Reading skills - context clues

DAVID DUNN

INTRODUCTIONTO ACADEMICREADING

Context clues

APRIL 17, 2015 4

1. He picked up a heavy encyclopaedia from the book shelf.

2. He was riding on a pulka, a sled pulled by reindeer.

3. I played a dual role in the play. In the first act I was a teenager, and in the second act I was middle-aged.

4. Unlike his brother, who was quite friendly and lovable, Stephen was quite standoffish.

5. The child is as fragile as porcelain.

6. All the houses in the city collapsed during the earthquake.

Guess the meaning of the word in italics

Why use context clues?

Make a list of reasons why using context cluesis an excellent reading strategy.

• You can use this strategy when no one else is around to help.• It might be quicker.• It’s a strategy you will use your whole life.• It helps you understand the text better.• It helps you to remember the word better if you work it out yourself.• You don’t have to put your text down and go look it up.• You don’t have to spend time looking it up in a dictionary and trying

to understand which is the correct definition.

How to use context clues

1. Use the meaning of the other words in the sentence as a whole to reduce the number of possible meanings.

2. Use grammar and punctuation clues which point to the relationships among the various parts of the sentence.

3. Be content with a general idea about the unfamiliar word; the exact definition or synonym is not always necessary.

4. Learn to recognize situations in which it is not necessary to know the meaning of the word.

Practice exercise

APRIL 17, 2015

Read each sentence quickly and supply a word for each blank.

1. Harvey is a thief; he would __________ the gold from his grandmother’s teeth and not feel guilty.

2. Unlike his brother, who is a truly handsome person, Hogartty is quite __________.

Further practice

Now work with a partner and study the worksheetson context clues practice.

Take-home message

Using context clues can help you guess unknown words, and thereby become a more independent and efficient reader.