L.7.4: Context Clues, Greek and Latin Roots, Specialized References and Verifying Meanings
In plain English: L.7.4 is the Common Core grade 7 ELA standard that asks students to work out the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases in grade 7 reading. Students choose flexibly among context clues, Greek and Latin roots such as bellum (war) in belligerent, bellicose and rebel, and general and specialized references, and they verify each first guess.
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 7 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
a.Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence or paragraph; a word's position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word or phrase.
b.Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., belligerent, bellicose, rebel).
c.Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning or its part of speech.
d.Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).
Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy · Domain: Language Standards · Cluster: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use · Official standard
Students build a flexible routine for words they do not know and for familiar words used in an unfamiliar way. The standard names four strategies: context (the overall meaning of the sentence or paragraph, and the word's position and job in the sentence), Greek and Latin word parts (roots and affixes), general and specialized reference materials (dictionaries, glossaries and thesauruses, in print and online) and verification, checking a first guess before trusting it. The grade 7 step up from grade 6 is the word "specialized": students learn when a science glossary, a music glossary or a dictionary of phrases gives the precise meaning that a general dictionary does not.
The official example family, belligerent, bellicose and rebel, anchors the word-parts work: all three come from the Latin bellum, "war." Students read two excerpts from Kenneth Grahame's "The Reluctant Dragon" (1898), about a dragon who refuses to fight, an original science passage about Komodo dragons, and a page of model dictionary, phrase dictionary, thesaurus and science glossary entries.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
Use the meaning of a sentence or paragraph, and a word's position and job, to find the meaning of an unknown or multiple-meaning word or phrase
Use Greek and Latin roots and affixes, such as bellum in belligerent, bellicose and rebel, as clues to meaning, and spot look-alike false friends
Choose between general and specialized references, in print or online, to find a word's pronunciation, part of speech and precise meaning
Verify a preliminary meaning by checking it in context or in a dictionary
Choose the strategies that fit a particular word instead of using the same one every time
Prior Knowledge Required
Students should already be comfortable with:
Using context, Greek and Latin affixes and roots, and reference materials for word meanings L.6.4
Using context such as cause and effect and comparisons as a clue L.5.4
Naming nouns, verbs and adjectives in a sentence
Reading a dictionary entry: pronunciation, part of speech and numbered meanings
"Read the sentence: When the referee made the call, the belligerent fan shouted, shook his fist and tried to climb onto the field. What do you think belligerent means? Which words told you?"
Collect guesses (angry, ready to fight, hostile) and have students point to the clues: shouted, shook his fist, tried to climb onto the field. Then note the word's position: it sits between the and fan, so it describes the fan; it is an adjective. Write bell- on the board and tell students that it hides a Latin word, bellum, "war," which today's lesson traces through three words. Students will also learn when a general dictionary is not enough and a specialized one is needed.
Direct Instruction15-20 minutes
Part 1: Context (standard a). A context clue is a hint in the words around an unknown word. Reread the whole sentence, then the paragraph: the overall meaning often defines the word, as a list of examples or a contrast does. Then check the word's position and function, its place and job in the sentence. After the or a, it is usually a noun; after to or will, usually a verb; before a noun or after is, often an adjective. A multiple-meaning word (a word with more than one meaning, such as table) changes meaning with its job.
Part 2: Greek and Latin word parts (standard b). A root is the core of a word that carries its basic meaning; an affix is a part added to it, a prefix at the start or a suffix at the end. Grade 7 texts use roots such as the Latin bellum (war), vorare (to swallow or devour, in devour, voracious and carnivore, with caro, carnis, flesh), pax, pacis (peace, in pacify and pacifist, a person who refuses to fight in wars) and luctari (to struggle, in reluctant, from re-, against, + luctari: struggling against doing something), and the Greek pathos (feeling). Parts give a clue, not a definition, and some look-alikes are false friends: belle (a beautiful woman) comes from the Latin bellus, "beautiful," not from bellum.
Part 3: General and specialized reference materials (standard c). A general dictionary covers the whole language: pronunciation, part of speech and every common meaning. A specialized reference covers one field, such as a science or music glossary, a sports glossary, a dictionary of phrases and idioms, or a dictionary of a regional dialect, and gives the precise meaning used in that field. A thesaurus lists synonyms to compare. Use print or digital versions (Diagram 2).
Part 4: Verify (standard d). Your first guess is a preliminary meaning. Put it back into the sentence in place of the word: if it fits every clue, keep it; if not, or if you are unsure, check a dictionary and choose the numbered meaning that fits. Choosing flexibly means starting with the strategy most likely to help this word, and verifying every time.
Context: the overall meaning of the paragraph
The two neighbors had been feuding for years. They argued over the fence, complained about each other's dogs, and refused to speak at the block party.
Result: Preliminary meaning: having a long, bitter quarrel. The first sentence alone says only that something went on "for years"; the second lists three signs of an ongoing fight, so the paragraph as a whole defines the word. Verify: "The two neighbors had been quarreling bitterly for years" fits every detail.
