"Inside Out & Back Again" Vocabulary Study

About this resource

What's inside this resource

This is a Vocabulary Study for Inside Out and Back Again.

This product includes:

Part I: Saigon

• Vocabulary Word Lists

o WITH Definitions: Students can use this word list as a study sheet to learn the pre-defined words. (20 words, 1 page)

o WITHOUT Definitions: Assign this word list for students to define the words on their own. This can be done either as a pre-reading activity or as they read the novel using the context clues. (20 Words, 2 pages)

• Vocabulary Study Activities

o Match the word to the definition - 12 questions (1 page)

o Crossword Puzzle – 8 questions (1 page)

• Vocabulary Quiz

o Quiz: Match the word to the correct definition. (20 questions, 1 page)

Part II: At Sea

• Vocabulary Word Lists

o WITH Definitions: Students can use this word list as a study sheet to learn the pre-defined words. (20 words, 1 page)

• Vocabulary Study Activities

o Use context clues in quotes from the story to determine word meanings, then draw pictures to represent each word. (7 questions, 1 page)

o Determine which word doesn’t relate to the others and then explain how the remaining words are related. (7 questions, 1 page)

o Word Search Puzzle (8 questions, 1 page)

• Vocabulary Quiz

o Quiz: Complete the sentence with the correct vocabulary word. (20 questions, 1 page)

Part III: Alabama

• Vocabulary Word Lists

o WITH Definitions: Students can use this word list as a study sheet to learn the pre-defined words. (20 words, 1 page)

• Vocabulary Study Activities

o Match the word to the definition. (10 questions, 1 page)

o Crossword Puzzle (10 questions, 1 page)

• Vocabulary Quiz

o Quiz: Select the correct definition for each word & write sentences using vocabulary words. (20 questions, 2 pages)

Part IV: From Now On

• Vocabulary Word Lists

o WITH Definitions: Students can use this word list as a study sheet to learn the pre-defined words. (10 words, 1 page)

• Vocabulary Study Activity

o Word Search Puzzle (8 questions, 1 page)

• Vocabulary Quiz

o Quiz: Match the vocabulary words to the synonyms or related words and write a paragraph with 5 vocabulary words. (10 questions, 1 page)

ANSWER KEYS for ALL Vocabulary Practice Activities and Quizzes

What's included

Part I: Saigon — 20-word list with definitions (1 page), 20-word list without definitions (2 pages), a 12-question matching activity, an 8-clue crossword, and a 20-question matching quiz
Part II: At Sea — 20-word list with/without definitions, a 7-item context-clue picture-drawing activity, a 7-item odd-one-out activity, an 8-clue word search, and a 20-question fill-in-the-sentence quiz
Part III: Alabama — 20-word list with/without definitions, a 10-question matching activity, a 10-clue crossword, and a 2-page quiz combining definition-selection with sentence writing
Part IV: From Now On — 10-word list with/without definitions, an 8-clue word search, and a synonym-matching quiz that also asks for a 5-word paragraph
A complete answer key for every practice activity and quiz across all four parts

Resource types: Worksheets & Printables, Novel Studies

In the classroom

Teaching tips & learning objectives

Learning objectives

Define seventy vocabulary words drawn directly from Inside Out & Back Again, each tied to its exact page of first appearance.
Use context clues from the novel to infer a word's meaning before checking it against the defined list.
Apply each part's vocabulary in a matching, crossword, word-search, or sentence-writing task suited to that part.
Demonstrate vocabulary mastery on a part-specific quiz whose format changes across the four parts.

Teaching tips

Assign the WITHOUT-definitions list as a pre-reading or during-reading task, since its own directions frame it as either a pre-reading exercise or a context-clue exercise while reading.
Match each part's vocabulary study to that section of the novel — Part I's word list cites pages up to 66, so assign it before students read past that point.
Budget extra time for Part II and Part IV's closing tasks, since Part II asks students to draw pictures for context-clue words and Part IV ends with a five-vocabulary-word paragraph rather than a quick quiz.

Skills covered

Context-clue vocabulary acquisition — the WITHOUT-definitions lists direct students to infer each word's meaning from the novel's surrounding text.
Word-meaning matching and puzzle-solving — students complete matching, crossword and word-search tasks across the four parts using the same seventy words.
Applied vocabulary writing — Part III's quiz asks students to write original sentences with vocabulary words, and Part IV's asks for a five-word paragraph.

Good to know

Questions teachers ask about this resource

Does every part end with the same type of quiz?

No. The quiz format changes by part: Part I is matching, Part II is fill-in-the-sentence, Part III combines definition-selection with sentence writing, and Part IV asks students to match synonyms and write a short paragraph.