and practice it again.
- We review place value before the unit test.
- Math · Week 12
revise
- To change your writing to make it better.
- I revised my story by adding feeling words.
- ELA · Week 12
rhythm
- The beat you hear when you read a poem or song aloud.
- I clapped the rhythm of the poem.
- ELA · Week 13
- right
- Something every person should be free to do or have.
- Every child has the right to learn.
- roots
- The plant parts that take in water and nutrients from the soil.
- The roots hold the plant in the ground.
- Science · Week 7
row
- A line of things going across, from left to right.
- The egg carton has 2 rows of 6 eggs.
- Math · Week 18
- rule
- A guide for what to do at home, at school or in a game.
- Our class rule is to raise your hand to talk.
ruler
- A straight tool with marks, used to measure length.
- I lined up the end of my ruler with the end of the book.
- Math · Week 19
- rural
- In the country, with homes far apart.
- My cousin lives on a farm in a rural area.
S
- save
- To keep money to use later.
- I save a quarter each week for a book.
- scarcity
- Not having enough of something to have everything we want.
- Because of scarcity, I had to choose one snack.
- seed
- The part of a plant that can grow into a new plant.
- I planted a bean seed in a cup.
- Science · Week 7
self-correct
- To notice your own mistake and fix it.
- I read "horse," then I self-corrected to "house."
- ELA · Week 20
- service
- Work that one person does for another.
- Cutting hair is a service.
- settler
- A person who moves to a new place to live.
- The settlers built small wooden houses.
shades of meaning
- Words that mean almost the same thing but are a little different.
- Warm, hot and boiling are shades of meaning.
- ELA · Week 30
shape
- The outline or form of something, like a circle or a square.
- A hexagon is a shape with 6 sides.
- Math · Week 30
showcase
- An event where you show your best work to others.
- At the showcase, I read my story aloud.
- ELA · Week 35
skip count
- To count by the same number each time, like 5, 10, 15, 20.
- I can skip count by 10s: 10, 20, 30, 40.
- Math · Week 4
- soil
- The top layer of the ground, where plants grow.
- The farmer planted seeds in the soil.
source
- A book, website or person where you find information.
- I wrote the source under my facts.
- ELA · Week 10
- spend
- To use money to buy something.
- I will spend 50 cents on a pencil.
- sprout
- To start to grow. A seed sprouts when a tiny plant pushes out.
- My bean seed began to sprout after four days.
- Science · Week 7
- stem
- The part that holds the plant up and carries water to the leaves.
- The flower stem was long and green.
- Science · Week 7
structure
- How a story or text is built, like a beginning, middle and end.
- The story structure has a beginning, a middle and an end.
- ELA · Week 3
- suburban
- In a neighborhood near a city.
- We live in a suburban town with big yards.
- symbol
- A small picture or mark that stands for something.
- On the map, a tree symbol stands for a park.
T
- table of contents
- A list at the front of a book of its parts and page numbers.
- The table of contents shows owls start on page 4.
- ELA · Week 9
take away
- To subtract, or remove some from a group.
- Take away 25 from 61 and 36 are left.
- Math · Week 7
- tally mark
- A short line you draw to count one thing.
- Five tally marks are drawn as four lines with one line across.
- Math · Week 6
- test
- A way to find out something by trying it.
- We did a test to see which towel soaks up the most water.
- Science · Week 5
- testable
- Able to be answered by doing a test.
- "Which paper towel soaks up more water?" is testable.
- Science · Week 33
- texture
- How something feels when you touch it, like rough or smooth.
- Sandpaper has a rough texture.
- Science · Week 1
third
- One of three equal parts of a whole.
- We shared the pizza, so each of us got one third.
- Math · Week 29
time
- How long something takes, or what hour and minute it is.
- The time is 4:15, so it is after 4 o'clock.
- Math · Week 34
- timeline
- A line that shows events in the order they happened.
- My timeline starts with the year I was born.
- topic sentence
- The sentence that tells what a paragraph is about.
- My topic sentence is: Dogs make great pets.
- ELA · Week 7
- trade
- To give one thing and get another thing back.
- I will trade my apple for your orange.
- tradition
- A way of doing something that is passed down over time.
- Our family tradition is a pancake breakfast on birthdays.
- travel
- To go from one place to another.
- We travel to school by bus.
two-step
- A problem you solve in two steps, like adding and then subtracting.
- This two-step problem needs a subtract step and an add step.
- Math · Week 12
U
- urban
- In or like a city.
- An urban area has many tall buildings.
V
Venn diagram
- Two circles that overlap, used to show how things are alike and different.
- I put what both stories share in the middle of the Venn diagram.
- ELA · Week 14
version
- One telling of a story that may be a little different from another.
- In this version of the story, the wolf is kind.
- ELA · Week 14
vertex
- A corner point where two sides or edges meet. More than one are vertices.
- A triangle has 3 vertices.
- Math · Week 27
- veteran
- A person who has served in the military.
- My neighbor is a veteran.
- vote
- To make a choice that is counted with other people's choices.
- We will vote on a name for the class fish.
vowel team
- Two letters together that make one vowel sound, like ai in rain.
- In boat, oa is a vowel team.
- ELA · Week 2
W
- wagon
- A cart with four wheels, often pulled by animals.
- Long ago, horses pulled wagons on dirt roads.
- wants
- Things that are nice to have but you can live without.
- A new toy is one of my wants.
- weather
- What the air outside is like at a certain time and place.
- The weather today is windy and cool.
- Science · Week 23
- weathering
- Breaking rock into smaller pieces.
- Wind and water cause weathering of rocks.
- Science · Week 20
word form
- A way to write a number using words.
- The word form of 146 is one hundred forty-six.
- Math · Week 5
word problem
- A math story that asks a question you solve with numbers.
- The word problem asked how many shells Kim has now.
- Math · Week 7
Y
yardstick
- A measuring stick that is 1 yard, or 3 feet, or 36 inches long.
- The rug is longer than a yardstick.
- Math · Week 19