Determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases
I can use the overall meaning of a sentence/paragraph to determine...
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General
In this lesson, students will learn how to use context to figure out unknown words. They will read several sentences and passages to practice determining the meanings of words.
Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.6.4a
Learning objective
Students will be able to use the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph to determine the meaning of an unknown word or phrase.
Introduction
Review that authors often give their readers ways to interpret unknown words. Explain that one of the ways is a glossary. Students will read a passage and use the provided glossary to determine the meaning of the bolded word. Discuss why it is important to understand words and their deeper meanings in texts.
Instruction
Explain that context is the larger setting, situation, or set of circumstances involved in a text. Next, students will read a passage about making spaghetti and identify the context. They will also read sentences and use context to determine the meaning of the words, "peculiar" and "catastrophe."
Students will then read longer examples and determine the meaning of words, like "knackered." They will also each write a paragraph with a word their classmates might not know. They will read a few more sentences for quick practice.
Quiz
Students will respond to ten true/false and multiple-choice questions.
Closing
Students will recall what they learned:
- Why is identifying unknown words and phrases important?
- What are the different strategies you have for identifying unknown words and phrases?
Lastly, students will invent their own words with their own definitions. They will write a paragraph that would allow the reader to figure out the meaning of the word.
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