Effective
Leadership
Quality
Instruction
Student
Achievement
Teaching Tier 2
Vocabulary through
Context Clues
Student Organizers and Lesson Examples
developed by
Dr. Dea Conrad-Curry
Your Partner in Education
Contact me: 309.714.0909
[email protected]
Context Clues
 At best, 61% of unknown words can be determined
through contextual analysis (Block & Mangieri)
 At worst, 5-15% of unknown words can be
determined through contextual analysis (Nagy et al.,
1987
 What are Context Clues?
 Semantic features: aspects that give meaning and
establish similarities and differences
 Syntactic clues: order in a sentence
 Relationship of words in a sentence
 Visual images
 Reader response: absence of related prior knowledge
weakens text clues
© 2012 Partner in Education
6-Types of Context Clues
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Definition or explanation clue
The periphery or outer region, of the river was littered with container trash
from the nearby factories.
Example clue
Like road banks along an interstate highway, the periphery of the river was
littered with container trash from the nearby factories.
Restatement or synonym clue
The periphery or bank of the river was littered with container trash from the
nearby factories.
Contrast or antonym clue
The periphery of the river, unlike the water that flowed within its banks, was
littered with container trash from the nearby factories.
Inference through general context clue
The periphery of the river was littered with container trash from the nearby
factories while the fast moving water appeared clear of debris.
Internal clues: afixes, prefixes, suffixes (http://www.unit5.org/villhauer/index.htm)
The periphery of the river was littered with container trash from the nearby
factories.
© 2012 Partner in Education
3
NAME ______________________ TEXT ______________________ PAGES _______ DATE _______
How Well Do I Know These Words?
Thinking about words before learning them makes connections that will help me remember.
Word
Never
Heard
Heard or
Seen
Connotation
How I define this word
I use this
word!
periphery
gallimaufry
noxious
precocious
decorum
nefarious
erudition
4
© 2012 Partner in Education
How do Context Clues Help Build Word Meaning?
Internal Clue
General
Inference
Contrast or
Antonym
Restatement
or Synonym
Example
Context Definition
Definition or
Explanation
Word
Context
Thinking about my thinking about words.
periphery
gallimaufry
noxious
precocious
decorum
nefarious
erudition
© 2012 Partner in Education
5
Teacher Created Context Sentences
How does context help build word meaning?
1. The periphery of the river was littered with container trash from the
nearby factories while the water that rushed downstream was clear.
2. The family history was a gallimaufry of personalities: liars and
thieves, business tycoons and entrepreneurs, musicians and actors.
3. The river was full of noxious materials such as cleaning agents
from factories and pesticides from the nearby farms.
4. This third grade was full of precocious children, youngsters who
were advanced beyond their years.
5. Unlike dressing for a Halloween party or other holiday costume
soiree, when attending an office party you should behave with
professional decorum.
6. Some may not approve of the governor’s unethical behavior, but to
describe him as nefarious is to go a bit far.
7. Although her father was the college president, most credit her
advancement at the university to erudition; all acknowledge that
ignorance does not go far in higher education.
6
NAME ______________________ TEXT ______________________ PAGES _______ DATE _______
How Well Do I Know These Words?
Thinking about words before learning them makes connections that will help me remember.
Word
Never
Heard
Heard or
Seen
Connotation
How I define this word
I use this
word!
7
© 2012 Partner in Education
How do Context Clues Help Build Word Meaning?
© 2012 Partner in Education
Internal Clue
General
Inference
Contrast or
Antonym
Restatement
or Synonym
Example
Context Definition
Definition or
Explanation
Word
Context
Thinking about my thinking about words.
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