Transcript Word Study - Mrs. Hutchinson

Word Study
HOW DO YOU FIGURE OUT
WHAT A WORD MEANS IN A
SENTENCE IF YOU DON’T KNOW
WHAT THE WORD IS?
Using the Context of a Sentence
 Context is a noun (n)
 The definition of context is: the surroundings,
circumstances, environment, background or settings
which determine, specify, or clarify the meaning of
an event.
 So when we use CONTEXT to figure out the meaning
of a word, we are use the words in the surrounding
sentence to clarify the words meaning.
There are four different types of context clues
 General
 Directive
 Nondirective
 Misdirective
Directive Context Clues
 Directive context clues direct the readers to the
meaning of the word through evident and useful
clues.
 They may provide the definition of the word or an
explanation of the term in simpler words in the
sentence
 EX: The large, very big, monkey stole my lunch and
ate it with authority.
General Context Clues
 General context clues offer minimal information
about the word.
 The author may restate a terms definition in simpler
terms or give the synonym to the word.
 EX: I had a myriad of strategies to teach reading,
such a plethora I cannot decide where to start.
Misdirective Context Clues
 Misdirective context clues have sentences that tend
to suggest the opposite of what the context might
appear to imply given word meanings.
 The author will provide an antonym or contrasting
term.
 EX Will, who always obeyed his parents and made
every effort to show them respect, appeared
indifferent to all that his mother said.
Nondirective Context Clues
 Nondirective context clue offer no help.
 The author offers a general sentence or a gist of the
meaning so there is not a lot of context to use to
figure out the meaning of the word.
 EX: The first thing one noticed about Frances was
her inscrutability.
Pictures of You
 In the selection Pictures of You, which follows this
slide, the author Guang-Shing Cheng helps us infer
the meaning of the word perception.
 After reading the piece discuss with your neighbor
what you think the word perception means.
 What type of context clues does Cheng use to help us
understand what the word perception means?
Perception
 Perception is a noun (n)
 The definition of the word perception is:
 Conscious understanding of something.