CONTEXT

CLUES in
understanding
VOCABULARY
Strategies for
Do NOW
making sense
of unfamiliar
words
In pairs, read the passage below and
determine the most accurate word for
each of the nonsense words
Read the Today, they made us experiment with plezzing froov.
following First, we had to get a prond from the mev and put it on
paragraph and see the pratel. Then, we made sure the durst was just right,
so that the froov would not plez over. You also had to
if you can figure be careful, if you dursted the froov too high, you may
out the meaning get zunked. Unfortunately, one of the students did not
listen and over dursted the froov and it began plezzing
of the words in out of the prond. The student got badly zunked and
bold. had to go to the Vacner.
 What strategies did
Discuss you use to work
out these words
 There are 5 major strategies you can use to work
out an unfamiliar word
Inference

Definition
CONTEXT
CLUES Examples

Antonyms

Synonyms
 Definition: Example
Words are not directly
Since it was raining
stated in the text, but outside, I used my bumbe
to keep from
Inference definitions of unfamiliar
getting wet.
words can be assumed
by what you know +
what you read.
 The unfamiliar word is The ranivorous hawk, an
directly defined in the animal that eats frogs,
sentence in which it is found in central and
Definition: appears.
eastern Africa.
Definitions are usually set
off by commas or dashes.
Includes the words: as, or,
that is, and in other words.
 Definition:
An example of the sentence
is in the sentence or the
nearby sentences.
Examples Example:
Riccardo is so supercilious.
He is always bragging about
how much better he is than
everyone else.
 Definition: Example:
Words with similar meanings
Unlike Jen, who was
are used within the opposite
easygoing, Jackie
Antonym sentence, or around the was fastidious
unfamiliar word. Fastidious means...
Uses words like: whereas,
unlike, as opposed to, however,
in contrast to, but, on the other
hand.
 Definition:
Words with similar meanings are used
within the same sentence, or around
Synonym/ the unfamiliar word.
Restatement
Example:
In class, Julia was so cantankerous that her
grumpy behaviour negatively affected
everyone.
 Complete the
worksheets and
Your Turn compare your
answers with
your partner