
Teaching context clues to young readers can be challenging, especially because they are still mastering foundational reading skills. In first grade, students are not only learning to decode words but also beginning to understand how to figure out the meaning of unfamiliar words using clues from the text. This can feel like a lot for their developing minds, and it’s no surprise that some students might feel overwhelmed. However, with the right strategies and engaging activities, teaching context clues can become a fun and manageable part of your literacy instruction, setting the stage for strong reading comprehension skills. This is an important skill in reading a fiction text and informational text when coming across new words in reading.
The english language arts common core standards for teaching context clues in first grade are:
- L.1.4: Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 1 reading and content, choosing flexibly from an array of strategies.
- L.1.4a: Use sentence-level context as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
What are context clues?
Context clues are clues you use to figure out the meaning of a word. There are different ways to teach your students about the different types of context clues. They are:
- Does the sentence have helping words? Search for surrounding words: like, as, or, is, called, or also known as.
- Look for definitions. Sometimes the following sentence might say what the word means.
- Does the sentence give synonym or antonym clues?
As students grow older, they will learn to use root words to help them identify meanings of words.
Teach the skills to learn new vocabulary words
Teach your students the skills needed to figure out the meaning an unknown word.
- Reread the sentence. Teach your students to reread the sentence when there is an unknown word.
- Look around the word. What do they see that may help them figure out the word? Are there different words that will help them activate their schema to figure out the meanings of words? Look at the context of the sentence to determine the meaning and through the complete sentences.
- Use pictures. If there are pictures accompanying the word or story, look at the picture to see if it helps you make a guess what the word is.
- Guess! Make a guess based off the sentence and the pictures. I once had a reading teacher tell me, “If you didn’t have to be right, what would you say?”
- Reread the sentence. Read the sentence again with the meaning in your head to see if that makes sense.
Read books with context clues

When finding books to teach context clues, make sure to preview the book first. One book that I really like to use for teaching context clues is Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. There are many words in this book that are great for vocabulary building for elementary students, but that also lend well to the teaching of context clues.
Before reading, I find 4-5 different example clues that I want us to focus on. Then, I put a little post it with the word on that page so I do not skip it. I have an anchor chart ready for this lesson (see the picture) so that we can dive into these words. It is important to use books so that students can see how to attack these words in their every day reading. If you can find books with the same word but in various contexts, this will also help students cross sentence clues. You can also create a word bank in your classroom as you begin learning these different vocabulary words.
Teach with nonsense words

When I finally started teaching context clues with nonsense words, I saw a lot of growth. Nonsense words are not as intimidating as real unfamiliar words, especially when you tell your students “hey, this word is not real!”. Knowing that that word is not real gives them the opportunity to test their skills of how to figure out the meaning of words.
Reading Passages For Your Lesson Plans

Our reading passages were made specifically for figuring out the meaning of unknown words. Read the passage with your students and then they determine the meaning of the underlined word. They write the meaning of the underlined word, write how they know what it means (provide evidence from the text), and then draw a picture of what happened in the short story. I used these as a close reading in my classroom so we could really work together to determine the meanings of these unknown words.
Teach Explicitly In Small Reading Groups

These differentiated cards help students to use the context clues to figure out the unknown word. You can use these cards based on your reading groups. There are three different levels, but all with the same vocabulary word and picture. Students read the sentences (or you read them and students discuss them together). These cards are great for extra practice for determining unknown words.
Nonsense Words Write The Room

Who doesn’t love a write the room activity? Students work together to read the short story and figure out the meaning of the underlined nonsense word. On their recording sheet, they write the nonsense word, the meaning of the nonsense word, and draw a picture to match. I recommend doing this activity in pairs so that students help one another read the short story and figure out the meanings of the nonsense words.
Context Clues Write The Room

Just like the nonsense words write the room mentioned above, students will read the sentences and figure out the meaning of the underlined word. They also can use the photograph to help them figure it out.
Use Graphic Organizers To Organize Ideas And Information

These graphic organizers will help students when reading through a book and they come across a word they are unsure of the meaning. They write the word down and go through the steps to figuring out the meaning of the word. These graphic organizers are also really helpful for your small reading groups or in a literacy center.
Reading Center Activities To Add To Your Literacy Block

Nonsense Word Puzzles: Students piece together the picture with the short passage that matches.
Opposites Puzzle: Students match the opposites together.
Piece It Puzzles: Students piece a short passage with underlined vocabulary words to the meaning of the word and picture to match. A student’s abilities to match the pieces together will depend on their understanding of how to determine the meaning of the word.
Take Your Context Clues Lessons To New Heights

I always love to do a fun craftivity with my reading units. This one is a fun paper luggage set with boarding passes. The boarding passes include an aircraft vocabulary word with a few sentences to give clues of what the word means. Then, students write what they think the word means and draw a picture to match. This is a fun way to extend your teaching of word meanings with a fun theme wotj these specific word choices.
Teach Context Clues In All Aspects of Readers Workshop

Make sure to not limit yourself to just teaching context clues in your reader’s workshop mini lessons. Teach it in your small groups and with activities as well. Take a look at our activities below:
- Write The Room: In our Context Clues Reading Unit, there are 2 write the room activities available- one for nonsense words and the other for real words. I suggest pairing students for this activity as they walk around the room looking for the cards and determining what the words mean.
- Centers: Use the reading centers to give further practice to your students for figuring out unknown words.
- Small Group Work: It is important to have a warm-up in every small group lesson and a great way to start a group during this reading unit is to determine unknown words. These cards are differentiated for your different groups.
These activities will help develop the knowledge of vocabulary among your students.
You can find our Context Clues Reading Unit on TPT right here.
Purchase on Missing Tooth Grins here.
Related Post: Why Teaching Context Clues With Nonsense Words Just Makes Sense
Try Out A Reading Passage For Free!
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Related Post: Why Teaching Context Clues With Nonsense Words Just Makes Sense

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