Unit 1

Context Clues, Main Idea, Supporting Details, Summarizing, and Paraphrasing

Name______

Definitions I should know by the end of the unit….

Context Clues: using the information around the word you don’t know to figure out the meaning of the word.

Ways I can use this technique:

______

A saying to remember this definition and technique:

______

Main Idea: a broad statement about the whole article

Ways I can use this technique:

______

A saying to remember this definition and technique:

______

Supporting Details: sentences that explain the main idea

Ways I can use this technique:

______

A saying to remember this definition and technique:

______

Summarizing: restating the information in a shortened form; focusing on the most important information

Ways I can use this technique:

______

A saying to remember this definition and technique:

______

Paraphrasing:restating the information in your own words; it is about the same length as the original reading selection.

Ways I can use this technique:

______

A saying to remember this definition and technique:

______

Context Clues

There are many times when we’re reading, that we can figure out an unfamiliar word by looking at its context- the words and sentences around it. For example: synonyms, antonyms, definitions, or by getting the general sense of the passage.

Try using CONTEXT CLUES to figure out the meaning of these unfamiliar words.

1. The werbert Sam brought for lunch looked delicious.It contained layers of roast beef, cheese, lettuce, and tomato piled in between two slices of bread. Sam couldn’t wait to eat it.

“werbert” means: ______

Clues: ______

2. The locloey is a very expensive but useful tool in the classroom. Students actually fight over whose turn it is to use it. Research, typing, games, and other activities can be done on it.

“locloey” means: ______

Clues: ______

3. Tanya loved to pick pytusul in the fall. She would fill bushel baskets with the green or red fruit and use them to make pies, muffins, sauce, and other sweets.

“pytusul” means: ______

Clues: ______

4. The packrock lives in both Asia and Africa. These enormous animals feast on foliage and use their long, prehensile trunks to drink water and pick up food. In parts of Asia and India, they are trained to work for humans. They carry loads and lift and move objects.

