We are De"Text"ives!

School has begun and there's simply no denying it...we are readers!  And as readers, we will undoubtedly encounter the same problem over and over again; we will stumble upon words we are unfamiliar with.  The good news is, we are also detectives...word detectives.  This week we have explored strategies for determining the meanings of unknown words.

Step One: We must be able to recognize words we are unfamiliar with.  Reading on "autopilot" may make this impossible, so it is essential that we are "reading ourselves awake!"

Step Two:  Once we have identified the subject of our investigation (unknown word), we must consider all of the clues.  These clues can be found in the sentences around our subject, so we must read (and possibly reread) carefully.  Detectives must consider what makes sense.  They attempt to plug in possibilities and consider whether they seem plausible.Please note Exhibit A below for our class analysis of clues in a selected text. 

“Hey, sleepy!” Mrs. Mitchell called.  “Everyone else is up!"

John put on his bathrobe and ambled to the bathroom.  His sister, Mary, was still brushing her teeth, and he had to wait until she finished.   "It's early and he just got up, so it might mean walking tiredly.  When I plug that in, 'John put on his bathrobe and walked tiredly to the bathroom,' it seems to make sense."

“Come on, Mary,” he said a little crossly.  “Don’t take all morning.” 

             "When I say stuff like that, I'm irritated, so maybe it means frustrated or mad."

Not wanting a quarrel to begin, Mary spat out her toothpaste and swiftly left the bathroom. 

        "Well, if he's mad, he's in a bad mood and when my sister is in a bad mood it makes me mad, too.  Sometimes we start to fight.  When I plug in 'fight' it makes sense, so I think it means fight."

Step Three:  Detectives may also refer to knowledge of affixes to identify the unknown word.  In preparation for this task, detectives have begun exploration common prefixes and suffixes.   

Prefixes:

mis - wrongly or incorrectly; misspelled, misunderstand

re - again; reread, restart, rearrange

pre - before; preview, preschool, preseason

un/dis/non/il/im/ir/in - not or the opposite of; unhappy, disagree,                                  nonfiction, illegal, impossible, irresponsible, incorrect                           

Suffixes:

ful - full of; hopeful, meaningful

less - without; helpless, homeless, pointless

able - capable of or able to; lovable, washable

er/or - someone who; teacher, sailor, inspector, reader

er - more; faster, bigger, longer, cuter

est - the most; quickest, brightest, shortest

ly - in a way that is;  clearly, swiftly, happily

ness - state of being; peacefulness, messiness, forgetfulness

Please note Exhibit B below for an example of careful reasoning when detectives were confronted with an unknown word:

He attempted to complete the assignment again, but was dissatisfied with the results.

"I know if you are satisfied you are happy.  The prefix dis- means 'not,'  so if he is dissatisfied, he is not happy."

Step Four: Detectives have reviewed proper use of the dictionary.  While this resource will not always be at their disposal, detectives have the knowledge to locate information.

Our investigation continues to progress.  As diligent sleuths, we are constantly on the lookout for unknown words.