Contextual+Redefinition

=__ CONTEXTUAL REDEFINITION __= (adapted from //Reading Strategy 10: Holt, Rinehart and Winston//)

Contextual Redefinition is a strategy that helps students acquire (or refine) the ability to use context and structural clues to figure out the meaning of unknown words. All readers come across words they do not know. Good readers have strategies to figure out those unknown words. They may use any or all of the following strategies:
 * Skip it and read on
 * Re-read
 * Think about what they are reading
 * Sound it out to see if it is a word they already know
 * Look at headings and subheadings
 * Guess at what type of word would go there (noun, adjective)
 * Associate the parts of the words (prefixes, root words, suffixes) with words they already know.

It is essential that the teacher model or think-aloud how to figure out the meaning of a word. This can be done by sharing the associations that come to mind when using structural analysis. Structural or morphemic analysis means using prefixes, root words, and suffixes to associate with other meaningful words and word parts. Adding context together with structural analysis is a very powerful strategy for figuring out the meaning of unknown words.

THE STRATEGY IN ACTION 1. Teacher identifies unfamiliar words. Before students begin the reading, select the word or words that will be unfamiliar to them. Words that work best contain meaningful morphemes for analysis. Prefixes such as "auto," or "tri" and root words such as "bio" or "graph" and so forth are familiar enough to students for them to make associations to new words. 2. Present the words in isolation and ask students to make guesses about the mearning. The process of using structural analysis is what is important here, not the right answer. 3. Present increasingly rich context clues and have students refine their guesses about the meaning of the word(s). 4. Verify meaning through student use of a dictionary or glossary and have students complete the chart. 5. Read the text. 6. Confirm the meaning of the word with the context given in the text.

EXAMPLES 1. 2. Social Studies example from Holt, Rinhart and Winston, Reading Strategy 10 3. Science/Reading example 4. Middle school science example