Do you have students that regularly come up to you and ask you, “What does this word mean?” This happens to me every year. It usually happens with students who are reading text that is either “above” their reading level or is a non-fiction book that contains Tier 3 words. Teaching context clues and how to find them serves readers well. It increases their reading comprehension and cuts down on the need to come and ask you what that the word means. Here are some engaging context clues activities you can implement in your classroom.
Videos
I’ve always found that sharing a video or a catchy tune at the start of a lesson gets students engaged. It’s also a quick and no prep way to start a lesson. I consider that a Win-Win!
- Brainpop is always a fan favorite in my classroom. I love how they cover so many different skills and kids love how quirky Moby can be. They have a context clue video that goes over how a reader can figure out the meaning of a word. They Medieval Times references are quite fun.
- Flocabulary provides a quick 2 minute video that provides examples for synonyms, antonyms, examples and explanations. They provide it in a catchy tune that your students are sure to continue to sing throughout the day.
Whole Group Lesson
Provide Practice Activities
- create a flap book that includes the definition and examples of each of the context clues
- read and sort sample sentences by the context clues shown in the sentence
- work on some context clues task cards
- practice figuring out the meaning of words through context clue worksheets
- A new fan favorite are Context Clue Boom Cards. These digital task cards are just so easy to use. There is no prep involved, and they’re self-checking.
- Want to make it even more engaging? Provide the students with mini magnifying glasses and tell them they will be looking “closely for clues.”
- A more challenging activity, and one that will really get students thinking and applying their knowledge, is to give them different vocabulary words along with the definition and part of speech. You can even use your weekly vocabulary words. Then, have your students use the words in a sentence. Want to bump up the challenge even further? Challenge them to write four sentences for each word you assign to them. Have them use a definition, examples, a synonym, and an antonym.
Lastly, incorporating an engaging whole group review lesson is a fun way to gauge who is able to apply the skills and who will need a little more review. This last review will get every student trying to get the correct answer, so they can participate in the game portion. This context clues football slide resource is a new fan favorite.
