Prepare to Read

Learn Key Vocabulary

Rate and Study the Words Rate how well you know each word. Then:

  • 1. Pronounce the word. Say it aloud several times. Spell it.

  • 2. Study the example.

  • 3. Tell more about the word.

  • 4. Practice it. Make the word your own.

Rating Scale

  • 1 = I have never seen this word before.

  • 2 = I am not sure of the word’s meaning.

  • 3 = I know this word and can teach the word’s meaning to someone else.

Key Words
contact (kahn-takt) noun page 394crop (krop) noun page 397forever (for-e-vur) adverb page 400
Photograph of a teenage girl talking on the telephonePhotograph of a farmer standing in a cornfieldPhotograph of a straight highway that seems to meet the horizon far away
Contact is the act of meeting or communicating. Friends stay in contact over the phone.A crop is a type of plant grown in large amounts to eat or use. The farmer has a good crop of corn this year.Forever means for a time without end. This road looks like it goes on forever.
Related Words: ever, never
route (rowt) noun page 394settler (set-lur) noun page 396spread (spred) verb page 396
Photograph of cars on the roadway of a bridgePhotograph of a woman in an early kitchen re-enacting life of the early settlersWhen something spreads, it moves across a larger area. Milk spreads all over the floor when spilled.
starve (starv) verb page 396
To starve means to not have enough food to live. If you do not eat for a long time, you will starve.
A route is a path that leads somewhere. The bridge is the quickest route to the other side of the river.Settlers are people who move to a new area to live. American settlers worked hard to survive in their new homes.
Related Words: settle, settling
tool (tül) noun page 394
Photograph of a person cutting wood with a hand saw
A tool is something that makes work easier. A saw is a tool used to cut wood.

Practice the Words Make an Idea Web for each Key Word. Write the word in the center of the web. Write four things the word makes you think of in the circles. Share your webs with a partner.

Idea Web

Idea Web