BOX 14: INFERRING WORD MEANINGS FROM CONTEXT
"Hearthstones"
...He sat close to the fire, his chin in his hand. It was
dusk and the dogs lay beside him on the warm hearthstones..... (p 3)
Think Aloud:
There seems to be a connection between the phrase warm
hearthstones and the word fir in the previous sentence. The warm
hearthstones has something to do with fire or fireplace. I'll continue
to read... (p.3)
...He pushed his chair back. It made a hollow scraping
sound on the hearthstones, and the dogs stirred... (p. 3)
Think-Aloud:
The image of the dogs and the chair on the hearthstones suggests
that the hearthstones are at ground level. The parts of the word
hearth and stones and the phrase scraping sound make me think that
they are stones.
Putting all of these clues together suggests to me that
hearthstones means stones on the floor in front of the fireplace. I
can almost picture it.
"Feisty"
...And Jack was feisty. Jack was Papa's horse Mat he's raised
from a colt. "Rascal," murmured Papa, smiling, because no matter
what Jack did Papa loved him. (p. 7)
Think-Aloud:
I am not sure what the word feisty means. I didn't
notice any clues to the word's meaning in the previous sentences, so I
will keep reading because sometimes the author provides the clues
later in the text.
The word that gives me a hint is the word rascal. My mom
used to call my brother that when he was high-spirited and
mischievous. Horses can be high-spirited, so perhaps that is what feisty
means.
5. Summarizes the two fix-up strategies used to
infer word meanings from
context:
We can look for clues by:
a) going back and re-reading and
b) continuing to read.
If the word is not essential, we can skip it altogether.
6. Reminds participants that they need to stop and "Say Something"
when they feel moved to respond to the story in some way. This will probably
take place after they have read several paragraphs and
7. Cautions volunteers that this is not a time to ask questions or
quiz the participants. Volunteers are to enter into the activity in the
same spirit as the participants and share their spontaneous responses to
the story, as well.
II. Guided Practice/Group Task
- Participants and volunteers read the remainder of Sarah Plain
and Tall using the
"Say Something" technique.
III. Summarizing Concepts
The instructor:
- Reinforces the use of the
"Say Something" technique by
inviting participants to share what they "talked about" .
(See Session Seven - Summarizing Concepts for more specific
suggestions.)
- With the help of the group, maps the main sections or
main events of the story using the story grammar framework in
order to reinforce comprehension and facilitate the sharing of the
story with others. (See Box 15 for an example of such a story map.)
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