Use Sentence Context Clues - 1st Grade Writing
- What should you do first when you see a word you do not know in a sentence?
- Reread the whole sentence and look for clue words. This helps you find helpful context clues.
- Which option is a contrast clue word: because, but, so, and?
- But. It signals opposite or different meanings.
- Choose the meaning of "gather" in: "Please gather the toys and put them in the bin."
- collect. Putting toys in a bin requires collecting them.
- Choose the meaning of "soaked" in: "I fell in a puddle and my socks were soaked."
- very wet. Falling in water makes things very wet.
- Choose the meaning of "frigid" in: "The frigid wind made my hands feel cold."
- Very cold. "Made my hands feel cold" explains frigid's meaning.
- Choose the meaning of "dash": "When the bell rang, we dashed to the door."
- Ran quickly. "When the bell rang" suggests hurried movement.
- Choose the meaning of "repair" in: "The wheel broke, so we had to repair the bike."
- fix. Something broken needs fixing.
- Choose the meaning of "peeked": "I was curious, so I peeked through the door."
- Looked quickly. "Curious" and "through the door" suggest a quick, secretive look.
- Choose the meaning of "empty" in: "I drank it all, so the cup was empty."
- having nothing inside. Drinking everything leaves nothing inside.
- Choose the meaning of "soggy": "The cereal sat in milk too long and became soggy."
- Wet and soft. "Sat in milk too long" explains how something becomes mushy.
- Choose the meaning of "rapid" in: "The rapid rabbit ran fast across the yard."
- Fast. "Ran fast" directly explains rapid's meaning.
- Choose the meaning of "delicious" in: "The cookies tasted sweet and delicious."
- very good to eat. Sweet taste indicates something good to eat.
- Choose the meaning of "tiny" in: "The tiny ant was so small I could barely see it."
- Very small. "Barely see it" shows extreme smallness.
- Choose the meaning of "tiny": "The tiny ant fit on my finger."
- Very small. "Fit on my finger" shows the ant's small size.
- Which option is a cause-and-effect clue word: because, but, or, yet?
- Because. It shows why something happens.
- Choose the meaning of "polite": "He said "please" and "thank you," so he was polite."
- Having good manners. "Please" and "thank you" are polite words.
- Choose the meaning of "stomped" in: "He was mad, so he stomped to his room."
- walked with heavy steps. Anger causes heavy, loud walking.
- Choose the meaning of "cautious" in: "Be cautious; the floor is wet and you might slip."
- Careful. "Wet" and "might slip" show need for care.
- Choose the meaning of "proud": "She smiled when her picture won; she felt proud."
- Happy about an achievement. "Smiled" and "won" show proud means pleased with success.
- Choose the meaning of "frightened" in: "The thunder was loud, and I felt frightened."
- scared. Loud thunder causes fear.
- Choose the meaning of "polite": "He said 'please' and 'thank you,' so he was polite."
- Having good manners. "Please" and "thank you" are examples of good manners.
- Choose the meaning of "whisper" in: "Please whisper in the library so others can read."
- Speak very softly. "In the library so others can read" shows quiet speech.
- Choose the meaning of "giggle" in: "The joke was funny, and I began to giggle."
- Laugh quietly. "Funny" and "joke" suggest quiet laughter.
- Choose the meaning of "purchase" in: "I will purchase a pencil, so I need money."
- Buy. "Need money" shows purchase means buy.
- Choose the meaning of "gloomy": "The sky was gloomy, so it looked dark."
- Dark. The sentence directly states "it looked dark."
- Choose the meaning of "drowsy": "After the long ride, I felt drowsy and yawned."
- Sleepy. "Yawned" is a sign of being tired.
- Choose the meaning of "assist" in: "Please assist me; I cannot reach the top shelf."
- Help. "Cannot reach" shows you need help.
- Choose the meaning of "drowsy" in: "I was drowsy, so I fell asleep on the couch."
- Sleepy. "So I fell asleep" shows drowsy causes sleepiness.
- What should you do first when you see a word you do not know in a sentence?
- Reread the whole sentence and look for clues. Context clues are found by examining the entire sentence.
- Choose the meaning of "shiver" in: "I was cold, so I began to shiver."
- shake from cold. Being cold causes shivering, showing the meaning.
- Which part of the text should you use for sentence-level context clues?
- The words in the same sentence as the unknown word. Focus on immediate surrounding words for clues.
- Choose the meaning of "shiver": "I forgot my coat, so I began to shiver in the cold."
