Types of Context Clues - MR. FURMAN'S EDUCATIONAL …
Types of Context Clues Definitions or synonyms- The unknown word is followed by a comma or dash and a synonym or definition. Additional clues can include words such as or, is called, that is, and in other words. This type of context clue is most often found in textbooks such as science, history and mathematics books.Example: The Aztecs are long gone, yet we know quite a bit about them today. Our knowledge comes from two sources: ethnohistory, the study of written documents, and archaeology, the study of material objects or artifacts.Concrete Examples- The unknown word is followed by an example that illustrates and clarifies a difficult concept. The example helps you identify the meaning of a new word. Words used to signal that an example will follow are such as, including, for instance, to illustrate, are examples of, and for example.Example: Antigens can be divided into two groups: foreign antigens and self antigens. Foreign antigens are introduced from outside the body. Components of bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms are example of foreign antigens that cause disease.Contrast or Antonym Clues- An opposite meaning of the vocabulary word is provided. This clue often requires students to catch and understand the signal word. The contrast or antonym clue often appears in the same sentence or subsequent sentencesExample: Chad is calm and quiet, but his brother is boisterous.Description Clues- This context clue describes what a word means and provides word meaning upon further reading.Example: In Vermont, Natalia was Henry’s liaison with the world; she retains that function here, dealing with publishers, reporters, readers, harassers. I doubt if Alex has picked up a ringing telephone in decades.Words or Phrases that Modify- Modifiers-such as adjectives, adverbs or phrases and clauses can often provide clues to the meaning of an unfamiliar word. Making an inference upon reading the information following the unknown word will assist the reader with identifying the meaning of the unknown word.Example: It is a remote place, and divided from the rest of the world by a great forked range of mountains on the north and west; by wasteland on the south and east, a region of dunes and thorns and burning columns of air; and more than these by time and silence.Conjunctions Showing Relationships- This context clue begins with a conjunction to show the relationship between words. This will allow the reader to link unfamiliar words to familiar ones. Coordinating conjunctions include and, but, or, nor, for, and yet. Common subordinating conjunctions include since, because, even though, if, just as, when, whenever, until and although.Example: People often ask me if I discipline myself to write, if I work a certain number of hours a day on a schedule.**This is different from a definition/synonym clue because the unknown word is not immediately followed by a comma and conjunctions are present.Unstated or Implied Meanings/Gist Clues- The reader is required to draw on personal experience of similar situations and make an inference to identify unknown word. This type of clue is the most subtle type of clue an author provides to the reader. Sometimes readers must read an entire passage and think about additional information from the text before they can understand the meaning of the word. The unknown word will not be defined or restated and no antonym will be offered. Example: John burst out of the woods and found himself at the edge of a precipice. Clinging to a boulder, he gazed down dizzily at the blue ribbon of river below.**Readers must realize “if he’s gazing down and therefore he is up high. And, if the river looks like a blue ribbon he must be very high. Boulders are very big rocks, usually on mountains. A precipice must be someplace high, on a mountain, at the edge of something where you can see over to what’s below.”Beers, Kylene. When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2003.Burke, Jim, Ron Klemp, and Wendell Schwartz. Reader’s Handbook: A Student Guide for Reading and Learning. Wilmington, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2002. ................
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