Today students had most of the class period to read and work on their Reading Log #2, which is due tomorrow. Download it here: Reading Log 2.
We took a break to examine how to deal with unknown vocabulary as we read. I explained to students how, as a foreign exchange student in France for a year, I had to read novels, essays, plays, and other homework in French. At first, I looked up every word; then, I realized I wasn’t able to complete my homework at that pace and started figuring out the general meaning of words as I went. Students used this same process today.
We looked at a few passages on the overhead with difficult words.
First, students identified which words they didn’t know by writing them down and then sharing out.
Second, we blanked out the word to focus more on the context.
Third, we identified context clues.
Last, we predicted a word or phrase to fill in the blank. For the most part, we were right; we figured out what the word meant from the context alone.
HW: Reading and Log #2 due tomorrow.
ALEXA GARVOILLE 