Context: a word's position and function
The student council voted to table the dance proposal until next month. Compare: Please set the plates on the table.
Result: In the first sentence, table follows to and has an object, the dance proposal, so it is a verb. The words until next month show its meaning: to put off discussing something. In the second sentence it follows the, so it is a noun, the piece of furniture. Same spelling, different job, different meaning.
Latin root: the official example family
belligerent, bellicose, rebel
Result: All three come from the Latin bellum, "war." Belligerent is from belligerare, "to wage war" (bellum + gerere, "to carry on"), and as an adjective means hostile and ready to fight. Bellicose is from bellicosus, "warlike," and means eager to fight or quarrel. Rebel is from rebellare, "to revolt," built from re- (against, or again) and bellare, "to wage war"; to rebel is to rise up against the people in power. A dictionary also lists belligerent as a noun, with a meaning of its own.
Specialized reference: a music glossary
In band, the piece ends with a crescendo.
Result: A general dictionary lists two meanings: a gradual increase in loudness, and, in everyday speech, a peak or climax (the noise reached a crescendo). A music glossary, a specialized reference, gives only the musical meaning: a gradual increase in loudness, usually marked with a sign like a widening wedge. It also confirms the part of speech (noun) and the pronunciation, kruh-SHEN-doh. In band class, the glossary meaning is the precise one.
Verifying a preliminary meaning: a false friend
At the hotel, a bellhop carried our suitcases up to the room.
Result: Preliminary meaning from word parts: bell looks like bellum, so "a soldier"? Verify in context: a soldier does not carry hotel luggage, so the guess fails. The dictionary gives "a hotel worker who carries guests' bags"; the word is American, from the English bell + hop, a worker who hops into action when the desk bell rings. Matching letters are not a shared root.
Guided Practice15 minutes
Introduce the story: in Kenneth Grahame's "The Reluctant Dragon" (1898), a boy who loves books finds a dragon living in a cave on the Downs, the grassy hills of southern England. The dragon turns out to be gentle, lazy and fond of poetry. In this excerpt he tells the Boy how he came to be there. Words to know: fancy (here, believe or suppose), margin (edge), damsels (young women, in old stories), snooze (nap). In pairs, students fill in the organizer for five words: the strategy they tried first, a preliminary meaning, and how they verified it with a print or online dictionary. Model the first row together.
1“It's the sad truth,” the dragon went on, settling down between his paws and evidently delighted to have found a listener at last: “and I fancy that's really how I came to be here. You see all the other fellows were so active and EARNEST and all that sort of thing--always rampaging, and skirmishing, and scouring the desert sands, and pacing the margin of the sea, and chasing knights all over the place, and devouring damsels, and going on generally--whereas I liked to get my meals regular and then to prop my back against a bit of rock and snooze a bit, and wake up and think of things going on and how they kept going on just the same, you know! So when it happened I got fairly caught.”
2“When WHAT happened, please?” asked the Boy.
3“That's just what I don't precisely know,” said the dragon. “I suppose the earth sneezed, or shook itself, or the bottom dropped out of something. Anyhow there was a shake and a roar and a general stramash, and I found myself miles away underground and wedged in as tight as tight. Well, thank goodness, my wants are few, and at any rate I had peace and quietness and wasn't always being asked to come along and DO something. And I've got such an active mind--always occupied, I assure you! But time went on, and there was a certain sameness about the life, and at last I began to think it would be fun to work my way upstairs and see what you other fellows were doing. So I scratched and burrowed, and worked this way and that way and at last I came out through this cave here. And I like the country, and the view, and the people--what I've seen of 'em--and on the whole I feel inclined to settle down here.”
Kenneth Grahame, The Reluctant Dragon, from Dream Days (the dragon explains himself) (1898). Public domain (published 1898). Source text.
Word organizer (teacher key in the last column)
Word (paragraph)
Strategy that helps
Preliminary meaning
Verified meaning (teacher key)
rampaging (1)
Context: the list of "active and EARNEST" things dragons do
running around wildly
Rushing about in a wild, violent way. The same list, "chasing knights all over the place," confirms it.
skirmishing (1)
Context gives "fighting"; a dictionary gives the exact kind
fighting
Fighting in small, short battles. The dictionary narrows "fighting" to its precise size.
scouring (1)
Multiple-meaning word: position and context
cleaning
Here, searching or moving quickly over a wide area ("scouring the desert sands"). The dictionary's other meaning, scrubbing hard to clean, does not fit a dragon in a desert.
devouring (1)
Word parts: de- (down) + vorare (to swallow)
swallowing down
Eating up greedily, as a monster in an old story would. The parts and the fairy-tale list agree.
stramash (2)
Context gives only "a noise"; the word is not Greek or Latin, so use a dictionary
a crash
An uproar or commotion. A large dictionary labels it Scottish and Northern English, and a dialect dictionary, a specialized reference, gives the same meaning.
