Find words using context
Key Notes:
Understanding Context
Definition: Context refers to the words, phrases, or sentences surrounding an unknown word that help determine its meaning.
Types of Context:
- Immediate Context: Words or sentences directly around the unfamiliar word.
- Broader Context: The overall theme or subject matter of the text.
Context Clues
Definition: Hints or information in the text that help define or explain an unfamiliar word.
Types of Context Clues:
Definition Clues: The text provides the definition of the unknown word.
- Example: “The mammal is an animal that gives birth to live young, such as a lion or a whale.”
Synonym Clues: The text uses a word with a similar meaning.
- Example: “The gorgeous sunset painted the sky with beautiful colors. The sunset was truly breathtaking.”
Antonym Clues: The text provides a word with the opposite meaning.
- Example: “Unlike her cheerful brother, she always seemed melancholy and sad.”
Example Clues: The text provides examples that help infer the meaning.
- Example: “The dormant volcanoes, such as those found in Hawaii, have not erupted for hundreds of years.”
Inference Clues: The meaning is suggested through the overall sense of the sentence or passage.
- Example: “She felt a sense of trepidation as she approached the dark, empty house, knowing that something was amiss.”
Steps to Find Words Using Context
- Read Around the Word: Look at the sentences before and after the unfamiliar word.
- Identify Clues: Look for definition, synonym, antonym, example, or inference clues.
- Predict Meaning: Based on the clues, guess the meaning of the word.
- Verify Understanding: Re-read the sentence or passage to see if the guessed meaning makes sense in context.
Practice Activities
- Context Clue Exercises: Provide sentences with underlined words and ask students to use context clues to infer their meanings.
- Reading Comprehension Passages: Include passages with unfamiliar words and have students identify context clues and meanings.
- Discussion: Encourage students to explain how they arrived at the meaning of a word using context clues.
Importance of Context Clues
- Enhances Vocabulary: Helps students expand their vocabulary by understanding new words.
- Improves Reading Comprehension: Allows students to grasp the meaning of texts more effectively.
- Builds Analytical Skills: Develops critical thinking by analyzing text for meaning.
Let’s practice!
Some of the most important inventions were not designed to achieve extraordinary feats, but rather to help people with mundane tasks. Josephine Garis Cochrane’s invention, for example, has spared people many hours of washing dishes. In 1886, Cochrane applied for a patent for her electric dishwasher and later started a company to manufacture the labour-saving device.