​Comprehending vocabulary in the text

These activities can be repeated to allow students to practise working out meanings of unfamiliar words in the textStimulate existing vocabulary knowledge by asking the student to:

• name key items in the images presented in the text
• read the title of the text and suggest words they expect to see in the text
• identify and read key words from the text and suggest synonyms for those words.
• Support the student to learn unfamiliar words by asking the student to:
  • identify and read unfamiliar words from the text (if the student is unable to read an unfamiliar word from the text, read the word to the student and ask them to repeat it)
  • read a sentence from the text that includes an unfamiliar word and suggest synonyms for the word
  • visualise and describe an image of the meaning of an unfamiliar word
  • use the unfamiliar word in a sentence and read the sentence aloud.
  • Repeat this process for other unfamiliar words identified in the text.

​FreeMind (available on eduSTAR) can be used creates visual word maps. For example ask students to identify and record key words from a text and suggest synonyms.