Southville International School and Colleges

READING 4-SUMMER MODULE AY 2011

MODULE # 17
IDENTIFYING CONTENT WORDS AND WRITING TITLES
Name _________________________________ Date ______________________

Content or Key words are the most important words in a sentence. They are
usually nouns (name words), verbs (action words), and adjectives and adverbs that
describe things, events, or actions. Adverbs also tell how (manner), how many (number),
and when (time) an action is done.ir

In the following short paragraph about giraffes, all the underlined

Starter
words are key words.

GIRAFFE

Giraffes are the tallest animals. An adult

male may stand three times taller than a tall man.
They have long legs and a long neck but they
cannot run quickly around tall trees. Yet, their
neck has only seven bones, the same as any other
mammal. Giraffes live in the hot grasslands of
Africa and feed on leaves of shrubs and trees
during summer.

Classify the underlined words according to their parts of speech. Some

examples are given as your guide.

Nouns: giraffes, animals,___________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Verbs: stand, ______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Adjectives: tallest, adult__________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Adverbs:_any, only________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________
Reinforcer
Read the paragraph and underline all the key or content words.
Then classify them into nouns, verbs, adjectives, or adverbs.
Finally, write an appropriate title of the whole paragraph in the blank.

---------------------------------------------------
(Title)

The Ilama belongs to the camel family, but

has no hump. It stands about 5 ft (1.5m) high at
the shoulder and may weigh twice as much as a
man. Long, thick hair keeps it warm on the cold
slopes of the Andes Mountains in South America,
where it lives.
All Ilamas come from wild ancestors who
were tamed at least 4,500 years ago by the Incas.
Today, South American Indians still use Ilamas to
carry heavy loads. They make clothes and ropes
from the Ilama’s wool and candles from its fat.

Content or Key Words

Nouns: _____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Verbs: _____________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

Adjectives: _________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Adverbs: ___________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________
Challenger
Read the paragraph and underline all the key or content words.
Then classify them into nouns, verbs, adjectives, or adverbs. Finally, write an
appropriate title of the whole paragraph in the blank.

---------------------------------------------------
(Title)

Dragons are storybook monsters, but

once upon a time many people believed
that they really lived. Artists showed them
as huge snakes or lizards with wings of skin
and terrifying claws. They were supposed
to breathe fire and swallow people and
animals whole.
Fighting dragons called for great
bravery. Legends tell how Hercules, St.
George, and other heroes killed these evil
monsters.
Not everyone thought dragons were
wicked. The Chinese looked upon these
creatures as gods.

Content or Key Words

Nouns: _____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Verbs: _____________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________

Adjectives: _________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Adverbs: ___________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________