Reading for Word Meanings
Informational text often includes difficult terminology and content-specific vocabulary. Struggling readers can get bogged down by unfamiliar words, slowing their reading fluency and decreasing their ability to comprehend the text. Texts bold some vocabulary words, but what about the difficult incidental words in between?
Teach students to look for the definitions that live within informational text. Authors often embed 
definitions and explanations within the surrounding words and sentences. This can look a variety of ways:
- Providing a definition for the term.
- Restating the word in a simpler way.
- Providing an explanation before or after a term.
- Offering a literal translation.
- Describing the purpose.
- Showing an example.
Print and share this downloadable handout with your students. Discuss these common strategies and review the excerpts included from informational texts. Teach your students to read around unfamiliar words to better learn their meanings.
