INSTRUCTIONAL PLANNING GRID

GRADE/ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS

7TH

TEKS
(7.2b) Students will use context (e.g., cause and
effect or compare and contrast organizational
text structures) to determine or clarify the
meaning of unfamiliar or multiple meaning
words.

Big Understanding
-Students will be able to discern and
understand the meaning of new vocabulary
they encounter when reading and writing.
-Students will be able to incorporate new
vocabulary when reading and writing.
-Both understandings will promote prolonged
vocabulary development.

Objective
The students will identify context clues that help
generate definitions for the specified terms of a
passage.
Assessment Evidence
Now that we know what context clues are and how to find them were going to practice by acting
as Literary Forensic Agents! Today we will be breaking up into small groups and participate in a
literary scavenger hunt for context clues to help you define some new vocabulary in a series of
crimes scenes or short passages. As a group your investigative team will be given one unique
word, or suspect, from this weeks vocabulary list to identify and define. Together you will search
through the passage provided for context clues to help you define your groups word. You will
each individually fill out a Case File (handout) with your assigned word, the agreed upon
definition from your group, the context clues that helped you define it, and a new sentence using
the vocabulary word that will be unique to each of you. After 10 minutes we will go over them
together, each group picking a representative to present the information your group has collected,
and while the other groups are reading youll all copy down the information for the words you
werent assigned in the spaces provided on your Case File.
Opening Hook
With a new vocabulary word already on the board the teacher will say, Be careful class! Youve
just entered a crime scene. Ready to solve a few literary mysteries? Then the students will be
asked to orally define the word without any context.
Instructional Strategies/Activities
The students separate into groups for 4-5 and will work through two crime scene passages that
will be accessible both through the overhead projection and handouts already placed on the table.
In each short passage there will be 5 underlined vocabulary terms that need to be defined through
context clues. Each member of each team will fill out a Case File handout on their word;
identifying the context clues, definition, and a unique sample sentence. After 10 minutes of
reading, collaborating with their groups, and filling out their case paperwork each group will elect
a representative to present the case for their word. Each student will need to copy down the
other teams information for their words on their handouts. If time does not allow for us to
complete the second passage it can be revisited the following day or later on in the unit.
Materials/Resources
-Two short passages projected onto the board via PowerPoint (technology)
-Handouts: Passages for each group, Case File for each student, Exit Slip for each student
Grouping Patterns
Students will work in heterogeneous groups as investigative teams to identify context clues and
define vocabulary terms.
Ending Summary/Reflection
The students will define the word from the beginning of class from context clues in a new
sentence and answer how valuable do you think context clues are when youre trying to define
new vocabulary words? on an Exit Slip index card.