This document provides instructions and information for several assignments and activities, including: a vocabulary assignment on context clues and dictionary use; a reading assignment on summarization; and the introduction of literature circles where students will read and discuss one of three book choices in small groups. Students are given details on completing vocabulary work, a summary writing exercise, book selections, and the process for the literature circles.

1. Thursday,
8/29/13
Vocabulary Assignment #1
Entryways Ch. 3: Context Clues
Entryways Ch. 4: Dictionary
Summarizing – Using Drive Ch. 1
Introduction to Literature Circle

2. Vocabulary Assignment #1
 Do one of two things for your words:
 Write the definition/part of speech or
 Write one of your sentences.
 Please do not duplicate!!
 Questions on the words?
 While reading ―Brainology‖ did you come
across these words? Did it help you with the
reading?

3. Review Reading with a
Purpose
 How difficult did you find the article?
 Did the above strategy help you better
understand the article?

4. Attending college means
dealing with changes in our
life. You may…
 Have just graduated from high school
 Be coming back to school after several
years
 Be raising a family
 Living with your parents
 Live five minutes away from PC

5. Attending college means
dealing with changes in our
life. You may…
 Live in Terra Bella, Strathmore, Lindsay, or
even Visalia
 Are looking for a change to do something
different
 Are planning to transfer to a CSU, UC or
private university
 Want to obtain an AA

6. How long have you been attending
college?
What have you had to change in
your personal and professional lives
as a result of being in college?
What do all college students have in
common?
All students have unique skills that
have already been developed in
your lives. You will apply these skills in
new situations.

7.  What are some of the different types of
texts we might encounter in our
academic careers?
 Textbooks
 Internet sources
 Novels

8. One of the adjustments, or changes you
encounter in college is having to read
more.
One key element to navigating
textbooks, journals, newspapers, and
other forms of academic reading is
identifying and defining important
vocabulary terms.

9. Context Clues –
You be the
detective.
This chapter will introduce
―context clues‖ which will
help you figure out the
meaning of certain words.

10. Vocabulary in Context
 Why do we have a chapter on vocabulary?
 There is a direct link between reading
comprehension and a reader’s vocabulary.
 To get meaning from what they read,
successful readers need both a great many
words in their vocabularies and the ability to
use various strategies to establish the
meanings of new words when they encounter
them.

11. Context Clues
 What do you do when you come across
a word that you do not know the
meaning of?
 Do you skip the word
 Ask someone else what it means?
 Look it up in the dictionary?
 The dictionary would be the logical
choice, but what if you are doing an
in-class assignment and forgot your
dictionary?

12. Authors and Context Clues
 Writers and authors often include words or phrases to help their
readers understand the meaning of a new or difficult word.
 As a reader you often need to act similar to a detective and put
together clues from sentences surrounding an unknown word.
 You make an intelligent ―guess‖ as to what the definition of a word
is without having to look up the word in the dictionary.
 Using context clues will help you by
 saving you time when reading
 adding to your vocabulary

13. Context Clues
 Do you know the meaning of the word
consolidate?
 Look at the cartoon on the next page
and see if the context—the words
surrounding the unfamiliar word—helps
you figure out the meaning of the word.

14. What does consolidate
mean?
a. separate
b. cancel
c. combine into one

15. Frank and Ernest are seeking to combine all
their small debts into ―one giant nightmare‖
of a loan.
The context tells you that consolidate means
―combine into one.‖

16. Let’s look at the word
―conifer‖
 Do you know what it means?
 Let’s look at this word in different sentences.
 Fifty conifers were delivered to the front door.
 She opened the package and then planted the 50
conifers.
 She planted the 50 conifers along the edge of her
property, each about 15 feet apart, and hoped they
would grow larger to eventually block the wind.
 When the conifers were about 6 feet tall, she
planned to cut one down in December, bring it into
her house, and decorate it with lights and
ornaments.

17. Context Clues
There are five types of context clues
1. Definition or Synonym
2. Contrast or Antonym
3. Examples
4. General Sense of the Sentence
5. Information from Another
Sentence

18. Definition or Synonym
What is a synonym?
A synonym is a word that means
the same—or almost the same—
as another word.
Sometimes you can determine
the meaning of a word by
finding its synonym in the
sentence.

19. Which words in this cartoon help you
understand what humiliate means?
 The words ―I feel worthless enough already‖ help
you understand that humiliate means ―to make
feel ashamed.‖

20. Synonyms & Definitions
 Watch for words that indicate that you
are being given a definition, such as
defined as, means, is known as, the term is
called.
 Watch for synonyms, words that mean the
same thing, such as big and large.

