Independent reading lesson: defining words in context

This lesson will require students to listen to the teacher read aloud. During the reading the teacher will pause and use the think aloud process to model how to clarify the meaning of new vocabulary.

The teacher will reread, read on and use the illustrations to help with clarifying. Additionally, the teacher might use syntax to assist this process. After modelling the strategy, students will be encouraged to use a similar strategy when reading independently.

Text details

Scary Night (Gibbes and King, 2015, Adelaide, SA: Working Title Press)

Text contains

Picture story book.

The text contains:

  • interesting vocabulary such as: dale, trail, paws, bold, brave, mystery
  • words that rhyme (eg: night, moonlight)
  • alliteration (eg: Hare with a hat, Cat with a cake, Pig with a parcel)
  • sentence boundary punctuation especially question and exclamation marks (eg: Where were they going in the dead of the night?)
  • font changes to signify mood

Links to the Victorian Curriculum - English

Level one

Reading and viewing

Read texts with familiar features and structures using developing phrasing, fluency, phonic, semantic, contextual, and grammatical knowledge and emerging text processing strategies including prediction, monitoring meaning and rereading. For more information, see: Content description VCELY187

Explore differences in words that represent people, places and things (nouns, including pronouns), happening and states (verbs), qualities (adjectives) and details such as when, where and how (adverbs). For more information, see: Content description VCELA179

Level two

Reading and viewing

Read familiar and some unfamiliar texts with phrasing and fluency by combining phonic, semantic, contextual and grammatical knowledge using text processing strategies, including monitoring meaning, predicting, rereading and self-correcting. For more information, see: Content description VCELY221

Understand that nouns represent people, places, things and ideas and include common, proper, concrete or abstract, and that noun groups/phrases can be expanded using articles and adjectives. For more information, see: Content description VCELA216

Level three

Reading and viewing

Read an increasing range of imaginative, informative and persuasive texts by combining phonic, semantic, contextual and grammatical knowledge, using text processing strategies, including confirming, rereading and cross-checking. For more information, see: Content description VCELY256

Links to Victorian Curriculum - English as an Additional Language (EAL)

Pathway A

Speaking and listening
Level A1

Level A2

  • Predict meaning from context in simple interactions or spoken texts (VCEALC086)
  • Identify key words and ideas from short, familiar spoken texts supported by context (VCEALL107)

Reading and viewing
Level A1

Level A2

  • Understand a small range of simple, familiar texts (VCEALC112)
  • Recognise a small range of familiar words in different contexts (VCEALL129)

Pathway B

Speaking and listening
Level BL

  • Identify basic items of information in short spoken texts (VCEALC167)

Level B1

  • Identify some key points of information in short spoken texts, with guidance (VCEALC245)

Level B2

  • Identify key points of information in short spoken texts (VCEALC326)

Level B3

  • Understand a new topic delivered with extensive contextual and teacher support (VCEALC406)

Reading and viewing
Level BL

  • Read simple, familiar texts with assistance (VCEALC184)
  • Revisit familiar texts to develop accurate and fluent reading (VCEALL213)
  • Use simple dictionaries and word charts (VCEALA196)

Level B1

  • Use key words to understand the main idea in short texts (VCEALC265)
  • Make simple predictions or inferences about a text (VCEALC269)
  • Experiment with using a picture or simple English dictionary and/or a home language–English bilingual dictionary to find words (VCEALA276)

Level B2

  • Read simple, unfamiliar informative, imaginative and persuasive texts, with support (VCEALC345)
  • Make and substantiate inferences and predictions when reading or listening to a text read aloud (VCEALC350)
  • Use a simple English dictionary or class word list to find words, and/or check home language–English bilingual dictionary for meanings (VCEALA357)

Level B3

  • Access, interpret and evaluate information from a range of print and digital texts, including visual, multimodal and interactive (VCEALC424)
  • Understand main ideas in a text and extract specific details (VCEALC425)
  • Use an accessible English dictionary to check the meaning of new words, and/or check meanings in a home language–English bilingual dictionary (VCEALA436)

Learning intention

We are learning how to use the surrounding text clues to work out the meaning of unknown words in a text.

