Use foreign or made-up words within texts to help teach children about context clues. Choose a multilingual book or a book that includes words from a made-up language. Assign sections of the book to small groups of students, and ask students to define those strange new words. Review answers and methods of definition. Inform children they are using context clues to find the definitions.
Work with the class as a whole. Write a vocabulary word from a selected literary work on the chalk board or white board. Tell students to define the word. Read the word in context, and ask students to redefine the word after hearing it read out loud. Review answers to discover if some students have changed their answer or have arrived at the correct definition through context clues.
Use Internet interactive games to help students learn context clues through matching games and fill-in-the-blank games. Two excellent context-clue practice games are Word-O-Rama by SpellingCity.com, which has students place words in sentences, and match games, where students read sentences and then attempt to match the definition to the unfamiliar word.
Use dictionary definitions to play this game. Second grade students are unprepared to fully use a dictionary, so prepare the proper definitions before the activity. Give students a list of vocabulary words from a selected text, and ask them to define each word to the best of their knowledge. Read the story aloud, and ask the students to redefine each word after it is read in the story. Compare each definition to the dictionary definition, which you can display on a SMART Board or overhead projector.