Appositives- Sometimes the author includes the definition within the same sentence as the word.
Context Clues- By reading the sentence before, and after, the tricky word you can find clues as to the meaning of the word. These may include synonyms, antonyms, or examples.
Studying Word Parts- Try looking at the parts of the word. Does it have a prefix? Is it a compound word? If yes, think about what each of the word parts mean and see if it makes sense in the sentence.
Comparison Statements- Sometimes the author gives an example that is the opposite of the tricky word.
If all of these strategies don't work, then we consult the
Outside Resources- Dictionary, Thesaurus, or sites such as Dictionary.com or Merriam-Webster.com.
Students then began to work on using these strategies. So, in class we learned a process to help us solve challenging words. First, we circle the challenging word. Then we use a highlighter to find clues within the sentence, the sentence before or the sentence after. Then after studying the word and the clues, we create our meaning of the word. Then, when we discussed the words, if it didn't make sense, we consult an outside source. Students have become very good at figuring out the meaning of words. Can you believe they know words such as ectothermic, osteoderms, property, restriction, crocodilian?