Context Clues

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Context Clues

• Use context clues to help figure out the meaning
  of unknown words.

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Context Clues

• That package is too ____________ for Jenny to
  carry.

What words make sense in the sentence?
big, small, large, heavy, light
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Context Clues

• You can also figure out what an unknown word
  means.

Clearly given clue
The goats live at the timberline. A timberline
is where the trees stop growing on a
mountainside.
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More ways

• An example is given

Many animals migrate to warmer places each
autumn. For example, some hummingbirds fly to
Mexico.
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Still more ways

• The meaning is restated

The monkey out witted, or outsmarted the keeper.
Other words help describe a word
The lame elk was injured and limping.
The word has a known prefix or suffix
The team was unhappy about its loss.
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Context Clues

• While you are reading, you suddenly come to a
  word you dont know.

What does a good reader do?
A good reader might try to figure it out by
using context.
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Lets try it!

• When Abe Lincoln was a boy, he wore clothes that
  were made at home. His woolen socks were knitted
  by hand. Even the cloth for his shirts was woven
  at home. Abes breeches were made of deerskin.
  However, it is not good to wear these breeches in
  the rain. If they got wet, they shrank. Abe had a
  mark on each leg from breeches that got too tight
  in the rain.

towels, pants or bearskin
What are breeches?
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Now you try it!

• Drums rolled as the band went by. The crowd
  watched quietly. A few people were crying. Many
  wore black. Then it was time for the mayor to
  speak. He made a solemn speech. In it he told how
  much the great judge would be missed. People
  bowed their heads at the end of this serious
  speech.

What does solemn mean?
carefree, foolish, serious