Grades 11–12: List 3

Vocabulary is key to performing well on Common Core-aligned tests for English Language Arts as well as for building literacy in social studies, science, and technical subjects. This collection features common tier-2 words that are taught and tested in Grades 11 and 12. These words are used in a variety of contexts, exhibit different shades of meaning based on those contexts, and appear commonly in classroom instruction and on standardized assessments.

Here are links to our lists for the collection: List 1, List 2, List 3, List 4, List 5, List 6, List 7
15 words 21 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. effective
    producing or capable of producing an intended result
    Writing 3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.Music and the Child
  2. analogy
    drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity
    Feeling inspired, she crafted a brilliant analogy about the similarities between the formation of galaxies and apples falling from trees.Science Magazine (Nov 23, 2016)
  3. metaphor
    a figure of speech that suggests a non-literal similarity
    I know Grammy likes her metaphors, and I think back to her saying “Joseph is my rock.”Shouting at the Rain
  4. simile
    a figure of speech expressing a resemblance between things
    A second thing about the book is the simile that he uses in comparing the solving of problems with climbing rugged landscapes.Forbes (Jan 16, 2012)
  5. essay
    an analytic or interpretive literary composition
    Miss K suggested he could go to the library, look up facts about mice, and write an essay about them.Ralph S. Mouse
  6. establish
    show the validity of something, as by example or explanation
    She passes it to a man in the front of the crowd, in order to establish that it is solid.The Night Circus
  7. excerpt
    a passage selected from a larger work
    The English papers carried excerpts of the senator’s speech and briefly mentioned my father.The Chosen
  8. explanatory
    serving or intended to make clear
    He could only guess what it might fully mean, even with the explanatory footnote.Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel
  9. article
    nonfictional prose forming a part of a publication
    His dad held up a folded newspaper and pointed to an article.Millionaires for the Month
  10. text
    the main body of a written work
    I pretended I was reading from the book, flipping pages reg­ularly, but I had abandoned the text altogether, taken over the story, and made up my own.The Kite Runner
  11. writing
    anything expressed in letters of the alphabet
    But his writings are one of our most valuable records of what went on in the colony.Blood on the River
  12. flashback
    a transition in a story to an earlier event or scene
    So eventually, in three quick flashbacks, Morgenstern returns to what I think is the story.The Princess Bride
  13. grammar
    the branch of linguistics that deals with sentence structure
    Good spelling and good grammar and good word skills are essential for every student.Frindle
  14. usage
    the customary manner in which language is spoken or written
    There was also Ross Milton’s book—the book on English usage.Across Five Aprils
  15. hypothesis
    a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence
    Here’s a hypothesis: Twig wouldn’t take kindly to a newcomer.The Science of Breakable Things
Created on July 20, 2022 (updated August 30, 2022)

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