Lesson : Context Clues: 5 Fun Activities to Boost Vocabulary Development

Lesson : Context Clues: 5 Fun Activities to Boost Vocabulary Development
In this lesson, students will learn tips to expand their vocabulary. Students will watch a video, answer discussion prompts, take a quiz and complete an activity.
Learning Objectives
After this lesson, students will be able to:
Discuss the benefits of an expanded vocabulary
Explain how gamification increases vocabulary
Discuss how word root structure extends vocabulary
Describe the impact of other languages on vocabulary
Course
5.1K views
Length
60 minutes
Curriculum Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.3
Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.4
Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including analyzing how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.11-12.7
Integrate and evaluate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, as well as in words) in order to address a question or solve a problem.
Materials
Hard copies of the How to Strengthen Your Vocabulary lesson and lesson quiz
Note cards / Pens / Small container / Timer / Instruction
Begin by asking students to rate their vocabulary on a scale from 1 to 10.
Allow students to share their responses and explain their rating.

Context Clues: 5 Fun Activities to Boost Vocabulary Development
In an effort to build students' academic language, educators are incorporating increasingly complex texts into their lesson plans. With College and Career Readiness standards emphasizing the acquisition and use of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases, students are encouraged to find the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary by choosing flexibly from a range of strategies. One strategy is the use of a variety of reference materials, while another involves applying knowledge of the structure of words and parts of words, such as stems, root words, prefixes, and suffixes. Here, we'll focus on helping students develop the ability to use the context of an unfamiliar word—i.e. the text surrounding it—as a clue to the word's meaning.

Comprehension is an active process that involves purposeful interaction between a reader and a text. Strategic readers think about words in context, looking for meaning and sentences that frame an unfamiliar word. With this in mind, students are often taught to follow a series of steps when they come across a word or phrase they do not know:

•