Ask: which word needed a dictionary no matter what, and which kind of dictionary? (Stramash: the context gives only "a shake and a roar," and the word has no Greek or Latin parts.) Which word's meaning changed with its context? (Scouring.) Stress that the strategies work together: context gave a first guess for every word, and the dictionary verified or sharpened it.
Independent Practice10-15 minutes
Students read the science passage below. For each of the five words in italics, they (1) write a preliminary meaning from context and word parts; (2) look the word up in a general dictionary and copy the first meaning listed; and (3) look it up in the science glossary on the reference page in Closure, a specialized reference, and decide which meaning fits the passage. Two of the words are multiple-meaning words whose everyday meaning does not fit.
1The Komodo dragon is not a creature from a fairy tale. It is the largest living lizard, and it lives on only a few islands in Indonesia, including the island of Komodo. An adult can grow to about 3 meters long. Scientists classify it as a monitor lizard, one of a group of mostly large lizards with long necks, strong claws and forked tongues.
2Komodo dragons are carnivores. They hunt deer and wild pigs, and they also eat carrion, the flesh of animals that are already dead. A dragon flicks its forked tongue in and out to pick up scents from the air, which helps it find food.
3Like other reptiles, Komodo dragons are ectotherms. In the cool early morning, they lie in the sun to warm up. In the hottest part of the day, they rest in the shade or in burrows. Because the species' natural range is so small, many of the dragons live inside Komodo National Park, where they are protected by law.
Written for this page (a model science passage), Komodo Dragons: Real Dragons of Indonesia. Original passage written for this page.
Teacher key.monitor: a general dictionary often lists first a screen, or to watch over something; the glossary gives the science meaning, a member of a family of mostly large lizards, which the rest of the sentence ("long necks, strong claws and forked tongues") confirms. carnivores: caro, carnis (flesh) + vorare (to devour): meat-eaters; "hunt deer and wild pigs" confirms it. carrion: the passage defines it right after the comma ("the flesh of animals that are already dead"), and the glossary agrees. ectotherms: context (warming up in the sun, resting in the shade) suggests animals that depend on outside heat; the glossary confirms it. range: the everyday meanings (a stove, a row of mountains, a spread of numbers) do not fit; the glossary's "the whole area where a species naturally lives" does, and "so small" and "a few islands" confirm it.
Closure5 minutes
Exit ticket: Write one word you worked out today, the strategy you tried first, and the reference, general or specialized, that verified it.
Teacher note on the texts: Both Grahame excerpts are quoted exactly. The eBook marks emphasis with capital letters (EARNEST, MANAGER), and Grahame uses British spellings such as honoured. The story pokes fun at people who love a fight: the villagers want a battle between St. George and the dragon, and the dragon does not. The second excerpt mentions "stories of rapine" (plunder, violent robbery) that the villagers have told St. George about the dragon.
For the quiz: Questions 8-16 and 20 use the second Grahame excerpt below, which comes later in the story: St. George, the dragon-fighting knight of legend, has arrived in the village, and the Boy has just told the dragon. Questions 8, 9, 12 and 13 also use the reference page after it. Word to know: croquet (KROH-kay), a lawn game played with mallets and balls.
1“My dear little man,” said the dragon solemnly, “just understand, once for all, that I can't fight and I won't fight. I've never fought in my life, and I'm not going to begin now, just to give you a Roman holiday. In old days I always let the other fellows--the EARNEST fellows--do all the fighting, and no doubt that's why I have the pleasure of being here now.”
2“But if you don't fight he'll cut your head off!” gasped the Boy, miserable at the prospect of losing both his fight and his friend.
3“Oh, I think not,” said the dragon in his lazy way. “You'll be able to arrange something. I've every confidence in you, you're such a MANAGER. Just run down, there's a dear chap, and make it all right. I leave it entirely to you.”
4The Boy made his way back to the village in a state of great despondency. First of all, there wasn't going to be any fight; next, his dear and honoured friend the dragon hadn't shown up in quite such a heroic light as he would have liked; and lastly, whether the dragon was a hero at heart or not, it made no difference, for St. George would most undoubtedly cut his head off. “Arrange things indeed!” he said bitterly to himself. “The dragon treats the whole affair as if it was an invitation to tea and croquet.”
5The villagers were straggling homewards as he passed up the street, all of them in the highest spirits, and gleefully discussing the splendid fight that was in store. The Boy pursued his way to the inn, and passed into the principal chamber, where St. George now sat alone, musing over the chances of the fight, and the sad stories of rapine and of wrong that had so lately been poured into his sympathetic ears.
Kenneth Grahame, The Reluctant Dragon, from Dream Days (the dragon refuses to fight) (1898). Public domain (published 1898). Source text.
Dictionary entry prin·ci·pal (PRIN-suh-puhl) adjective 1. most important; main: the principal reason for the trip. noun 2. the head of a school. 3. an amount of money that is borrowed or saved, not counting the interest. Compare principle (PRIN-suh-puhl), noun, a basic truth or rule.
