Context Clues
Context clues are hints or definitions that a writer uses in the text to help the reader understand the meaning of new or unfamiliar words. These clues can appear within a sentence, a paragraph, or in other areas of a passage. Want to learn more about Context Clues? Here’s a refresher on the different types of context clues.
Eli walked to school every day. When the final bell rang, he walked home, too. His trip took him across the playground, past the t-shirt factory, and across the main street. From there, Eli often cut through a vacant lot where a house used to be. The house burned down years…
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One April day, after a long, soaking rain, Cardinal poked his head out from under the evergreen branches to see if he would get wet or stay dry. When he didn’t feel any drips, he hopped down to the ground, using the tree branches like a spiral staircase. Cardinal ordinarily…
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One day, Ella opened her back door and looked out. She wanted to go to play outside, but there was a large bumblebee flying around. He was bigger than her thumb, and very fuzzy. She could hear the humming of his wings as he made large figure-eights across the patio. Carefully,…
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Ella never liked to take naps. When she was a baby, she would stay wide away all afternoon, playing with toys in her crib. Her mother told her that Ella could only sleep when it was dark outside, no matter how dark and thick the curtains were in her room.…
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Jeremy likes to help his family with chores. He spends time playing with his baby sister while Mom cooks dinner. After supper, he dries the dishes for Dad. But Jeremy’s favorite job is feeding Fletch. Fletch is the family cat. He is brown and black, with tiger stripes across his back.…
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Jimmy loved ice cream. It was his favorite dessert. He wanted to eat ice cream all the time. His parents let him have a small dish each night after dinner, if he ate all of his vegetables. At home, Jimmy usually had chocolate or vanilla. His mother scooped it out…
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Mary Boykin Miller Chesnut (1823-1886) was a prominent woman from South Carolina. Her husband, James Chesnut, was a U.S. Senator before the Civil War. Well-educated, intelligent, and well-connected, Mary understood, as the Civil War began, she had a front row seat to a historic moment in history. She began recording…
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Have you ever been watching when a tv weatherperson points to a large, white spiral of storm clouds spinning over the Earth on their video screen? If so, then you’ve gotten a small look at what the most powerful storm in the world looks like: a tropical cyclone. Tropical cyclones start as…
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At breakfast, Sarah saw that her mother was wearing overalls. That meant that she was planning to work in the garden. “What are you planting today?” asked Sarah. “Today I will plant radishes and carrots,” answered Sarah’s mother. “Would you like to help?” Sarah was happy. She wanted to learn more…
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Madison stared through the window and watched a puffy white cloud pass over the woods across from the school. A solitary bird glided, wings stretched, across the sky and seemed to pierce the cloud. It must be wonderful to be a bird, she thought. Just fly across the sky without…
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