Lesson Summary:The teacher pre-assesses students by having themfind three words that best fit three sentences. He or she then shows students how to replace unknown words with blanks in order to help them figure out the meaning of those unknown words. Students practice using this strategy on their own by discovering the meaning of 8 unknown words in a passage. Advanced learners write their own sentences using each “unknown” word from the Independent Practice worksheet. Their sentences should have context clues to help readers figure out the meaning of those words. Struggling learners learn a set of steps they can use to discover the meaning of unknown words.
Lesson Objectives:
The students will know…
- that writing often contains context clues for difficult vocabulary words.
- that context clues can help a reader understand difficult vocabulary words.
- recognize context clues.
- use context clues to determine the meaning of difficult vocabulary words.
Students will be assessed on the following scale:
4 - Proficient / 3 – Very Good / 2 – Good / 1 – Poor / 0 – Very Poor
Student has mastered the topic. / Student has done well and with a little more practice will master the topic. / Student needs much more practice to master the topic. / Student has little idea of what the topic is about. / Student cannot grasp the main idea of the topic being taught.
Learning Styles Targeted:
Visual / Auditory / Kinesthetic/Tactile
Pre-Assessment: Project the Pre-Assessment PowerPoint*, and have students jot down on a sheet of paper the three words they think best fill in the blanks. Take up the student papers as they finish, and use the assessment scale to keep track of how proficient each student has become with using context clues.
Whole-Class Instruction
Materials Needed:IntroPhoto PowerPoint*, Guided Practice PowerPoint*, computer and projector, 1 copy of the Independent Practice* per student, 1 writing utensil per student
Procedure:
1)Project the picture in the IntroPhoto PowerPoint. Ask students, “Which holiday is this family most likely celebrating?” Once they say “Thanksgiving,” ask them to show clues that helped them figure it out. Students may point out things like the turkey, the fall decorations, and the variety of sides. Explain that they have just used clues to figure out an unknown and that they do the exact same thing when they use context clues to find the meaning of an unknown word.
2)Project the sentences in the first slide of the Guided Practice PowerPoint. Point out that these are the same sentences from the pre-assessment activity, but instead of blanks, there are advanced words that they might not know the meaning of. Explain that replacing these unknown words with blanks will help them figure out the meaning of the unknown words.
3)Demonstrate this by replacing the word “candid” in the first sentence with a blank. Then, guide students in looking for clues to figure out a word that would best belong in the blank. Students should understand that Peter must be the most “honest” person Sandy knows because she goes to Peter to hear the truth. Therefore, readers can come to the conclusion that “candid” means “honest.” Repeat this exercise with the remaining two sentences. Students should be able to tell that “collaborating” means “working together” and “jeopardize” means “put in danger.” Use the assessment scale to keep track of how proficient each student has become with using context clues.
4)When you see that most of the students are good at using context clues, give each student a copy of the Independent Practice to complete on his or her own.
Advanced Learner
Materials Needed:1 copy of the Independent Practice* per student, 1 clean sheet of notebook paper per student, 1 writing utensil per student
Procedure:
1)Once students have figured out the meaning of each unknown word on the Independent Practice worksheet, have students write on a sheet of paper their own sentences using each word. Their sentences should have context clues that reveal the meaning of each word.
Struggling Learner
Materials Needed:1 sheet of chart paper, 1 marker, 1 SL Worksheet* per student, 1 pair of scissors per student, 1 writing utensil per student
Procedure:
1)Before the lesson, write the following on a sheet of chart paper:
How to use context clues:
- Cover up the word.
- Look at the words around the blank.
- Think of a word that best goes with these words.
- Test out the word.
2)Have students imagine that they’re reading and they come across an unknown word. Ask them, “How do you figure out its meaning when you don’t have a dictionary?” Students should understand that they can look at the words around the unknown word for help. In other words, they can use context clues. Explain that you are going to show them some steps they can follow to use context clues. Show students the prepared sheet of chart paper and go over the steps written on it.
3)Give each student a copy of the SL Worksheet. Tell students that they are going to try to figure out the meaning of each underlined word by following the steps.
4)Have students cut out one of the blank squares next to “1)” at the bottom of the page. Show students how to use this blank box to cover up “feasible,” and then have students look at the words around the blank. Ask students to think of a word that best goes in the blank. For each answer, have students point out clues that made them choose that word. If they can prove it, then have them test out the word by writing the word on the blank box and reading the new sentence aloud. If it makes sense, then they have just found a word that means the same thing as “feasible.” Students should see that “feasible” means “possible.” Once students discover the correct definition, have them write it above “feasible.” If students need to test out more than one answer, they can cut out the remaining blank boxes next to “1).” The backs of the boxes may also be used.
5)Allow students to work independently on the remaining underlined words. Check in on their progress and reteach if necessary.
6)When students have finished, review and discuss their answers. Then, have students complete the Independent Practice worksheet.
*see supplemental resources
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