Socratic Seminar | Context Clues Word Analysis

HEAR IT THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE

Context clues: Contextual clues used when deducing word meanings; logical clues that provide students with surrounding words that gives clues to the meaning of the unknown word or comprehension based on the complete passage (Holistic) in which a word is found.

Word Analysis also refers to knowledge of the meanings and spellings of prefixes, root words, and suffixes. Word Analysis instruction can be very effective in helping beginning-advanced readers learn to read with understanding and deduce the meaning of unknown words.

Purpose

Students use context clues to investigate and deduce the meaning of

unknown words. Students share word analysis strategies and predictions about the meaning of words with peers in a gallery setting. The context clues word analysis seminar involves small-group collaboration, while making individuals responsible for the learning of word investigation strategies.

What is the meaning of …in this passage/sentence?

What are the context clues around the word?

What other words can help you deduce its meaning?

Does the mystery word have a negative or positive connotation?

Can you locate a simile/metaphor/idiom to help you predict the meaning?

Does the author compare or contrast ideas around the unknown word?

Does the author use synonyms or antonyms as clues?

What strategies can you use to help you find the meaning of the word?

What is the main idea of the phrase?

Procedure

1. Divide students into cooperative groups, groups vary depending on the number of mystery words “internment“ and their associated passages. Teachers can explicitly model all the tasks, steps and products “Anchor Charts” or the better choice is use the seminar as a problem-based learning activity

The internment of Japanese Americans in the United States during World War II was the forced relocation and incarceration in camps in the interior of the country of between 110,000 and 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry who had lived on the Pacific coast. Sixty-two percent of the internees were United States citizens.

2. Assign each cooperative group a mystery words and the associated passages. I use EOG End-of-Grade released reading tests that are grade level or above. I select a word-analysis test question that requires students to use contextual clues. Leave out the multiple choice answers until the end of the seminar if you use a released test.

3. Provide each cooperative group with additional materials they want or need to further improve their word study research. A Thesaurus, Root Words & Base Words Anchor Charts, and Latin and Greek Affixes Prefixes Suffixes Anchor Charts! No Dictionaries!

4. Allow time for teams to read, analyze and talk about the context clues. Students can share predictions, background knowledge about the words meaning that may be new to other students. Using background knowledge, anchor charts, and the thesaurus will help students build brand new knowledge. Have each group create a new anchor chart with key context clues, the words predicted meaning and an artistic representation of the meaning of the word. Extensions: Students can create a fictitious etymology and denotation.

History (from Greek hismanicus and storiticus “Man Story”)   an umbrella term that relates to past events as well as the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about man events. The term includes cosmic, geologic, and organic history, but is often generically implied to mean man history. Scholars who wrote about history in the past were called manstorians or liars. Fictitious Etymology

5. Each student must participate in the word analysis process, each student needs to construct their own meaning of the word, be it right or wrong. The seminar is not about comprehending the meaning of new words but the process of word analysis. The artistic representation of the meaning of the word and the student deduced denotations are artifacts that demonstrate thinking. Students need to find fun ways effectively present information and learning from wrong examples is at times more powerful than presenting the correct information. Allow time for the teams to help one another finish and complete their anchor charts with the key context clues, the words predicted meaning and an artistic representation of the meaning of the word.

6. Display the students anchor charts around the room or in the hallways. Leave the anchor charts up for the day before you check the words true meaning.

7. Students are given time to do a gallery-walk, they go around the room and read other teams mystery words, paired text and examine the student created anchor charts.

Extensions: A team member that helped create the anchor can present the important information during the gallery-walk.

8. The cooperative groups are assigned a different team’s anchor chart to investigate; they will scrutinize the fidelity of the ideas presented. The team’s new job is to see if the meaning of the word correct!

Extensions: Gives students an entry/admit ticket with a question, 4th-grade Exemplars: What does internment mean?  

9. After all the groups have revisited each anchor charts, debrief students.

Debrief questions:

A. Did you deduce the correct meaning of the word?

B. What was your favorite part of this seminar?

C. What role did collaboration play in your understanding?

D. Why was this activity challenging or fun?

E. What was your biggest “a-ha” and  “oh-no” during the seminar?

F. How was your learning enhanced by this seminar?