Dictionary entry pur·sue (per-SOO) verb pur·sued, pur·su·ing. 1. to chase in order to catch: The fox pursued the rabbit. 2. to go on along a path or route: We pursued the trail to the top. 3. to work toward a goal: She plans to pursue a career in medicine.
Dictionary of phrases Roman holiday (ROH-muhn HOL-ih-day) noun phrase an event at which people enjoy watching others fight or suffer. From the violent contests staged to entertain crowds in ancient Rome.
Thesaurus entry muse verb Synonyms: ponder (to think about something carefully), reflect (to think deeply and calmly), daydream (to let the mind wander pleasantly). Do not confuse with amuse (to entertain or make laugh).
Science glossary, Unit 5: Reptiles carrion (KAIR-ee-uhn) noun the flesh of dead animals. ectotherm (EK-tuh-therm) noun an animal whose body temperature depends on its surroundings, such as a lizard or snake. monitor lizard noun a member of a family of mostly large lizards with long necks, strong claws and forked tongues. range noun the whole area where a species naturally lives.
Written for this page (model entries, not copied from a published reference), Reference page: dictionary, phrase dictionary, thesaurus and science glossary entries. Original passage written for this page.
Differentiation Strategies
For Struggling Students
Give a bookmark with the routine from Diagram 2 and three sentence starters: "The clue is ...", "The word parts are ...", "I checked in ..."
Start with words whose context gives a definition or a list of examples before moving to position and function
Provide a root chart with a picture for each root (crossed swords for bellum, an open mouth for vorare, a dove for pax)
For Advanced Students
Have students trace three more words from bellum or vorare in an online etymology dictionary and report one surprise
Ask students to find two false friends of their own, words that look as if they share a root but do not, and prove it with an etymology entry
Have students compare a general dictionary entry and a specialized glossary entry for the same science word and explain which a lab report should use
Assessment Guidance
What to Look For
Check that students name the clue behind each meaning, not only the meaning: a right answer with no clue may come from prior knowledge rather than a strategy. For word parts, look for each part's meaning combined into a definition that fits the sentence, and for a context check that catches false friends. For references, check that students can say why a specialized reference fits a word better than a general one, and can read the pronunciation and part of speech. Most important, look for verification: a meaning plugged back into the sentence and changed when it does not fit.
02
Classroom Activities
3 Activities
1
Context Clue Card Sort
15 minPairs
Each pair gets 9 context cards, each with one bold word. Partners sort the cards by the clue that helps most (the meaning of the sentence, the meaning of the paragraph, or the word's position and function), write a preliminary meaning, and verify it by rereading the sentence with the meaning in place (standards a and d).
Context Cards
1. The medieval castle was impregnable; attackers tried for months and never broke through its walls.
2. The rescuers worked with great haste, knowing the flood water was rising by the minute.
3. The desert plant is so hardy that it survives for months without a drop of rain.
4. Grandpa is a raconteur. At every holiday dinner he tells stories about his travels, and the whole family stops eating to listen.
5. The town was in turmoil. Sirens wailed, people ran through the streets, and nobody knew where the fire had started.
6. Leah's room was spartan. It held a bed, a desk and one chair, with nothing on the walls.
7. The scouts will pitch the tent near the river before dark.
8. Please don't badger your sister about her grades.
9. The judge will sentence the thief on Monday.
Procedure
Partner A reads the card aloud and names the clue; partner B writes a preliminary meaning and rereads the sentence with it in place of the bold word
Partners sort the cards into three piles, then compare with another pair and settle any card they sorted differently
Teacher key: sentence meaning, cards 1-3; paragraph meaning, cards 4-6; position and function, cards 7-9, where each bold word is a verb although students may know it first as a noun. Meanings: card 1, impregnable: impossible to capture or break into; card 2, haste: speed, hurry; card 3, hardy: tough, able to survive hard conditions; card 4, raconteur: a person who tells stories well; card 5, turmoil: a state of great confusion and disorder; card 6, spartan: plain and simple, with no comforts; card 7, pitch: verb: to set up; card 8, badger: verb: to pester again and again; card 9, sentence: verb: to give an official punishment. Three cards per pile.
Discussion Questions
On cards 4-6, could you work out the word from the first sentence alone? What did the second sentence add?
On cards 7-9, what noun meaning did you think of first, and what in the sentence ruled it out?
2
Root Families and False Friends
15 minGroups of 3
Each group gets 3 root cards and 12 word cards. Nine words belong to the three root families; three are false friends that only look as if they do. Groups sort the words, write a meaning built from the parts, and check every false friend in an online etymology dictionary (standards b, c and d).
