How do you teach students to effectively use context clues while reading literature and
informational texts? Students struggle with context clues because they are amorphous; there is no clear-cut set of steps to define unknown words, phrases, or paragraphs. Students who effectively make use of context clue strategies to define words don’t have more content knowledge than other students, but they more effectively monitor comprehension and know when to rely on different strategies.
Every teacher has their own spin on how and when to teach context clue strategies. I believe that because context clues are foundational to success on every other reading and comprehension related standard, context clue strategies must be diverse to meet the needs of every student and pervasive so the use of these strategies become innate.
Middle School Writer 