Lesson 12: Context Clues
Duration of Days: 1
Lesson Objective
After rereading and discussing a model of close reading, students will be able to use context clues, such as definition, comparison, contrast, and examples, to clarify the meanings of words.
Checklist for Context Clues:
In order to use context as a clue to infer the meaning of a word or phrase, note the following:
- clues about the word’s part of speech
- clues in the surrounding text about the word’s meaning signal words that cue a type of context clue, such as:
--for example or for instance to signal an example context clue
--like, similarly, or just as to signal a comparison clue
--but, however, or unlike to signal a contrast context clue
To determine the meaning of a word or phrase as they are used in a text, consider the following questions:
-What is the overall sentence, paragraph, or text about?
-How does the word function in the sentence?
-What clues can help me determine the word’s part of speech?
-What text clues can help me figure out the word’s definition?
-Are there any examples that show what the word means?
-What do I think the word means?
-To verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of the word or phrase based on context, consider the following questions:
Does the definition I inferred make sense within the context of the sentence?
-Which of the dictionary’s definitions makes sense within the context of the sentence?
RL/I.8.1, RL/I.8.4, L.8.4.A, L.8.4.D, SL.8.1.A, SL.8.1.C, SL.8.2
DOK 2, 3, 4
Text Chunking
Guiding Questions
Sentence Starters & Response Frames
Small Group Support
Graphic Organizers
Visual Glossary
Modeling
Think-a-Louds
Quiz questions, Open-Ended Response Questions, Discussion and Notes
StudySync Skill Lesson on Context Clues