Working Out New Words
PrintPrint this handout, clean, at stepsies.com.
Grades K–3 Language · Teaching handout
Working Out New Words
Teaches how to work out what a new word in a nonfiction text means from the sentences around it, and point to the words that are the clue.
Print handout
Your first print is free, with no sign-in. Then 10 sheets a month with a free account. Prints on Letter paper, or print on A4.
Print the answer key for Try it together
- Grades
- Grades K–3
- Pages
- 1
- Time
- About 15 minutes
- Answer key
- Included, for Try it together
- Printing
- Tinted accents, also fine in black and white
What is on a handout
- The big idea: the rule, in a few short sentences.
- Watch me: worked examples, each with why it changes as it does.
- Watch out: the mistakes children often make, struck through beside the right answer.
- Try it together: a few items or problems to do as a class, with an answer key.
- On your own: the practice sheet that comes next.
How to teach with it
- After reading, have children point to the exact words that gave the meaning away. Ask: was it a definition, an example, or a comparison?
- Read the big idea aloud, then work through Watch me together, saying why each one changes.
- Ask the class to find the mistake in each Watch out before you show the answer.
- Do Try it together as a class, check it with the answer key, then hand out the practice sheet.
Practice worksheets
After the handout, in this order: the main practice sheet first, then more practice, then quick checks.
Owls Hunt at Night: Kindergarten Context Clues
A Duck’s Feet: Kindergarten Context Clues
The Mole’s Burrow: Grade 1 Context Clues
Bees in the Hive: Grade 1 Context Clues
Life in an Old Log: Grade 2 Context Clues
Our Weather Station: Grade 2 Context Clues
Saving the Banks of Pebble Creek: Grade 3 Context Clues
Winter at Frost Hollow Pond: Grade 3 Context Clues