Context Clues and

Word Structure

Ms. ChristophESE ~ Intensive Reading

Words and Phrases in Context

The student selects and uses strategies to understand words and text and to make and confirm inferences from what is read, including interpreting diagrams, graphs, and statistical illustrations. (LA.A.1.4.2)

You need to be able to do the following:

Figure out the meaning of words by using context clues (looking at how the word is being used)

Draw conclusions and make inferences (put 2 and 2 together and get 4)

Read between the lines Understand, analyze, and explain

diagrams, graphs, and other illustrations

Sample Question: Context Clues

Today the provisions of the Geneva Treaty, which have been amended and expanded several times, are more commonly known as the Geneva Conventions. They provide rules about the treatment of prisoners of war, civilians, hospitals and medical transports, as well as members of the armed forces.

1. What does the word Conventions mean in this excerpt from the article on the Geneva Treaty?

a. Established customs or traditionsb. Groups of people assembling togetherc. International agreements on specific subjectsd. Members of an organization conducting business

What is a context clue?

Text that surrounds a word and gives a hint to its meaning.

Examples

Description Description: explains what the word is like.

The path to the Dead Place was torturous. It

wound through forests and zigzagged

through narrow valleys.

Comparison Comparison: likens an idea/word to what is

already known (“like” and “as” are signal words)

Those summer days stayed in his memory

indelibly, like pictures carved in stone.

Contrast Contrast: Shows the difference between

one word and the idea expressed by another word (“although,” “but,” “however,” and “yet” are signal words)

She sat mesmerized by the teacher’s lecture,

but moved on to her next class once the bell

rang.

Cause and Effect Cause and effect: meaning of a word is

found by discovering the effect of its action (“because,” “since,” “therefore,” and “consequently” are signal words)

People began a boycott of the city bus

system, therefore the buses traveled empty

while many people walked to work.

Inference Inference: the main idea of a passage helps

determine a word’s meaning

There was the shriek of a door being torn

from its hinges. Screams and barking cries of

consternation came from the television set. The

photograph of Harrison Bergeron on the screen

jumped again and again, as though dancing to the

tune of an earthquake.

Appositive Appositive: word or a phrase that is placed

next to another word in order to explain or define it.

The pilot calibrated the knobs on the

instrument panel, making small adjustments

until the plane was level.

Example Example: providing a model or sample of

an unfamiliar word to help determine its meaning

Her speech was indecipherable. (For example) No

one could understand what she said.

Word Structure Structure: using the parts of a word to

understand its meaning

Biped = an animal with two feet

(bi = two, ped= foot)

The basic parts of words are: (The structure of a word = how a word is built)

Prefix: can be considered a syllable that is attached to the beginning of the word that changes the meaning of the word.

Root or base: Refers to the essential part of the word and is where derives its meaning.

Suffix: A letter or letters added to the end of the word that can change its tense.