Context Clues: Clue Into Words

Lesson Plan - Get It!

Audio:

• Have you ever come across a word while reading that you did not know?

That happens to everyone!

However, if you can look at the text around that word in order to figure out what it means, you will have a better understanding of the material overall. You will also grow your vocabulary!

There are different strategies for figuring out unknown words. Here are a few:

• looking at illustrations
• substituting with synonyms
• looking at word parts (root words, prefixes, suffixes)

Sometimes those strategies don't work. Or, sometimes you need to use more than one strategy at once.

One of the best strategies is using context clues.

Context clues are when you make inferences to try to figure out the meaning of the unknown word by looking at the words around the unknown word.

Sometimes, there will be clues in that same sentence. Other times, there will be clues in the surrounding sentences.

Authors know which words will be tricky for readers, so they usually put hints or clues around that word to help you figure out the meaning of the new word.

Watch another video to learn more.

Let's look at an example together:

It was an idyllic day; sunny, warm, and perfect for a picnic at the beach.

• What does idyllic mean in that sentence?

I'm going to look at the words around idyllic to see if it can help make sense of it.

Hmm, I know that sunny, warm, perfect, and a picnic at the beach are normally good things. If those things are all happening on an idyllic day, idyllic must mean that it's something good.

If I check the dictionary to confirm what I think, I see idyllic is used to describe something extremely happy, peaceful, or picturesque.

Based on the context clues, we were able to come up with enough understanding to make sense of that word and sentence.

You've gotten the information; now let's try out it out in the Got It? section!