“packrock” means: ______

Clues: ______

Context Clues

~~~~~~Steps for Identifying Unfamiliar Words~~~~~~~~

Ricky was in another dispute with his brother. This time they were arguing over which television program they should watch. Ricky wanted to watch his favorite action show, but Bobby wanted to watch his favorite cartoon. They argued and threw toys across the room, until their mother came stomping in the room. She was steaming! She placed her hands on her hips and demanded to know what the pandemonium was all about. Ricky’s rancorfor his brother made him scream out what the whole fight had been about. He was positive his mother would understand because Bobby was obviously so young and immature. Once Ricky finished his story his mother slowly walked to the television remote. She smiled and placed the remote in her pocket. She then turned around and left the room. The boys were not appeased with their mother’s decision and were now angrier than before. So the boys sat on the couch and glared at each other all afternoon.

  1. Draw a box around the unfamiliar word in the passage.

Write the word below the passage.

Unfamiliar Word:______

  1. List and highlight words and phrases that are clues to the possible meaning of the word.

______

______

  1. Do this step in your head, not on paper: Think about what the word might mean.

*Does it look like any other words you know?

*Does it sound familiar?

*What part of speech is it?

*Is it a positive or a negative word?

  1. Guess what the unfamiliar word means and write the definition. Use a dictionary to check your guess.

______

Context Clues

Use the four-step plan to figure out the meaning of the italicized words in the paragraph. Write the meaning and the clues that helped you.

The hunchbacked mariner had a long white beard like a goat’s, a dirty, white sailor’s cap on his head, a cigar stump in the corner of his mouth, and the tattoo of a ship’s anchor on his arm. When he walked, he sauntered from side to side as if it was difficult for him to walk on solid ground. He had the musculature of someone who was used to hard, physical work. With his rolling walk and bulging arm muscles, the old man looked like an ancient “Popeye”.

1.mariner means:______Clues:______

______

______

2. sauntered means:______

Clues:______

______

______

3.musculaturemeans:______

Clues:______

______

______

Context Clues

Types of context clues There are at least four kinds of context clues that are quite common.

Synonym / A synonym, or word with the same meaning, is used in the sentence.
My opponent's argument is fallacious, misleading – plain wrong.
Antonym / A word or group of words that has the opposite meaning reveals the meaning of an unknown term.
Although some men are loquacious, others hardly talk at all.
Explanation / The unknown word is explained within the sentence or in a sentence immediately preceding.
The patient is so somnolent that she requires medication to help her stay awake for more than a short time.
Example / Specific examples are used to define the term.
Celestial bodies, such as the sun, moon, and stars, are governed by predictable laws.

Read the following sentences and define the boldedword based on the context clue. Then identify which of the four types of clues is used.

1. / The girl who used to be very vociferous doesn't talk much anymore.
2. / Pedagogical institutions, including high schools, kindergartens, and colleges, require community support to function efficiently.
3. / He was so parsimonious that he refused to give his own sons the few pennies they needed to buy pencils for school. It truly hurt him to part with his money.
4. / His pertinacity, or stubbornness, is the cause of most of his trouble.

Context Clues

See how long it takes before you can figure out what the nonsense word means.

The Norpul

The little norpul

The little norpul crawled

The little norpul crawled across the limb

The little norpul crawled across the limb with the nut.

What is a norpul? ______

Edifice

The tall edifice

The tall edifice added beauty

The tall edifice added beauty to the city

The tall edifice added beauty to the city after three years

The tall edifice added beauty to the city after three years of construction.

What is an edifice? ______

Callow

The callow

The callow baby-sitter

The callow baby-sitter jumped on the couch

The callow baby-sitter jumped on the couch and stuck out her tongue

The callow baby-sitter jumped on the couch and stuck out her tongue at the child.

What does callow mean? ______

Main Idea and Supporting Details

The Main Idea is the big picture of an event. It lets the reader know what a paragraph or passage is about. The main idea is a general statement about the topic or subject.

Supporting Details are specific statements about the same topic. They describe and support the main idea.

Below are three sentences. One of these sentences is a main idea. Two of these sentences are supporting details. Label them as the main idea (M) and supporting details (SD).

  1. Disney World has lots of delicious restaurants for you to enjoy.______
  2. Disney World is a wonderful place to take a vacation.______
  3. Disney World has four different parks for you to visit. ______

Now I will illustrate the big picture and the supporting details. As you can see, the main idea is the whole picture. The supporting details take up a small part.

It’s your turn. Come up with a main idea and two supporting details. Write them below. Then, draw your “big picture”.

Main Idea:______

Supporting Detail #1:______

Supporting Detail #2:______

Main Idea and Supporting Details

Main Idea Group Assignment

NamesJobs

______

______

______

______

Create a main idea and 2 supporting details for each picture. Remember to write your main ideas and supporting details in complete sentences.

Picture Station #1- Military “home-coming” picture

Main Idea- ______

First Supporting Detail- ______

Second Supporting Detail- ______

Picture Station #2- Voting picture

Main Idea- ______

First Supporting Detail- ______

Second Supporting Detail- ______

Picture Station #3- Beauty pageant picture

Main Idea- ______

First Supporting Detail- ______

Second Supporting Detail- ______

Main Idea and Supporting Details

Picture Station #4- Firefighter picture

Main Idea- ______

First Supporting Detail- ______

Second Supporting Detail- ______

Picture Station #5- School bus picture

Main Idea- ______

First Supporting Detail- ______

Second Supporting Detail- ______

