Teaching the Use of Context Clues
Source: Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall
Topics: Elementary School, Middle School, Reading Building Blocks, Reading Comprehension
The main goal when providing instruction in using context clues is to help the student make guesses about an unknown word and its meaning that make sense with the words around it. This can be done by placing an unknown word in a passage at the student’s independent or instructional reading level and demonstrating how the words surrounding the unknown word can be used to make guesses about what the unknown word is and what it means.
It appears that many students develop the use of context clues without explicit, direct instruction. Therefore, independent reading time can help such students develop and refine their use of context clues. Independent reading time can serve as an indirect instructional approach for developing a student’s use of context clues. Using the word-attack strategy shown below should enhance the development of context clue use during independent reading.
Word-Attack Strategy:
When you come to a word you don't know:
- Say the beginning sound.
- Read the rest of the sentence. THINK
- Say the parts that you know. GUESS
- Ask someone or skip it and go on.
Excerpted From:
© 2009, Allyn & Bacon, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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