CLUSTER 1:  Words and Phrases in Context

 

 

 

Benchmark

 

 

 

 

LA.A.1.4.2

 

 

Building Vocabulary, Making Inferences and Interpreting Graphs

 

    

Benchmark Focus

 

 

·        The student selects and uses strategies to understand words and texts, and to make and confirm inferences from what is read, including interpreting diagrams, graphs, and statistical illustrations.

 

 

Benchmark Clarification

 

 

·        assesses the student’s knowledge of context clues and word structure

·        makes or confirms inferences about the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences

·        interprets diagrams, graphs, and statistical illustrations

 

Item Types

 

9th grade:   Multiple Choice

10th grade: Multiple Choice (MC);     Short Response (SR);    

                  Extended   Response (ER)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question Stems

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Questions for this benchmark would look like:

 

·        Read this sentence from the article. ______________________ What does the word _____ mean?

·        Which two words from the article are most  nearly the opposite/the same?

·        How did the author organize the opening paragraph of the article?

·        When the author states “_____________” he/she means _______.

·        Read this quotation from the article. “______________.” In which sentence does the word “___” have the same meaning as it is used in the article?

·        Read this sentence from the passage. ____________.  What does the phrase in parenthesis reveal about the character?

·        How has the author organized the story?

·        What does the author mean when he or she says “___”?  Support your answer with relevant details from the text.

·        What can you infer from ___?  Use details from the text to support your answer.

·        Why does it seem probably that ___?  Support your answer with relevant details from the text.

·        What does the author imply by saying “____”?  Support your answer with details from the text.

 

 

 

 

 

Distractors

 

 

 

 

Incorrect answers that would "distract" students from identifying the correct answer would include, but would not be limited to, the following:

·        incorrect meanings of the target word, phrase, or sentence

·        meanings of the target word, phrase, or sentence that are correct but are not appropriate for the context

·        details that are drawn from the passage)s) but are not related to the stimulus

·        inaccurate inferences

·        plausible but incorrect responses based on the text

 

 

Definition

 

  The ability to use context cues to determine the meaning of vocabulary should be assessed with words unfamiliar to most students at the tested grade level.

 

 

Types of Text

 

 

 

·        Passages may be literary text or informational text.

·        Other stimuli could include, but should not be limited to, diagrams, graphs, and statistical illustrations.

·        Passages must contain a word or phrase unfamiliar to most students at the tested grade level, and sufficient context must be present to enable students to infer the meaning of the word or phrase. 

·        Passages must contain appropriate words to assess knowledge of multiple meanings, antonyms, and synonyms.

 

 

Signal Words

 

 

Context clues include the following:

·        Direct definition

·        Synonyms/antonyms

·        Restatement

·        Examples or additional statements that help with an unfamiliar word

·        Using the cause or the effect to determine the meaning of the new word

·        Comparison/contrast

·        Association

·        Reflection of mood

 

 

Top Three Strategies

 

 

 

·        Vocabulary Improvement Strategy (VIS)

·        Frayer Model

·        Word Maps

 

 

 

 

Additional Strategies

 

 

 

 

·        Vocabulary Overview Guide

·        Semantic Mapping

·        Capsule Vocabulary

·        List-Group-Label

·        Critical Vocabulary

·        Inference Chart

 

Staff Development

 

Have participants read the article, “Building a Better Vocabulary.”  Give each participant a Vocabulary Improvement Strategy Sheet.  Place the following words on an overhead:  schema, semantic, incidentally, perspectives.  Ask participants to read the article and complete the Vocabulary Improvement chart for the words above. 

SOURCES:

1.       FCAT Reading Test Item and Performance Task Specifications, Florida DOE, January 2001

2.       FCAT

 

NOTE:  The vocabulary benchmark for students at Grades 9 and 10 require students to draw conclusions, recognize organizational patterns, grasp subtle inferences and simple analogies, interpret captions and graphics, and understand more subtle inferences about the material they read.  Students must be able to make inferences from charts or diagrams. 

 

Implications for instruction:

 

·        Teachers should encourage students to read extensively from a variety of materials and teach independent word-learning strategies.

·        Students seem unable to use context clues generally and they allow past experience with one meaning of a word to override their evaluation of the particular context in the testing situation.

·        When teaching the use of context clues, it is important to point out that they include words, phrases, and sentences that occur both before and after the target word.

·        Students would benefit from a variety of activities working intensively with sets of words that are semantically related.

·        Opportunities for students to use words in their writing is important.

·        Explicit teaching of meanings associated with word part (prefixes, suffixes, and root words commonly found in content area text) would foster students’ ability to make correct choices in situations regarding gradations of judgment.  Students have had difficulty making choices in situations involving judgment of degree (“most” or “best”, etc.).