RE075f
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Reading Standard 5.f - Level 7
Locate meanings and pronunciations of unfamiliar words using dictionaries, glossaries, or other sources.
Standard in Kid Friendly Language
You will be able to find the meanings and pronunciations of different unfamiliar words with the help of dictionaries, glossaries (a list of difficult words with their definitions usually found at the end of a book), and other sources.
Standard Unwrapped
KNOW Students will know that there are several ways to find the meanings of words they do not understand.
ABLE TO DO Students will be able to locate meanings of unfamiliar words in different resources.
Instructional Strategies
- Item One
At the beginning of each class period I ask my students to work on a Bell Work question, and to look up a word in the dictionary. (The "word of the day" is usually related to the text discussed in class or picked out randomly by me). To look up the word by themselves gives students practice in using the dictionary, while visualizing the word will help them better acquire it. After finding the word I tell them which meaning(s)they should put down. After putting down the definition or synonym I give them a model sentence. These two steps are sometimes alternated. (Sometimes I tell students a sentence first and they are asked to deduct its meaning). Students also have to produce a sentence with the new word or draw a picture related to the word. I ask some students to read their sentences and then the whole class has to repeat a couple of times the new vocabulary item. Bell work and Word of the day is collected at the end of every week and I give credits for them every second week. I found this activity as an effective tool in locating meanings and pronunciation as well as in having students immediately focus on class work right after the bell rings.
- Item Two
Before staring to read, or listen to a CD and follow along a story, I prefer pre-teaching vocabulary by eliciting word meanings in various ways (context clues, idioms, similes, metaphors, antonyms, description, acting out, etc.). If time allows I do several guided and individual practices on new vocabulary. Sometimes I distribute presumed unfamiliar words and have students look their meanings up in the dictionary. (Read item two to see the effectiveness of this method.) Before reading a short story from the text book I recall students' attention to stop whenever they come to a word that has a number or an asterisk above it and check its meaning at the bottom of the page (in the footnote).
- Item Three
In order to acquire a new word students need a lot of practice and need to be exposed to the word as much as possible. I try to make sure that I repeat the taught word several times throughout the year and require students to use them.
- Item Four
I encourage ELL and multilingual students to look up the unfamiliar words in bilingual dictionaries and put them down in a separate notebook devoted to vocabulary items. I also ask them to try to memorize them and apply them whenever they find them relevant in speech and/or in assignments. (See "Resources" for online bilingual dictionaries!)
Assessment Strategies
Formal assessment
Students are asked to identify the meanings of words and be able to use them correctly.
Resources
[Online dictionary with audible pronunciation]
Projects and Activities
Match words with meanings
Unscramble words
Fill in the blanks
Crossword puzzles
Compose sentences by using recently studied unfamiliar words
Write a short story using a list of recently learned words
Find the vocabulary related to a specific topic or area
