For the Good of All Students: Language Arts: Word Relationships and Context Clues

Context Clues, Synonyms, Antonyms, Homographs

Common Core Standards:

Language: Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

L.5.5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

Use the relationship between particular words (e.g., synonyms, antonyms, homographs) to better understand each of the words.

*Although this is the only place in the fifth grade Language Arts Common Core that synonyms, antonyms, and homographs are specifically mentioned, there are definitely additional places where they are integral to literacy.

Enduring Understanding: The relationships between words help me understand what I read and improve my writing.

What are synonyms, antonyms and homographs?
How can word relationships such as synonyms and antonyms be used as context clues?
How can I use word relationships to improve my writing?

Vocabulary:

Synonym – two or more words with the same meaning.
Antonym – two or more words with opposite meanings.
Homograph – two or more words that share the same spelling (graph) mean different things and can be pronounced differently.
Context Clues – Hints found within the text that help the reader understand tricky words or phrases.