Context Clues

Context Clues

What are Context Clues?

Context clues are pieces of information in the words or sentences or illustrations that help supply the meaning of the word. 

Types of Context Clues #1

Definition–the word is defined directly and clearly in the sentence in which it appears.

“ The arbitrator, the neutral person chosen to settle the dispute, arrived at her decision.” 

Types of Context Clues #2

Antonym (or contrast)–often signaled by the words whereas, unlike, or as opposed to.

“Unlike Jamaal’s room, which was immaculate, Jeffrey’s room was very messy.”

“Whereas Melissa is quite lithe, her sister is clumsy and awkward.”

Types of Context Clues #3

Synonym (or restatement)–other words are used in the sentence with similar meanings.

“The slender woman was so thin her clothes were too big on her.

Types of Context Clues #4

Inference–word meanings are not directly described, but need to be inferred from the context.

“Walt’s pugnacious behavior made his opponent back down.”

“ The man gigged the large fish, but he needed his friend to enlarge the hole to drag it out of the frigid water.

LPR3 mnemonic

The LPR3 mnemonic is a useful aid for figuring out unknown words from context.

Look-before, at, and after the new word

Predict-quickly predict the word's meaning, remembering that a wrong prediction is often a good start

Reason-think more carefully about the word's meaning, trying to be as precise as the context clues permit

Resolve-recognize that you may need to take other steps (e.g., look it up, ask someone)

Redo­-go through the steps again if necessary

Read each of the paragraphs and figure out what each of the underlined words means. Write your answers in your notebook.

1. What does the word torix mean in this paragraph?

Your torix is made up of many bones. There are 206 bones in your torix. These bones make your shape. Because you have a torix inside of you nothing can change your shape. Without a torix your body would be shapeless. 

2. What does the word rutat mean in this paragraph?  

A rutat is a simple drawing of part or all of the earth. Most rutats are flat. Rutats show only the important details such as names of places. The rutat key explains what the rutat symbols mean. For example, a black dot may stand for a city.

3. What does the word morp mean in this paragraph?

What is today’s morp like? Is it hot, rainy, or sunny? It can be fun to make a morp chart. Record the high and low temperatures for each day of the week. Listen or watch a morp report on television or radio to get the prediction for tomorrow’s morp! 

4. What does the word feens mean in this paragraph?

John James painted many pictures of feens. He studied feens while they flew, in their nests, perched in trees, and on the ground. His artwork has been praised for how life-like his paintings of feens are. You almost expect to hear the feens chirp! 

5. What does the word praxer mean in this paragraph? 

Ben loves to drink praxer. He likes how praxer is the color of the clouds but his favorite kind of praxer is chocolate praxer. Chocolate praxer doesn’t come from chocolate cows though. It comes from regular cows like all praxer does. Ben likes to drink praxer with a sandwich or put it on his cereal in the mornings for breakfast. 

Look back at each paragraph.

Which pieces of information were most helpful in determining the meaning of the underlined words?

If you need to review this presentation again, go ahead and do it! Understanding context clues is an important reading skill!

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