NJ Ask Coach 5, Gold Edition

 Infer specific word meanings in the context of reading passages.  Use a grade-level dictionary independently to define unknown words.

 Words are the basic building blocks for both reading and writing. Without them, there wouldn’t be anything for you to read. You need to understand them to make sense of what you are reading.  In this lesson and the one that follows it, you will learn more about words.

 Sometimes we run into words we don’t know. There are many words out there, and no one knows all of them. You might be enjoying a story when you suddenly see a strange new word:  Timothy wandered the endless rooms of the castle. I’ll never find my way out of here, he thought. Suddenly, down a long, dark hallway, he saw a glimmer of sunlight. “At last!” Timothy all but shouted. As he came closer to the light, however, he began to hear a terrible clamor. He realized then that his troubles were just beginning.

 When you find a word like clamor, what do you do? You’ve probably figured out unfamiliar words from their context. You may have used prefixes and suffixes to figure out words, too. Will these strategies work here? How much meaning can they give you?

 In this sentence, a clamor is…  A. something violent  B. something loud  C. something scary  D. something dangerous  Clamor doesn’t have a prefix or suffix. You can’t use these word parts to figure out the meaning. From the context, you can tell that the clamor Timothy hears is something troubling – maybe even scary or dangerous. However, the best guess is:  Choice B. Timothy hears the clamor, so it’s probably something loud.

 Sometimes context, prefixes, and suffixes aren’t enough to help us find the meanings of unknown words. In this case, you need the definition. The definition gives the exact meaning. “A loud noise” is a definition for clamor.  You can find the definition of almost any word in a dictionary. Words are listed in alphabetical order, and you can find other information about words besides their definitions, such as their parts of speech.

 If you look clamor up in the dictionary, you would see:  “Loud outcry; expression of protest; loud, sustained noise; to make a loud noise; to make demands or complaints; to exclaim noisily.”  That is a lot of information! Instead of one definition, there are six. Clamor can mean any of these things. Use the context to figure out which definition fits best on the next slide.

 When Timothy heard a clamor, he…  A. complained and demanded  B. made a great deal of noise  C. heard a loud outcry  D. heard someone protest  The clamor is something Timothy heard – not something he did. You can rule out choices A and B. The clamor Timothy heard made him very nervous about what he would find. While a protest might trouble Timothy, a loud outcry would be much more alarming.  The correct answer is Choice C.

 Nouns and Verbs  When you look words up in a dictionary, you will often see that words can have more than one meaning. When we looked up clamor, we saw six definitions! Only one meaning fit the context of our story.  Let’s take another look at those definitions. How are they different?  Each definition means something a little different – a “loud outcry” is a bit different from “a loud, sustained noise” or an “expression of protest.” However, there is a more important difference. There are different parts of speech.

 The parts of speech are the different things words do in a sentence. Words can name people, places, and things; they can express action; they can even describe what a person, place, action, or thing is like. For each word, there is a part of speech.  When a word names a person, place or thing, it is called a noun. When a word expresses an action, it is a verb. The 4 th, 5 th, and 6 th definitions of clamor express actions. When clamor has these meanings, it is a verb.

 In which of these sentences is hinge used as a verb?  A. A hinge creaked as the door swung open, breaking the eerie silence.  B. With the group split, everything would hinge on my vote.  C. The doctor explained that your elbow is like a hinge in your arm.  D. The carpenter raced to the hardware store for one more hinge.  When it is used as a noun, hinge most often means a small metal joint that allows a door to open and close. In choices A, C, and D, hinge has just this meaning.  However, in choice B, hinge means “to go one way or the other, depending on.” So, Choice B is the correct answer.

 In which of these sentences is nip used as a noun?  A. We have a problem that we have to nip in the bud.  B. If you don’t bundle up, the cold wind will nip at you!  C. To move sheep along, a herding dog will nip at their heels.  D. I felt the nip of the frosty morning air on the tip of my nose.  The word nip has a few different meanings. In choice A, it means “to stop before it grows” – the way a flower grows if it isn’t cut as a bud. In choice B, it means “to sting with cold.” In choice C, it means “to bite.” What all these definitions have in common is that they are verbs.  Nip can also mean “a sharp, cold feeling” – a thing. A noun is a person, place, or thing. Choice D is correct.

 Words do more than just name people, places, things, or express actions. There are also words that describe nouns and verbs:  As a young girl, Hannah was so shy that she never spoke to her classmates. She just smiled awkwardly.  Look closely at the words in bold. Young describes a girl, shy describes Hannah, and awkwardly describes how she smiled. Each of these words describes, or modifies, a noun or verb. That’s why these kinds of words are called modifiers.  Modifiers that describe nouns are adjectives. Modifiers that describe verbs are adverbs.

 Teddy says that some of the musicians played badly, but I think it was an excellent concert.  Which word in the sentence above is an adjective?  A. musicians  B. badly  C. thought  D. excellent

 Only one of the words describes a noun in the sentence. Excellent, which means “really good”, is an adjective that describes the concert.  The correct answer is Choice D.

 As the manager of Roy’s Finest Musical Instruments, I’m officially announcing the biggest sale in this store’s history!  Which word above is an adverb?  A. manager  B. Musical  C. officially  D. biggest  You probably noticed that manager is a noun. Musical and biggest are both modifiers, but they describe nouns.  The best choice is C, because officially describes announcing, which is a verb.

 “Practical” means “able to be used.”  Which part of speech is practical?  A. adjective  B. adverb  C. noun  D. verb  Practical doesn’t name a person, place, or thing, nor does it describe an action. It modifies a noun. For example, you might get a “practical gift” of socks.  It is an adjective – so your correct answer is A.

 Advance: to move or cause to move forward.  Donation: an offering or gift.  Superbly: with the highest quality.  Which of the above words is a verb?  A. advance  B. donation  C. superbly  D. none of these are verbs  Look for a word that shows action. If you chose A, you are correct, since to advance means “to move forward.”

 What are the parts of speech of donation and superbly?  A. Donation is a noun and superbly is an adjective.  B. Donation is a noun and superbly is an adverb.  C. Donation is an adjective and superbly is an adjective.  D. Donation is a verb and superbly is an adverb.  A donation is a thing – an offering or gift – so this word is a noun. Remember, words that end in “ly” are almost always adverbs.  Choice B is correct.

 Go on to practice pages