Intro to Context Clues - Monday 3/14

Standard:

Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by
using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized
reference materials, as appropriate.
I Can Statement:
L 4.4 I can use context clues to determine the meaning of a word.
Vocabulary:
Context clues, manufactures, veterinarians, courteous, summit, generous, gradual, conquer, trembled,
exhausted, prevented, attempted, inhale, anticipation, precision, lyrics, desperation, valiant, defective,
escaped, jolted, beamed, remarkable
Materials:
Anchor chart
Whiteboards for each student
Markers for each student
Reading on auditions (teachers pay teachers)
Doc cam
1 multiple choice sheet on replacing words (TPT)
Computer for classical music
Instruction:
APK:
Turn to a student (Amari) and say, Amari, you are such a hobleygop. You are sitting at your desk, not
talking, with a pencil and notebook out, ready to learn. I love when you are a hobleygop.
Ask another student: Have you heard the word hobleygop before? No? Ask the student what they think
the word hobleygop means based on what I just said to Amari. (They should say something like it means a
good student, a well-behaved person, a strong listener, etc.)

Explain that the student was able to figure out what a hobleygop is because of the words around it. They
had never heard of the word hobleygop, but there were certain words around the word that helped them
figure out the meaning. We call those context clues.
TI:
Use an anchor chart to explain the different ways we can figure out a meaning of the word: definition,
antonyms, synonyms, examples, or word parts. Only have the first 4 filled out for now--we will go over
word parts a different day.

SAP:
You use context clues more than you ever realize. In fact, your brain is so programmed already to fill in
missing words. Ill show you! (Pull up powerpoint when helpers are passing out whiteboards and markers)
Explain that you are going to put up a sentence with a missing word on the board. They should then write
on their whiteboard a word that would make sense in the spot.
TI:
After they are done, explain that in that activity, we used the words around the blank to figure out what
word would make sense in the sentence. When we dont know a word, we can consider it a blank, and
use the rest of the sentence to figure out its meaning, just like we did.

SAP:
Go through the next part of the powerpoint. Have students get into AB buddies. With each sentence,
they should discuss what they think the word means. Give students 30 seconds to discuss each sentence
(play classical music in between) and then ask a pair to share. Ask them to explain the strategy they used
(from the anchor chart) to figure out the meaning.
TI:
Read the audition passage out loud. Put emphasis on unfamiliar words that are bolded and underlined.
SAP/formative assessment:
Do the multiple choice worksheet up on the doc cam. Ask students to write on their whiteboards the
multiple choice letter they think is correct.