BUILDING VOCABULARY

continued from No. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

How to Learn New Words

Strategies for Building Vocabulary

UNIT 8: LEARN ABOUT WORD CLUES

Pop up and give yourself another cheer for having learned about suffixes. Now get ready to find another way to learn new words.
Suppose you don’t know a word’s meaning. Sometimes the meaning is hidden in the sentence or paragraph. Words that come before or after the unknown word or words may help you figure out meanings.

Keep your eyes open for hidden meanings of words you don’t know.

Activity 1. Read the story. Follow the directions after the story.

Mother Rabbit’s Trick

One day Mother Rabbit took Little Rabbit into the woods.
“You must learn what is edible,” said Mother Rabbit to Little Rabbit. “Edible means ‘things you can eat.’ “
Little Rabbit pointed to a rock.
“Can I eat that?” he asked.
“No,” said Mother Rabbit. “A rock is not edible.”
A little gray mouse hopped by.
“Can I eat the mouse?” asked Little Rabbit.
“No,” said Mother Rabbit. “We rabbits are vegetarians. Vegetarians eat only plants.”
Suddenly a big hawk flew over their heads.
“Run,” cried Mother Rabbit. Then she dived into a hole. But Hawk had trapped Little Rabbit behind a tree.
“I’m going to eat you,” said Hawk.
“Oh, don’t eat him,” shouted Mother Rabbit. “He’s not a real rabbit.”
“What is he?” asked Hawk.
“A gingerbread rabbit,” she said.
“What’s gingerbread?” asked Hawk.
“Gingerbread is a cake made from flour and a spice called ginger,” answered Mother Rabbit.
“Flour? Yuck!” said Hawk, and he flew away.
“My trick worked,” said Mother Rabbit. Then she and Little Rabbit began to laugh.

Now underline the meaning of each word below in the story. Then write each meaning on the lines.

1. edible _________________
2. vegetarians _________________
3. gingerbread _________________

Answers: 1. things you can eat; 2. people that eat only plants; 3. a cake made from flour and spice

Activity 2. Read the story about Betsy’s visitor from England – a country across the ocean from the United States.

Baseball Game

“Let’s watch TV,” said Betsy.
“TV?” asked Meg. “What’s that?”
“TV is television,” said Betsy.
“Oh!” laughed Meg. “In England we call it the telly.”
Betsy turned on the TV. A baseball game was on.
“It’s the last of the ninth,” the sports announcer said.
“Baseball games have parts called innings,” said Betsy.
“George Brown is at the plate,” said the announcer.
“He’s talking about home plate,” said Betsy. “The batter stands at the plate. The pitcher throws the ball to the batter. If the batter hits it, he runs. He tries to get all the way around the three bases and back to home plate. If he does, he scores a run.”
“...And Brown hits a fly ball,” said the announcer.
“A fly ball is a ball that is hit into the air,” said Betsy. “That one looks easy to catch.”
Just then a player caught the fly ball. George Brown was out.
“Well,” said Meg, “I guess you called that play. Baseball looks like a jolly good game!”
“Jolly good?” asked Betsy with a puzzled look on her face.

Find a word or words in the story that go with each meaning. Write the words on the lines.

1. another word for TV ____________
2. what the parts of a baseball game are called ____________
3. the player who throws the ball ____________
4. the player who tries to hit the ball ____________
5. where the batter stands ____________
6. what the batter scores if he runs around three bases and back to home plate ____________
7. a ball hit into the air ____________

Answers: 1. television or telly; 2. innings; 3. pitcher; 4. batter; 5. home plate. 6. home run; 7. fly ball

Practice Finding

Activity 3. Read the story.

Cloud Talk

Have you ever tried to read the sky? You can learn how to very easily.
A very tall cloud is called a thunderhead. The top of the cloud may be 5 miles high. This cloud brings thunderstorms, snow, and hail. Lightning often flashes inside a thunderhead.
When the sun shines brightly, the air near the Earth is warmed. This warm air forms an air bubble and starts to rise. The water in the bubble turns into tiny drops. These drops form into cumulus clouds. Cumulus clouds are white and fluffy. They look like cotton. Cumulus clouds mean the weather will be fair.
Clouds that form 7 or 8 miles above the Earth are called cirrus. Cirrus clouds look like curls of smoke. They are made up of bits of ice. Cirrus clouds tell you a storm may be on its way.
Go outside and study the clouds. What do you see? What kind of weather will there be?

Now find a word in the story that goes with each meaning below.

1. a cloud made of bits of ice ____________________________
2. a cloud that is about 5 miles high ____________________________
3. a cloud that looks like cotton ____________________________
4. a cloud that brings thunderstorms ____________________________
5. a cloud that tells you a storm may be on its way ____________________________
6. a cloud that means fair weather ____________________________

Answers: 1. cirrus; 2. thunderhead; 3. cumulus; 4. thunderhead; 5. cirrus; 6. cumulus

Activity 4. Below are the words you have learned. Number each list in ABC (alphabetical) order.

Answers: A. 5; 2; 3; 1; 4. B. 2; 4; 5; 3; 1

Test. Show All You Know About Word Clues

Underline the best meaning for each boldfaced word below.

1. edible

a. sweet-tasting
b. safe to eat

2. vegetarian

a. somebody who doesn’t eat vegetables
b. somebody who eats only plants

3. pitcher

a. the player who throws the ball to the batter
b. the player who hits the ball

4. fly ball

a. a ball hit on the ground
b. a ball hit into the air

5. cirrus

a. a cloud made up of bits of ice
b. a cloud that is about 5 miles high

6. cumulus

a. a cloud that means fair weather
b. a cloud made up of bits of ice

Answers: 1. b; 2. b; 3. a; 4. b; 5. a; 6. a

Practice finding word clues in the story that follows. Study the picture. Read the story. Follow the directions after the story.

A Special Kind of Machine

What is a robot?
A robot is a machine. But it is a special kind of machine.
Most machines need a person around in order to work. But a robot doesn’t. Once a robot is started, it does a job automatically – without a person’s help.
In the future there may be many robots around. Robots might do surprising things for you. They may even do your homework!

Write a meaning for robot.
__________________________________________
____________________________________________

Write a meaning for automatically.
____________________________________________
____________________________________________

Answers:

A special kind of machine. 
Doing a job without a person’s help

Compiled by Erin Bouma

to be continued