Vocabulary Strategies
PROCEDURALDetermine the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases using a flexible range of strategies — including context clues, Greek and Latin affixes and roots, reference materials, and verification of inferred meaning
Mastery Evidence
- Use context clues (the overall meaning of a sentence, a word’s position or function) to infer the meaning of an unfamiliar word
- Break down a word using known Greek or Latin roots and affixes to deduce its meaning (e.g., 'malevolent' = mal- (bad) + volent (wishing))
- Look up a word in a dictionary to verify or refine an inferred meaning
Assessment Prompt
“When [child] encounters an unfamiliar word in a book or article, can they work out its meaning using context clues, word roots, or a dictionary — and then check whether their guess was right?”
Curriculum Standards10 alignments
L.6.4Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical SubjectsDetermine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases based on grade 6 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
L.6.4aCommon Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical SubjectsUse 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.
L.6.4bCommon Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical SubjectsUse common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., audience, auditory, audible).
L.7.4Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical SubjectsDetermine 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.
L.7.4aCommon Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical SubjectsUse 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.
L.7.4bCommon Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical SubjectsUse common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., belligerent, bellicose, rebel).
L.8.4Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical SubjectsDetermine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words or phrases based on grade 8 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a range of strategies.
L.8.4aCommon Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical SubjectsUse 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.
L.8.4bCommon Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical SubjectsUse common, grade-appropriate Greek or Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning of a word (e.g., precede, recede, secede).
KS3-ENG-R-2aThe national curriculum in Englandlearning new vocabulary, relating it explicitly to known vocabulary and understanding it with the help of context and dictionaries
Prerequisites2
- Using a Thesaurus to Choose WordshardAges 10—11
- Spellings from Greek, French and LatinhardAges 8—10
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- Using a Thesaurus to Choose Words hard
Using reference materials extends KS2 using thesaurus for synonyms
- Main Topic of Informational Texts hard
Non-fiction structures build on Y1 informational text main topic
- Shades of Meaning hard
Synonym and antonym work builds on shades of meaning; learners must distinguish intensity gradations before systematically relating words through synonym/antonym relationships
- How Many in Total? soft
Sorting and categorising objects uses the same counting/cardinality skills from maths
- One-to-one counting hard
Cardinality principle builds on one-to-one correspondence — you must count correctly to know the last number tells 'how many'
- Spellings from Greek, French and Latin hard
KS3 word-solving extends KS2 etymological patterns (Greek, French, Latin)
- Suffixes (age 7+) hard
Etymological spelling patterns extend the suffix and sound-spelling work from Y3
- Phonics Vocabulary hard
Segmenting words into phonemes and spelling CVC words requires knowing 'phoneme', 'segment', and 'CVC' as defined terms
- Phonics Vocabulary hard
Suffix spelling rules (doubling final consonants, dropping -e) require knowing 'suffix', 'root word', 'vowel', and 'consonant'
- Phonics Vocabulary hard
Segmenting words into phonemes and spelling CVC words requires knowing 'phoneme', 'segment', and 'CVC' as defined terms
- Phonics Vocabulary hard
Spelling with suffixes requires knowing 'suffix', 'root word', and understanding how suffixes attach
- Phonics Vocabulary hard
Segmenting words into phonemes and spelling CVC words requires knowing 'phoneme', 'segment', and 'CVC' as defined terms
- Phonics Vocabulary hard
Spelling with suffixes requires knowing 'suffix', 'root word', and understanding how suffixes attach
Unlocks1
- Academic VocabularyhardAges 11—14