Success criteria

I can use a synonym to help me work out the meaning of a word in a text I do not know. To do this I might reread or read on or use the illustrations or my knowledge of grammar to help me. I will share my thinking and my synonym with the class.

Role of the reader

Text Participant

Lesson sequence

  1. Introduce the learning intention and success criteria for the lesson.
    • Today we are learning how to work out the meaning of a word in a text if we don’t know it. I  am going to read Scary Night to you and when I come across a word I don’t know the meaning of, I am going to show you how to try and work it out.
    • You will have the chance to practise this skill when you read independently today. You will know that you are successful if you can come up with a synonym for the meaning of one of the words you do not know. A synonym is another word that means the same thing (eg: little and small are synonyms). To know what synonym to suggest, you will have to use the strategy of rereading, reading on, looking at the illustrations and using your knowledge about words.
  2. Begin reading Scary Night using phrasing, fluency and prosody.
  3. Pause after reading the word ‘dale’. Model think aloud process.  e.g. I don’t know what ‘dale’ means.
    • I will reread to see if that helps me. Reread. Because you can go over a ‘dale’ it must be a thing (a noun). ‘Hill’ is another noun so it must have to do with a place near hills.
    • I will read the next sentence to see if that helps. No, that doesn’t help me, it just tells me that they keep going.
    • I am going to look at the picture. It is a picture of hills. What other places are nearby in the picture? I wonder if ‘dales’ are the bits between the hills? I am going to think of a synonym to help me. I know ‘valley’ means the bit between hills. I will try that.
    • Later on when I finish reading I am going to look this word up in a dictionary to check and put it up on our class word wall.
  4. Continue reading.
  5. Pause after reading the word ‘bold’. Repeat the think aloud process. e.g. I don’t know what ‘bold’ means.
    • I will reread to see if that helps me. Reread previous 2 pages. The text is telling me that Hare, Cat and Pig are so scared they are shaking. They have to creep through a cave. They have to be quiet and be ‘bold’. This word is describing them. When a word describes something it is called an adjective. I have to think of an adjective that tells me about Hare, Cat and Pig.
    • I will read the next page to see if that helps me. This tells me they are trying to get away from grizzly bears. Grizzly bears are scary. Hare, Cat and Pig need to be the opposite of scared. I know you need a lot of courage when you are scared.
    • I am going to think of a synonym to help me understand ‘bold’. I can say ‘courageous’.
    • Later on when I finish reading I am going to look this word up in a dictionary to check and put it on our class word wall.
  6. Complete reading.  Students begin Independent Reading.
    • Reiterate success criteria. When you are come across a word you don’t know when reading independently, I want you to do the same thing as I just showed you to help you. At sharing time, I want you to have an example ready including a synonym for the meaning of the unknown word. Be ready to tell the grade what strategies you used to come up with the synonym.
  7. Whilst students are reading independently, the teacher works with a small group or individual student. With 5 minutes before the lesson closure, prompt the students to work independently to record their synonym in their reading response book and use dot points to outline the strategies they used to help them.
  8. Lesson Closure
    • Revisit the learning intention and success criteria. Select a cross section of students to share their synonym and the process they went through to determine it. Check the word meanings. Add to class word wall with correct definitions.
    • Ask students to rate how confident they felt with this process by doing a quick visual show using their body parts (heads up-successful, I tried-stomach, I do not understand-feet).
    • Collect reading response books to check student thinking. Use to inform future planning.

ABC Education Literacy Mini Lessons

The Department collaborated with ABC Education to create a series of videos. All 16 mini lessons based on content from the Literacy Teaching Toolkit are available on the ABC Education literacy mini lessons page.

More information

For comprehension example lessons, see: Comprehension