Discover New Words With Grace

Lesson Plan - Get It!

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How to Be a Word Detective

When you read a story, you might come across new words. But don’t worry! There are lots of fun ways to figure out what those words mean.

You're about to learn how to become a real word detective!

Here are some super smart strategies to help you solve word mysteries.

Look at the Pictures

Pictures in a story can give you big hints about a word’s meaning. Look at this picture.

The child is holding his head and frowning while trying to finish a puzzle. That could be a clue that the word frustrated means feeling upset or stuck when something is hard to do.

Think About What You Already Know

Read this sentence: The irate toddler was yelling and stomping her feet.

• Can you guess what irate means?

You might remember a time when you were very mad and stomped your feet, too. That means irate probably means angry!

You just used your brain and your own experience to figure it out.

Use Other Words in the Sentence

Sometimes, the sentence around a word gives you big clues.

Read this sentence: They went exploring in the jungle to find wild animals.

The word exploring probably means they were looking around and finding new things.

Watch and Sing Along

• Want to remember these tips with a catchy tune?

Watch and listen to the context clues song in the video below. It will help you become a Word Detective with music!

Use a Kid-Friendly Dictionary

You can also look up new words in a dictionary made just for kids. Try this Student Dictionary for Kids. It explains words in fun and simple ways.

Try a Vocabulary Word Map

A word map is a cool tool that helps you understand a word better. It asks you to think about what the word means, what it looks like in a sentence, what words are like it, and how to draw it.

Give it a try!

Complete a word map for the word success. You can use the Vocabulary Word Maps found under Downloadable Resources in the right-hand sidebar.

When you are ready, compare your word map to the example below!

Time to Read Amazing Grace

Now, you’re ready to practice with a story!

Amazing Grace by Mary Hoffman is about a girl named Grace who loves stories.

She uses her imagination to become all kinds of characters—pirates, explorers, and even Peter Pan in a school play! But when someone tells her she can’t do something, Grace has to decide whether to believe them or believe in herself.

Listen to the story in the video below. As you read and listen, watch for these words.

• Did you like the story?
• Were you able to guess what each vocabulary word meant?

Pick one of the vocabulary words from the story and complete a word map for it. This time, make up your own sentence that helps another reader guess what the word means.

If you need help with the definitions, click below.

Now that you’ve learned how to be a word detective, it’s time to put your skills to work!

Head to the Got It? section to practice using clues, pictures, and your own thinking to figure out what words mean. Let’s go solve some word mysteries!