Academic Vocabulary

the "big idea" of the text or a part of the text; It is what the author wants the reader to learn or take away from reading the text. There may be more than one message in a text. What the author of an argumentative text is trying to convince the reader to think or do.

refers to an author's main goal in a piece of writing. If the goal is to inform or teach, it is very likely that the author will include facts, descriptions, and reasonable explanations.

informative/explanatory texts which examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. 

also known as the main idea; this is the most important thought of the entire text and tells the reader the author's main point in writing.

to make connections within and beyond a text in order to draw conclusions about information or ideas not explicitly stated in the text. Students should use the text and prior knowledge to make an inference. 

information directly from texts used to justify responses