Picture Station #6- Ice hockey picture

Main Idea- ______

First Supporting Detail- ______

Second Supporting Detail- ______

Picture Station #7- Bear picture

Main Idea- ______

First Supporting Detail- ______

Second Supporting Detail- ______

Main Idea and Supporting Details

Directions:

1.Read each paragraph.

2. Decide what the paragraph is mainly about.

3. Create a topic sentence (a sentence that expresses the main idea). Sometimes the topic sentence is already in the paragraph.

  1. The Pony Express was a mail delivery service in the 1860s that delivered mail between Missouri and California using young men on horseback. Riders usually rode 75 miles before taking a break. Sometimes a rider even had to travel hundreds of miles, survive dangerous trails, escape surprise attacks, and battle bad weather. Despite the hardships of the 1860s, the Pony Express overcame the problems to deliver the mail.

The paragraph tells mainly-

  1. How the Pony Express began
  2. Who delivered the mail
  3. The difficulties of delivering the mail
  4. The places the Pony Express deliver mail

Create a topic sentence:______

Details supporting:

  1. ______
  2. ______
  1. The North Pole is not the world’s coldest region. Antarctica, which surrounds the South Pole, is the coldest place on Earth. Temperatures as low as 129 degrees below zero Fahrenheit have been recorded there. Oddly enough, you would seldom catch a cold in the world’s coldest region. Most germs cannot live in such extreme cold!

The paragraph tells mainly-

  1. How cold it gets in Antarctica
  2. Why people don’t catch colds
  3. What the coldest region is like
  4. What the North Pole is like

Create a topic sentence:______

Details supporting:

  1. ______
  2. ______

Main Idea and Supporting Details

3. Many people believe that sleigh bells were merely ornamental. This is not so. Bells were once a necessary part of winter traffic. In the days when there were no sidewalks, people walked on the roads. Sleighs drawn through the snow were fast and silent. Moreover, sound was partly muffled by earmuffs. Sleighs not equipped with bells were a genuine danger to those who were walking in traffic.

The paragraph tells mainly-

  1. Why people once walked on the road
  2. How fast sleighs were
  3. Why sleighs had bells
  4. Why there were accidents

Create a topic sentence:______

Details supporting:

  1. ______
  2. ______

4. Texas longhorns were not like the gentle fat, slow-moving cattle of today. They were huge- weighing more than 1,000 pounds- and were almost as fast as deer. They had a tough spirit, pointed horns that they enjoyed tossing, sharp hooves, and a deep dislike for anything in their way. The Texas longhorns were fierce animals that commanded respect from people- and even from grizzly bears!

The paragraph tells mainly-

  1. How big the Texas longhorns were.
  2. What Texas longhorns were like
  3. Why grizzly bears run away
  4. What the horns of the Texas longhorns were like.

Create a topic sentence:______

Details supporting:

  1. ______
  2. ______

Summarizing and Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is re-writing another writer’s words or ideas in your own words without altering the meaning. The paraphrase is about the same length as the original since the purpose is to rephrase without leaving out anything, or shortening it.

Summarizingis putting down the main ideas of someone else’s work in your own words. A summary is always shorter than the original since the idea is to include only the main points of the original work and to leave out details that aren’t as important. A summary is usually about one-third the size of the original.

Paraphrasing Example:

  1. My dogatehis foodquickly.

My black, friendly dogspeedilygulpedhis food.

Do these two sentences have the same meaning?YES
Do these two sentences use the same words?NO

So…. what words have been changed?
Atewas changed togulped.
Quicklywas changed tospeedily.

Some words were changed,
but the meaning remains the same.

2. The starstwinkledin theeveningsky.

The beautiful, bright starssparkledatsunset.

Do these two sentences have the same meaning?YES
Do these two sentences use the same words?NO

What words have been changed?
Eveningwas changed tosunset.
Twinkledwas changed tosparkled.

Some words were changed,
but the meaning remains the same.

Summarizing and Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing- Read the original passage, then look away. Try and put it in your own words. Then, reread the original. Do you say everything that it says without using the exact same words? If so, you paraphrased!

Read the following sentences. Select which sentence best paraphrases the first sentence.

  1. Groundhogs belong to the squirrel family. They are also called woodchucks.
    A. Groundhogs are squirrels.
    B. Groundhogs are also known as woodchucks. They fit in the
    squirrel family.
  2. A groundhog has grayish brown fur. It has a bushy tail. Its claws are sharp to make digging easier.
    A. Groundhogs have coats of hair that are gray and brown. They
    dig with their razor sharp claws. They have a thick tail.
    B. All groundhogs love to dig. Sometimes they dig with their feet.
  3. A groundhog lives in an underground burrow. Its home may have more than one entrance.
    A. Their home beneath the earth can have more than one way to get
    in and out. It is like a tunnel.
    B. The burrow always has more than one way to get in but not
    out.
  4. To warn others of danger a groundhog makes a loud, whistling sound.
    A. A groundhog whistles when he is happy. It is loud.
    B. To tell that they aren't safe, a groundhog lets out a shrill noise.
    It sounds like a shriek.

Your turn!! Can you paraphrase the last sentence?

  1. The groundhog fattens up before hibernating. Its body uses the extra fat when it is sleeping.

______

Summarizing and Paraphrasing

Summarizing- A good summary tells who did what, where, when, why, and how. The elements don’t have to be presented in this order, but they should appear in the order in which they occur in the article or story you’re summarizing. And sometimes, not every element will appear in a summary.

Listen to the story and summarize the main points using the following graphic organizer.

Summarizing and Paraphrasing

Listen to the story. Write one sentence to summarize the beginning, the middle, and the end. Then, write one sentence to summarize all three parts.

Title: ______

Author: ______

Beginning
Middle
End
Summary