Root Cards and Word Cards
Root cards: bellum (Latin, war); vorare (Latin, to swallow or devour); pax, pacis (Latin, peace)
Groups place each word card under a root card, or in a fourth pile labeled "false friend"
For each family word, the group writes a meaning from the parts and checks one word per family in a dictionary
Teacher key: bellum: belligerent (hostile, ready to fight), bellicose (warlike, eager to fight), rebellion (an uprising against those in power); vorare: devour (to eat up greedily), voracious (very hungry or eager, as in a voracious reader), carnivore (a meat-eating animal); pax: pacify (to calm or bring peace to), pacifist (a person who refuses to fight in wars), appease (to calm someone by giving in to demands, from Old French a pais, "to peace"). False friends: belle (from Latin bellus, beautiful), bellhop (from English bell + hop), vortex (a whirlpool, from Latin vertere, to turn). Three words per family and three false friends.
Discussion Questions
Which word surprised your group most, and how did the dictionary settle it?
Why is appease in the pax family even though it does not start with pac?
Modification for Distance Learning
Groups sort digital cards on a shared slide and paste a link to the etymology entry for each false friend.
3
Reference Relay Stations
15-20 minGroups of 4
Groups rotate through 6 station cards, each with a word or phrase from a special field. At each station, students first try a general dictionary, then a specialized reference (a music, sports, science, cooking or phrase dictionary, print or online) and record which one gave the precise meaning, along with the pronunciation and part of speech (standards c and d).
Station Cards
1. The chorus sang the last line fortissimo.
2. The skater landed a triple axel.
3. Granite is an igneous rock.
4. Braise the carrots for twenty minutes.
5. The goal did not count because the striker was offside.
6. Ever since he lost the election, Marco has had a chip on his shoulder.
Procedure
Before opening any reference, each student writes a preliminary meaning on a sticky note
Student 1 checks a general dictionary, student 2 the specialized reference, student 3 records the pronunciation and part of speech, and student 4 reads the sentence aloud with the meaning in place
Teacher key: fortissimo (for-TIS-uh-moh), adverb in music, very loudly (music glossary); axel (AK-suhl), noun, a figure-skating jump that takes off forward, so a triple axel has three and a half turns (sports glossary); igneous (IG-nee-uhs), adjective, formed when melted rock cools and hardens (science glossary); braise (brayz), verb, to brown food and then cook it slowly in a little liquid in a covered pot (cooking glossary); offside (awf-SIDE), adjective, in an illegal position, nearer the opponents' goal than both the ball and the last defender, when a teammate passes the ball (soccer rules glossary); a chip on one's shoulder, idiom, a lasting grudge that makes someone quick to take offense (dictionary of phrases)
Discussion Questions
At which stations was the general dictionary enough, and where did you need the specialized one?
Why does a phrase like a chip on his shoulder need a phrase dictionary instead of looking up each word?
Challenge Variation
Groups write a station card of their own from a hobby or sport they know well, with the specialized reference a classmate would need.
03
Diagrams & Visual Aids
2 diagrams
Diagram 1: The bellum Word Family (Official Example)
The Latin bellum, "war," is inside all three official example words: belligerent (with gerere, "to carry on"), bellicose (from bellicosus, "warlike") and rebel (from rebellare, built from re- and bellare, "to wage war"). The red box shows look-alikes with other origins: matching letters are not a shared root, so verify.
Diagram 2: General and Specialized References
A general dictionary covers the whole language; a specialized reference, such as a science glossary or a dictionary of phrases, gives the precise meaning used in one field; a thesaurus lists synonyms. Whichever one students use, they verify by putting the meaning back into the sentence.
04
Homework Assignment
~30 min
L.7.4 Homework: Unknown and Multiple-Meaning Words
Directions: Complete all six problems. You will need a print or online dictionary for Problems 2-5. Use Diagram 2 as a checklist.
Part 1: Context and Word Parts (Problems 1-3)
Write the meaning of each bold word, the clue that helped (the meaning of the sentence, the meaning of the paragraph, or the word's position and function) and its part of speech: (a) The novice skater wobbled across the ice, gripping the wall, while the experienced skaters glided past. (b) The sky turned a sickly green, the birds went silent, and the wind died completely. The calm felt ominous. (c) The captain had to ration the water: each sailor got one cup a day. (d) After losing three games in a row, the chess champion finally conceded that his rival was the better player.
Use the word parts to write a preliminary meaning for each word, then check it in a dictionary and correct it if needed: omnivore, insectivore, empathy, apathy. Word parts: Latin omnis (all), Latin insectum (insect), Latin vorare (to devour), Greek en- (in), Greek a- (without), Greek pathos (feeling). Which word's parts gave the weakest clue, and why?
Each bold word has an everyday meaning and a special meaning in one field. For each sentence, write the meaning that fits and name a specialized reference that would give it: (a) The biologist looked at the cell under a microscope. (b) The song is in the key of G. (c) The point guard dribbled the length of the court. (d) The lawyer asked the court to delay the trial.
Part 2: Reference Materials and Verifying (Problems 4-6)
Look up each word in a dictionary (print or online) and copy its pronunciation, its part of speech and the meaning that fits: (a) The two rival teams have a long animosity. (b) At dawn the lake was placid. (c) The tenacious terrier would not let go of the rope. (d) The coach will contest the referee's call. For (d), also give the pronunciation of contest as a noun. Then use a thesaurus to find one synonym for placid and write a sentence with it.
