Grade 6 Unit 1: Understanding the Meaning of Unfamiliar Words Table of Contents Introduction 2 Objectives 2 Lesson 1: Inferring the Meaning of a Word Using Context Clues 3 Warm-up! 3 Learn About It! 4 Check Your Understanding 11 Let’s Step Up! 13 Lesson 2: Inferring the Meaning of Idiomatic Expressions 14 Warm-up! 14 Learn About It! 15 Check Your Understanding 18 Let’s Step Up! 19 Lesson 3: Inferring the Meaning of Words Using Affixes and Roots 20 Warm-up! 20 Learn About It! 21 Check Your Understanding 25 Let’s Step Up! 26 Performance Task 27 Self-Check: How Well Did I Learn? 29 Wrap Up 30 Bibliography 31
31
Embed
Grade 6 Unit 1: Understanding the Meaning of Unfamiliar Words
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Grade 6 Unit 1: Understanding the Meaning of
Unfamiliar Words
Table of Contents Introduction 2
Objectives 2
Lesson 1: Inferring the Meaning of a Word Using Context Clues 3 Warm-up! 3 Learn About It! 4 Check Your Understanding 11 Let’s Step Up! 13
Lesson 2: Inferring the Meaning of Idiomatic Expressions 14 Warm-up! 14 Learn About It! 15 Check Your Understanding 18 Let’s Step Up! 19
Lesson 3: Inferring the Meaning of Words Using Affixes and Roots 20 Warm-up! 20 Learn About It! 21 Check Your Understanding 25 Let’s Step Up! 26
Performance Task 27
Self-Check: How Well Did I Learn? 29
Wrap Up 30
Bibliography 31
GRADE 6 |English
UNIT 1
Understanding the Meaning of Unfamiliar Words
There are instances when we read a book or watch a movie,we come across words that may possibly confuse us. These words seem new to us and we would usually look for a dictionary to look for the meaning of these words. But what if there are no dictionaries or other means for us to locate the meaning of these words? In this unit, you will learn strategies on how to understand meanings of words without the help of tools such as a dictionary.
Objectives
In this unit, you should be able to: ● infer meaning of idiomatic expressions using context clues; ● infer meaning of idiomatic expressions using affixes and roots; and ● Infer meaning of figurative language using context clues, affixes and roots, and
Lesson 1: Inferring the Meaning of a Word Using Context Clues
We always encounter unfamiliar words as we go through our everyday life. Like puzzles or riddles, these unfamiliar words hold clues that help us understand their meaning. The clues appear either within the same sentence of the unfamiliar word, or the sentence before or after.
Warm-up!
Sherlock’s Mystery With a pair, your teacher will give you an envelope with clues in solving a mystery involving a treasure. You have to solve the meaning of the message using the items inside the envelope. The first pair to solve the mystery wins. How did you solve the mystery? Discuss your experience in class.
In the warm up activity, you have encountered words that are not familiar to you such as the word ‘gnerky’ and ‘condilou’. Although these are not really words found in the English dictionary, you were able to define and identify what these words are through the clues given to you. These clues are called context clues. Context clues are often found before or after the unfamiliar word to be defined within the sentence or paragraph. Here are some types of context clues which can help. 1. Example
There are times when an unfamiliar word is provided with words or ideas serving as an example, which may help the reader in defining it. These are words which may give hints to an example as a context clue.
for example for instance
like including such as
We use our organs such as the lungs, stomach, and kidneys to function.
In this example, the underlined word “organs” can be defined by looking at words that are examples of organs in the body. These are lungs, stomach, and kidneys. From the examples, we can say that an organ is a part of the body that has a particular use.
I hope maidens like Ms. Jones and Ms. Carson meet their matches soon.
This example shows that Ms. Jones and Ms. Carson are women who are categorized as maidens. This means that a maiden is a woman who has not yet married.
Elderly people like Mr. and Mrs. Scamander must be treated with respect.
In this example, Mr. and Mrs. Scamander are examples of elderly people. This means that elderly is someone who is old or aging. 2.
Restatement There are also instances in a sentence or paragraph where an unfamiliar word is restated in another term, which makes the word easier to understand. This can be identified by looking at commas, dashes, and restatement cues. These cues include the following:
or that is
in other words
My sister is a pediatrician, or a children’s doctor.
In this example, the word “pediatrician” is restated in a more understandable term “children’s doctor.” Notice that after the given example is a comma followed by the restatement cue or.
I was infuriated. I snapped at him because of anger.
In the example given, there may not be any restatement cues present. However, the restatement of the word “infuriated” is present in the next sentence, which is the word “anger.”
He was one mischievous boy. In other words, he was naughty.
In the example, “mischievous” is restated in a more simple word, which is “naughty.” It is also hinted by the restatement cue in other words.
Unfamiliar words are also found when a direct definition of the word is found within the sentence. This context clue is called definition. Key words that hint definition include the following:
is means
are refer to
A carnivore is an animal that eats only meat.
In the example given, “carnivore” is directly defined in the sentence. This is hinted by the keyword is.
I want you to estimate, meaning to calculate, the number of goodie bags here.
In this example, the word “estimate” is directly defined as to calculate in the sentence. This will help the reader to understand what the unfamiliar word is.
We all want a legendary comeback. It is something that will be famous.
In this example, “legendary” is defined as famous. It is defined in the sentence following the unfamiliar word. 4. Synonym Synonyms are words that have similar meanings. A context clue that uses synonyms would use a word that is similar to the meaning of the unfamiliar word to define its meaning. Keywords for synonyms are as follows:
I want to color my hair periwinkle. Martha’s hair is the same purple color, too.