21. Contrast & Antonym
What is an antonym?
A word that means the opposite of
another word.
Which word in the cartoon is an
antonym of ―overwhelmed?‖

22. Contrast
 Words that signal contrast
 On the other hand
 In contrast
 However
 But
 Yet
 Instead
 Even though
 Unlike
 Although

23. Examples
A sentence may contain an example
or examples of an unfamiliar word.
Examples are probably the most direct
type of context clue.
The author uses a word and then gives
an example that describes or explains
it.

24. Example Context Clues
Authors will often use signal words
to let the reader know that an
example is coming.
For example
For instance
Such as
To illustrate

25.  Look at the cartoon and see if the examples help
you understand the meaning of the word
commitment.
 Commitment means
A. a promise to do something
B. an opinion about something
C. an opportunity for something

26. The cartoon gives three examples of commitment: a
30-year mortgage, a 5-year car lease, and a lifetime
gym membership.
These examples help you understand that
commitment means
―a promise to do something.‖

27. General Sense of the
Sentence
 With context clues, the author usually
provides the meaning of a word with other
words that surround that particular word.
 However, sometimes you need to look
carefully
at the entire sentence in which an unfamiliar
word appears to figure out the meaning of
the word.
 There may be clues within the sentence that
help you figure out the word.

28. How does this cartoon about a job interview
help you understand what the word impressive
means?
 The glowing reference (from the job
applicant’s mother!) helps you realize that
impressive means ―very favorable.‖

29. Information From Another
Sentence
 Oftentimes we will need to look at the next
sentence in order to figure out an unknown
word.
 Sometimes authors include information in
another sentence in the paragraph that
allows readers to determine the meaning of
an unfamiliar word.
 Therefore, it is a good idea to keep reading
when you come across a word you do not
know.

30. Information from Another
Sentence
 There has always been controversy over
euthanasia. Opponents argue that
doctor-assisted suicide is immoral.
 What do you think euthanasia means?
 Doctor-assisted suicide.
 Is it 12:50? If so, let’s take a 5-minute
break, and when we come back, we will
review what we have learned.

31. What is a context clue?
a. An interesting word that authors like to
put in their stories.
b. Word or words surrounding an unknown
word that give a clue to the meaning of
the word.
c. A context clue is not a synonym or an
antonym

32. What does a contrast or
antonym context clue do?
a. It give a clue that is difficult to figure out.
b. It gives a word that is the opposite mean
of the word in question.
c. It is the same thing as a synonym.

33. What is a definition/synonym
context clue?
a. A synonym context clue is a word that is
similar or the same of the word in
question. Or the definition is given.
b. A synonym context clue is the same
thing as an antonym context clue.
c. Synonyms are not used as context clues.

34. General Sense of the
Sentence Context Clues…
a. give a general definition of the word.
b. are more difficult to understand;
therefore, you must read the passage
very carefully.
c. provide the topic of the sentence.

35. An example context clue
a. Is when in which you have to figure out
what the definition is.
b. Is when the author provides examples of
what the word means.
c. Is the same thing as a definition context
clue.

36.  Martin had acted in a juvenile manner.
Yelling, screaming, and calling the bank
teller names had been childish and
immature.
 Juvenile means:
A. childish. B. serious. C. noticeable.
Which words are the context clues?
a. Acted
b. Had been
c. Immature

37.  Martin had acted in a juvenile manner.
Yelling, screaming, and calling the bank
teller names had been childish and
immature.
 What type of context clue is used in the
above sentence?
a. Synonym
b. Antonym
c. Example
d. General sense of the sentence

38.  When I was sick with the flu, my favorite spicy
foods looked awful to me; all I wanted was
bland foods such as broth and toast.
 Bland means:
A. fattening. B. dull. C. expensive
Which word(s) are the context clues?
a. sick, flu
b. Spicy foods
c. Broth and toast

39. What type of context clue is
used in this sentence?
When I was sick with the flu, my favorite
spicy foods looked awful to me; all I wanted
was bland foods such as broth and toast.
a. Definition/Synonym
b. Antonym
c. Example
d. General sense of the passage

40. In the ―Coca Cola‖ case, Sarah Jones pled
guilty Friday to the extreme crime of computer
crime and identity theft while her mother, Carrie
Jones, pled guilty to the lesser charge of
computer crime.
Extreme means:
a. great in degree b. moderate c. ridiculous
What type of context clue is used & which word(s) are
the clues?
a. Definition/Synonym-crime
b. Contrast/Antonym-lesser
c. Example-computer crime
d. General sense of the sentence-the entire
sentence.

