Reading 101

Powerful Strategies in Expanding Vocabulary Knowledge

Learning Objectives

Understand how reading strategies can help in improving vocabulary knowledge.

Apply reading strategies in filling information gaps while reading a text.

Introduction Reading is an ability that requires both skill and

knowledge. To do well, you need a combination of

vocabulary knowledge and reading skills. This topic discusses how you can improve your

vocabulary knowledge every single time you read.

All this is done without the help of the dictionary.

Powerful Reading Strategies What is the cause for these reading issues?• Reading but not improving vocabulary.• Reading but not understanding the vocabulary.• Reading but not remembering the vocabulary. Reading by itself does not help you to improve

your vocabulary. Reading with powerful strategies can help you

build your vocabulary!

1st PS – Parts of Speech Parts of Speech spell out the functions of each

word in a sentence. When you understand the role a word plays in a

sentence, you will have the 1st clue to its meaning. • The epidermis, the important outer layer, protects

us from germs.• We can alleviate or lessen the problem by staying

away from it.• The soldiers, numerous as the grains of sand in the

desert, marched forward fearlessly.

1st PS – Parts of Speech• 'The epidermis,... ' - Noun. Name of

object/event/thing with 'the'.• 'We can alleviate... ' - Verb. An action,

supported by 'can'.• 'numerous soldiers...' - Adjective. Describes the

noun, 'soldiers'.With their functions known, you know that each

of the above is referring to a thing (noun), an action (verb) and a description (adjective).

Q: How do these clues help you in understanding the meaning of the words?

Learning Activity for 1st PS What're the parts of speech or functions of these

words in the sentences below?• He was once a successful

businessman.• He succeeded in many businesses.• He ran all of them successfully.• Until all the successes got into his

head.• And that was the start of his downfall.

Learning Activity for 1st PS (cont.) What're the parts of speech or functions of these words

in the sentences below?• He was once a death-defying motorcycle

stuntman.• He cheated death many times in his stunts.• For each injury, people thought he would

die for sure.• He survived all until the last stunt proved

deadly.

2nd PS – Paragraphs and SentencesIn paragraphs and sentences, you can also find

key words that point to the meanings of the difficult words. These are called contextual clues.

1. The epidermis, the important outer layer, protects us from germs.

2. We can alleviate or lessen the problem by staying away from it.

3. The soldiers, numerous as the grains of sand in the desert, marched forward fearlessly.

How do these clues help you in understanding the meaning of the words?

Learning Activity for 2nd PS Write down the contextual clues for each

highlighted word. They are all phrases. He was once a successful businessman

with many businesses. He succeeded in many of them, making big sums of money. He was recognised with many awards as he ran all of them successfully. Until all the successes got into his head and puffed up his mind.

Learning Activity for 2nd PS (cont.)• Write down the contextual clues for each

highlighted word. They are all phrases. He was once a death-defying motorcycle

stuntman, doing dangerous stunts all over the world. He cheated death many times in his stunts, narrowly avoiding serious injury. For each injury he suffered however, people thought he would die for sure. He survived all his injuries until the last stunt proved deadly when his bike leapt too far and crash landed.

3rd PS – Prefixes and SuffixesYou know that big words are derived from small

words. These are called Derivatives – with prefixes and suffixes added to the Root Words.

1. The epidermis, ...2. We can alleviate ...3. The soldiers, numerous …'dermis', root – which means 'skin' (dermatology)'numer', root – which means 'number' (numerical)'ous', suffix – which means 'lots of' (poisonous)

Learning Activity for 3rd PS Write down the meaning of the prefix or

suffix in the following highlighted words. • The businessman was so successful that

he started thinking who would be his successor. Since he had no children, the matter of the succession had to fall onto his trusted protege, whom he had successfully groomed to succeed him one day should he choose to retire.

E.g. 'ful' – full of If there's none, write 'NA'.

Discussion

What are the 3 powerful reading strategies (PS) for building vocabulary?

Describe each briefly.

In summary Powerful Reading Strategies help us to improve

our vocabulary. Parts of Speech (1st PS) help us to identify the

function of the word so we know the role it plays in a sentence.

Paragraphs and sentences (2nd PS) provide us with contextual clues to the word's meaning.

Prefixes and Suffixes (3rd PS) help us to break the word apart for the meaning of its parts.