Transcript Overview of Vocabulary - Miami Beach Senior High School

Vocabulary Strategies for taking
the FCAT Reading Assessment
September 4, 2012
Presenter: Ms. Richardson
Room 356
Overview of Vocabulary
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Vocabulary knowledge is fundamental to reading
comprehension; one cannot understand text
without knowing what most of the words mean.
There are four strategies that can help you
understand unfamiliar words as you read.
Structural Analysis
Context Clues
Word Connotations
Word Associations/Inferences
Structural Analysis
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What is it?
– It is a strategy used to break down unfamiliar
multisyllabic words. Working backwards, break the
word down by dividing the affixes(prefixes, root words,
and suffixes) and then determine the meaning of the
word
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When do you use it?
– when there are no directive context clues and the
unfamiliar word has affixes that you can figure out
How do you use?
–
Once you become familiar with common affixes then
you can determine the meaning of each affix, put their
meaning together to gain a user friendly definition, then
use the process of elimination.
FCAT Vocabulary Question
Type
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If you have a question similar to the one below,
and you don’t know the meaning of one of the
words such as gallantry or corrupting. Then you
can use structural analysis to gain meaning of
multisyllabic words.
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In the FCAT passage Woman with a
Flower/Offspring
– I wouldn’t coax the plant if I were you, Such
watchful nurturing may do it harm. Let the soil
rest from so much digging
What is the meaning of the word nurturing as it is
used in these lines?
A.
B.
C.
D.
conceit
corrupting
fostering
Gallantry
Such as “cor” means within, and “rupt” means to
break and ing is present form. So corrupting
means process of breaking within(user friendly
definition)
Use structural analysis to
understand
these
word
Define Roots
Define Affixes
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predominant
 perception
 perceive
 excursion
 domesticated
 prominently
 Preferred
 indefatigable
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incontrovertible
 circumscribe
 indolent
 acquit
 multifarious
 devoted
 introspective
 innovation
Derivation- Other
Forms of Words
Cred – believe (root word)
 Credit – credited, creditworthy, crediting
 Discredit – dis (not or no) not believe
 Incredible – in (
) ____believe
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Incredulous In (
) -believe- ous ( )
Context Clues
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What is it?
Signal words that offer clues to the meaning of an
unfamiliar word within a sentence or phrase.
When do you use it?
When you do not know the meaning of a word in a
sentence and it prevents you from understanding what the
author is saying.
How do you use it?
Become familiar with signal/clue words that can help you
understand the meaning of unfamiliar words.
Vocabulary Question Type
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When you are reading, you can often figure out the
meaning of unfamiliar word by looking at the context
It is indeed true that words are learned from context, but in
the course of an individual’s development the type of
context changes-from oral contexts to written contexts.
-General contexts provide enough information for the
reader to place the word in a general category (allows
you to infer meaning)
-Directive contexts – lead the reader to a specific,
correct meaning of an unfamiliar word.
Not all written contexts are informative in providing word meaning
such as misdirective (provide a misleading understanding of a word),
nondirective (offer no clues to the word’s meaning) contexts.
Examples of Directive Context Clues
Comparison – Jenna worked as diligently as the most
conscientious and productive students (key words----------------)?
Contrast – One cat is courageous and loves adventure;
the other is timorous and hides under the sofa. (key
words---------------------?)
Synonyms , Definitions, Restatements – Bonsai, the art
of growing miniature tress in small pots, is well known
in Japan. (key words-------------------------?)
Antonyms – Paul, unlike his shy brother, is extroverted.
(key words----------------------------------?)
Signal or Key words
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Some sentences give you clues to unfamiliar words and tell
you if there is an agreement or a contrast between words.
Words that establish Agreement Words that Establish Contrast
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Also
Too
Thus
Similarly
And
Furthermore
Because
Consequently
So
As a result
Hence
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Accordingly
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But
Instead
Unlike
Despite
In spite of
Yet
On the hand
Although
Never the less
However
Example of Context Clue Question
Moderate Difficulty – Multiple Meanings (From the FCAT
passage the Police Beat)
 …she left and was replaced by Steve Burgard, who also came in
early and read a lot of my copy. Steve, who is now at The Los
Angeles Times, always asked a lot of questions about the facts in
the story.