41. When it comes to flying saucers, most
scientists are skeptics—they question why
no spaceships have ever landed in public
places.
Skeptics means:
A. supporters B. doubters C. victims.
What type of context clue is used?
a. Synonym or definition
b. Antonym/contrast
c. Example
d. General sense of the sentence

42.  What makes sense to you might be
foreign to someone else. You cannot
assume that what is clear to you will also
be clear to your audience.
 What type of context clue is being used?
 Information from another sentence.

43. Time permitting
 Context Clues Practice

44. Summarizing
Using Drive Ch. 1

45. Summarizing
 When we summarize a text, we focus on
figuring the big ideas and condensing the
information provided in the text.
Summarizing is a critical skill for both
readers and writers because it not only
helps us understand the main ideas, but
also helps us explain the text in writing to
those who have not read it

46. Summarizing
 During the last hour of class (unless time
permits earlier), we will read the first chapter
of Drive. (Distribute assignment)
 While you read, keep track of any information
you might need to summarize what you think
the author is trying to communicate to you.
 Reread and review your notes, then write a
one-page summary of the text. Your summary
should be written so that someone who has
not read this text can understand the main
idea.

47. 
The Literature
Circle

48. The Literature Circle
 Distribute
 We will have two different circles.
 You will choose from one of three books:
 Freedom Writers Diary
 The Happiness Project
 The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game
 You may purchase your book on line.
(They are not sold in the bookstore.)

49. The Literature Circle
 The first literature circle will start on
9/10/13. Next Thursday I will give you a
sign-up sheet for the books. You will put
your books in preference order. The
second literature circle will start week 9,
and you will do this circle with Mrs. Long.
 Let me tell you just a little about each
book.

50. Freedom Writers Diary
 As an idealistic twenty-three-year-old English teacher at
Wilson High School in Long beach, California, Erin Gruwell
confronted a room of ―unteachable, at-risk‖ students. One
day she intercepted a note with an ugly racial caricature,
and angrily declared that this was precisely the sort of thing
that led to the Holocaust—only to be met by
uncomprehending looks. So she and her students, using the
treasured books Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl and
Zlata’s Diary: A Child’s Life in Sarajevo as their guides,
undertook a life-changing, eye-opening, spirit-raising
odyssey against intolerance and misunderstanding. They
learned to see the parallels in these books to their own lives,
recording their thoughts and feelings in diaries and
dubbing themselves the ―Freedom Writers‖ in homage to
the civil rights activists ―The Freedom Riders.‖
 Author: Erin Gruwell

51. The Blind Side: Evolution of a
Game
 One day Michael Oher will be among the most highly paid
athletes in the National Football League. When we first
meet him, he is one of thirteen children by a mother
addicted to crack; he does not know his real name, his
father, his birthday, or how to read or write. He takes up
football, and school, after a rich, white, evangelical family
plucks him from the streets. Then two great forces alter
Oher: the family's love and the evolution of professional
football itself into a game in which the quarterback must
be protected at any cost. Our protagonist becomes the
priceless package of size, speed, and agility necessary to
guard the quarterback's greatest vulnerability: his blind
side.
 This is an autobiography (nonfiction) by Michael Oher.

52. The Happiness Project
 Gretchen Rubin had an epiphany one rainy afternoon in the
unlikeliest of places: a city bus. "The days are long, but the
years are short," she realized. "Time is passing, and I'm not
focusing enough on the things that really matter." In that
moment, she decided to dedicate a year to her happiness
project.
 In this lively and compelling account, Rubin chronicles her
adventures during the twelve months she spent test-driving the
wisdom of the ages, current scientific research, and lessons
from popular culture about how to be happier. Among other
things, she found that novelty and challenge are powerful
sources of happiness; that money can help buy happiness,
when spent wisely; that outer order contributes to inner calm;
and that the very smallest of changes can make the biggest
difference.
 Also nonfiction by Gretchen Rubin.

53. The Literature Circle
 There will be five people in each group. I
am going to assign groups alphabetically.
 Once I have done this, please get into
your groups and nominate a
―coordinator‖ of the group.
 The Literature Circle will meet every two
weeks.
 During this time, you will read the assigned
pages and complete your ―role.‖

54. Literature Circle
 At each Literature Circle meeting, you will
present to your group.
 Also, one person from each group will
present to the entire class.

55. For next week
 If you don’t finish in class, complete the
Drive Ch. 1 summary assignment.
 Entryways Ch. 4: Chapter Check page 93,
review exercises pp. 94-98.
 Read Drive Chapter 4.