Contributor: Jennifer Blanchard. Lesson ID: 13921
Did you know that each book is like a scavenger hunt full of new words? The author leaves clues in the book to help readers figure out what certain words mean! Try it out for yourself in this lesson!
Let's start with a trivia question!
Without any clues, it can be hard to figure out what a word means.
It is a good thing, then, that authors DO give clues to help you figure out the meaning of words they know might be tricky or difficult for readers! That is what this lesson is all about.
No! It is important to understand all the words in a text!
When you are reading and come across a word you don't know, there are ways to figure out its meaning.
You can always stop reading and look the word up in a dictionary, but that will pull you away from the text.
Sometimes, the author will tell you directly what the word means. If not, you can look for context clues to the word's meaning.
Context clues are hints you can find around the word you do not know in order to figure out what it means yourself.
Here are some ways to use context clues:
For more tips on how to use different types of clues in a text, watch Context Clues | English For Kids | Mind Blooming:
When reading, you can use context clues to understand any word you do not know.
However, there are two common types of words that pop up while reading. Let's take a look at those!
Academic Words | Domain-Specific Words | ||||
♦ | Academic words are found in your schoolwork. | ♦ | Domain-specific words are found when reading about a specific topic. |
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♦ | You will come across these words while reading about any subject or topic. | ♦ | You will come across these words while reading about a particular subject. |
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Examples: | Examples (about food): | ||||
♦ | examine | ♦ | nourishment | ||
♦ | develop | ♦ | roux | ||
♦ | construct | ♦ | cuisine |
When you are ready to try using context clues, head over to the Got It? section!
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