Context Clues
The goal of context clues is to help the reader understand what?
What is: the definition of an unknown word
what is: the most important or central point the author makes in a text; the author's message to readers
True or False: supporting details cannot be found directly in the text
What is: False
True or False: Inferences are guesses you make when reading
True or False: Summaries should be objective.
What is: true
identify the meaning of the word apprehensive in the following sentence:
I was apprehensive about taking the first scrimmage because I didn't study.
What is: in fear or dread of
What is another name for the term "main idea"
What is: the central idea
Define "supporting details"
what is: factual information/evidence pulled directly from a text to explain, define, or prove main ideas
Define "inference"
What is: a conclusion you reach based on textual evidence and logical reasoning
Define "summary"
what is: a brief statement or account of the main points in a text
identify the meaning of the word tomfoolery in the following sentence:
The clowns in the circus made the audience laugh with their tomfoolery.
what is: foolish or silly behavior
Identify the main idea of the passage.
Black holes are one of the most mysterious and powerful forces in the universe. A black hole is not a regular object with surface area, like a planet. Instead it's an area in space where matter has literally collapsed onto itself. They are formed when giant stars run out of energy.
what is: Black holes are large, mysterious areas in space that form when large stars run out of energy.
When you are providing details from the text directly, it is important to use this form of punctuation to avoid plagiarism.
What is: quotation marks
Make an inference about the story.
We stopped our water balloon fight when we heard the ice cream truck's music playing. My favorite flavor of ice cream is chocolate, but my friend Emily likes vanilla best.
What is: the story takes place during the summer
Summarize the following passage:
The blue whale is large in length and weight. Most grow to be 80-100 feet. That's the length of three school buses! Adult blue whales can weigh over 150 tons, which is equivalent to 30 adult male African elephants. A newborn blue whale calf is over 20 feet long and weighs about 5,000 pounds. Unfortunately, like many animals, blue whales are endangered. At one time there were 350,000 blue whales swimming in the oceans, but in the early 1900s the whaling industry boomed as whales were hunt for their oil. Today, only 10,000 to 25,000 of these massive creatures remain in our oceans. Even though whaling became illegal in 1966, blue whales still face dangers, such as ship collisions and entanglement in fishing gear.
What is: Blue whales are massive creatures in the ocean that are now endangered due to human activity such as whaling, ship collisions, and tangled fishing nets.
identify the meaning of the word cunning in the following sentence:
The cunning fox tricked Little Red Riding Hood into thinking he was her grandmother.
what is: artful subtlety; slyness; skillful deception
Identify the main idea of the passage.
Your body has a very special system that protects you from illness and disease. It's called the immune system and it knows when there is something inside your body that should not be there. All the cells in your body have a way to tell the immune system, "I belong here. I'm not going to do you any harm." But when the immune system sees things like bacteria, parasites, and viruses, it will jump into action to attack those foreign invaders.
What is: Human bodies have immune systems to fight off threats to our health, like bacteria or viruses.
What supporting detail best describes how Dr. Jemison was different from her family members?
Dr. Mae Jemison was born in the year 1956 in Decatur, Alabama. Her family moved to Chicago, Illinois a few years later. That way, she and her siblings could get a better education. Her father was a carpenter, and her mother was an elementary school teacher, but Dr. Jemison would go on to pursue a career as a NASA astronaut because she had always had the mind of a scientist ever since she was young.
What is: "Her father was a carpenter, and her mother was an elementary school teacher, but Dr. Jemison would go on to pursue a career as a NASA astronaut"
Make an inference about the way African American soldiers were treated in comparison to white soldiers during World War I in the passage below.
From the time English settlers arrived in North America, Black Americans have endured slavery, segregation, and discrimination. They've served in every American battle from the American Revolution to World War I and II but were only allowed to do certain jobs. Nearly 400,000 African American men served in the military during World War I, but most were only allowed to load and unload supply ships or lay railroad tracks. They were only allowed to fight alongside the French troops.
What is: African American soldiers were given less desirable jobs and did not have the same ability to fight in battles alongside white American soldiers during World War I due to the prominence of discrimination.
Summarize the passage below.
In the deserts of North Africa and Saudi Arabia lives the smallest of all foxes with the largest of ears. This animal is the fennec fox. Fennec foxes have ears that are 5 to 6 inches long. That's pretty big for an animal that weighs less than 4 pounds! Their ears help shed body head and provide great hearing. It's interesting to compare the big ears of fennec foxes to the small ears of Arctic foxes. Arctic foxes live in cold climates, so they don't need to shed heat. Instead, they need to save heat. Big ears could actually cause an Arctic fox to get frostbitten!
What is: Fennec foxes have very large ears in comparison to their small body size. The large ears help the small foxes shed heat and hear prey, whereas the small ears on the larger Arctic fox protect them from getting frostbite in the colder climate.
Identify the meaning of egregious in the following sentence:
Adolf Hitler was an egregious German dictator who sent millions of innocent people to their deaths.
What is: extraordinarily bad, monstrous
Identify the main idea of the passage.
Artemis and Apollo were children of the Greek God, Zeus. Artemis, the skilled and caring goddess of the hunt presided over animals and nature. She also protected children. Whereas her twin brother Apollo was paired with the sun, Artemis was paired with the moon. Common symbols include crescent moons and things associated with hunting, like deer, bows and arrows, and pelts.
Determine which supporting detail best describes the diet of Artic foxes.
Arctic foxes have a big, fluffy tail. Meanwhile, their furry paws, small ears, short muzzle help prevent heat loss. As winter approaches, Arctic foxes increase their body fat by eating as much as they can. This fat provides extra insulation and energy. What do arctic foxes eat, though? Since these animals are omnivores, they eat other animals like rabbits, small birds, and fish as well as plants, like berries and seaweed. Arctic foxes can find prey above ground or beneath the snow because of their excellent senses of hearing and smell.
What is: "these animals are omnivores, they eat other animals like rabbits, small birds, and fish, as well as plants, like berries and seaweed"
What can you infer about the impact the Tuskegee Airmen had in the military?
In order to be prepared to fight in World War II, the United States needed more pilots. On January 16, 1941 the army announced it would form and train a unit of Black pilots to become fighter pilots in Europe. In March of 1942, the men selected completed their advanced pilot training at Tuskegee Army Air Field. The pilots would go on to protect larger bomber planes as they flew into enemy territory. For the next two years, the men shot down over 100 German fighter planes. They received many awards for their courage and dedication and inspired other African Americans to become fighter pilots.
What is: The Tuskegee Airmen opened the door for other African American men to contribute to American war efforts in a meaningful way. Their success showed that African American men were just as capable of having difficult military jobs that required education and advanced training.
In elementary schools in China, students begin school at 7:30 in the morning. They remain at school until 4:00 in the afternoon. After school, most students attend classes at learning centers. These classes include academic subjects such as Chinese, math, and science. Some children take online classes with American teachers to improve their English. Parents may also enroll their children in classes to learn calligraphy, drawing, or how to play chess. It is common for students to attend four or five additional classes on a Saturday or Sunday. A young person's future in China depends on their success as a student from the beginning of their school years. The next time your teacher assigns a few pages of homework, remember that your success as a student will affect your future. If you develop good study habits now, it will be easier for you to be a strong student in the future.
What is: Students in China attend school for longer hours and participate in school activities on weekends as well as weekdays. Students at SCPA attend school for shorter hours and have weekends to relax and participate in non-educational activities, such as sports. Students also learn a foreign language in elementary school whereas most students at SCPA only speak one language fluently: English.