A student made a preliminary guess for each bold word. Verify each guess in context and in a dictionary, say whether it is right, and fix it if it is wrong: (a) The shelter took in a stray, emaciated dog; you could count its ribs. Guess: "wild and dangerous." (b) The documentary was so harrowing that some viewers left the theater. Guess: "boring, like farm work." (c) The coach gave a pithy answer: three words, all to the point. Guess: "rough, full of pits." (d) My brother is an avid reader who finishes a book every two days. Guess: "very eager."
Keep a word log for your reading this week, in any class. Record three unknown or multiple-meaning words. For each one, copy the sentence, name the strategy you tried first, write your preliminary meaning, name the reference you used (general or specialized), and write the verified meaning.
Rubric
Criterion
Full Credit (2 pts)
Partial Credit (1 pt)
No Credit (0 pts)
Context Clues
All four meanings, clues and parts of speech correct
Two or three correct, or clues missing
Fewer than two correct
Word Parts
Parts combined into four sensible meanings, each checked, with a reason for the weakest clue
Meanings written but not checked
Parts not used
Reference Materials
Pronunciation, part of speech and fitting meaning for every word; specialized references named correctly
Most entries complete
Entries copied without choosing the fitting meaning
Verifying
Every guess checked and fixed with a reason; word log complete
Most guesses checked, or log incomplete
Guesses accepted without checking
05
Quiz: 20 Questions
Interactive, with answers
Instructions
Questions 8-16 and 20 use the second excerpt from "The Reluctant Dragon" in Closure, and Questions 8, 9, 12 and 13 also use the reference page right after it; paragraph numbers are shown beside the excerpt. The other questions use new sentences. Your score updates as you answer, and Reset quiz clears everything so you or your students can try again.
Multiple choice: pick an option to check it. Short answer: write your answer, then reveal the model answer.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
Question 1 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Read the sentence: After three days of rain, the campsite was a quagmire; our boots sank to the ankles with every step. What does quagmire most likely mean?
Answer: B
The clues are three days of rain and boots sank to the ankles, which describe deep mud, so a quagmire is soft, wet, muddy ground. A contradicts the rain. C has no support: the sentence mentions no crowd or noise. D does not explain boots sinking.
Question 2 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Read the sentence: Don't bank on good weather for the picnic; the forecast keeps changing. Based on its position and the rest of the sentence, which meaning of bank fits?
Answer: C
Bank follows Don't, where a verb goes, so A and B, both nouns, cannot fit. Of the two verbs, only "rely on" fits a changing forecast: don't count on good weather. D is a real verb meaning, but no airplane is in the sentence.
Question 3 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Read the sentence: Both belligerents signed the treaty, and the fighting finally ended. Here belligerents is a noun. What does it mean?
Answer: D
The root bellum (war) and the context, a treaty that ends "the fighting," point to the sides in a war: as a noun, a belligerent is a nation or group at war. A uses the adjective's feeling (hostile) but ignores the war. B names peacemakers, the opposite. C contradicts the root, which means war, not refusing it.
Question 4 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which word does NOT come from the Latin bellum, "war"?
Answer: A
Bellow (to roar) comes from Old English, from a root that imitates a loud sound; it only shares letters with bellum. Bellicose is from bellicosus, warlike; rebellion is from rebellare, to revolt; and belligerence is the noun form of belligerent. All three are war words.
Question 5 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Which sentence uses bellicose correctly?
Answer: B
Bellicose means warlike or eager to fight, and threatening war over an island fits that meaning. A, C and D pair the word with calm, gentle actions (purring, singing softly, gurgling happily), which contradicts its meaning.
Question 6 of 20 · Multiple Choice
The Latin herba means "plant," and vorare means "to devour." What is an herbivore?
Answer: D
Put the parts together: a plant-devourer, an animal that eats plants, such as a deer or a cow. A adds meat, which none of the parts names. B reverses the parts: the plant would be the eater. C uses herb but ignores vorare.
Question 7 of 20 · Multiple Choice
A sports article says, The pitcher struck out the batter with a slider. Which reference is most likely to give the precise meaning of slider used here?
Answer: B
A baseball glossary is a specialized reference: it defines slider as a kind of pitch that curves sideways, the meaning in the sentence. A thesaurus gives synonyms for everyday meanings (such as a playground slide), not the baseball meaning. An atlas is a book of maps. A rhyming dictionary lists words that rhyme.
Question 8 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Use the reference page in Closure. In paragraph 5 of the second Grahame excerpt, the Boy "passed into the principal chamber" of the inn. Which numbered meaning of principal fits?
Answer: A
Principal comes right before the noun chamber (room), so it is the adjective, meaning 1: the main room of the inn, where St. George sits. B and C are nouns, which cannot describe chamber here. D confuses principal with principle, a different word that sounds the same.
