Tierra Davis IMB Small Group Activity March 23rd, 2017

READ 3226-002

Subject/Grade Level: Central Focus:

Reading / 5th Grade Testing Strategies Context Clues

Date submitted:
Essential Standard/Common Core Objective: 12April2017
RL.3.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are
used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language. Date taught:
23March32017
How Need Was Determined:
After observing my clinical teacher review testing strategies with the students, I noted
that using context clues to determine word meaning was a struggle for the class. My
teacher requires that while students are reading passages, it is important for them to
underline words that they are unsure of, then to use the surrounding words and phrases
to figure out the unfamiliar words meaning. When reading over the questions, students
were also required to determine the type of question that was being asked (whether it be
a question asking about supporting details, figurative language, or context clues). When
I graded the answers, or looked over the grades that students had received I noticed
how almost all of the students were answering the context clues questions incorrectly. I
mentioned it to my clinical teacher and she agreed and informed me that context clues
have been a struggle for the class since first being introduced to test taking strategies. I
then decided to have my small group focus on context clues, and really delve deeply into
different ways to figure out the answer to a given question using context clues.
Materials Needed for Instruction:
o White boards
o Dry Erase Markers
o Pencils
o France Context Clues Worksheet for Students
o France Context Clues Worksheet Key for Instructor
o My Secret Garden Context Clues Worksheet for Students
o My Secret Garden Context Clues Worksheet Key for Instructor

Intended Outcomes:
The intended outcomes of this small group activity are for students to use a combination
of prior knowledge and context clues to figure out word meaning. While focusing on
parts of speech as students prior knowledge I taught student to surrounding words and
hints to determine which part of speech (adjective, noun, verb, adverb) the unknown
word belongs to. Then, students should assess the answer choices that are given in the
question. If there are answer choices that do not match the part of speech of the
unknown word, then those answer choices can automatically be eliminated. For
example, take the sentence I have a plethora of different scarfs in my closet, there are
so many to choose from. A sample question may be What is the meaning of the word
Tierra Davis IMB Small Group Activity March 23rd, 2017
READ 3226-002
plethora? If the answer choices are a.) dog, b.) pretty, c.) excess, d.) overflowing,
students should determine that the word plethora falls under the noun category
(because of our noun rule of person, place, or thing). Students can then eliminate
answer choices b and d because b is an adjective and d is a verb which do not align
when the noun meaning that we are looking for. The intention is to teach this strategy as
a means of using context clues to figure out the meaning, hence the correct answer.
Another intended outcome is for students to use the plug in method for determining
word meaning. This method can be done by simply plugging in the answer choices in the
place of the unknown word in order to see which word works well in the sentence.
Reflection:
I really enjoyed working with this small group to help with their struggles with context
clues. After introducing the parts of speech strategy, the three students that I worked
with seemed to really understand and appreciate how beneficial that strategy when they
begin testing. It was amazing to see the light bulb turn on over their heads when I
incorporated a concept like parts of speech that they know so well with a concept like
context clues that they are struggling with. It seemed to really help with figuring out
word meaning because each student did so well when completing the France Context
Clues Worksheet and The Secret Garden worksheet. The largest challenge that I faced
when conducting this small group activity was management. When I brought the white
boards into the lesson, it became more and more difficult to maintain students
attention. Modifications that I would make to this lesson would be to create a chart prior
to the lesson reviewing the definitions of context clues and the various parts of speech. I
would also only use one dry-erase board during this activity and make it such that I had
control over it unless I was asking one specific student to write something down.