USING CONTEXT CLUES TO
DERIVE MEANING IN NOVEL
WORDS
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Presentation by Dr. Dea Conrad-Curry
Your Partner in Education
Vocabulary Acquisition
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Stages of word knowledge (Dale 1965)
Never saw it before
 Heard it—no knowledge of meaning
 Recognizes in context
 Knows it well: uses in conversation and or
writing

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NAME ______________________ TEXT ______________________ PAGES _______ DATE _______
How Well Do I Know These Words?
Thinking about words before learning them makes connections that will help me remember.
Word
Never
Heard
Heard or
Seen
Connotation
How I define this word
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I use this
word!
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How do Context Clues Help Build Word Meaning?
Word
connotation
Thinking about my thinking about words.
Context Definition
Definition /
Explanation
Example
Synonym
Contrast
General
Inference
Internal
Clue
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6-Types of External Context Clues
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Definition or explanation clue
The periphery or outer region, of the river was littered with container trash
from the nearby factories.
Example clue
Like road banks along an interstate highway, the periphery of the river was
littered with container trash from the nearby factories.
Restatement or synonym clue
The periphery or bank of the river was littered with container trash from the
nearby factories.
Contrast or antonym clue
The periphery of the river, unlike the water that flowed within its banks, was
littered with container trash from the nearby factories.
Inference through general context clue
The periphery of the river was littered with container trash from the nearby
factories while the fast moving water appeared clear of debris.
Punctuation and syntax clues: word order, dashes, quotations, parenthesis
The periphery—the perimeter—of the river was littered with container trash
from the nearby factories.
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Teacher Created Context Sentences
How does context help build word meaning?
1. The periphery of the river was littered with container trash from the
nearby factories while the water that rushed downstream was clear.
2. The family history was a gallimaufry of personalities: liars and
thieves, business tycoons and entrepreneurs, musicians and actors.
3. The river was full of noxious materials such as cleaning agents
from factories and pesticides from the nearby farms.
4. This third grade was full of precocious children, youngsters who
were advanced beyond their years.
5. When going to an office party you should behave with professional
decorum; dress conservatively, eat and drink moderately, and
thank the host before you leave.
6. Some may not approve of the governor’s unethical behavior, but to
describe him as nefarious is to go a bit far.
7. Some credit her advancement at the university to an erudition
beyond all others; all acknowledge that ignorance does not go far in
higher education.
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Resources
Common Core Standards. (2010). National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of
Chief State School Officers.
ACT, Inc. (2007). Preparing all students for college and work. Crisis at the Core.
http://www.act.org/path/policy/pdf/crisis_report.pdf.
ACT, Inc. (2006). Reading between the lines: What ACT reveals about college readiness and reading.
Brusnighan, S. M., & Folk, J. R. (2012). Combining contextual and morphemic clues is beneficial during
incidental vocabulary acquisition: Semantic transparency in novel compound word processing. Reading
Research Quarterly, 47(2), p. 172-190.
Graves, M. F. The Vocabulary Book: Learning & Instruction. (2006). New York: NCTE
Harvey, G. (1999). Adapted from The Academic Essay: A Brief Anatomy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP.
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~wricntr/documents/Counterarg.html
Harvey, S. & Goudvis, A. (2000). Strategies that Work. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse.
International Center for Leadership in Education, Inc. Retrieved from http://www.leadered.com/Daggettpp.htm
Jenkins, J. E., Johnson, E. & Hileman, J. (2004). When is reading also writing: Sources of individual difference
on the new reading performance assessments. Scientific Studies of Reading 8(2), 125-151.
Marzano, R., Pickering, D. & Pollock, J. (2001). Classroom Instruction that Works. New Jersey: Pearson.
Nagy, W. (1988). Teaching Vocabulary to Improve Reading Comprehension. NCTE.
PARCC. (2011, October). Model Content Frameworks for ELA/Literacy, Grades 3-11. Retrieved from
http://www.parcconline.org/parcc-content-frameworks
Raphael, T., Highfield, K. & Au, K. (2006). QAR Now. NY: Scholastic.
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