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

4. Partner Practice
Divide students into pairs or trios. Have them read passages from informational texts together, recording any challenging words and collaboratively applying the four steps of using context. Once students are finished, ask them to share the words they found and provide examples of how they used context effectively. This type of peer collaboration is a fun way to incorporate speaking and listening into the text-based process of looking for and using context clues to determine meaning.

5. Strategy Swap
Present other strategies that readers use when encountering a new word. Explain that in addition to context, readers can think about a word’s parts (prefix, root/base word, suffix) and use resources—such as a dictionary or thesaurus—to determine the word’s meaning. Present examples where context does not work effectively, and have students apply these other methods. By encouraging flexible thinking and persistence, you are helping your students develop habits of mind that will benefit them beyond the walls of the classroom. Exposure to vocabulary in context is critical to the development of language and literacy, yet empowering students to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words by using context clues is just one element of vocabulary instruction. Students "own" words that they can:

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  Read or hear in multiple and repeated rich contexts
  
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  Define and determine in relation to other words
  
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  Connect to known information or personal experience
  
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  Use and manipulate in expressive language activities
  

Every time you give your students an opportunity to identify and determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in context, you reinforce the value of reading as a portal to a world of knowledge. Even if students sometimes miss the target in assigning word meaning, they are increasing their awareness of and interest in words and their meanings. How do you create a vocabulary-rich classroom? Share your tips and celebrate your students' successes in the comments below!

Whether you teach middle school or high school, one of the best methods of vocabulary instruction is teaching new words straight from what your students are reading.
Here are a few helpful ideas, but we'd love to hear yours, too! Let us know in the comments.
Teaching Vocabulary from Literature