LESSON TWO: Context Clues (two sessions)

                             

LESSON DESCRIPTION

Students develop vocabulary using context clues and apply decoding strategies using the “Guess the Covered Word” activity. Students practice inferring the intended message from visual media.

 

GRADE-LEVEL EXPECTATIONS

R1C         Develop vocabulary through text using context clues.

R1C         Develop and apply decoding strategies to problem solve unknown words when reading.

IL2          Identify with assistance, intended messages conveyed through oral and visual media.

 

LESSON MATERIALS

§         Source of Literature

o           Poem or text about food from a book or internet site and copy on an overhead transparency

Websites to locate a food poem

http://www.101kidz.com/poems/food.html

 

§         Supplies 

o        Various ads for food

o        Overhead Projector

 

§         Handouts provided

o        The Hungry Heart

 

§         Words to know

o        context clues

o        decoding strategies

 

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 

Students complete “The Hungry Heart” handout.            Assessment            Scoring Guide

 

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

 

  1. Discuss the story the students read/listened to yesterday.

 

Questions

for

students

What problem did the townspeople have with The Hungry Thing?

How did the townspeople figure out The Hungry Thing’s message?

 

Strategy

Explain this is called using context clues and readers sometimes have to use clues to figure out the message when they read.

 

  1. Show page three of The Hungry Thing and ask students to find the intended message from the picture. Discuss that many advertisers for food have intended messages.

 

Questions

for

Students

What does the Hungry Thing want us to know?

How can you tell this is what the Hungry Thing is trying to tell us?

 

  1. Provide examples of various ads for food or have students select a food ad from a magazine or newspaper and identify or describe the intended message for the ad.

 

Strategy

 

Students share their ideas of the intended message and allow other students to share what ideas they have that might be different.

Teacher support and modeling is essential for student understanding of this concept.

Assessment is teacher observation.

 

  1. On the board, write a statement about a food you like or what you will eat for lunch. Make sure to include a detail about the food. Example: I am going to eat pizza for lunch because I like cheese.

 

Strategy

Cover or leave a blank for the word pizza. Read the sentence for the students and ask them to guess what word could go in the blank and make sense. Once students have guessed, show the onset part of the word or the first consonant. Ask students if their guess still fits, and have them re-guess with the new clue. Show students the word.

 

Questions

for

Students

 

What word makes sense in the sentence?

What clues help us figure out what word would make sense?

What word fit in this space?

What smaller words/chunks do you see in this word?

Does this word look right/sound right/make sense?

What clues did we use to figure out the covered word? Which clue do you use most often?

 

5. Select a poem or text about food to use as a “Guess the Covered Word” activity.

 

Strategy

 

Guess the Covered Word Activity

4 Blocks Literacy Framework

Four blocks is a multi-method, multi-level literacy framework developed by Pat Cunningham and Dottie Hall of Wake Forest University and utilized by thousands of elementary classrooms. Guess the covered word provides students with the opportunity to use the context and letter-sound information to solve unknown words.

 

    • Write four-five sentences on the board, overhead or sentences strips. (Note: for older children you may want to use a paragraph from a reading selection or write one of your own).
    • Cover key word in each sentence with two sticky notes. The first sticky note covers the rime portion of the word. The second sticky note covers the onset portion of the word. Note: a rime is the first letters of a word ending at the first vowel. An onset is the rest of the word.
    • Children read the first sentence and make guesses for the covered word.
    • Teacher takes four to five guesses, listing on the board.
    • Reveal the onset.
    • Cross off inappropriate guesses.
    • Accept three to four more guesses based on the onset.
    • Reveal the entire word
    • Read the sentence and return to step one for the next sentence.
    • Continue until all the covered words have been revealed.

 

Source: http://www.k111.k12.il.us/lafayette/fourblocks/guess_covered_word.htm


 

Idea

 

Make an overhead of the selected text

Choose four-five words to cover so that students will need to guess these words. Sticky notes work well for this activity. Cover the onset and rime separately so you can easily uncover the onset first.

 

Idea

 

If a poem is not available: write sentences such as the following. Have the students guess the hidden word.

  1. My favorite breakfast is scrambled eggs and bacon.
  2. On a cold day I like to eat tomato soup and grilled cheese.
  3. At the movies I always get buttered popcorn and a coke.

 

Idea

 

You might like to extend the lesson by giving students the chance to do the following activities:

§         create an advertisement for a food item using a video or skit.

§         students could choose magazine advertisements to cut out and glue on paper. They can write the intended message of the advertisement.