Vocabulary: context clues, word parts, and figurative language (grade 3) · lesson

Prefixes and suffixes

💡 A prefix or suffix adds to a base word and changes what it means.

A base word is a word on its own, like lock or fear. A prefix goes in front. A suffix goes at the end.

Prefixes: un- means not or undo. Re- means again. Pre- means before. Suffixes: -ful means full of. -less means without.

Unlock means to undo the lock. Fearless means without fear. Only count it as a prefix if the rest is a real word.

🧠 Let's work it out

Word: refill.

What do you think comes next?

💡 The words around a new word often tell you what it means.

A context clue is a hint in the nearby words. Read the sentence after the new word. It often shows what the word means.

Some words have more than one meaning. A bark can be a dog's sound or the skin of a tree. The other words tell you which one.

Try your guess in place of the word. If the sentence still makes sense, you are right.

🧠 Let's work it out

Read: The puppy was timid. It hid behind the chair and shook.

What do you think comes next?

💡 Literal words mean just what they say, and some phrases are not meant to be taken that way.

Literal means real and exact. I have two shoes is literal.

Some phrases stretch the truth to make a point. I am so hungry I could eat a horse does not mean you will eat a horse. It means you are very hungry.

Ask: could this really happen just as it says? If not, it is not literal.

🧠 Let's work it out

Read: This box is as light as a feather.

What do you think comes next?

💡 Some words mean almost the same thing but show a little or a lot.

Words can be like steps. Glad, happy, and thrilled all mean good feelings. But thrilled is the most.

Hot words go from warm to hot to scorching. Pick the word that fits how strong the feeling or thing is.

Line the words up from least to most. Then pick the one the sentence needs.

🧠 Let's work it out

Words: chilly, cold, freezing.

Ask: which is the least cold? Chilly.
Which is the most? Freezing.
If a sentence says the water turned to ice, you need the strongest word, freezing.

What do you think comes next?

shade of meaning: a small difference between words that mean almost the same