EngageNY
Vocabulary: Finding the Meaning of Words in Context in The Boy Who Loved Words
Here is a lesson plan that invites learners to engage in a kinesthetic activity that allows them to physically move and manipulate words in order to think about ways to understand vocabulary in context. After that activity is complete,...
Curated OER
Movie Riddles: An ESL Activity to Get Student Talking About Movies
Enjoy the thrill of the movies with this ESL activity! Not only can learners talk about their favorite films, but in creating riddles about their chosen movies, they can practice the skills of context clues and deductive reasoning. This...
Scholastic
Frindle Lesson Plan
"Who says a pen has to be called a pen? Why not call it a frindle?" Inspired by this quote from the award-winning novel written by Andrew Celements, this lesson allows children to invent their own terms for common classroom objects,...
Teach-nology
The Bike Riding Moose
What would you think if you saw a moose in a tree? Read about an impressive moose and practice using context clues with a cloze passage, which includes a word bank at the bottom of the pages for kids to reference.
Curated OER
Child Safety
Explore reading comprehension and child safety in this young adult literacy lesson. High schoolers practice using context clues to figure out word meanings after observing a teacher model this process. They read an article about child...
Curated OER
Introducing New Vocabulary Words
Using context clues, synonyms, antonyms, dictionaries, and original sentences, middle schoolers work through a new list of vocabulary words. A SMART board file guides them through the process of learning and reinforcing the words. After...
Curated OER
EEEK! A Spider!
Youngsters complete a unit of lessons based on the story "Little Miss Muffet." They predict what will happen in the story, and use context clues to look for meaning in the words. They research information about spiders using the Internet...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Miss Bindergarten Stays Home (Slate)
What is Miss Bindergarten up to now? Joseph Slate's story Miss Bindergarten Stays Home is an excellent resource for budding readers to practice five vocabulary words in context: advise, lesson, lovely, strum, and substitute. As they...
Curated OER
“The Story of an Hour” Extension Activities: Teacher’s Guide and Notes
Enhance and extend instruction of "The Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin with one or all of these ideas. You might want to cover characterization and summary, or improve understanding of context clues and irony. You can cover any...
Curated OER
Hyperbole and Idiom
Seventh graders use context clues to determine the figurative meaning of idioms and hyperboles. They practice writing idioms and hyperboles in sentences about real life situations around them. This lesson is a good way to improve variety...
EngageNY
Mid-Unit Assessment and Discussing Themes in Esperanza Rising: (Chapter 9: "Las Ciruelas/PLums")
Give this skills-based assessment halfway through your unit on Esperanza Rising. After a brief review, class members take the test, which asks them to show that they know how to analyze the novel independently. They are asked to...
Curated OER
Quick and Sticky Context Clues
Discuss strategies for defining word your young readers don't know. They read sentences with key words covered by sticky notes and guess from the context what the word might be. They peek at the first letter and guess again.
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: It's Pumpkin Time (Hall)
Looking for a Halloween-themed vocabulary activity? Study words in context using Zoe Hall's story It's Pumpkin Time, an excellent informational text for budding readers. The spooky suggested words are: buds, gather, hollow,...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse (Henkes)
Familiarize budding readers with new vocabulary in context as they listen you read Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, which can be found on YouTube if you don't have in on hand. Recommended focus words here are: considerate, creative,...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: One Tiny Turtle (Davies)
The loggerhead turtle is a fascinating species, and budding readers learn all about it in Nicola Davies' account One Tiny Turtle. This informational narrative offers excellent vocabulary in context, and you'll find guidance here to...
Curated OER
Introduce Vocabulary: Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King (Marzollo)
Looking for a vocabulary lesson relevant to MLK Day? Try this reading comprehension idea designed around Jean Marzollo's biography Happy Birthday, Martin Luther King. Go over new terms (freedom, justice, leadership, and talent) before...
Prestwick House
Vocabulary in Context: Wilderness Survival
Do you have what it takes to survive in the wilderness? A high-interest reading passage offers practical advice while incorporating vocabulary practice. Follow-up worksheets focus on skills such as defining words, making inferences, and...
K5 Learning
The Best Vacation Ever
Hang ten with a fun reading activity about a family vacation on a cruise. Fifth graders read along as Scott transfers his snowboarding skills to surfing in an engaging reading activity that includes six comprehension questions.
EngageNY
Point of View: Comparing Esperanza's and Isabel's Perspectives About Life in the Camp (Chapter 7: "Las Cebollas/Onions")
Explore point of view and more with a Common Core-designed instructional activity. Learners experience different points of view by representing one of two characters from Esperanza Rising during a partner discussion. They must use...
EngageNY
Close Reading: Becoming Experts on Specific Articles of the UDHR
A continuation of the previous lesson plan, which is part of a larger group of lessons on human rights (see additional materials). Here, in Lesson 7, your class will explore more articles from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights....
Curated OER
Word Roots 2: FIN, SED, FER Beginner - Context Story 1
Promote understanding of vocabulary words with this audio recording. You or your learners click on a character image to hear a vocabulary passage read out loud. The audio recording repeats each bold word twice, giving your class a chance...
Curated OER
Word Roots 7: SPECT, STA, VERT Beginner Context Story 1
Read this paragraph out loud to your class to demonstrate pronunciation of and introduce context for the given vocabulary words. You might also use this as a cloze activity and have class members read each vocabulary word or repeat each...
EngageNY
Continued Close Reading of Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle: Text-Dependent Questions and Vivid Words and Phrases
As 3rd graders continue reading Bullfrog at Magnolia Circle, they focus on the concepts of predator and prey in the fifth lesson plan of this unit. Scholars further develop their ability to answer questions using evidence from the text...
Curated OER
Wrinkles ESL Lesson
Practice English vocabulary and dialogue. An ELD class completes a true/false worksheet about aging and wrinkles, then read an article entitled "Wrinkles Give Clues to Bone Condition" using context clues to determine vocabulary...