3rd–4th GradeLanguage

• Usesentence-levelcontextasacluetothemeaningofawordorphrase.

• Usecontext(e.g.,definitions,examples,orrestatementsintext)asacluetothemeaningofawordorphrase.

Materials Needed

• Whiteboardanddry-erasemarker(orchalkboardandchalk)

• WordDetectiveActivityreproducible

Introduction

Inalowvoice,saytostudents,“Ifyoucanhearme,pleaseraiseyoursnooble.”

Studentswilllikelygiggleorgiveyouaquizzicallook,butsimplyrepeattheinstructionuntiloneortwostudentsbeginraisingtheirhands.Acknowledgetheircorrectresponseswithasmileornod.

Onceotherstudentsbegintocatchon,confirmthatthenonsenseword“snooble”meanthand.Askavolunteertoexplainhowsheguessedthecorrectmeaningofthenonsenseword.

Procedure

1. Explainthatgoodreadersoftenusecontextcluestodecodeunfamiliarvocabularywords.Pointoutthatotherwordsinthetextmaygivethemhintsaboutthemeaningofwordstheydonotknow.

2.Displayafewexamplesentencesontheboardtodemonstratetheuseofcontextcluesindecodingwordmeanings,suchas:

•Theangrydogbarkedferociously,scaringtheyoungkitten.

•Afterstudying,Tomisoptimistichewilldowellonthetest.

•Thecourageousexplorerclimbedthedangerousmountain.

3.Remindstudentsthattheotherwordsinthesentence,orcontextclues,willgivethemanideaofwhatthewordsmean.

4.Invitevolunteerstotrytodecodethemeaningoftheunderlinedwords.Thenhavethemcomeuptotheboardandcircleotherwordsinthesentencethatservedascontextclues.(Forexample,inthefirstsentence,theymightcircletheword“angry”or“scaring”becausethesewordsindicatethatthedog’sbarkwasferocious.)

Guided/Independent Practice

1. Declareallofyourstudentsworddetectives!DistributeacopyoftheWordDetectiveActivityreproducibletoeachstudent.

2.Havestudentsworkwithapartnerorinasmallgroup.Instructthemtoreadtheparagraphtogetherandusecontextcluestodiscoverthemeaningofthenonsensewords.

3.Encouragestudentstowritethemeaningofeachwordandlistallofthecontextcluesthathelpedthemdecodethecorrectmeaningoftheword.

©Lakeshore www.lakeshorelearning.com

Directions: Read the passage below. Use context clues to decode the meaning of the underlined nonsense words.

Thebigyellowschoolgleekpulledtoastopatthecorner.Thedriveropenedthedoor,andIclimbedupthestepstogetonboard.Iwalkeddownthenarrowzupherlookingforanemptyseat.ThenIsawmyfriendJackwavingtomefromthelastrow.“Overhere,Nate!”heyelled.Inoddedandmademywaytowardhim.Itookmynorjotfilledwithbooksandplaceditundertheseat.ThenIploppeddownbesidehimandenjoyedtheridetoblat.

Gleekprobablymeans___________.Thecluewordsthathelpedme

decodethisnonsensewordare:___________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Zupherprobablymeans______________.Thecluewordsthathelped

medecodethisnonsensewordare:_______________________________

_____________________________________________________________

Norjotprobablymeans___________________.Thecluewordsthat

helpedmedecodethisnonsensewordare:_______________________

_____________________________________________________________

Blatprobablymeans__________________.Thecluewordsthathelped

medecodethisnonsensewordare:_____________________________

_____________________________________________________________©Lakeshore www.lakeshorelearning.com