For today’s activity, I decided to try the Context Clues strategy. Instead of immediately reaching for a dictionary when I encountered an unfamiliar word, I forced myself to look at the surrounding sentences to infer the meaning.
How it worked:
I found it very effective for maintaining my reading flow. It helped me treat the text like a puzzle, which made the reading process more engaging. While I still checked a dictionary later to confirm my guesses, I found that I remembered the words better because I had already spent time analyzing their "environment."
New words I learned:
Jurisprudence: I encountered this in a legal text. Based on the mention of "theories" and "legal systems," I inferred it relates to the philosophy or study of law.
Ambiguous: I saw this in a critique of a speech. Because the author mentioned "confusion" and "lack of clarity," I realized it meant having a double meaning or being unclear.
Strategy Summary:
I chose this strategy because it builds "word consciousness." It encourages active reading rather than passive consumption, which is a vital skill for tackling more complex academic texts.
I’m curious to see which strategies worked best for others!
