Context Clues and Its Impact to Students' Learning
CONTEXT CLUES Learning how to guess words you don't know is an important skill. Nobody wants to look every word up in a dictionary! If you learn how to guess the unfamiliar words in sentences, then you won't have to read with your dictionary open all the time!
4 TYPES OF CONTEXT CLUES 1. Examples 2. Synonyms and definitions 3. Antonyms and contrast 4. Experience or sense of the sentence
HOW TO GUESS WORDS IN CONTEXT
The snake slithered through the grass. He was hunting.
You must discover what slithered means by using logic. Here are your choices, and the analysis A) stopped moving INCORRECT: the sentence above says THROUGH the grass. 'Through' means there is some movement. B) slept in the grass INCORRECT: the sentence above says he is hunting. Snakes don't sleep when they hunt. C) ate something INCORRECT: the sentence above says he is hunting. Snakes don't eat when they are hunting. They eat AFTER they hunt. D) moved or traveled CORRECT ANSWER: the sentence above says THROUGH the grass. 'Through' means that there is movement.
READING COMPREHENSION Some students are able to sound out words although they do not know what the words mean. In the real sense, this is not reading. What the students do is nothing but word calling. When one reads, there must be comprehension; otherwise, no reading takes place.
Comprehension takes place when there is communication between the author and the reader. In plain language, it is understanding of what the author has written.
Noting Details Noting details is a factual type of reading comprehension in which the reader is directly concerned with remembering items within the passage.
Practice in Noting Details
1Today I visited the zoo in my front yard. 2Many people pass by this zoo without ever seeing it, because you have to get down on your knees. 3I looked under the bush by my front door and saw an ant
4 TYPES OF CONTEXT CLUES 1. Examples 2. Synonyms and definitions 3. Antonyms and contrast 4. Experience or sense of the sentence
HOW TO GUESS WORDS IN CONTEXT
The snake slithered through the grass. He was hunting.
You must discover what slithered means by using logic. Here are your choices, and the analysis A) stopped moving INCORRECT: the sentence above says THROUGH the grass. 'Through' means there is some movement. B) slept in the grass INCORRECT: the sentence above says he is hunting. Snakes don't sleep when they hunt. C) ate something INCORRECT: the sentence above says he is hunting. Snakes don't eat when they are hunting. They eat AFTER they hunt. D) moved or traveled CORRECT ANSWER: the sentence above says THROUGH the grass. 'Through' means that there is movement.
READING COMPREHENSION Some students are able to sound out words although they do not know what the words mean. In the real sense, this is not reading. What the students do is nothing but word calling. When one reads, there must be comprehension; otherwise, no reading takes place.
Comprehension takes place when there is communication between the author and the reader. In plain language, it is understanding of what the author has written.
Noting Details Noting details is a factual type of reading comprehension in which the reader is directly concerned with remembering items within the passage.
Practice in Noting Details
1Today I visited the zoo in my front yard. 2Many people pass by this zoo without ever seeing it, because you have to get down on your knees. 3I looked under the bush by my front door and saw an ant