-What is the most likely meaning of the word copy?
 -A. a printout of a newspaper
 B. Editorial criticisms of writing
 C. Grammatical concerns in writing
 D. Text that reporters write for the paper
-Watch out for multiple definitions of words –
 Signal
words______________________________________________
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Multiple Definitions of Words
1) 2) 3) – run has 70 different definitions
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Note: The English language has many words with
more than meaning. These words have multiple
definitions like the word - run with 70 different
definitions
 1) Copy – to make a reproduction of an original
2) Copy – to create an article or news report for
final printing i.e. publishing
 1) rough – My bike bounced up and down on the
rough cobbled road.
 2) rough - I submitted my rough draft.
Denotation and Connotation
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Denotation is the actual literal definition
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Connotation are the ideas, feelings or images
suggested by a word in addition to the meaning
 Connotation of a word can be positive or negative
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The English language often has several words
with similar meanings e.g. walked, sashayed,
switched, strolled, stride, marched, promenaded,
pranced, trotted, strutted but they vary in how
they convey positive , neutral or negative
connotations.
Review Tone/Attitude Words
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Become familiar with vocabulary words that
reflect attitude/tone of authors such as
 Accusatory
Earnest
 Objective
Erudite
 Apathetic
Fanciful
 Bitter
Forthright
 Cynical
Jovial
 Condescension
Optimistic
 Callous
Lyrical
 Mocking
Sarcastic
Word Connotation
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Connotation concerns all the suggestive or
associative implications attached to a given
word.
 Slim: gaunt, thin, wasted, lean, skinny,
slender, slab-sided, starved, anorexic
 Fat: portly, fleshly, obese, beefy, bulky,
stout, gross, rotund, pleasingly, plump
FCAT Vocabulary Question
(descriptive Language/tone – high difficulty)
~Use Word Connotation Strategy~
 Which word best describes the tone of
“Woman with a Flower”?
 F) indifferent (-) Not caring
 G) instructive (+) informing/enlightening
 H) reverent (+) treating subj. w/ honor & respect
 I) somber (-) gloomy
 If the passage was positive then you know
you can quickly eliminate the negative
words
FCAT Author’s Attitude
Question Type
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If a question asks what sort of attitude an author had towards the
passage or subject, then look throughout the passage for attitude
words that might convey a positive or negative attitude. Are words
such as ecstatic used or words like solemn?
Another way of handling the question type is to arrange all of the
answer choices in a list from negative to positive
A. indignation
()
C. Impartiality ( )
B. Eagerness
()
D. fearful
()
If the passage was generally positive and informative than you can
eliminate the negative choices. This will help you sort out the
different choices and keep you from overlooking an answer choice
that’s viable.
Inference/Word Associations
An inference is an educated guess based on information or
evidence in a story?
Word Associations deals with varying degrees or intensity of
meanings between related words from synonyms to
antonyms
Examples: Icy – cool-tepid-hot – boiling
Eager – motivated – ambivalent – idle – lazy
Transparent- translucent – cloudy- obscure – opaque
Beautiful - -
- -
Vocabulary Conclusions/Inferences FCAT
Question (High Difficulty)
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According to the article, why would a mountain
range closer to the equator probably be more
challenging to a mountain climber than one farther
away?
A. the highest mountains exist within thirty
degrees of the equator.
B. the climbers cannot tolerate climbing
mountains in higher latitudes.
C. The air on mountains is uncomfortable for
breathing at high altitudes.
D. The climate on mountains close to the equator
is too unstable for climbers
FCAT Vocabulary Question Type
Conclusions/Inferences – high difficulty
 From
reading the article, the reader can
infer that the world’s roof will:
 F) be avoided by adventure seekers
 G) increase in elevation in the future
 H) continue to be studied by geologists
 I) be affected by major fault
movements
Cognates
Identical Cognates
 Close Cognates
 Far Cognates
 False Cognates
 Divided
 Mountains
 Contains
 Group
 Connected
 permanent
Cognate Hunt:
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Amicable
 Any Spanish word that is
similar Amigo?
 Continent
 Geographic
 Point
 Considered
 Encircle
 Ocean