Welcome to Kids Chapter Check-ins, a space where we pause, think, talk, and write about great books together. Books are better together. So grab your book and let's check in. Welcome back. Today is a choose your own check-in episode. That means that you can use this episode to think through any book that you might be reading right now. So go ahead, pause me if you need to, and grab whatever book you're reading right now. Got it? Awesome. Let's check in. Today we're going to practice something that all strong readers do. We're going to practice figuring out the meaning of tricky words using context clues. Sometimes when we're reading, we come across a word and we think to ourselves, I have no idea what that word means. But instead of skipping it, good readers become word detectives. They look for clues around the word to help them figure out the word that they're wondering about. Let me show you how. Listen to this sentence. The desert was arid with no rain for months and dry, cracked ground. Hmm. That word arid is new. Instead of skipping over it, let's use some clues to figure out what that word means. No rain for months. Dry. Cracked ground. All of these clues are telling me something. I think this word arid means very dry. Did I pull out my dictionary? Nope. I just use the clues that were given to me in the sentence. Here's a strategy that you can apply to any word in any book. When you find a tricky word, follow these four steps. First, read the entire sentence again. Second, look for clues around the word. These clues might be right in that same sentence, or they might even be in the sentence above your word and below your word. Third, make a really smart guess. Based on those clues, what do you think this word means? And fourth, keep reading to see if your guess makes sense. And here's something pretty cool. Sometimes authors will give us different types of clues that help us to figure out these tricky words. They might give us a definition, a word that's similar, we call this a synonym, a word that's opposite, we call that an antonym, or even an example. The good news is that you don't need to remember all of these different types of clues specifically. Just ask yourself, what clues do I see? And that's it. You're a word detective. Alright, now it's your turn. Open your book and find a word that is unfamiliar to you. If you don't see one right away, skim your book for a page or two. When you've got your word, put your finger on it. Feel free to pause me here while you find your word. Okay, you've got your word, your finger is on it. Now you're ready for that four-step process that we practiced together a few moments ago. Do this with me. First, read the whole sentence where your word is located. Second, look for clues around the word. Remember, your clues might come in that same sentence, or they might be just before or just after it. Third, make a really smart guess. Based on those clues, what do you think this word might mean? And fourth, keep reading to see if your smart guess makes sense. You can repeat this process as many times as you need to with as many tricky words as you find. Now that you've learned a new word, find someone nearby and teach them about it. You could even say something like, I think this word means because in the text, it said, if you're listening on your own, no worries. Feel free to jot down your new word so you can share it with someone later. Are you up for another challenge? Try to create your own sentence using your new word. For example, if my word was arid, my new sentence could be, The plants in my garden did not grow because the ground was too arid. Before you go, ask a grown-up to download the free Word Bingo resource from the show notes below. It's filled with lots of ways to explore words in the book that you're already reading. Thank you so much for checking in. I hope that you continue to explore new books and learn lots of new words. I'll see you back here soon. Thanks for checking in with me today. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow along so you don't miss our next check in. And remember keep reading, keep thinking, and keep talking because books are better together.