Materials

Clarifying 4 Understanding

Use these 4 strategies to help figure out the meanings of words as you read:

1. Look for little words inside big words.
2. Look for base or root words, prefixes or suffixes. Also be aware of words that are similar to words in another language.
3. Look for a comma following an unfamiliar word. Sometimes the author will give the definition after the comma. The definition could follow the word "or", a dash, or be in parentheses.
4. Keep reading to see if you can get a sense of the definition.