Periwinkle is a color in the purple spectrum. In this example, the color purple served as a more familiar synonym of periwinkle.
She thinks the idea is ridiculous. We think it’s silly as well.
“Ridiculous” and “silly” are synonymous to each other. Given this example, the synonyms are used to point how the unfamiliar word is defined in the sentence.
Because Helga helped the neighbors in moving out, we assisted them in riding their vehicle.
In this example, the word “assist” is synonymous to the word “help.” 5. Antonyms
Lesson 2: Inferring the Meaning of Idiomatic Expressions
Some expressions in the English language are not to be taken in its literal sense. These expressions may sound a bit weird for those who are unfamiliar with their meanings but it makes writing and reading more colorful.
Warm-up!
Act it out! The class will be grouped to three. Each group will be given an idiomatic expression to act out in front of their classmates. The class, in turn, will guess what these idioms are.
1. It takes two to tango. 2. Crying over spilled milk. 3. Break a leg. 4. Rub salt in your wound.
After the activity, discuss how the figurative meaning of these expressions differ from their literal meaning.
When you take this in a literal sense, you might end up looking outside the window waiting for cats and dogs to fall from the sky. However, this expression should not be taken in its literal sense but in a different way. These expressions are known as
idiomatic expressions.
The idiom “it’s raining cats and dogs” does not mean that there are animals falling from the sky. This expression means that the rain is falling heavily. Idioms are often used in writing to make expressions more colorful. In order for you to understand and use them properly, you should be familiar with idioms. Here are some idiomatic expressions and their meanings.
Idiomatic expressions Meaning cream of the crop the best
cool as a cucumber calm use your noodle think
fit as a fiddle in good health once in a blue moon rarely
break the ice make people more comfortable it takes two to tango both parties involved are responsible
for a situation let the cat out of the bag reveal a secret or the truth
Match the idioms on the left column to its meaning on the right column.
1. cold shoulder a. Escape responsibility 2. crocodile tears b. income 3. bread and butter c. enjoy oneself 4. have a blast d. Showing distance 5. Off the hook e. fake
Write the meaning of the idiomatic expression used in the sentence.
1. Rise and shine! It’s a beautiful day! ___________________________________________________________________________________
2. Aron was just pulling your leg. Don’t be mad at him. ___________________________________________________________________________________
3. I am pretty sure she will clean her room when pigs fly. Better do it than wait. __________________________________________________________________________________
4. I am afraid to approach him because his temper is a loose cannon. __________________________________________________________________________________
5. Marga believes that all of us are on the same boat in this project. ___________________________________________________________________________________
Write a sentence using the following idiomatic expressions.
Lesson 3: Inferring the Meaning of Words Using Affixes and Roots
The English language is made up of short words that may be joined together to form new words with different meanings. Other words may be broken apart and merged with other words to create more meanings.
Warm-up!
Where is my partner? Students will be given a placard with a word or letter written on it. The teacher will mention a word definition and the class will have to look around the room to join a classmate who has a placard that is needed to form the word the teacher needs. The first pair or group to form the word will shout “We’ve found our partners!”. (note: there may be instances where no partners are necessary.)
After the activity, the class will discuss their observations as they did the activity.
In the previous activity, there are instances where a word can stand on its own and would not require other words to complete its meaning. These words are called base words. These words do not have the capacity to be broken down into smaller parts. Some words may need the help of two or more words in order to make a new word. This word is called root; and the words that are attached to a root is called an affix. Affixes can be a prefix or a suffix. The following are some examples of common roots and their meanings.
To identify the meaning of an unfamiliar word, you may break the word down into its parts (its root and affixes) and analyze the meaning of each part. Let us look at the following examples:
In this example, the word “transport” is divided into the prefix trans (across) and the root port (carry). As the meanings suggest, to transport is to carry across or to move.
hydrophobia
hydr(o) -phobia
root suffix “Hydr” means
“water” “Phobia” means
“exaggerated fear” In this example, the word “hydrophobia” is composed of the root hydr (water) and the suffix phobia (exaggerated fear). This means that a person who has hydrophobia has an extreme fear of water.
microbiology
micro- bio -logy prefix root suffix
“Micro” means “small”
“Bio” means “life” “Logy” means “study of”
In this example, “microbiology” is broken down into the prefix micro (small), the root bio (life), and the suffix logy (study of). Looking at the breakdown of the word and its meanings, we can define the word microbiology as “the study of small lifeforms”.
GOAL: Your goal is to write and deliver a speech as a candidate for Mayor of your city. ROLE: You are an aspiring politician who would like to be elected as the new Mayor of your city. You are tasked to write a speech to introduce yourself and why you should be voted by your constituents. AUDIENCE: The target audience are people who are eligible to vote for you in the coming elections. SITUATION: The challenge is you are new in politics and most of the audience are not yet convinced of your credibility as a future leader of their city. PRODUCT/PERFORMANCE AND PURPOSE:
You will write and deliver a speech as a candidate for Mayor.
1. Your speech should include the following: a. A short description of who you are and what you do. b. What are your plans as Mayor of your city once you are elected? c. Why should the people vote for you?
2. Include at least 5 words with context clues, 5 idiomatic expressions, and 5 words with affixes and roots in your speech. Highlight these words in the manuscript.
3. Your speech must be 3 minutes long. You are allowed to look at your manuscript. 4. Observe the following in the speech delivery:
a. Vocal clarity b. Proper stress and intonation c. Stage presence
5. Observe the following in the written output: a. Organization of ideas b. Use of vocabulary words (context clues, idioms, affixes, and roots) c. Language use
6. Print a copy of your manuscript on a short bond paper.