Module 2: Activities 1 & 2

Activity 1:

·      Creech: screech

·      Droogs: drugs

·      Glazzies: glazed

·      Goloss: gloss

·      Malenky: melancholy

·      Messel: mess hall

·      Millicents: small change

·      Poogly: ugly

·      Razrez: (unsure)

·      Skorry: scary

·      Spatted: spit/hit

·      Zoobies: zombies

For almost every word, I found myself relating the words to common words that sounded similar. The spellings of the words are different, but when saying the words aloud, they sound like they could mean the same thing.

After reading the first chapter of A Clockwork Orange, I found the following words and their meanings:

·      Messel: idea

·      Goloss: voice

·      Poogly: scared

·      Malenky: little

·      Razrez: destroy/tear

·      Millicents: military/officers

·      Droogs: brothers/friends

It helped me define the words by them using the words more than once. The words were used in different contexts, but once I replaced the word with the definition I believed it was, it made sense, reassuring me that I had the correct, or close, meaning. For example, it talked about the singer’s goloss, as well as the man speaking in a “very loud, teacher-type goloss”. The word voice fits in to both of those sentences and maintains its’ meaning.

Activity 2:

·      I did not try to sound out the letters, because we learn as readers that letters and sounds have relationships with each other. Usually one letter sound depends on surrounding letters.

·      While trying to pronunciation the words, I did try to “chunk” them into syllables, while using the pronunciation keys at the same time. I find the pronunciation keys very helpful when trying to decode an unfamiliar word.

·      I did not “sample” the words, like stated above, I relied heavily on the pronunciation key.

·      Just looking at the words, I would say that I do not know any of the definitions. But after using the pronunciation key, and saying the words softly out loud, it led me to the conclusion that these words are very familiar to words I know.

·      The word plesiosaur sounds similar to pleasure when using the pronunciation to “sound out” the word. Botryoidal sounds similar to betrayal. This allowed me to have an idea for what some of the words mean, although I am stilll clueless on the meanings of several of the words.

·      When I encounter an unfamiliar word when reading a text, I usually keep reading to finish the sentence, and maybe the next sentence. I use the comprehensive approach to trying to define a word. I think about what the text is saying, and I can usually get an idea for what the word means without having to do further research. If I am really stuck, I usually look the word up online. But I would say 9 out of 10 times, I can understand the passage with an unknown word when using the comprehensive approach.

·      I think the comprehensive strategy is very effective and should be taught to students in grades 2 and above. I believe for younger grades (K and first), they are still reading such basic text, that usually they can rely on graphics to define an unknown word. They should be able to allow graphics to guide them. On the other hand, older readers should use those syntactic and semantic skills to define unknown words. Sometimes in reading groups, when a child is reading and comes across an unknown word, I tell them to try their best to say the word and finish the sentence. Once they finish the sentence, I ask them what they think that word could mean, usually they are correct. I believe the comprehensive strategy is very effective, especially for older primary students.