Use Context, Roots, and Reference Tools

Determine or clarify unknown and multiple-meaning words using sentence context, known roots/affixes, glossaries, and beginning dictionaries.

How the lesson starts: Use Context, Roots, and Reference Tools

Detective Inez
Meet Detective Inez, the sharpest fox in Maple Woods. Her job is cracking mystery words! When Inez meets a word she doesn't know, she never skips it. She hunts for clues in the sentence. Grab your magnifying glass!
Clues nearby
Read this. The trail was narrow, so only one hiker could walk at a time. Only one hiker fits! That's a clue. So narrow must mean not wide. Words around a mystery word are called context clues.
Let's crack nocturnal
Inez reads a case file. Bats are nocturnal. They snooze all day and zoom around after dark. Find the clues: snooze all day, zoom after dark. So bats are awake at night. Try that meaning in the sentence. It fits! Nocturnal means active at night.