Institute for the Professional Development of Adult Educators
Using Context Clues with Signal Words
When you come across an unfamiliar word in a text, do you skip it and move on? Practice using context clues to identify words you don't know with a thorough set of language arts lessons. The resource reinforces close reading and critical...
Curated OER
Modals and Their Meaning in Context
By focusing on an oil-related theme, learners answer questions using context clues. They assign meaning to each highlighted modal in an example sentence from a word bank of choices. (Examples of meaning choices include impossibility...
Curated OER
Child Safety
Explore reading comprehension and child safety in this young adult literacy lesson. High schoolers practice using context clues to figure out word meanings after observing a teacher model this process. They read an article about child...
Texas Education Agency (TEA)
Cognates (English III Reading)
Did you know that "30-40 percent of all words in English have a related word in Spanish?" This fact launches an interactive study of cognates appearing the same in English and Spanish. Learners demonstrate what they have learned about...
Curated OER
Word Roots 7: SPECT, STA, VERT Beginner Context Story 1
Read this paragraph out loud to your class to demonstrate pronunciation of and introduce context for the given vocabulary words. You might also use this as a cloze activity and have class members read each vocabulary word or repeat each...
Curated OER
Word Roots 2: Fin, Sed, Fer Beginner True and False 1
Emphasize proper usage of vocabulary words with this online activity. Class members read each sentence and use context clues to determine if each word has been used correctly or incorrectly. The resource provides a word list and...
Curated OER
Word Roots 2: FIN, SED, FER Beginner - Context Story 1
Promote understanding of vocabulary words with this audio recording. You or your learners click on a character image to hear a vocabulary passage read out loud. The audio recording repeats each bold word twice, giving your class a chance...
K12 Reader
What Can You Infer?
Perhaps one of the most famous and illustrative stories featuring irony, "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry provides many opportunities for learners to make inferences about its characters. After reading a short introductory passage from...
Nosapo
Reading Activity: Circle the Right
Fables can teach us about life's morals, but they are also helpful for reviewing verb tense, spelling, and word choice. Three reading passages feature well-known fables, each with several opportunities for students to circle the correct...
K12 Reader
Using Inference in Writing
What could have happened to a plane buried in snow? Have kids practice making inferences with a writing prompt for which they describe a photo without using specific key words.
Learning for Justice
Mary Church Terrell
Excerpts from an 1898 speech by civil rights activist Mary Church Terrell offers young scholars an opportunity to investigate how Black American women fought for civil rights long before Rosa Parks and the civil rights movement of the...
Grammar Net
A, An, Some, Any
Practice a, an, some, and any with a straightforward worksheet. Kids fill in the blanks for 20 sentences, using context clues and their knowledge of each word.
Brigham Young University
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead: Word Squares
Encourage your class to use a variety of strategies to learn and retain vocabulary words. The plan suggests that near the beginning of your reading of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead pupils should find words in the text that are...
Curated OER
Beowulf: Songs of Ancient Heroes
Introduce your class to epic heroes with these activities for Beowulf. After watching a video clip, taking notes on heroes, and tracking characteristics of heroism throughout Beowulf, class members retell an episode of Beowulf using a...
Curated OER
My Antonia: Magic Squares (Vocabulary Strategy)
Help your pupils discover the power of context clues by teaching the this vocabulary strategy. Designed to go with words from Willa Cather's My Antonia, this exercise focuses on having individuals use their own words to define new...
Grammar Net
For and Since
Fill in the blanks with a worksheet that focuses on for and since. As kids read 20 time-related phrases, they decide whether to use for, since, or no reply.
Grammar Net
Prepositions
Add a worksheet about prepositions and context clues to your grammar unit. As kids read 20 sentences, they fill in the blanks based on what they read and the prepositions that fit the best.
Curated OER
Super Dollar Special
Students read the Super Dollar Special. In this advertisement lesson, students read an article consider placing an advertisement in the newspaper. They work on summarizing what they've read and using context clues.
Macmillan Education
Celebrations: St Patrick’s Day
Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with a couple of fun English language exercises. After first activating students' prior knowledge about Ireland and Irish culture during a class discussion, learners work in pairs or small groups to complete a...
Curated OER
Act It Out!
An effective way to demonstrate understanding is by synthesizing one's own work. Use a creative lesson designed for a unit on Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun for small groups to show what they know about the play, its themes and...
Curated OER
Pair-Share: Constructing Paragraph Order
Young scholars write with controlled and/or subtle organization. They identify the main idea and explicit details. Students analyze paragraph and essay structure. They utilize context clues to identify organization.
Curated OER
Word Roots 6: PLIC, FAC-FIC, COGN/NOT Advanced Puzzle 1, 2, & 3
Guide your class in learning and applying Latin roots with this online activity. Learners use definitions and word roots to fill in the given blanks. This web page has features three different word roots to practice: PLIC, FAC-FIC, and...
Curated OER
Word Roots 5: NAT, TRACT, SEQU Advanced Puzzle 1, 2, & 3
Break down the connection between word roots and words with similar meanings with this resource. Learners use a list of words, a brief definition of each word, and twelve word roots with blanks next to them to fill in. They then fill in...
Curated OER
Word Roots 5: NAT, TRACT, SEQU Beginner Puzzle 1, 2, & 3
An interesting twist on vocabulary exercises, these word puzzles use word roots to show connections between different vocabulary words. This resource is complete with information about each Latin root used, a word bank, and a definition...