Question 9 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Use the reference page in Closure. In paragraph 1 of the second excerpt, the dragon says he will not fight "just to give you a Roman holiday." What does he mean?
Answer: A
The phrase dictionary defines a Roman holiday as an event at which people enjoy watching others fight or suffer, and in paragraph 2 the Boy is "miserable at the prospect of losing both his fight and his friend," so he was hoping to watch a battle. B and C read the words Roman and holiday one at a time, which is why a phrase needs a phrase dictionary. D adds a reward that neither the entry nor the story mentions.
Question 10 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In paragraph 4 of the second excerpt, the Boy walks back "in a state of great despondency." Which meaning do the clues in the paragraph support?
Answer: B
The paragraph lists three disappointments (no fight, a friend who is not heroic, and a friend who will be killed anyway) and says he spoke "bitterly," so despondency is deep sadness and hopelessness. A was his mood before the dragon refused. C has no support: the paragraph says the dragon did not show "such a heroic light as he would have liked." D misreads the target: he is bitter about the dragon's attitude, not angry at St. George.
Question 11 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In paragraph 5, the villagers are "in the highest spirits, and gleefully discussing the splendid fight that was in store." What does gleefully mean?
Answer: C
In the highest spirits (very happy) and splendid fight show that the villagers are thrilled, so gleefully means with great delight. A and B contradict "the highest spirits." D ignores the excitement in "splendid."
Question 12 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Use the reference page. Paragraph 5 says, "The Boy pursued his way to the inn." Which meaning of pursue fits?
Answer: C
The Boy is walking up the street to the inn, and his way is a route, so meaning 2 fits: he went on along his way. A would need someone to catch; he is not chasing anyone. B would need a goal such as a career. D ignores the dictionary, which lists no such meaning.
Question 13 of 20 · Multiple Choice
Use the thesaurus entry on the reference page. In paragraph 5, St. George "sat alone, musing over the chances of the fight." Which word could replace musing with the closest meaning?
Answer: C
St. George is thinking carefully about his chances in a real fight, which matches ponder, "to think about something carefully." Daydreaming is a synonym of muse, but its pleasant wandering does not fit a knight weighing a battle. Amusing means entertaining, and the entry warns not to confuse it with muse. Mumbling means speaking unclearly.
Question 14 of 20 · Multiple Choice
In paragraph 5, the stories "had so lately been poured into his sympathetic ears." Sympathetic comes from the Greek syn- ("together") and pathos ("feeling"). What does "sympathetic ears" suggest about St. George?
Answer: D
The parts give "feeling together," and the stories are "sad stories ... of wrong," so St. George listens with feeling for the people who tell them. A takes ears literally. B is the opposite of feeling together. C does not fit sad stories.
Question 15 of 20 · Short Answer
In paragraph 3 of the second excerpt, the dragon tells the Boy, "you're such a MANAGER." A classmate guesses that manager here means "the boss of a store or team." Verify the guess in context and give the meaning that fits.
Model answer: Plugging in the guess, "you're such a boss of a store," does not fit: the Boy runs no store or team. The dragon has just said "You'll be able to arrange something" and "make it all right. I leave it entirely to you," so he means someone who is good at arranging things and solving problems. A dictionary lists this meaning: a person who handles affairs or problems skillfully. The capital letters mark emphasis, a gentle joke. Rubric line: 2 points for testing the guess in context, citing a clue and giving the fitting meaning; 1 point for the meaning without the check.
Question 16 of 20 · Short Answer
At the end of paragraph 4, the Boy says, "The dragon treats the whole affair as if it was an invitation to tea and croquet." Croquet is a polite lawn game. Explain what the phrase shows about how the dragon treats the fight, and how the Boy feels about it.
Model answer: Tea and croquet are calm, polite social events, so the Boy means the dragon is treating a life-or-death battle as if it were a pleasant, harmless invitation. The dragon's lazy "Oh, I think not" and "I leave it entirely to you" support this. The Boy said it "bitterly," so he is frustrated and worried, because he believes St. George will "cut his head off." Rubric line: 2 points for the meaning of the phrase plus a clue for the Boy's feeling; 1 point for one of the two.
Question 17 of 20 · Short Answer
Write one sentence each for belligerent, bellicose and rebel that shows the meaning through context clues. Then explain what the three words share and how that helps a reader.
Model answer: "The belligerent driver leaned on his horn and yelled at everyone who passed him." "The bellicose speech called for war with the neighboring kingdom." "The colonists decided to rebel against the king's new taxes." All three come from the Latin bellum, "war," so a reader who meets any of them can predict a meaning about fighting or conflict, then check it in context. Rubric line: 2 points for three sentences whose clues show the meaning and a correct explanation of the shared root; 1 point for two correct sentences or a missing explanation.
Question 18 of 20 · Short Answer
For each word, name the strategy or reference you would try first and explain why: (a) carnivorous in The Venus flytrap is a carnivorous plant that traps insects. (b) sforzando on a page of sheet music. (c) bittern in A bittern stood motionless in the reeds, its long beak pointed at the sky.
