Complete Exercise #3c on page 58 in the text: first write a definition of each word listed. Did you notice yourself using any fairly consistent principle for determining what the words might mean? Discuss. Then read the first chapter of A Clockwork Orange to find the meanings of at least six of the words: http://www.ebooktrove.com/top_ten/AClockworkOrange.pdf. In each case, how do you finally determine what the word means?
Exercise #3c.
1. creech-a sound
2. droogs- animals maybe a dog
3. glazzies- glass like
4. goloss- something lost
5. malenky- silly
6. messel- a small vessel
7. millicents-something small
8. poogly- sluggish
9. razrez- criss cross
10. skorry- fast
11. spatted- to spit or to say
12. zoobies- people
As I read this list of unfamiliar words, I tried to use prefixes to aid in my meaning. I also looked at the suffixes of the words to determine what part of speech they might be in order to help me determine their meaning. It was very difficult since there was no context.
After reading the first chapter of A Clockwork Orange, I can determine the meaning to the following words:
1. droogs- brothers or friends
2. skorry- quickly
3. glazzies- eyes
4. goloss- personality
5. zoobies- teeth
6. malenky- small amount; little
As I read the first chapter and discovered the meaning of these words, I used the context of the sentence and paragraph to create meaning for the unknown words. I found myself having to re-read the sentences and also pay attention to the syntax of the word within the sentence to determine what the words mean. I also noticed myself creating pictures of movies in my mind of what was happening in the story; this helped me to visualize the story in order to create meaning and better understand the reading.
Activity 2: Exercise 7 pages 85-86:
1. Who tried to read the words letter-by-letter?
- I did not try to read the words letter by letter. This would have caused me to lose some, if not all meaning I might have had of the word.
2. Who tried to read the words mostly by chunking them into syllables?
- I was able to chunk some words into syllables, but only because it was written out to the side. If that hadn't have been there, I wouldn't have been able to do that.
3. Who tried to read the words by sampling the letters more or less all at once?
- I was able to read some of the words by sampling the letters, mainly in chunks. I did not read them letter-by-letter but I know how some letter blends sound and was able to read the word using my knowledge of letter blends (phonics).
4. What words did you know the meaning of, or think you know the meaning of?
- I think I know the meaning of sarsparilla. The only reason I knew that one, is because I had heard it on a School House Rock video. But reading off the words in this list did not help me understand the meaning of the words, only how to attempt to sound them out.
5. Did pronouncing the words give you insights into their meanings?
- Pronouncing the words did not help me gain insights into their meanings because there was no other context. They are by themselves and therefore I am unable to use context and schema to determine their meanings.
6. How do you handle unknown words when you encounter them in normal reading?
- In normal reading, if I come to a an unknown word I use the context of the sentence or paragraph, syntax, and my own schema in order to create meaning of the word.
7. What do you think are the implications of this experiment and discussion for how we should help students deal with unfamiliar words?
- This experiment verifies that we, as teachers, cannot rely on basic word call to determine if a student is comprehending what is being read. In many of the leveled reading tests that are administered to students, fluency and word identification are a portion of the test. Students may word call correctly but are unable to answer the comprehension questions or retell information from the passage correctly. As students read it is important for us to recognize how they are creating meaning. Word calling a list of words is not sufficient evidence that students understand the meaning of the words presented.
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