Lesson Plan

Human Dictionary

When reading, we all encounter unknown words at times. But how do we figure them out? In this lesson, students learn how to become a “human dictionary” by using a variety of strategies to figure out the meaning of unknown words.
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Need extra help for EL students? Try the Vocabulary Focus pre-lesson.
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Need extra help for EL students? Try the Vocabulary Focus pre-lesson.

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to figure out the meaning of unknown words using various strategies and clues.

The adjustment to the whole group lesson is a modification to differentiate for children who are English learners.
EL adjustments

Introduction

(5 minutes)
Read the Word CluesPrefix, Suffix, Make Sense of It!
  • Ask, “What do you do when you’re reading and come across a word that you don’t know?” Write a few answers on the board.

Beginning: Pre-teach strategies to understand unknown words in sets of mini-lessons prior to the lesson.

Intermediate: Provide students with a copy of the Read the Word Clues worksheet prior to the lesson and use a simplified text to explicitly cover and explain each strategy.

Related Guided Lesson

Vocabulary 1

6 games
5 printable worksheets
View Guided Lesson
Grade
second grade
Subject Reading & Writing