Model answer: (a) Word parts first: carn (flesh) + vor (devour) gives "flesh-eating," and "traps insects" confirms it. (b) A music glossary or music dictionary, a specialized reference: the word is Italian, has no helpful English context, and is a music term (it means a sudden, strong accent on a note). (c) Context first: "reeds" and "long beak" show it is a water bird; a dictionary or a bird field guide then gives the exact meaning, a kind of heron. Rubric line: 2 points for a sensible first choice with a reason for all three; 1 point for two of the three.
Question 19 of 20 · Short Answer
Rebel is said two ways, depending on its part of speech. Use a dictionary to find both pronunciations. Write one sentence using rebel as a noun and one using it as a verb, label each with its pronunciation, and explain how a reader can tell which is meant.
Model answer: "The rebel hid in the hills for a year." (noun, REB-uhl: a person who fights against those in power) "The students may rebel against the new dress code." (verb, rih-BEL: to rise up against or resist authority) A reader can tell by position: after the, it names a person, so it is a noun; after may, it is the action, so it is a verb, and the stress moves to the second syllable. Rubric line: 2 points for both pronunciations, two correct sentences and an explanation based on position or function; 1 point for correct sentences without the explanation.
Question 20 of 20 · Short Answer
Which word best describes the dragon in the second excerpt: bellicose, belligerent or reluctant? Use what you know about the word's parts and at least one quotation from the excerpt.
Model answer:Reluctant fits best. It comes from the Latin re- (against) + luctari (to struggle): struggling against doing something. The dragon resists the fight: "I can't fight and I won't fight. I've never fought in my life." Bellicose and belligerent, from bellum (war), mean eager to fight, the opposite of the dragon; they describe the villagers better, who are "gleefully discussing the splendid fight." Rubric line: 2 points for reluctant with the word parts and a quotation; 1 point for the right word with only one kind of support.
0 of 20 answered · 0 correct
06
Frequently Asked Questions
10 Questions
What does L.7.4 mean?
L.7.4 means that seventh graders can work out the meaning of unknown words and phrases, and of words with several meanings, by choosing the strategy that fits each word.
The four strategies are context clues (part a), Greek and Latin word parts (part b), general and specialized reference materials (part c) and checking a first guess (part d).
What is the difference between general and specialized reference materials?
A general dictionary covers the whole language; a specialized reference covers one field.
Science, music and sports glossaries, dictionaries of phrases and idioms, and dialect dictionaries are specialized. They give the precise meaning used in that field, which a general dictionary may list last or not at all.
Why are belligerent, bellicose and rebel the L.7.4 example?
They show one Latin root, bellum (war), inside three words that look different.
A student who knows the root can predict that each word has to do with fighting, then use context and a dictionary to find its exact meaning.
Which Greek and Latin roots should seventh graders know?
L.7.4 gives no list; it asks for "common, grade-appropriate" roots and affixes, such as the official example bellum.
Roots that appear in grade 7 texts include vorare (devour), pax (peace), pathos (feeling) and luctari (struggle), with prefixes such as re- and de-.
What is a multiple-meaning word?
A multiple-meaning word is spelled the same but has more than one meaning, such as table, range or scour.
Readers use context and the word's job in the sentence to choose the meaning, and a dictionary's numbered meanings to confirm it. In science and other subjects, the special meaning is often in a glossary.
Can word parts give the wrong meaning?
Yes. Some words only look as if they share a root, so every guess from word parts needs a check.
Bellhop and belle start like bellum but come from other words. Putting the guess back into the sentence, or checking an etymology in a dictionary, catches these false friends.
What does "verify the preliminary determination" mean in L.7.4?
It means checking a first guess about a word's meaning before trusting it.
Students put the guess back into the sentence, and if it does not fit or they are unsure, they check a dictionary and choose the numbered meaning that fits the context.
How is L.7.4 different from L.6.4?
The strategies are the same, but L.7.4 adds "general and specialized" reference materials and works with grade 7 reading and content.
The official root example also changes: grade 6 uses audience, auditory and audible; grade 7 uses belligerent, bellicose and rebel.
How is L.7.4 tested?
L.7.4 is usually tested with vocabulary-in-context questions: students read a passage and choose what a word or phrase means as it is used there.
Many state tests use this format. Classroom tests often add word-part questions and tasks with a dictionary or glossary entry.
How can parents help with L.7.4 at home?
When your child meets a new word, ask, "What do you think it means, and what told you?" before anyone looks it up.
Then look it up together, in a general dictionary or in a specialized one for a hobby, a sport or a recipe, and check the guess.
07
Related Standards
6 standards
These standards connect to L.7.4: prerequisites to review first, parallel standards at the same level, and next steps that build on it.
Before this lesson
L.6.4Prerequisite
Use context, Greek and Latin word parts and reference materials, and verify meanings