- Shake from being cold. "In the cold" explains why someone would shake or tremble.
- Choose the meaning of "tiny" in: "The tiny ant fit on my finger."
- very small. An ant fitting on a finger shows tiny means very small.
- Choose the meaning of "enormous": "The enormous dog was bigger than the chair."
- Very big. "Bigger than the chair" indicates large size.
- Choose the meaning of "peek" in: "Do not open it. Just peek inside quickly."
- look quickly. Not opening fully means looking quickly.
- What is a context clue in a sentence?
- Words in the sentence that help you figure out a word's meaning. They provide hints about unfamiliar words' meanings.
- Choose the meaning of "quickly": "The bell rang, and the class lined up quickly."
- Fast. "The bell rang" suggests urgency and speed.
- Choose the meaning of "soaked": "After the rain, my socks were soaked and dripping."
- Very wet. "Dripping" shows soaked means completely wet.
- Choose the meaning of "sturdy" in: "This sturdy chair does not wobble when I sit."
- Strong. "Does not wobble" shows strength and stability.
- Choose the meaning of "enormous" in: "The enormous pumpkin was bigger than my head."
- Very big. "Bigger than my head" shows enormous size.
- Choose the meaning of "glad" in: "I got a gift, so I was glad."
- happy. Getting a gift causes happiness, showing glad means happy.
- Choose the meaning of "drowsy": "The baby yawned and looked drowsy."
- Sleepy. "Yawned" is a clue that drowsy means tired.
- Choose the meaning of "narrow" in: "The path was narrow, so only one person could walk."
- not wide. One person fitting shows limited width.
- Choose the meaning of "observe": "We will observe the frogs and watch what they do."
- Watch carefully. "Watch what they do" defines observing.
- Choose the meaning of "gigantic": "The gigantic dog was bigger than the other dogs."
- Very large. "Bigger than the other dogs" shows gigantic means extremely big.
- Choose the meaning of "silent": "The library was silent; no one was talking."
- Quiet. "No one was talking" defines what silent means.
- Choose the meaning of "finally" in: "I tried and tried, and finally I solved it."
- at last. Multiple tries before success means at last.
- Choose the meaning of "relieved" in: "I was relieved when I found my lost book."
- Glad and no longer worried. Finding the "lost book" removes worry.
- Choose the meaning of "stomped": "He stomped, and the floor made a loud sound."
- Walked with heavy steps. "Loud sound" indicates heavy, forceful steps.
- What does it mean to use sentence-level context to figure out a word's meaning?
- Use nearby words in the sentence to infer the word's meaning. Context clues are hints from surrounding words that help determine meaning.
- Choose the meaning of "whisper" in: "Be quiet," she said. "Please whisper."
- talk softly. Being quiet requires soft talking.
- Choose the meaning of "fragile": "Be careful; the glass is fragile and can break easily."
- Easily broken. "Be careful" and "can break easily" define fragile.
- Choose the meaning of "tiny": "The tiny ant was hard to see on the sidewalk."
- Very small. "Hard to see" tells us tiny means extremely small.
- Choose the meaning of "whisper": "Please whisper, because the baby is sleeping."
- Speak softly. "Because the baby is sleeping" suggests quiet speech.
- Choose the meaning of "repair": "The toy broke, so we will repair it and use it again."
- Fix. "Use it again" shows repair means to make something work again.
- Choose the meaning of "slippery": "The wet floor was slippery, and I almost fell."
- Hard to stand on without sliding. "Almost fell" shows the surface causes sliding.
- Choose the meaning of "glance" in: "I took a quick glance at the clock and kept walking."
- A quick look. "Quick" and "kept walking" show brief looking.
- Which part of a sentence should you read to figure out an unknown word?
- The words and sentences around the unknown word. The surrounding text provides hints about word meanings.
- Choose the meaning of "soar": "The bird began to soar high above the trees."
- Fly high. "High above the trees" describes upward flight.
- Choose the meaning of "polite" in: "He said 'please' and 'thank you,' so he was polite."
- having good manners. Saying please and thank you shows good manners.
- Choose the meaning of "stomped": "He was angry, so he stomped to his room."
- Walked with heavy steps. "He was angry" explains the heavy, forceful walking.
- Choose the meaning of "grin": "She won the game and had a big grin."
- A big smile. Winning the game causes happiness and smiling.
- Choose the meaning of "fragile": "The glass is fragile, so handle it carefully."
- Easy to break. "Handle it carefully" warns of breakability.