Free Elagse7ri4 Lesson Plan for 7th Grade Students

Topic: Identifying the meaning of unfamiliar words and sentences

Objectives & Outcomes

• Students will be able to determine the meaning of unfamiliar and ambiguous words and sentences based on level reading and content, using a flexible selection of strategies.

Materials

• Unfamiliar or ambiguous words or sentences from class reading material
• Access to a dictionary or other online resource for looking up definitions
• Note-taking materials (e.g. pencil and paper, laptop or tablet)

Warm-up

• Begin by presenting a series of unfamiliar or ambiguous words or sentences and have students work in pairs to determine their meanings based on the words around them.
• For example, "I saw the riasrob traplehr on the hike today. It was really pretty."
• Ask students to discuss what they think each word might mean, and if they can determine the meaning based on the context of the sentence.
• As a class, discuss the different strategies students used to determine the meanings of the words, and how effective they were.

Direct Instruction

• Next, introduce the concept of level reading and content as tools for determining the meaning of unfamiliar words or sentences.
• Discuss the importance of understanding the overall meaning of a text before focusing on individual words.
• Show examples of how to use content to help determine the meaning of unfamiliar words or sentences, using the word cards from the warm-up activity.
• For example, if a word appears to be a noun but does not make sense in the context of the sentence, look for a synonym that fits better.
• Discuss the various strategies for using level reading to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words or sentences, such as re-reading the sentence with the word in question removed and seeing if it makes sense.

Guided Practice

• Have students work in pairs and use the word cards from the warm-up activity to practice using content to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words or sentences.
• Give students a set of word cards and have them work together to come up with the most likely meaning for each word.
• Have students share their answers with the class and discuss any challenges or insights they had while making their determinations.

Independent Practice

• For independent practice, have students choose a passage or passage topic of their choice and use the strategies discussed in class to determine the meaning of any unfamiliar or ambiguous words or sentences.
• Encourage students to use the resources available to them (e.g., dictionary, glossary, context, etc.) to confirm their determinations.
• Have students write a short paragraph explaining the main idea of the passage and how they determined its meaning.

Closure

• Review the strategies for determining the meaning of unfamiliar and ambiguous words and sentences discussed in class.
• Ask students to reflect on their own personal strategies for determining meaning and how they can adapt these strategies to different reading and content levels.

Assessment

• Observe students during independent practice to assess their ability to apply the strategies for determining meaning discussed in class.
• Collect and review their independent practice paragraphs to assess their ability to accurately and effectively apply the strategies in a focused, independent context.