Select a read-aloud book that is on second-grade level. Read the book aloud and write down on a writing board the words that presented a challenge for the students.
Identify the prefix of the word. Identify the suffix of the word. For example, if one of the words in the story is "unhappy," ask the students to identify the root word "happy." Have students describe what it means to be happy and draw a picture.
Tell the students that the prefix "un-" means not. Ask the students to tell what they believe "unhappy" means. Ask the students to describe a time when they were unhappy.
Tell second-graders that the dictionary is a source to use when they see words they do not understand.
Encourage students to go on a search to find words in the room of which they do not know the meaning.
Instruct each student to find his word in a dictionary and write down the definition and a sentence that uses the word.
Ask each student to share his new word with one classmate. Have students look for another word and repeat the same process of finding the meaning and writing a sentence.
Tell the second-graders to read a few sentences and circle words they do not understand. For example, give students this paragraph: "I have a cold beverage in the refrigerator. I bought it from the soda machine on yesterday. It only cost me 50 cents. I may go buy another beverage tomorrow."
Explain to the students that they can decipher what "beverage" means by reading the other sentences around the word "beverage."
Ask the students what someone buys from a soda machine. Explain that the only thing that a person can buy from a soda machine is a soda.
Tell the students that the person bought a beverage from the soda machine. Ask the students, what the word beverage means if it was bought from a soda machine. Explain that they used context clues to find out what "beverage" meant.